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switching from windows to mac interface and also 15inch books in black?

post #1 of 5
Thread Starter 
I am strongly considering making the switch from PC to mac, after checking them out in an apple store it was pretty stunned by how light and then they are. So much more elegant than clunky toshibas and dells. I would be getting the macbook pro 15inch. I find the 13 inch too small, and the 17inch too big. The only question I have is are apple going to make a 15inch book with the black finish and the keyboard that the 13 inch macbooks have? I definitely prefer the keyboard and finish of the black 13inch macbooks to the 15inch macbook pros. I know that people have been going nuts over the black finish, apple are pretty savvy in terms of that so is there a chance they'll offer the 15inch black book with the new style of keyboard?

My second question is to how the interface is laid out. I have been using windows forever and when I checked out the mac I had no idea where anything was. I like to be able to get to the My Computer explorer folder easily, and all the pop up icons on the bottom of the mac screen threw me off a bit. How customizable is that bar? It seemed like there was a relatively long lag between when you clicked an icon, when it bounces around, and when the program starts up. I am going to check it out more thoroughly and this was just a quick reaction after using it for 5 minutes, but can anyone comment on switching interfaces? Thanks.
post #2 of 5
I wouldn't expect Apple to make a 15.4" MacBook Pro in a black finish anytime soon - and I doubt they will change the keyboard. History shows they've kept the silver finish for the Pro models, and the backlit keyboard is a selling feature on the Pro versions. Anything is possible, but the odds are against it happening.

As bmwrob says, you can customise the dock. Programs pop up quite quickly on my MacBook, so again - not sure what the issues were with the ones you played with. Adding more Ram will probably help as well.
post #3 of 5
I have found Mac’s and PC’s configured with similar specs (CPU & GPU speed, RAM & HDD size and speed) start programs in about the same amount of time. As shazza said the more RAM the faster the performance. Although if you want more than 1 GB of ram it is considerably cheaper to get the MBP with 512mb and replace/upgrade it yourself. Also HDD speed can make a difference, when running the RAM close to maxed out.
As for My Computer/Explorer functions in OSX you would use Finder. It is laid out a little different but provides the same functions as Windows Explorer. The Dock in OSX is pretty much the same as the Windows Taskbar with the Quick Launch toolbar active but without the System Tray. Also the Clock and Start Menu type functions in Windows would be found in the menu bar at the top of the desktop in OSX. All of these can be modified, moved, and customized in OSX just as they could in Windows.
post #4 of 5
post #5 of 5
I'm going to plug the usefulness of a book again: "Mac OS X - the Missing Manual" by David Pogue (he's the guy who started the "xyz for Dummies" series). Lots of good information on the basics, and plenty of additonal material for getting the most use out of the OS and its supplied apps. My daughter really wanted an Apple laptop, so we bought her a MBP for her college graduation. She was saying that the book was really helpful, and she's the kind who doesn't like techie reading. As a 30 year sw veteran getting into OS X for the first time, I also found it very useful, on the same order as Scot Hacker's BeOS Bible when I was doing BeOS. It exposes the logic of OS X very nicely and accessibly.
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