Preparing for my Mac
My PowerBook is presumably on its way. My expectation is that the robustness of its hardware will be on a par with my Thinkpad X40 (well, not this particular X40 since it seems to be a lemon) but that its software will be far more robust and require less maintenance. I’ve used Macs on and off for many years, and am the reluctant sys admin for my father-in-laws Mac OS X desktop, so I expect the learning curve to be steep and that I will find it somewhat less elegant and wonderful than y’all think I should.
I’m looking for suggestions for what I need to equip my machine with. I am not looking to spend a lot of money. Also, keep in mind that my big Windows desktop machine is my primary work computer. I’ll be using the Mac for when I travel.
| I need:
Word-compatible word processor. Since the only way to get Powerpoint is to get it with Word (I believe), I’ll probably be using Word. Graphics program. Vector and raster editing. I use Paintshop Pro 9 on the PC. I’m not a power user, but I do need to edit images, use some special effects, etc. HTML editor. I use DreamWeaver on the PC. It’s got lots more than I need, although I like that. Email client. I expect I’ll either use the one that comes with it or Thunderbird. Browser. I’m very fond of Firefox on the PC. I would like: Programming environment. Don’t throw dead cats at me, but I’m an amateur Visual Basic programmer. I enjoy it. I was a marginally ok amateur C programmer, and once wrote a book on Lisp for beginners (very very beginners), but I crapped out at C++ and Java. Too abstract for me. I like languages that make it easy to create forms/UIs. Any suggestions? Maybe I’ll try Squeak again. Emulator software? Too much of my work environment is stuff I’ve written in VB. E.g., my blog editing software. Any recommendations about emulators that might possibly run that stuff? Fun: Games. Something to play on an airplane. Free would be good. Music editor. Anything minimal around that will let me paint notes on staves and play back the cacophony? Hardware: What do you recommend as essential add-ons? Utilities and misc.: IRC. I’ve been using Hydra. Chatzilla is ok, though. Skype. The one and only. IM. I use AOL’s. Do I like it? Not particularly. Text editor. I primarily use TextPad. I’d be ok with any other non-wimpy text editor. Heck, I’d even consider returning to emacs. I hear it’s still In. What do I not know enough to know I need? Sites.: What are the essential sites? For downloading software? For advice? For making fun of those poor, loser m$sft Windoze users? |
Jeez, this list is getting expensive. I just remembered another reason I’ve resisted geting a Mac.
Thanks for whatever advice you can give me. [Later: I added some stuff after reading Bryan Strawser’s list of essentials. [Tags: mac macintosh apple]
