Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Welcome to the world of the Mac!
As I've talked about recently, I've had to acquire a Mac for supporting existing customers looking to implement the Mac into their existing network. I purchased a Powerbook G4 15" 1.5ghz.
I have to be honest here and tell everyone how impressed I am with this computer. You've heard it said before "It just works!" . I installed a bluetooth wireless mouse and it paired instantly. I have yet to reboot due to memory leaks or crashes or software installs. I have yet to report a crash to Apple. This thing is super fast and just runs.
I have had learning curve issues, though. The following have been my biggest hurdles:
1) The right click: I desperately miss this. I'm still having trouble adjusting to the ctrl-click. When I've gone back to using my Tablet PC, the right mouse click feels very natural.
2) host file: I've been all over the place, but I can't figure out how to properly edit the machines attribute in Netinfo Manager so I can browse my locally hosted websites on my network. For example, I need to associate a private ip: 192.168.11.2 to www.testurl.com .
3) Keyboard shortcuts: I'm quickly learning that keyboard shortcuts drive a lot of the productivity on the mac.
4) I don't like Safari, nor IE for the Mac. I miss the drop down list to show previously viewed websites. I miss my Blog This google plugin. I used it a great deal for blogging sites I visited. I also greatly miss OnFolio, although I'm getting used to NetNewsWire.
5) Importing my .pst file into Entourage was a royal pain. I still have not managed to get everything ported over. I used an app called Outlook2Mac and it missed alot of stuff. Contacts, calendars, and tasks moved over ok, but emails were a problem. Right now, I'm selecting all of the emails in each folder, copying them, and pasting them into a folder in the file system. Copying the folder over to the mac and then dragging and dropping them in. Major pain for the 50 email folders I've got.
6) I've been impressed with how easily I can network to my windows servers, move files back and forth, etc. Integrating FTP servers and local windows servers is really nice. However, the mac os doesn't seem to store my username and password for authenticating to the server even though I told it to store them in the keychain. I have to reauthenticate each time. Must be something I'm doing wrong.
I'm really enjoying Office 2004. It runs much faster than Office 2003 for Windows. Getting into Project Center to see how that fits my workflow. I made a fantastic DVD using iDVD for my son's Arrow of Light ceremony. Everybody was asking me how I could do something that looked so good. The dvd themes are simply fantastic.
I told myself when I got this unit that I would probably end up selling it in about a month once I learned what I needed to help support my clients. I'm quickly changing my mind. I really enjoy working on this Powerbook.
All that said, you shouldn't classify me as a "switcher" . My primary machine is still my Tablet PC and I don't forsee that changing. Even with installing Virtual PC on the Mac, I have yet to use it because I keep going back to my Tablet PC to ink up some notes, sit on the couch with it and surf the web with the pen. I went to a client meeting the other day. What did I bring with me: my Tablet PC. Taking notes using my pen has become an integral part of how I work now - its' natural.
If Apple were to introduce an iTablet, I'd place my order right away and would wait the 6 months or so it would probably take to get it.
Ok...off to Chicago and the American Girl Place on Thursday. No more blogging until next week. Have a blessed weekend.
I have to be honest here and tell everyone how impressed I am with this computer. You've heard it said before "It just works!" . I installed a bluetooth wireless mouse and it paired instantly. I have yet to reboot due to memory leaks or crashes or software installs. I have yet to report a crash to Apple. This thing is super fast and just runs.
I have had learning curve issues, though. The following have been my biggest hurdles:
1) The right click: I desperately miss this. I'm still having trouble adjusting to the ctrl-click. When I've gone back to using my Tablet PC, the right mouse click feels very natural.
2) host file: I've been all over the place, but I can't figure out how to properly edit the machines attribute in Netinfo Manager so I can browse my locally hosted websites on my network. For example, I need to associate a private ip: 192.168.11.2 to www.testurl.com .
3) Keyboard shortcuts: I'm quickly learning that keyboard shortcuts drive a lot of the productivity on the mac.
4) I don't like Safari, nor IE for the Mac. I miss the drop down list to show previously viewed websites. I miss my Blog This google plugin. I used it a great deal for blogging sites I visited. I also greatly miss OnFolio, although I'm getting used to NetNewsWire.
5) Importing my .pst file into Entourage was a royal pain. I still have not managed to get everything ported over. I used an app called Outlook2Mac and it missed alot of stuff. Contacts, calendars, and tasks moved over ok, but emails were a problem. Right now, I'm selecting all of the emails in each folder, copying them, and pasting them into a folder in the file system. Copying the folder over to the mac and then dragging and dropping them in. Major pain for the 50 email folders I've got.
