Got a new Mac, now what?

[bandman444]

Ok as my Eagle Scout gift my parents got me a used macbook pro. It is from 2007 and works really well.

I am not a Mac guy, and well... frankly not a computer guy.


I live off of my limping Toshiba PC and want to walk away from it as soon as possible.

From all you Mac users (especially cross users) what do I need to know?

I have heard that I can run dual OS's (Mac is Snow Leoperd? and my regular Windows XP Pro)

I have no idea really, but I am not sure some of the program I NEED are not compatible with Macs. I use RockSim 9, Finale Printmusic, MicroSoft Suite, and a couple others. Do I have to repurchase them or can I literally copy my whole hard Drive (40gb previous 120gb now ) onto the Mac. I don't know.

Also I was told that my Macbook may get extremely hot after prolonged use and that there is a program (app?) that helps me manage that.


Any thoughts, links, help will be great.

Thanks

Bryce

 

[gdiscenza]

VMware Fusion would probably be a good investment for you. Buying a Virtual Machine product rather than using the free VirtualBox may sound wasteful, but there is one part of the VMware product that VirtualBox does not have, and that is a physical-to-virtual converter. This application can convert your current Windows XP laptop into a virtual PC in a window on your Macbook. All of your data, applications, and preferences converted in one swoop. Then you can migrate data and apps to the Mac side at your leisure.

Rocksim is available on the Mac, but I don't know if your current license can be easily transferred to the Mac, give Apogee a call and ask.

Enjoy the new toy!

G.D.

 

[Pem Tech]

What now?
You should dance a jig of unbridled joy that you have shed the shackles of Microsoft.
:marshmallow:

Yes, INtel equipped Macs will run Windows in a separate partition on your HD. The app is called BootCamp and should be listed under Applications. Which versions of Windows it will run, I am not sure. The app should have the info, or do a web search. I have considered this, but the thought of having WIndows on my Mac HD gives me cold chills., the heebie geebies and occasional gastric distress.

Apple offers its own version of Office called IWork. The groovy thing is that it will open MS Office files and save them as IWork or Office files.

Contact Tim at Apogee and ask about the Mac version of Rocksim, as long as you have a paid for version there shouldn't be an issue. When I migrated to my Mac Book he gave me a link to the Mac version and at no charge, and the same .ILF file works for both Win and OSX versions.

Not sure about copying your old HD onto the WIn partition, that is one for a more experienced Mac user. (See above post)

Yes, Macs do generate a lot of heat, be sure to allow them plenty unrestricted of air flow and you should be OK. Mine gets VERY hot but I use it on hard flat surfaces or prop it up on soft surfaces and it works fine.

Congrabulations and welcome to the fold. Say your final far-thee-well to the infamous Win Blue Screen of Death.

 

[GDJ]

1) Welcome to Macintosh. I've been a user of Apple products since 1998 and I love them!
2) Google a application (program) called smcFanControl. It's a nice small app that runs in the background and you can control your fan speeds. Very handy for using processor intensive apps that use video codecs.
3) MAc OS's are cat names, but they do have numbers. The oldest still supported is Tiger (10.4), Leopard next (10.5 to 10.5.8), then Snow Leopard (after 10.5.8) which was more of a major upgrade than a new version, and now Lion (10.6). Nearly all apps that run in the OS 10.x family can run, but watch for the older apps that ran on the Power PC processor (G3 thru G5). Almost any app that is either Universal Binary or Intel you can run. Only a very select few Power PC versions will run on a intel chipset.
4) Nowadays there is a Mac version of nearly 95% of Windows applications. Might have to do some hunting, but it's there. CNET is your buddy. I use it alot.
5) Any application that runs in Java is completely compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, Unbuntu, or any OS that can run Java. OpenRocket runs in Java, and it works well in BOTH Windows and Mac's.
6) As for your stuff on your PC HDD, some of it can be useful (music files, Video files, pictures, etc) but anything with a .exe dossification is completely utterly useless in Macs. Some other dossifications that are native to Windows will be useless as well. Won't even boot up or do anything in Mac OSX.
7) You can do a dual-boot with MAc OSX and Windows. As to what version of Windows I am uncertain, but I believe that the option to do so is on the installation discs for the Macbook. Pem Tech is correct on Bootcamp. Bootcamp is your buddy.

