Bye PC, Mac Got Me

Well folks, the day is finally here… The guys over at Apple decided that it was about time that they added Copy and Paste functionality for the iPhone. After months, if not years, of people requesting the functionality, Apple has finally decided to integrate it into there newest version of the iPhone software. Such as in the request list on the i.nconspicuo.us blog.

If you ask me, it couldn’t have come at a better time. Apples stock has been down over the last few months (along with the rest of the stock market) and the release of this new 3.0 iPhone firmware will come at just the right time to give Apple stock a well needed boost.

Here are just a couple of the new features that will be added to the iPhone with the release of the OS 3.0 software:

• Search your iPhone
• Cut, copy, and paste
• Send photos, contacts, audio files, and location via MMS*
• Read and compose email and text messages in landscape

written by Brady

Apple has just released an update to iPhoto, version 7.1.5 which according to the Apple website, “…improves the printing quality of books, cards and calendars ordered via the iPhoto printing service.” A similar update for Aperture was released about a week prior to the iPhoto 7.1.5 update.

To learn more about iPhoto and/or the iPhoto 7.1.5 update, visit the Apple information page here.

written by Brady \\ tags: Apple, iPhoto, update

I have slowly been learning my around my new MacBook Pro, and in doing so, I’ve been searching for software and applications that allow me to do the same tasks that I was able to accomplish on a PC. Thus far, I’ve been able to find replacements that are as good, if not better than their PC counterparts. In this series, I’m going to attempt to outline my desktop setup and my software setup that I allows me to be my most productive while blogging.

As with most of you, the blogging platform is the most important part of your blog, in my case, that platform is Wordpress. Without our blogging platform, we’d have no blogs. There are 10’s if not hundreds of blogging platforms out there, it is more or less just a matter of choosing one that you like. I’ve chosen Wordpress for two primary reasons:

1. Wordpress is a free software, and very powerful. It does what it says it does.
2. Wordpress is community driven. This is probably the best feature because it means for hundreds of thousands of available themes and plugins, and the Wordpress platform itself is updated constantly.

Initially, my primary method of publishing posts to my blog was through the built in Wordpress web admin system, but as I became a more “seasoned blogger”, I began using local tools that would allow me to write and save posts to my local machine prior to publishing them to my blog. The first tool that I began using was on a PC, and it was offered by Microsoft – it was called Windows Live Writer. This tool was great and really introduced me to the idea of “offline blogging”. Since converting to a Mac, I’ve found a comparable software that makes offline blogging an absolute breeze. That program is called ecto and it is actually available for both Windows and OSX users.

written by Brady \\ tags: Apple, best programs, blogging, offline blogging, OSX

I just read a post about the new MacBook trackpad gestures that will be implemented in Firefox 3.1, and I started to wonder if my MacBook Pro supports any gestures. I quickly found that it supports 2 finger gestures, such as vertical and horizontal scroll. However, upon trying more of the newly supported gestures, I found that I cannot use the “Pinch” gesture as with the iPhone, and I cannot use the “Rotate” gesture, and I cannot use the 3 finger swipe gesture.

So, on my old MacBook Pro, here’s what I’m looking at:

Works like a charm!

Does not seem to work on old generation MacBooks

written by Brady \\ tags: Apple, gestures, MacBook, MacBook Pro, trackpad

Having been a PC user all of my life, one of my biggest concerns in switching from a PC to a Mac was whether I’d be able to learn and navigate OSX. How’s the old adage go???

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

I consider myself pretty tech-savvy, but I was unsure if I’d be able to have any sort of productivity while learning an entirely new operating system. Let’s be honest, can I really make an adjustment from Start Menu at the bottom left, to the Apple logo at the upper left?

To be completely honest, the change thus far has been relatively smooth. I’ve been able to adapt to some of the subtle differences between the two operating systems, but as a whole, the two OS’s are now pretty similar in terms of navigation, functionality and ease of use. As a switcher, the 2 biggest things that I’ve been having a hard time getting used to is the always stationary menu bar (or menubar as I’ve seen it referred to on many other blogs), and the other issue really isn’t an operating system issue, but more of a keyboard shortcut issue. The Apple Command key being located right next to the spacebar is a big difference from the Control key on the PC being at the far left edge. This has made common tasks like Copy/Paste become more hunt and peck.

Stationary Menu Bar
I’m sure that this is probably one of the toughest things to overcome for all users. The fact that the menu bar changes state based on whichever program is open in the foreground has taken me a little time to get used to. Don’t get me wrong, it makes perfect sense, but having been a PC user for the past 10+ years, I have gotten very used to the fact that each program had its own menu bar and set of actions internally and attached to the program itself, whereas on the Mac, the main menu bar acts as the starting location for all actions for all programs.