6) I've been impressed with how easily I can network to my windows servers, move files back and forth, etc. Integrating FTP servers and local windows servers is really nice. However, the mac os doesn't seem to store my username and password for authenticating to the server even though I told it to store them in the keychain. I have to reauthenticate each time. Must be something I'm doing wrong.
I'm really enjoying Office 2004. It runs much faster than Office 2003 for Windows. Getting into Project Center to see how that fits my workflow. I made a fantastic DVD using iDVD for my son's Arrow of Light ceremony. Everybody was asking me how I could do something that looked so good. The dvd themes are simply fantastic.
I told myself when I got this unit that I would probably end up selling it in about a month once I learned what I needed to help support my clients. I'm quickly changing my mind. I really enjoy working on this Powerbook.
All that said, you shouldn't classify me as a "switcher" . My primary machine is still my Tablet PC and I don't forsee that changing. Even with installing Virtual PC on the Mac, I have yet to use it because I keep going back to my Tablet PC to ink up some notes, sit on the couch with it and surf the web with the pen. I went to a client meeting the other day. What did I bring with me: my Tablet PC. Taking notes using my pen has become an integral part of how I work now - its' natural.
If Apple were to introduce an iTablet, I'd place my order right away and would wait the 6 months or so it would probably take to get it.
Ok...off to Chicago and the American Girl Place on Thursday. No more blogging until next week. Have a blessed weekend.
Comments:
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Hi Rob,
>> 2) host file: I've been all over the place, but I can't figure out how to properly edit the machines attribute in Netinfo Manager so I can browse my locally hosted websites on my network. For example, I need to associate a private ip: 192.168.11.2 to www.testurl.com . <<
You can add a line to /etc/hosts to do this:
192.168.11.2 www.testurl.com
>> 2) host file: I've been all over the place, but I can't figure out how to properly edit the machines attribute in Netinfo Manager so I can browse my locally hosted websites on my network. For example, I need to associate a private ip: 192.168.11.2 to www.testurl.com . <<
You can add a line to /etc/hosts to do this:
192.168.11.2 www.testurl.com
# posted by 
: 6:09 AM
: 6:09 AM
Rob,
I've come from the opposite direction, I've been a mac user and administrator for many years and have just recently acquired an TC1100 which I love. Your right, if Apple had a tablet offering I'd be all over as well.
It might be too late for this, but Microsoft just released a .pst to entourage plugin on the dowloads page here: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/
Beware ftp on the mac through the find server option (cmd-K) it is typically flaky at best. You can't go wrong with sftp and the command line though.
Just wanted to let you know also that I think this blog is great and has certainly helped give me a lot of insight into the TabletPC. Thanks!
I've come from the opposite direction, I've been a mac user and administrator for many years and have just recently acquired an TC1100 which I love. Your right, if Apple had a tablet offering I'd be all over as well.
It might be too late for this, but Microsoft just released a .pst to entourage plugin on the dowloads page here: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/
Beware ftp on the mac through the find server option (cmd-K) it is typically flaky at best. You can't go wrong with sftp and the command line though.
Just wanted to let you know also that I think this blog is great and has certainly helped give me a lot of insight into the TabletPC. Thanks!
Joe and Mike:
Thanks for your comments.
Joe: there doesn't seem to be an etc/hosts on the Macintosh. that appears to be a windows only option. I think the Macintosh stores them differently and I can't seem to locate the right way to do it.
Mike:
Glad I can help wherever possible. Thanks for the headsup on the .pst coverter. Still not too late. I have yet to import all of my old email.
The TC1100 is my favorite tablet - very Macintosh like in its design and its' the most flexible.
Thanks for your comments.
Joe: there doesn't seem to be an etc/hosts on the Macintosh. that appears to be a windows only option. I think the Macintosh stores them differently and I can't seem to locate the right way to do it.
Mike:
Glad I can help wherever possible. Thanks for the headsup on the .pst coverter. Still not too late. I have yet to import all of my old email.
The TC1100 is my favorite tablet - very Macintosh like in its design and its' the most flexible.
Hi Rob,
Sorry for not being more specific.
There is an /etc/hosts file--every Unix has it. However, Mac OS X does not seem to provide a way to get to it through the GUI (I'm a Mac neophyte though, so maybe there is a way).
From a Terminal prompt, just enter the following command:
sudo pico /etc/hosts
Make your edits, then Ctrl-X to exit (it will prompt you to save changes).
Post a Comment
Sorry for not being more specific.
There is an /etc/hosts file--every Unix has it. However, Mac OS X does not seem to provide a way to get to it through the GUI (I'm a Mac neophyte though, so maybe there is a way).
From a Terminal prompt, just enter the following command:
sudo pico /etc/hosts
Make your edits, then Ctrl-X to exit (it will prompt you to save changes).
# posted by : 10:32 PM
: 10:32 PM << Home