Welcome to Macintosh. Once you go Mac, you never go back.

 

[bjphoenix]

There is lots of stuff on the net regarding switching from Windows to Apple. There are also some forums for the Mac that will help you with answers to your questions, etc.

I've been using PC's since the beginning of PC's and Windows since Windows95. I bought a Mac a year ago for specific uses so I did some research. From my firsthand experience comparing the machines side by side I found that Windows is a more advanced and more sophisticated OS, but it does require a lot more resources to run. Of course YMMV.

 

[Peter Olivola]

At the risk of triggering another religion debate:

Tiger - 10.4.x
Leopard - 10.5.x
Snow Leopard - 10.6.x
Lion - 10.7.x

1) Welcome to Macintosh. I've been a user of Apple products since 1998 and I love them!
2) Google a application (program) called smcFanControl. It's a nice small app that runs in the background and you can control your fan speeds. Very handy for using processor intensive apps that use video codecs.
3) MAc OS's are cat names, but they do have numbers. The oldest still supported is Tiger (10.4), Leopard next (10.5 to 10.5.8), then Snow Leopard (after 10.5.8) which was more of a major upgrade than a new version, and now Lion (10.6). Nearly all apps that run in the OS 10.x family can run, but watch for the older apps that ran on the Power PC processor (G3 thru G5). Almost any app that is either Universal Binary or Intel you can run. Only a very select few Power PC versions will run on a intel chipset.
4) Nowadays there is a Mac version of nearly 95% of Windows applications. Might have to do some hunting, but it's there. CNET is your buddy. I use it alot.
5) Any application that runs in Java is completely compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, Unbuntu, or any OS that can run Java. OpenRocket runs in Java, and it works well in BOTH Windows and Mac's.
6) As for your stuff on your PC HDD, some of it can be useful (music files, Video files, pictures, etc) but anything with a .exe dossification is completely utterly useless in Macs. Some other dossifications that are native to Windows will be useless as well. Won't even boot up or do anything in Mac OSX.
7) You can do a dual-boot with MAc OSX and Windows. As to what version of Windows I am uncertain, but I believe that the option to do so is on the installation discs for the Macbook. Pem Tech is correct on Bootcamp. Bootcamp is your buddy.

Welcome to Macintosh. Once you go Mac, you never go back.

 

[BEC]

Peter has the OS versions listed correctly.

OpenOffice is available for Mac OS and can fairly easily operate on MS Office file types. It's free. I use it on both platforms.

This might help get you started: https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro/

You can use Boot Camp to install Windows in a disk partition if you must. In order to do this you need a full copy of whatever version of Windoze you want to use. If a system restore disk came with the Toshiba you have, it will likely not work. Nor will any sort of "upgrade" version.

Unless you have some specialized application for which there is no Mac OS X software, I'd suggest just going to the Mac, not using it in a dual-boot or virtual machine fashion - though for each there are pluses and minuses. My particular solution for PC-only applications (mostly data acquisition and hardware interface software for RC model airplane stuff) is a $200 refurbished Acer netbook running Windows 7 Home Premium.

Pictures, word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, browsers, Rocksim, and PerfectFlite altimeter interfacing can all be done in Mac native applications. A quick look at the Finale web site tells me that there is a Mac version of PrintMusic as well. I suggest you contact them and ask if you need to buy over or can get a Mac version for some sort of update price. If you got the software on a CD or DVD you may already have the Mac version. Some vendors do that - just put both in the box/on the disc.

My son is a gamer and he uses Windows 7 via Boot Camp on his MacBook Pro.....that's his solution .

 

[edwinshap1]

copying files from your windows OS to your mac OS will just have to be with a flash drive or something. just copy all the files you need that can be used on mac, and then leave your PC on the side for if the mac has a problem.

as far as heat issues, either keep the bottom mostly off the table/lap/whatever by using wood blocks or something to act as an air passthrough. There are some things you can attach to the bottom of the laptop, but they're kinda expensive, so unless it's a real issue, i'd just ignore it.

now as far as a program that manages it, i'm not entirely sure, but it would probably limit CPU/RAM speed to help keep the parts from heating up too much.