Command Click vs. Control Click
I’m dealing with it. I don’t necessarily like it, but I’m learning to deal with it. I feel like I need a little nub sixth finger between my thumb and my index finger in order to successfully use the Command button. I’ll have to become an Apple alien.

The Best Features of OSX
This list is based on my limited experience with the OSX operating system this far.

• Expose - this feature is irreplaceable, I don’t know how I’ve lived without this on a PC for so long, maybe because of the fact that windows always keeps a huge listing of all open programs in the taskbar.
• Hot Corners – being able to throw your mouse into any corner of your screen to complete any common action is a very useful feature. I have my computer automatically lock when my screensaver comes on, so prior to leaving my computer, I always just throw my mouse into the corner that activates my screensaver.
• Quick Look – This is a great feature that Windows could/should learn from. Quick Look allows you to open nearly any type of file (at least common file types) by clicking on the space bar.

Features that I have yet to explore, but will most likely become familiar with them sometime in the future:

• Spaces - This sounds like it might be very useful for me since I primarily use my MacBook Pro as a personal computer, but will occassionally use it for work. It sounds like spaces will allow me to setup desktops for each “life”.
• Boot Camp – Dual boot Windows and Mac OSX on my MacBook Pro, this will definitely come in handy.
• Time Machine – I haven’t yet used this as I typically do all of my own backups, however this will most likely be something that I setup for my wifes computer.

written by Brady \\ tags: boot camp, Expose, Hot Corners, menu bar, menubar, operating system, OSX, PC, Quick Look, spaces, start menu, task bar, taskbar, Time Machine

If you’re a returning reader of this blog, you may have seen the post about the compatibility of the 60W MacBook Power Adapter and the 85W MacBook Pro Power Adapter. When I bought my MacBook Pro and my wifes refurbished MacBook, I really didn’t consider the fact that they had different sized power supplies, but after reviewing the Apple website, their power adapters/chargers certainly aren’t the same size (or at least aren’t supposed to be).

A little bit bummed that we couldn’t share power supplies around the house or on vacation, I started looking into pricing, to find that both power supplies sell for $79.00. Then, for some reason, I decided to check our actual power supplies and they were both the 85W versions!

So if you’re worried about buying a refurbished machine, think again! You might get a little something extra. And if you happen to get a little something less, call Apple, they have great customer service and support, I’m sure they’d be glad to fix the problem for you!

written by Brady \\ tags: charger, MacBook, MacBook Pro, power adapter, power supply, refurbished

I recently bought myself a new MacBook Pro to replace my HP laptop that blew up. At about the same time, I decided to buy my wife a base model MacBook (because she thinks the white MacBooks are cute). Anyways, after purchasing the two laptops, I wanted to make sure that the power supplies were compatible with each of the laptops, so I did a quick Google search, and come to find out, the MacBook and the MacBook Pro have different size power supplies.

• MacBook Pro: 85W MagSafe Power Adapter
• MacBook: 60W MagSafe Power Adapter

Come to find out, the 85W MagSafe Power Adapter that comes with the MacBook Pro can be used to charge both the MacBook Pro and the standard MacBook. However, the 60W MagSafe Power Adapter that comes standard with the MacBook cannot be used to charge and power the MacBook Pro.

Update
I just read a post that said the 60W MagSafe power adapter for the MacBook can be used to power the MacBook Pro, however it will not charge it while in use, it will simply power the MacBook Pro. I would not recommend trying this.

Perks of buying a refurbished MacBook over a new MacBook.

written by Brady \\ tags: charger, compatibility, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MagSafe, power adapter, power supply

When I purhcased my Mac, I didn’t really even consider what it’d take to get my iTunes library setup on both the PC and the Mac. I currently have a shared drive on my network where all of my music files reside. When I setup iPhoto, I noticed that it copied all of my pictures to my MacBook, but I already have all my pictures on my network drive as well as an external backup disk, so I definitely didn’t want to have copies of all my music files created on my Mac. My solution to this was to navigate to my network server:

Once connected to my home network server, I navigated to the directory that contained all of my music files. Rather than clicking into the directory, I just selected the directory and pressed Cmd + L. Cmd + L is the keyboard shortcut for “Make Alias”. To the best of my knowledge, an “Alias” folder on the Mac, works similarly to how a “Shortcut” works on a PC.

