One year after switching to a Mac…

Just like the saying says, 3rd time is a charm.  I tried switching to Mac two times before the final time.  I am now a full fledged mac user, and am quite happy.  Here is a list of things I like and dis-like:

Likes:

  • OS is very stable and smooth and does not slow down between reboots
  • faster reboots, shutdowns, sleep and wake
  • iPhoto is great for managing all of our digital photos
  • iMovie is great for making home movies from all of our video clips
  • terminal with a familiar set of linux commands (ssh, rsync, etc)
  • disk utility for managing disks (partitions, formatting, re-sizing, etc)
  • time machine is GREAT for no brainer backups
  • AdiumX is much better than Gaim or Pidgin
  • preferences are all stored in files instead of a registry
  • spotlight and quicksilver
  • VNC is built into the OS
  • File sharing is easy and make sense in P2P networks
  • switching computers is no longer an all day affair.  Either use migration assistant or restore from a time machine backup.
  • switching hard drives is simply done by using disk utility to copy all files to the new drive.
  • expose is great way to view all your open windows, desktop , or just a particular applications windows.
  • The mac can be on multiple subnets simultaneously with just one NIC (Windows can have multiple IP’s on a NIC, but they have to be on the same subnet).
  • software installs are often times as simple as copying the application to your applications folder
  • playing music from remote itunes libraries is easy (unfortunately, this does NOT mean copying music, ONLY playing it).
  • growl is a great 3rd party notification system

Dis-Likes:

  • inconsistent user interface.  Example:  Sometimes closing a window closes the app.  Other times when closing a window the app remains running.
  • wireless seems slower than on pc’s
  • mac file droppings left all over (solution for network shares:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1629) (solution for local drives: http://www.zeroonetwenty.com/blueharvest/)
  • not able to cut and paste files to move them around the file system, must have two windows open and drag files/folders between them.
  • pressing enter when something is selected changes the name, it does not open it
  • no GUI application like putty to manage ssh sessions
  • no notepad++ like application for editing text files
  • no Chrome browser for Mac yet…
  • when looking for wireless networks to connect to, Leopard does NOT display signal strength, just network name (solved in snow leopard).

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