And this is why i don't use laptops or mac desktops, hard to modify. that being said i have a macin*cough*hackintosh

 

[gagreen]

now what?

open a 3rd story window and give it a nice toss :dark:

lol grats on the present, good luck

 

[Reinhard]

VMware Fusion would probably be a good investment for you. Buying a Virtual Machine product rather than using the free VirtualBox may sound wasteful, but there is one part of the VMware product that VirtualBox does not have, and that is a physical-to-virtual converter. This application can convert your current Windows XP laptop into a virtual PC in a window on your Macbook. All of your data, applications, and preferences converted in one swoop. Then you can migrate data and apps to the Mac side at your leisure.

If the old laptop runs an OEM version of Windows, you can't transfer the license to a VM. Windows will refuse the (re)activation after it detects the changed "hardware".

Reinhard

 

[gpoehlein]

Well, I've had Macs for quite a while (on my second MacBook Pro after a couple of iBooks - don't spill anything liquid in the keyboard - it WON'T survive, that' why I'm on my second). First, do NOT upgrade to Lion - they took support for non-Intel macs out of it and any program that was written for a non-Intel Mac won't run. You'll be fine with Snow Leopard -wish I hadn't upgraded.

As for the heat issue, the suggestions here are all good (I use the fan control program and I think it helps). If you really want to cool it down a bit mor, buy a laptop fan unit. Oh, and don't put the laptop into a carrying case while just asleep. Because the laptop can run with the lid closed (you can plug a regular monitor and keyboard into it a runit closed like a desktop), they do occasionally wake up while closed. If it is in a tight space (like a computer bag) it can get hot enough to melt some of the plastic parts. You can let it sleep when set up and not in use, but if you take it anywhere in a laptop bag or case, dona complete shutdown. It doesn't really take that long to boot anyway.

For duel operating systems, pick up a copy of Parallels or something similar - Boot Camp will require a complete wipe and reinstall of the hard drive so you can set up a Boot Drive partition. Parallels wil let you run Windows in emulation mode and should work just fine. It WON'T be just like running your windows machine so don't expect the programs to behave perfectly. It's a kludge, so expect it to run like one and you won't be disappointed.

The Mac version of Rocsim runs just fine (there are a couple if minor issues, but they are workable). Just copy over your license from the PC and link to it like you did when you first installed it on your PC. The license will work on either PC or Mac and Apogee is cool with you running multiple copies of the software on different machines you own.

The Mac version of MS Office works fine. I use it all the time. You do need a Mac version of the software, but if that is already on the machine, you're fine. If not, the home version of Office is not expensive any more. Wish I could say the same about Adobe Creative Suite, but you can get a Student version which is a heck of a lot cheaper than the full priced version and there is no difference between them.

If you haven't done so already, set up an account with iTunes - Snow Leopard also includes the App Store which uses the same account. You can use gift cards to top up your account and download all sorts of interesting games and apps for your Mac. JUST DON'T DOWNLOAD LION!!! (oh, yeah, I already said that).

 

[gdiscenza]

If the old laptop runs an OEM version of Windows, you can't transfer the license to a VM. Windows will refuse the (re)activation after it detects the changed "hardware".

Reinhard

Windows XP will reject the online activation, but the telephone activation will work just fine, as I've done it myself numerous times.

G.D.

 

[chrisudy]

Well, I've had Macs for quite a while (on my second MacBook Pro after a couple of iBooks - don't spill anything liquid in the keyboard - it WON'T survive, that' why I'm on my second). First, do NOT upgrade to Lion - they took support for non-Intel macs out of it and any program that was written for a non-Intel Mac won't run. You'll be fine with Snow Leopard -wish I hadn't upgraded.

For duel operating systems, pick up a copy of Parallels or something similar - Boot Camp will require a complete wipe and reinstall of the hard drive so you can set up a Boot Drive partition. Parallels wil let you run Windows in emulation mode and should work just fine. It WON'T be just like running your windows machine so don't expect the programs to behave perfectly. It's a kludge, so expect it to run like one and you won't be disappointed.


