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lost eden

Gawd
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My venerable ThinkPad T20's 'intermittent' screen problem unfortunately became a 'permanent' screen problem, in that the backlights won't turn on at all. I'd already replaced the panel, backlights, inverter & screen cable, & thought that rather than proceeding on to replacing the motherboard, that I would leave it & buy a new laptop. Of course I will repair it later on in life, as it shall live on!

Now I wanted a brand new laptop, with a warranty, so I looked at the prices of new T series ThinkPads & really couldn't afford one. My friend said that I should look at a MacBook because of Apple's student discounts for university students. Although I'm not particularily a Mac fan (both in terms of hardware & software) I really couldn't pass up the offer of a C2D laptop with a gig of RAM & a 3-year warranty for £759. Plus if I bought a new ThinkPad I would have to pay for a pre-installed copy of Windows, whilst I run Linux on my T20 - so I would be paying for a copy of XP that I would immediately throw away! So MacBook it was.

It shipped yesterday, so hopefully should be with me soon. Now the only experience that I have EVER had with Macs was a week I spent in a Mac shop in France repairing the things. And even then I mostly handled hardware, with the only software interaction being 'menu pomme' (apple menu) -> 'telecharger mises a jour' (download updates). So I'm looking for recommendations of things that I need, things like essential software & applications, etc. I've already got a list of things I need, that I hope you can help me with!

web browser - Opera
MSN client - ?
IRC client - ?
AIM client - ?
text editor - I've heard of 'textmate'?
Java SDK - Eclipse
console program - is the default one good?
media player - mplayer, xine, vlc?
temperature monitor - ?
Palm desktop - official version?
backup utility - can I use a bootable Acronis True Image disk?
security - software firewall, kernel hardening?
photoshop 7 - can I use the disk I used to install on Windows?
FTP client - ?
X11 - ?
office - OpenOffice or NeoOffice?
virtual machine - I intend to trial Parallels, any free alternative?

Many thanks guys!
 
lost eden said:
*snip*
web browser - Opera
MSN client - ?
IRC client - ?
AIM client - ?
text editor - I've heard of 'textmate'?
Java SDK - Eclipse
console program - is the default one good?
media player - mplayer, xine, vlc?
temperature monitor - ?
Palm desktop - official version?
backup utility - can I use a bootable Acronis True Image disk?
security - software firewall, kernel hardening?
photoshop 7 - can I use the disk I used to install on Windows?
FTP client - ?
X11 - ?
office - OpenOffice or NeoOffice?
virtual machine - I intend to trial Parallels, any free alternative?

Many thanks guys!
Click to expand...

1. Web Browser - Check out Camino as well, it's a very good browser, but Safari fits the bill just fine for me (the stock Apple browser)

2. IM client - Adiumx.com's Adium just hit v1.0 and is by far the best and most used IM client, it does AIM/MSN/Yahoo/everything.

3. I use Colloquy which is free and good.

4. See #2. Adium 1.0 is the shit, amazing.

5. TextMate is a very good one yes that I use, but there are quite a few free ones too, and the stock Apple TextEdit isn't *bad* it just doesn't have the big feature set that some of the others do. TextWrangler is also popular but I have no used it, so go ahead and check it out if you want to.

6. Don't know about this one; XCode, Apple's full featured development IDE is free from developer.apple.com; it's the visual studio of Apple and it's great, and comes with Java.

7. The default one is a unix Terminal and is great, what more do you need?

8. I use VLC mostly, but also check for codecs for Quicktime which you can get a few places, if you search for "Codec Pack For All the new Mac Users" in google you get like the best one and my favorite and current one.

9. Temperature monitor, check out "SMCFanControl" which is free and also allows you to change fan speeds and fan speed defaults and it can show you the temperature in the top bar.

10. No idea about palm stuff

11. You should use a free one like Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC), or SuperDuper! both of which are good, I prefer SuperDuper and I like it's updating feature to the backups.

12. The OS X firewall is good enough, and I have ClamxAV which is a free Anti-virus utility.

13. Photoshop ships in two different versions, a Mac and Windows version. Photoshop CS2 is PPC only and runs emulated on Intel-based Macs; while CS3 is in Beta and is a Universal Binary which runs natively on Intel Macs; you could try The GIMP in X11.

