Comments on: Switching to Mac Part 2: The Retail Experience

By: Switching to Mac Part 3: The Unboxing :: PigPog

Switching to Mac Part 3: The Unboxing :: PigPog — Sat, 15 May 2010 16:35:39 +0000

[...] Switching to Mac Part 2: The Retail Experience [...]

By: PigPog » Switching to Mac Part 4: In Use

PigPog » Switching to Mac Part 4: In Use — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:24:41 +0000

[...] time to get around to writing this post, but here it is at last. For the story so far, see Part 1, Part 2, Part [...]

By: pigpogm

pigpogm — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:13:28 +0000

Hi Neurotic Nomad,

Thanks for the suggestions - some good sites there. I'm not missing too much of the important at this point, I think. TextMate seems to be winning as a text Editor, CyberDuck seems to do the job for FTP. VLC is still available over here, though Perian seems to make Quicktime play most of the same files. The GIMP works, but is a bit of a mess. For the bits I can't do in Aperture, I think Pixelmator might be the one.

Aperture seems to suit me well - I'm finding it much better than Lightroom.

Just tried out Polodroid UK, and it's strange, but fun. I'll keep working through your suggestions - thanks for leaving such a useful list.

By: Partners in Grime

Partners in Grime — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:30:25 +0000

Welcome. I have a 24-inch iMac as well. Excellent machine. I purchased AppleCare and sleep easier. Divided over two years the price is not bad.

By: Neurotic Nomad

Neurotic Nomad — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:38:54 +0000

You’ll be looking for software, but the pickin’s will be slim at your usual Windows-based shareware sites. I recommend VersionTracker.com over MacUpdate for 99% of your needs, if only for political reasons. Also recommended: http://osx.iusethis.com/ , http://www.pure-mac.com/ , http://www.apple.com/downloads/ , and http://www.dashboardwidgets.com/ .

I use iPhoto for my sorting/storing. It’s lightening-quick for me but I have 4GB of memory and only 10,000 photos so your milage may vary. (When reading reviews, note that iPhoto ’08 is very different from iPhoto ’06 and Aperture 2 is very Different from Aperture 1)

My /Applications/3rd Party/Photo Tools folder is pretty slim, containing only Photoshop CS (the first one), Art Director’s Toolkit 4, Gimp, GraphicConverter, Image Tricks, PDFLab, Pipette, Polodroid UK, PosterRazor, and Xee.

If you need video tools or audio tools, THEN I can recommend stuff.

By: Sergio Carmona

Sergio Carmona — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:21:56 +0000

You want Apple Care, but you can wait until the 1-year warranty end approaches.

By: pigpogm

pigpogm — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:02:43 +0000

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Apple Care does seem to have a good reputation, so I think I’ll probably go for it. I’m not so interested in the phone support or training – there aren’t many problems Google can’t fix.

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:51:10 +0000

jealous.very jealous. Get Apple Care, though. Gary (From the Home For Unwanted IT Kit )

By: David

David — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:40:39 +0000

Also, as a new Mac user, you want the AppleCare for the unlimited phone support, beyond the first 90 days. If you are reasonably close to the Apple Store, you might also consider getting the $99/yr One to One Personal Training – well worth it for at least to first year, in order to smooth out the bumps in the transition and rapidly increase your productivity.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:51:07 +0000

You want Apple Care. Things go wrong with Macs (as with other machines) and the service I have gotten with Apple Care has made it well worth my while. Friday, for example, I showed an Apple Genius a problem with my Mac Book and he decided it was a problem with the keyboard. He also noticed a crack in the right top of the plastic (not hard to notice as I had taped it down) and said they would replace that as well for free.

He said it would be done Monday or Tuesday -- instead they called me the next morning and everything was fixed. You want Apple Care.