If you haven't done so already, set up an account with iTunes - Snow Leopard also includes the App Store which uses the same account. You can use gift cards to top up your account and download all sorts of interesting games and apps for your Mac. JUST DON'T DOWNLOAD LION!!! (oh, yeah, I already said that).

For someone that's new to Mac, PowerPC or Classic applications are not likely to be an issue, so a Lion upgrade shouldn't be a problem.

Creating a bootcamp partition (and deleting a bootcamp partition) does NOT require a wipe/reinstall - I've done it several times on several machines without a reformat.

Chris (Mac user since 1985 - original Macintosh with 128k of RAM and Motorola 68000 processor at 8 mHz)

 

[gpoehlein]

For someone that's new to Mac, PowerPC or Classic applications are not likely to be an issue, so a Lion upgrade shouldn't be a problem.

Chris (Mac user since 1985 - original Macintosh with 128k of RAM and Motorola 68000 processor at 8 mHz)

Not quite the case - there are a lot of applications out there that are written for either PowerPC or Intel - and those will not run under lion. A good example is Rocksim 8 - it may be OS-X compatible, but it won't work with Lion. That is my issue with Lion - that dual use programs (PowerPC & Intel both) won't run under Lion.

 

[chrisudy]

Not quite the case - there are a lot of applications out there that are written for either PowerPC or Intel - and those will not run under lion. A good example is Rocksim 8 - it may be OS-X compatible, but it won't work with Lion. That is my issue with Lion - that dual use programs (PowerPC & Intel both) won't run under Lion.

I agree that there are a lot of older apps out there for PowerPC - but the odds that someone *new* to the platform would have legacy PowerPC apps that they would need to run are slim. And any vendor that hasn't switched to universal or intel only binaries and is still selling PowerPC only apps should be dragged out back and shot - Apple hasn't had a PowerPC machine in over 5 years... (I think Adobe was one of the worst transitioning....)

 

[daveyfire]

Free or cheep things I use on an everyday basis, beyond the general obvious things (Safari, Preview, Mail.app):

(1) Two user accounts -- one for work, one for general use, with hot user switching between them. This lets me keep a nice Purdue Propulsion desktop image for presentations and such, and keeps things organized-er on the hard drive.
(2) Quicksilver from Blacktree -- this way, I can keep only critical/in-use icons on my dock and use QS to launch/run/script everything else. I don't know how I lived without it.
(3) TextWrangler (bbedit) and Aquamacs (emacs) for programming -- yeah, vim is included in the command line, but I like my GUI. Especially for things like PHP and MATLAB where code highlighting is so helpful.
(4) Cheetah for equilibrium calculations -- you're on your own on this one. But wow, does this get used a lot.
(5) TeXShop -- you'll thank them when you have tech reports (or papers or a thesis) to write.
(6) Learn a little UNIX (OS X uses the bash shell by default, but tcsh and a few others are in there too, if you want 'em) -- it'll make some tasks tremendously easier, and make you look really smart to professors and old computer jocks in engineering.
(7) VMWare Fusion -- to run things on the other OSes that I can't do in OS X, or in little sandboxes that I can accidentally fdisk without killing my day-to-day machine.

Learn the keyboard shortcuts and gestures for your trackpad and you'll be able to fly through the OS like it's not even there.

Screen grab anything with cmd+shift+3 (for the whole display) or cmd+shift+4 (for crosshairs to select exactly what you want to grab).

Use Time Machine, it's saved me twice.

Keep your files organized in ~/Documents and your applications in /Applications and things will stay nice and tidy for you.

Turn on the firewall and enable stealth mode in the System Preferences security pane to reduce the possibility for threats to hit your system.

I think that's about it for mission critical things. I worked at an Apple store for a year or so, and if you do these tasks, you'll be ahead of 99.7% of the people who came through the doors, so that means your computer should last a long time and run smoothly. Don't drop it, and don't spill stuff on it, those will void the warranty, but anything else and you should be covered, should something go wrong. Oh, and keep your desktop clean so you can enjoy the pretty picture you'll have there!