14. Cyberduck is a great free one that I use.

15. X11 is provided in the OS X install DVD, if you put it in and choose to install additional software, you can install it and then it will update via Software Update.

16. NeoOffice is the Mac native version of OpenOffice which is easier to set up, and just as good, so just use it.

17. Parallels is the best in my opinion, but VMWare Fusion is in beta and is free and has expertimental 3d support (DX 8.1 only), and support for dual-core CPU's; I find it's CPU usage is a lot more though, and it's featureset other than the two mentioned above is very lax compared to Parallels. I use Parallels daily.


Also be aware that OS X installs like 3GB of Languages and Printer Drivers that you probably don't want or need by default, so when you get your MacBook you might want to boot into the install DVD and install only what you want.

Also check out "Monolingual" which is software to remove the extra languages from the software you download if you don't need them.

Also there is XSlimmer which will remove the PPC portions of Universal Binary (UB) applications and will save you lots of space, there is a free piece of software that kinda does the same thing but I don't think it works nearly as well and XSlimmer is worth the price.

Any other questions?
 
For command line interfacing, Visor!is where it's at. Quake-style console, in OS X. Awesome. You can even put your own animated Quartz Animation backgrounds in it (though I don't see why you'd want to).
 
Black Morty Rackham said:
For command line interfacing, Visor!is where it's at. Quake-style console, in OS X. Awesome. You can even put your own animated Quartz Animation backgrounds in it (though I don't see why you'd want to).
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I've got Visor installed with SIMBL as well, but I don't have terminal open enough to use it, so I just use normal terminal.
 
Well the machine finally turned up yesterday, & I must say that from first impressions I am quite impressed. It's gonna take a bit of getting used to & there's plenty of stuff I don't like, but I think it's going to grow on me.

I've installed most things I need, but there's one question I've got;

Why have I used up over 20GB of drive space just for the software in the list above? When I first got the machine there was over 13.5GB of drive used, which seems rather excessive for just the OS & a few necessary apps... So what can I remove, & more importantly, how?
 
You can remove all the other languages you don't need that get installed by default with MonoLingual. Most people say they save a couple of gigs from that alone.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/7758

Another space hog I've found is all the printer drivers installed by default; there's like over 1 GB of them. Not sure how you dump them outside of de-selecting them via a format/reinstall, but I'm sure there's a utility out there.
 
Optional87 said:
Also be aware that OS X installs like 3GB of Languages and Printer Drivers that you probably don't want or need by default, so when you get your MacBook you might want to boot into the install DVD and install only what you want.

Also check out "Monolingual" which is software to remove the extra languages from the software you download if you don't need them.

Any other questions?
Click to expand...

Totally didn't read your reply before I made mine. :eek:
 
Just saved 1.9GB by removing all the languages apart from English, French & Japanese (the only ones I need). I don't need any printer drivers because my laser sits on the network, but I'm not going to try & delete them manually, so if anybody knows of a tool to get rid of them, I'd love to see it.

On another note, I'm having trouble installing Visor - I installed SIMBL (I *think*) but the instructions then say to copy Visor into one of the SIMBL folders, but it hadn't been created... So I made it myself & copied it in, but it didn't seem to come to fruition...
 
lost eden said:
so if anybody knows of a tool to get rid of them, I'd love to see it.
Click to expand...
I could write you a script that deletes them when I get home.



lost eden said:
On another note, I'm having trouble installing Visor - I installed SIMBL (I *think*) but the instructions then say to copy Visor into one of the SIMBL folders, but it hadn't been created... So I made it myself & copied it in, but it didn't seem to come to fruition...
Click to expand...
Remember that you need to have the Terminal up & running for it to work, and that you need to quit it & restart after installing.
 
Ah, I didn't have the terminal actually open when I did it, I'll give that another go in a bit.

I just hooked the audio output socket to my MD recorder with a mini-TOSLINK cable & it works like a dream :) Both my Windows & Linux desktops have full-size TOSLINK outputs, but I've never managed to get them to work, so this is handy!

I actually had to plug into a friend's inkjet printer earlier today, so I think I might actually keep the printer drivers, but thanks for the offer.

I've been told that Garageband takes up quite a bit of space & I'll probably remove that (once I have a look at it & work out what it actually does!) & this may seem like a stupid question, but how do I actualy uninstall programs? Can I just drag their icon from the Applications folder in Finder & into the Trash can on the dock, or will this just delete the icon?
 
lost eden said:
Can I just drag their icon from the Applications folder in Finder & into the Trash can on the dock, or will this just delete the icon?
Click to expand...

