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First Mac; First Impressions

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Siplus:
I ordered a 12" Powerbook G4 (w/ superdrive) On wednesday, and it was delivered this afternoon!

needless to say, I have lost a few hours today playing with my new machine.

As a Linux user obsessed with trying everything, I rip through operating systems religeously. I have gain an ability to adjust to linux operating systems within a very short time. (adjusting to their default settings/ WM. i know all linux is pretty much the same). I have also recently installed Solaris10, and used it for a day or so.


I must say, Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" is a bit overwhelming with the features. The keyboard on this very well made laptop is a bit strange for this previous pure x86 user. It will take a lot of getting used to.


The interface is one of the most origninal i have ever used. I have only scratched the surface of it, but I will eventally make it my own. I, of course, installed Firefox, and soon will install OOo, Gimp, and i'm still deciding about Gaim. iChat wll take a lot of getting used to, but I might just jump back to the comfort of gaim.

One thing: Safari. Isn't it supposed to have tabbed browsing?? I can't figure out how to use tabs with it for the life of me. Firefox is my primary browser, unless safari sprouts mouse gestures. Oh, and firefox still renders better than safari :-/ (Also... the default FF icon theme is better in linux than it is on OS  X... these icons look bland. i'll need to theme it up)


the Mail program is alright. I wish i could set up filters instead of just Smartboxes. I also miss fullscreen mode. I use fullscreen in a lot of applications (Firefox being among the most common for me use use fullscreen).

I can't decide if i want to the clutterbar to autohide or not..


I like the auto-wifi, auto-bluetooth configurations. Like ubuntu, everything was waiting ready for me when i booted up for the first time. No messing with it necessary.

Perhaps one of the things i dislike most about the Pbook G4 is the utter LACK of keys i find important. I'm assuming that mac users have a way or doing this, but i do not know the keycombo's yet.

There is no home/end button. even worce, no page up/page down! i use these keys all the time!

In World of Warcraft, the F1-12 keys refer to the Pbook's extra function keys instead of the in-game keybindings. Example, i push F1 to target my character in the game, but instead it dims the LCD screen!

I'm sure I will get used to certain aspects I find unsettling, and I will learn the keyboard shortcuts soon enough. I've only been using it for 5 hours ;)

One more thing: The terminal program does not have tab-autocomplete. I must enable this somehow!

all in all, this machine is incredible.  I'm focusing more on the bad than the good right now... but everything is going pretty well

Edit:  Expose/dashboard is shaping up to be pretty cool... One thing though: Once in awhile,  lose a window. Right now, someone sent me a message on iChat. I can not find the buddy list. it's not on the clutterbar, and I can't access it from any menu i can see...

bedouin:

--- Quote from: Siplus ---The interface is one of the most origninal i have ever used. I have only scratched the surface of it, but I will eventally make it my own. I, of course, installed Firefox, and soon will install OOo, Gimp, and i'm still deciding about Gaim. iChat wll take a lot of getting used to, but I might just jump back to the comfort of gaim.
--- End quote ---


Try Adium, many people seem to like it.  iChat coupled with Jabber transports works fine for me though.


--- Quote ---One thing: Safari. Isn't it supposed to have tabbed browsing?? I can't figure out how to use tabs with it for the life of me.
--- End quote ---


Eh, Safari > Preferences > Tabs?


--- Quote ---(Also... the default FF icon theme is better in linux than it is on OS  X... these icons look bland. i'll need to theme it up)
--- End quote ---


See Firefoxy.


--- Quote ---the Mail program is alright. I wish i could set up filters instead of just Smartboxes. I also miss fullscreen mode. I use fullscreen in a lot of applications (Firefox being among the most common for me use use fullscreen).
--- End quote ---


It seems PC users are used to maximizing every single window.  I never have been able to explain this psychological phenomenon, other than they just never learned how to truly multitask (this is more than running multiple programs at once), but using them at once too.


--- Quote ---There is no home/end button. even worce, no page up/page down! i use these keys all the time!
--- End quote ---


FN + Left/Right arrow = page up/page down
FN + Up/Down arrow = home/end

Full size Mac keyboards have these just as PC ones too.

piratePenguin:
check out Camino: http://www.mozilla.org/products/camino/

WMD:

--- Quote ---In World of Warcraft, the F1-12 keys refer to the Pbook's extra function keys instead of the in-game keybindings. Example, i push F1 to target my character in the game, but instead it dims the LCD screen!
--- End quote ---

System Preferences > Keyboard/Mouse.  There's a "fuction-key lock" thingy in there that's checked off by default.

WMD:

--- Quote ---One more thing: The terminal program does not have tab-autocomplete. I must enable this somehow!
--- End quote ---

The default shell is tcsh, which has no such thing.  Type "bash" and it should start working.

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