 

[bandman444]

I guess right now the issue is the money required to buy and reinstall the software I am already using.

A lot of the software I use had cds, I guess I will go digging for those. Oh wait the cd won't work because they are probably for windows.

I found an app last night that I can control the fan speed.


Change is good, just hard.

Bryce

 

[eggplant]

Say your final far-thee-well to the infamous Win Blue Screen of Death.

And say hello to the Kernel Panic screen.

oint:

5 year heavy windows user. Never had a virus, BSOD, or really any problem at all.

 

[Superewza]

Sell it, buy a thinkpad and use Linux?

/troll

 

[Pem Tech]

At the risk of triggering another religion debate:

Tiger - 10.4.x
Leopard - 10.5.x
Snow Leopard - 10.6.x
Lion - 10.7.x

:kill:

HERETIC!

Wait, what are we debating?

 

[Pem Tech]

And say hello to the Kernel Panic screen.

oint:

5 year heavy windows user. Never had a virus, BSOD, or really any problem at all.

Is this a real problem screen? Will my Kernels develop issues?

 

[rocket9005]

There are two big differences that I noticed that are different between Mac & windows.

1) In windows when you close a window with the red "X" button in the RIGHT corner it shuts down the program. On a Mac when you close a window with the red button on the LEFT corner it closes the window, but the program is still running. If you want to quit the program you have to quit it in its file menu.

2) to eject a CD or remove a pen or USB drive you drag it to the trash :y:, which turns into an eject button when you start dragging it.

Which version of OSX are you running ? too find it you go too the apple menu then about this mac.

If you are looking for a good book on how to run a Mac, the Missing Manuals series by David Pouge is very good. Not too techie, but very through.

 

[FastCargo]

Is this a real problem screen? Will my Kernels develop issues?

Yes, that's a real OSX kernel panic screen...

Been there, seen that, got the t-shirt. Oh, and watch for bumpy batteries...

And before any Mac users get their panties in a bunch, I use Win7, OSX, and WinXP interchangeably and find each OS has their issues.

I prefer PCs because I can get a Ferrari or a Hyundai in a laptop, whereas the only Mac laptops are Lexus. But OSX does run nice...

FC

 

[bandman444]

So must just have Leopard, because the about says 10.5.8

Keep the replies coming.

Thanks.

Bryce

 

[Superewza]

And before any Mac users get their panties in a bunch, I use Win7, OSX, and WinXP interchangeably and find each OS has their issues.

In all seriousness, you can't call yourself well travelled unless you've tried the best two

 

[cjl]

In all seriousness, you can't call yourself well travelled unless you've tried the best two

By which you mean win7 and linux of course...

 

[eggplant]

I have a *cough*hackintosh*cough* on my laptop. It is running in a virtual machine. I don't dislike OSX, but it just doesn't work for developing python and java programs, the main things I use computers for. Also, they are terrible in the gaming world, both because a $1000 mac performs worse than a $500 windows laptop, and because most games aren't released for mac. I also have some problems with Steve Jobs' hypocritical message ("Think Different" was his old slogan but now it is "If you don't have an iPhone..."). Congrats on making Eagle! I think you should use bootcamp to run your old windows programs, but OSX for anything else!

 

[Superewza]

By which you mean win7 and linux of course...

Kind of meant Linux and BSD (maybe Solaris, depending on taste), but whatever

 

[eggplant]

Is this a real problem screen? Will my Kernels develop issues?

Yes! It is the Mac equivalent of the Blue Screen of Death! I have never had a BSOD in my five years of using windows computers, but in the two years I had a new MacBook from my school, I encountered this twice. Once was just because I had too many tabs open in Google Chrome. Too many=25.

 

[Superewza]

Yes! It is the Mac equivalent of the Blue Screen of Death! I have never had a BSOD in my five years of using windows computers, but in the two years I had a new MacBook from my school, I encountered this twice. Once was just because I had too many tabs open in Google Chrome. Too many=25.

I thought the Mac BSOD was basically a spinning rainbow cursor that doesn't tell you anything useful?