Yep, you sure can. That's one of the great things about OSX, it's simplicity. Now, depending on the program, there might be residual preference files and such, but 99% of the time they're tiny to the point of being insignificant, and 100% of the time they won't have any effect on the system other than taking up space. It's not like windows where there are settings left behind embedded in the system and registry etc (not windows bashing, love it in fact, use it every day, this is just a fact).

On another note, i highly suggest Quicksilver (http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/). It's a great little productivity app that I could never live without
 
I couldn't really care how much you bash Windows, I'm primarily a Linux user - I only use Windows for gaming & Photoshop (& for when I want more desktop real estate, seeming as my 2000 pro workstation is a dual monitor affair). I have to say that I prefer the 'package manager' approach that Linux uses for handling installation/uninstallation of programs, but dragging to the trash is still a lot better than Windows' habit of leaving bits floating around all over the disk & registry.

I've heard lot's of people recommend Quicksilver, but I haven't actually looked into it yet - I don't even know what it is/does! It's going on my list of things to try out though.
 
lost eden said:
I've been told that Garageband takes up quite a bit of space
Click to expand...
Technically, GarageBand doesn't use all that much space. However, it ships with like 2 gigabytes of loops and stuff.

If you want to save hard drive space, I recomend using OmniDiskSweeper. It helps you sort out the stuff that uses a lot of space. Well worth the ~pizza it costs.


I've heard lot's of people recommend Quicksilver, but I haven't actually looked into it yet - I don't even know what it is/does! It's going on my list of things to try out though.
Click to expand...
The short answer is that Quicksilver is an application launcher, but it does a lot more than that.
 
Will deleting GarageBand also delete the loops?

Another thing that I've just thought of - I bought a 50 pack of DVD-Rs that my external USB DVD+/-RW drive claimed as 'unsupported media' when I tried to write images to them with the drive plugged into a Windows machine, so can anybody recommend me two free applications for Mac;

1.) DVD ripper along the lines of DVD Shrink - I want to just insert the disk, press a button & get a 4.7GB image, retaining menus et al. I've seen lots of recommendations around for commercial software, but no free ones

2.) CD/DVD burning software that will support an external DVD drive

Edit: I can't seem to get Visor to work either - as a matter of fact I can't even seem to be able to install SIMBL properly - none of the folders that SIMBL says that it installs to seem to have been created, nor the folders that it checks for things like Visor when it starts. I can't seem to find a guide online either.

Edot 2: Is there some reason that I can't maximise Finder?
 
Here's what I use. I'm new to Mac too. :) 1 month old Mac owner.

web browser - FireFox
MSN client - AudiumX
IRC client - Snak
AIM client - AudiumX
text editor - built into OS X "TextEdit"
Java SDK - Eclipse
console program - Terminal with xcode
media player - QuickTime player with this codec pack(http://blog.twenty08.com/2006/12/27/codec-pack-for-all-the-new-mac-users/)
temperature monitor - I don't use.
Palm desktop - i don't use
backup utility - can I use a bootable Acronis True Image disk? -- not sure, though I heard SuperDuper! is good
security - software firewall, kernel hardening? -- I'm curious myself
photoshop 7 - can I use the disk I used to install on Windows? -- No I believe they come on separate release.
FTP client - Transmit
X11 - ?
office - MS Office 2004
virtual machine - Bootcamp

EDIT: Oh gee, this thread was old. xD I didn't check the date and assumed it's a new thread.
 
I recommend TextMate, it's a very nice piece of software, and for IM, get Adium for sure. I love it. I would recommend Firefox for a browser as well, I love it. Try OpenOffice for sure before you buy Office, as OpenOffice is very nice as well. And, VLC has to be the best software ever. And I mean it, I love it totally. And one more thing, isn't Palm Desktop available officially for Mac?
 
EDIT: Oh gee, this thread was old. xD I didn't check the date and assumed it's a new thread.
Click to expand...
Well I was the one who resurrected it, so don't worry!

I would recommend Firefox for a browser as well, I love it.
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I've been an Opera user since version 6 - once you've chosen on it you'll never change, though the decision between Opera & Firefox is really just personal preference (well okay Firefox isn't standards compliant whilst Opera is, but hey).