Once you’ve created an Alias for the Music directory on your network drive, you’ll want to open Finder and navigate to your Home directory. From your Home directory, select Music, then select iTunes. Within the iTunes folder, there will be a folder called iTunes Music. We are going to be replacing this iTunes Music folder with our alias folder, so make sure that there is nothing in it. In my case, the folder was empty because I keep all of my music on a networked server, so I just deleted the iTunes Music folder. With the iTunes Music folder deleted, find your Alias folder on your network drive and drag it to your iTunes folder. Select the Alias folder, then click it again to rename it. Rename it to iTunes Music to replace the folder that we deleted earlier.

Now your networked drive is referenced for iTunes to use. Next time you open iTunes, all of your music will be available. I don’t know if there is a better, or more efficient way to share music from a networked PC to a Mac, but I’m very open to suggestions being that I’m still very new to OSX.

So far, this solution seems to have worked for me, if anybody has a different option that might work better, I’d love to hear it – please post it below in the comments.

written by Brady \\ tags: alias, iTunes, MP3, music library, network, share

If you read my previous post Switch to Mac: What will I use this computer for? that outlined the deciding factors in determining the uses and options for my new computer, you’ll understand why I’m only considering MacBooks and not desktop Macs.

In short, I’m only considering MacBooks because I’m trying to replace my old PC laptop that blew up. I’m not considering another PC laptop because I like the features and functionality that the Mac OSX operating system offers, plus, with the addition of the Intel-based Mac, and BootCamp, I’ll be running a dual-boot Mac laptop that will allow me to not only have OSX, but also Windows Vista Ultimate.

Though I really like the MacBook Air, that computer just didn’t make sense for me because it didn’t offer the processing power that I’d like to have. The MacBook Air is the computer that actually got me interested in Macs in the first place, but even as much as I trust Apple and their products, I could not justify purchasing a first generation MacBook Air. I feel that the MacBook Air may have some problems that need to be worked out, and I’m really curious as to its durability.

With the MacBook Air out of the question, I next started to consider the standard MacBook. I liked the size and weight of the standard MacBook, but after talking to a few “Apple Genius” geeks, as well as some friends who use Macs, I decided that a MacBook wouldn’t be optimal for handling and running some of the graphics and video editing programs that I will probably be using.

With all of the above out of the way, that left my only option as the MacBook Pro. 15 inch or 17 inch. Stupid question. 17 inch all the way. I’ve heard a lot of people say that the 17 inch defeats the purpose of having a laptop because its so big, but keep in mind that this is replacing my 17 inch HP PC, which was about the same height and width, but the 1 inch depth of the MacBook was more than doubled on HP, and the weight difference was remarkable. My MacBook Pro weighs about half of what my old HP laptop wieghed.

If you’re worried about size, MacBook Pros are probably not the best option for you, however if it is performance that you are after, MacBook Pros are your only option. If you’re in the market for ultimate portability, I’d have to recommend the MacBook Air, even though I haven’t had the chance to fully test one yet.

written by Brady \\ tags: BootCamp, dual boot, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro

As a recent convert from a PC, I’ve slowly been realizing not only that is the Mac OSX operating system great, but I’ve also realized that there are many programs that need to be installed in order to be able to complete all of the tasks that I normally do from day to day on my PC.

Adium

First and foremost comes unproductivity. That’s why Adium is on this list. Adium is a full featured chat program/instant messaging client that can be used to connect to all of the most popular platforms: AIM, MSN Messenger, Jabber, GTalk, Yahoo!, Facebook, MySpace IM, ICQ, Mobile Me, and more. Adium is easy to configure, has more options than you can dream of, and just works great.

NeoOffice

Now if you’re looking for an office suite and don’t want to fork out the $349 to pickup a copy of Microsoft Office for Mac, you’re in luck because NeoOffice allows you to open/edit/save all of the popular Microsoft Office file formats. Not only that, but it is based off of the OpenOffice suite, but extended with OSX features and functionality. A must have!

FireFox

One program/application that will be a familiar item for many PC users will be FireFox. Still known as one of the best web browsers, FireFox is hard to beat with its speed and ease of use. The ability to install add-ons has made FireFox the leader of the browser war, and it functions just as good as any other browser on the Mac.

VLC Media Player

QuickTime is great for MOV files, but when you need a media player that will play other video formats, VLC Media Player is a great place to start. VLC Media Player is a simple, no frills player. It has a clean interface and is simple and easy to use.

If you have any comments, suggestions or recommendations, please leave a comment as I’m still new to the Mac and would love to hear what any of you seasoned veterans prefer to use.

written by Brady \\ tags: best applications, best programs, instant messaging, media player, must haves, office suite