Moving to a Mac

Okay- so about a month ago now, my laptop blew up. Yup- sparks and all. It was quite spectacular. But it was also the last straw. Since that laptop had been in the shop THREE TIMES in it's short one year life, and my desktop had gone that way at least once before the laptop even showed up- I decided that Microsoft had had it's chance and it was time to let Apple take a crack at it. After all- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity right? So why keep buying a Windows computer when they continue to fail on me?

So I bought a 13 inch Macbook. I even went all out and bought the new aluminum one with the cool multi-touch trackpad, bigger harddrive and ultra-eco friendly features. I figured if I was going to go Mac I would make a good go of it.

So- a month in, am I happy with my choice? YES!!

A) I've had my Mac for a month and have yet to have it crash, freeze, give me an error message, or do some wierd voodoo trick on me.

B) There is so much support for it. I had to figure some things out- how to tether my Blackberry, and make sure it didn't interfere with my wireless (which I had to call the AppleCare hotline for- 20 minutes later it was fixed, and it only took that long because my hardrive had to index!).

C) It works with all the things a Windows computer does- but unlike Windows, it just DOES it. Want to uninstall an app? Drag it to the trash can. Yeah, that easy- no control pannel to fiddle with. No cluttered desktop- all my most used apps are in the bottom dock, and the ones I want access to but dont' need to stare at all the time go in my applications folder which maximizes when I hover over it. Yes, it takes a bit of getting used to not having a taskbar. But once you get used to it it's awesome. And, with the trackpad actions, if I swipe down with my 4 fingers it shows me all the windows I have open- awesome.

So yeah, those are my major loves about my Macbook. Oh yeah- that and when I open it up, it TURNS ON in under a minute. It's amazing. That's all I can really say- it just works.

As for the must-have apps? Here's what I have installed on my Macbook:

Firefox (got rid of Safari, hate it. Install Foxmarks and get all your bookmarks and passwords instantly!)
MSN (the Mac version is a tad stripped down but I like it)
Skype (to make up for the lack of webcam in MSN)
MS Office for Mac (I was a little scared by the lack of OneNote in the Mac version- until I realised it's integrated into Word! And it works way better than OneNote!)
Photoshop (because I use it every day!)
DexRex Extensions (to archive all my MSN and SMS conversations!)
VLC Media Player (for watching movies in all formats)
Calaboration (syncs my iCal and Gcal- which syncs to my Blackberry)
Caffeine (to keep my screen alive while watching movies- stop my Mac from going to sleep)
Dropbox (an online thumb drive so I can print documents at school, access them from other computers)
Windows Live Sync (this app saved my school year. I had it set up on my Desktop so when my laptop went bust I knew that all my files were backed up wirelessly to my Desktop. Once my Desktop arrived in Edmonton I got Scott to boot it up, connect it to the internet, and since I'd set it up on my laptop it auto synced- all my files, in the right folders, wirelessly. THANK GOD!)
AutoRate (Rates my iTunes songs based on how many times I've played/skipped them- it's just neat)
uTorrent (for downloading movies, etc!)
FrostWire (like Limewire but sans adverts. Great for music accquisition)
Walley Balley (this is a fun little game that uses the motion sensor in my computer- you tilt the computer- it moves the ball! I generally only play it to show off for my friends lol)
iStumbler (a nice little free app that tells me which Wifi networks are open and which are closed- so I can steal signals easier)
Monolingual (this little program helps you delete the languages your computer has in it that you are never going to use to retreive space- I got over 4 gigs back! That's enough for all my music! And you can delete it afterwards!)


Apple-included Programs I Have Grown to Adore:
Expose (swipe down with 4 fingers on your trackpad and it distributes your open windows so you can pick the one you want- hover over the one you want and swipe up, or click on it and it comes to the front. If you swipe up with 4 fingers originally it gives you your desktop!)
iPhoto (organises your photographs, by Face- yes it recognises faces!, place- uses your geotagged photos, and event. LOVE it!)
iCal (simple stripped down calendar app. Adore it!)
Preview (a powerful document reader for Mac. If you select anything on a Mac and hit the spacebar it'll give you a preview of it- and it reads PDF documents flawlessly- no adobe reader!)

I'll post updates as I figure more out. YES, you have right-click (you have to set it in preferences, but it's there). Which was my big thing. But so far- this has been the best computere ever. It's a joy to use.

Oh yeah- and it has a 3 year warrenty on it. Yeah, it cost 150$ for the extended warrenty- but it covers EVERYTHING. What does that mean? If this one blows up in my lap- Apple will replace it or anything that's damaged on it. Even if it's just normal wear and tear.

I think I just became a Mac Fangirl...