Oats and Iron (Using a Mac: Perspective of a New User)

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Notes Using a Mac: Perspective of a New User
- Windows key = your Apple key. LOL. Sorta.
- Integrated screen shots are nice, native PNG output to the desktop.
- Being able to easily sign documents into the native Preview app = SO HELPFUL! Saved me hours of time already this year.
- I love this program CloudApp that lets me easily take screenshots and have a URL for sharing them. Like this http://cl.ly/0N0K2Q1Q421t3C3y3005
- I can run this laptop to overdrive if I am doing a Skype video call, dual monitors, Chrome, and Photoshop open. FAN ON FULL BLAST. Otherwise it is very fast, quiet, etc.
- I got the 13” MacBook Air but 80% of my tech-savvy friends have the 11”. In hindsight, I may have gotten that 11” isntead. 95% of the time I use it, the MacBook is closed on my desk, ghetto-docked to a USB keyboard, USB mouse, external LCD and speakers. Once on an AirTran flight I could not even open my laptop due to space limitations.
- So much of my work is “in the cloud” now // spend all day in Google Chrome. That is largely desktop agnostic. Just saying.
- Integrated iSight camera works really well.
- New style scrolling is interesting. (up VS down) I like the touchpad.
Things I’m Not Happy With
- How do I show the desktop? With a simple, consistent keyboard command? (command F3 does NOT work on my Microsoft Natural USB external kb) Minimize or hide all windows and drop me to Finder and my pure desktop. (thanks for the replies on this one)
- The way that downloaded files are handled. Hard to explain.
- File searching. Why does it always search the file contents? Just search the file name.
- APPLE KEY - TAB’ing between apps, if I have the Touchpad open it takes MouseOver instead of only listening to my keyboard commands. Results in awkward app switching sometimes.
- Some of my more complicated Excel Macros don’t fully work between PC and Mac.
Overall
- Yes it’s cool, glad I know how to use a Mac now. I will keep using it. Happy with the purchase.
- Lack of bloatware on the standard install was really impressive. Fast OS.
- Hardware-wise, it’s amazingly small. Very luxury. Proud to use it in business meetings. I even have a plastic shell case on my MacBook Air and it’s still really thin.
Sorry those are not organized thoughts, just little things for now. I’ll update this post as I find others. Also I have not had the need to dual-boot, which is pretty cool.

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psql said: +1 Peter Nick, you should try out Alfred, the keystroke app and command launcher. It’ll speed you up!
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andrewice said: You can show the desktop by hitting command F3…
petervidani said: To get to my desktop quickly, I’ve assigned the top right corner of my screen as a “hot corner” via exposé. I use it all the time. You can also assign these to an F button.
oats posted this

You are reading my semi-secret blog, Oats and Iron. I originally started this in 2007 to rant about diet and weights and travels. These days I mostly share pictures of my life, my friends, and media I enjoy. Ask Me Anything or Message me on Facebook to say hello.