Try OpenOffice for sure before you buy Office, as OpenOffice is very nice as well
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I've never bought a copy of Microsoft Office in my entire life, I've always used OpenOffice, StarOffice, AbiWord, Word Perfect in the really old days, & now in Mac I'm using NeoOffice.

And, VLC has to be the best software ever. And I mean it, I love it totally
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I've actually just been having some serious issues with VLC trying to watch a DVD, though I think the disk is a bit dodgy as it crashed out on my Linux media machine too. Interestingly, the built-in OSX DVD player cuts off the bottom third of the image - I'm hoping that's just with this disk, otherwise that's one seriously poor piece of software!

EDIT: another question

Do the power settings (normal, better performance, better battery life) change anything other than the times it takes for the display then computer falls asleep? I mean does is the CPU scaled down slower when I choose better battery life than if I chose better performance, or is it solely the sleep times?
 
lost eden said:
Do the power settings (normal, better performance, better battery life) change anything other than the times it takes for the display then computer falls asleep? I mean does is the CPU scaled down slower when I choose better battery life than if I chose better performance, or is it solely the sleep times?
Click to expand...
"Normal" enables CPU downclocking when idle, I think. "Better battery life" clocks down the CPU to like half. "Better performance" sticks it at the stock frequency.



And if VLC is the best software ever, I'm very depressed. It's decent enough, I guess, but it has so many unresolved bugs and issues that have been around for ages.
 
That's quite irritating, because it means that if I choose 'custom' & set my own display & machine sleep times, I don't have any control over the CPU speed so I might be running at full speed whilst on batteries.... In three completely different operating systems I still have yet to find a simple. effective power control dialogue.
 
lost eden said:
Just saved 1.9GB by removing all the languages apart from English, French & Japanese (the only ones I need). I don't need any printer drivers because my laser sits on the network, but I'm not going to try & delete them manually, so if anybody knows of a tool to get rid of them, I'd love to see it.

On another note, I'm having trouble installing Visor - I installed SIMBL (I *think*) but the instructions then say to copy Visor into one of the SIMBL folders, but it hadn't been created... So I made it myself & copied it in, but it didn't seem to come to fruition...
Click to expand...

Removing all the printer pieces is a very bad idea. Even though your printer sits on the network, your local Mac still needs the appropriate description file so it knows about handy things like PostScript and installable options (trays, RAM, etc). Remove what you don't need, but don't remove them all. For example, there's ~1GB of Epson printer bits. If you're convinced you'll never print to an Epson printer, then go ahead and chuck them. However, keep in mind that if you ever need to later print to an Epson printer, the driver may not be available on their web site. They'll tell you to use the driver that came with OSX - and you had deleted.
 
Toshiba actually has a very detailed battery / power software system.
Click to expand...
Toshiba isn't an OS, I can't use that piece of software on any IBM-compatible laptop I want, therefore it fails my criteria.

Removing all the printer pieces is a very bad idea.
Click to expand...
I've already said I'd decided to keep them, because I coincidentally had to use a friend's printer & realised how useful they might be in the future!

But I can't for the life of me install SIMBL so that I can run Visor. I run the SMBL installer package that claims that it will install itself to /Library/InputManagers however after the installation claims to have successfully completed, that folder doesn't exist, even if I do ls -a on the console. I'm meant to put Visor in another of the folders that the SIMBL installation creates, but it hasn't created that folder either. Good installer.
 
lost eden said:
Toshiba isn't an OS, I can't use that piece of software on any IBM-compatible laptop I want, therefore it fails my criteria.


I've already said I'd decided to keep them, because I coincidentally had to use a friend's printer & realised how useful they might be in the future!

But I can't for the life of me install SIMBL so that I can run Visor. I run the SMBL installer package that claims that it will install itself to /Library/InputManagers however after the installation claims to have successfully completed, that folder doesn't exist, even if I do ls -a on the console. I'm meant to put Visor in another of the folders that the SIMBL installation creates, but it hasn't created that folder either. Good installer.
Click to expand...

What happens if you create the InputManagers folder before trying the install?
 
Got it working - I had to create it's foler & the plugins folder before I installed it. Just got to choose a key for it now... & a nice background for it too...

- Anybody know how to get the animated backgrounds working?
 
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