Friday 5 September 2008

A Windows User's MacBook Diary - Day 2

Thursday

I needed help from an expert, which came in the shape of Nina - a MacBook specialist.

With Nina's help, I was able to set myself up as a user. Actually, with her help, I was able to remember Vlad's password.

As part of my 'journey' on the Mac, I have resolved not to look at the manual (such as it is). This means experimenting with keys, mouse-clicks and shortcuts. Admittedly, Nina has helped me with some, but I will need to learn others from the drop-down menus.

Whilst I can find most things I want, it sometimes takes several key presses to get there, e.g. opening up the Applications folder. The absence of a Home button (and indeed, many of the buttons normally found on a Windows-oriented keyboard) led me to intuitively hit the Up key, which took me to the beginning of the line.

However, I have not yet mastered deletion. I am reliably informed this is achieved using Fn+Backspace, but it doesn't seem to work. I am also used to using the Tab key in Windows to highlight the appropriate choice in a dialog window, whereas the most likely choice is already highlighted in Mac OS X and I just need to hit Return - that is taking some getting used to.

Minor observations for the day:
  • The white glare from the keyboard takes some getting used to.
  • When the lid is closed, it still looks lie a giant Nintendo DS. It's the colour, you see, and the styling. I am so used to black and grey slabs, it just doesn't look like a laptop (well, it was designed in California...).
  • Restart is very quick - maybe because it's new and not loaded up with apps.
  • My 4-year old son came up and said:, 'Oh, there's an apple," pointing to the logo on the lid. How's that for brand recognition? He then informed me it had lit up.
  • Easy application installation - well, Skype was easy enough: drag this icon over to that icon and it inflated itself and installed itself. I have not quite got the hang of Devices yet. These can apparently be physical devices, e.g. USB stick; a user profile, e.g. Vlad; a programme; or an installation file. Some appear on the the 'desktop' whilst others are on the 'Macintosh HD'. I need to get to grips with this concept, because it irritates me not knowing where things should go or why they appear where they do.
  • Built-in mic and speakers - useful if your own headset has just been chewed up by your wife's powerful new vacuum cleaner (it's a Dyson - the 'Mac' of the vacuum cleaner world funnily enough). And again, features reminiscent of the Nintendo DS.
  • Nicely animated progress bars. This is a seemingly lame observation and would hardly seem to warrant comment, but I think it shows attention to detail and underscores the Mac's pedigree as a designer's computer. When you spend half your life staring at progress bars, it annoys me when they are badly animated or out of sync (I give you Microsoft's Windows Update site). Mac's 'initializing' progress bar, for instance, is easy on the eye and aesthetically pleasing. There is a sense of harmony about it, which adds to the enjoyment of using a computer.

A Windows User's MacBook Diary - Day 1

Wednesday

Vlad has handed me a MacBook he had bought for 'test-driving'.

When I first saw it, I thought it looked like a giant Nintendo DS - the curved corners, the slim case with its clean lines reminiscent of Nintendo's small, but perfectly-formed handheld console. But no stylus and no touch-screen.

Immediately, there are things which just strike you about the MacBook - the outside is less fussy: all the ports are arranged down one side (not dotted randomly around the edges of the case), just one cover underneath, magnetic power cord, low profile rubber feet (less prone to being knocked off than the awkwardly-shaped and ungainly rubber feet on my Dell - of which I have lost one or more).

My second thought was where does the extra memory go? My Dell has hatches and removable covers galore, so I can replace all the things that I need to replace on my Windows laptop. Never mind, maybe I'll find a secret hatch later.

Low-profile and integral CD/DVD slot. Nice.

Inside: magnetic closure on the lid (no catches to break), integral webcam, 'closed' keyboard to keep out dirt and food, expansive mousepad and one-piece mouse button.

Unfortunately, the battery was dead and thus I had to wait till I got home to power it up.

On doing so, I found myself looking at the Russian comedy video site, I think Vlad had been talking about in the car on the way back from our meeting. So I clicked on a link...network not connected, of course.

So I tried to connect to my home network. I looked up the 26-character key required to connect. Error. Made sure the router is in pairing mode (thanks, Inventel). Re-typed the 26-character key from memory - another 7 times. Error each time.

This was my first stumbling block - Apple's fault or the fault of my network? My router is not the easiest to interrogate. For some reason, the router is slow to serve up its webpages. I should probably do a factory reset or install the spare I have, but then I'll have to re-configure the nine or so devices I have connected to it, which is a major faff.

I continued to interrogate the crappy router.

[2 hours later...]

Finally, I managed to get connected to my network and online! (I had to change the security settings back to WEP...). And then I got a series of green lights for the AirPort connection and I was connected to the Internet.

My next thought was to log off Vlad and somehow set up a profile for myself. So logged off Vlad...and got stuck... :(