ok let the truth be out - thanks to Nianne being my partner in crime, i bought a macbook and no surprise...its got me up til the wee hours of the morning just checkin it out!
initial impressions
Mac OS X Leopard comments folded in...
- what happened to the indicator (up arrow) that showed you which of your dock applications are active?
- answer: it is subtle... Custom Dock Active Icons
- UPDATE: because vertical space is quite precious, I find the dock on the left more practical. Bonus also being the active icons are quite clear without having to make any changes to your system
- new Finder with "SEARCH FOR" by time is awesome - i can see easy access to recent applications this way!
- can't wait to use my Apple Remote...
- WiFi at City Residence needs a WEP key...
- UPDATE: turns out network admin needs to add MAC (Media Access Control) address for any new device authorized to use the network
- Downloads stack is a good idea - for some reason, Time Out dmg got extracted into a folder (Safari?)
- note: need to configure Firefox to download to ~/Downloads
- Safari is fast! I'm sure it is a combo of the CPU, app, and new OS - but I am really pleased with the new speed of Google Mail - archiving an item doesn't take forever like it does on my mini!
- looking for iChat AV buddies!
- didn't know the DVI connector on this machine is a *mini* DVI connector - cable to connect to VGA monitor costs US$19 (dunno what it costs here - this would have been a great freebie..)
- adaptor costs approx 50% more in Thailand (~1000 baht)
- VGA is noticeably fuzzier than DVI coming from my mini... (now on the market for a switching device for my keyboard, DVI output, and optionally speakers)
- Photo Booth is a great app - i can already see playing with this one for hours with Mayumi!
- nice to discover ergonomics is a common thread amongst mac enthusiasts - to see that the software to introduce breaks into my computing on the mac is free unlike on Windows!
- yeay - tabs on Safari - heaven!
- subtle animation moving tabs around is one of those signature Apple perks...
- no doubt a lap heater!
- I love the double finger scroll!
- it will take some time to get used to ctrl-clicking (perhaps a reason to use an external mouse)
- nice - there is an option to put 2 fingers on trackpad and click! (configure in Pref Pane)
- external keyboard is already feeling a need...
- doh - iMovie crashed and won't run!
- UPDATE: works after Software Update (?addresses stability issues...?)
- magsafe looks like the real deal!
- push button battery indicator is ingenious (pays to read the manual...)
- the remote and power adaptor (and cables) are not black! a black remote would be very cool...
- essentially paying 7490 baht for +40GB and matte black finish!
- happy to have Thai on my keyboard ชิน :)
- Spotlight rocks! Top Hit has nailed the application I am looking for everytime! toss QuickSilver out the door!
- wow - my Mission Control vivid display loads in Firefox screamingly fast - nice! (and this is even thinking the wifi connection is a bit slow!)
- Front Row is pretty sweet - v2.0 seems much improved over the hacked version i saw 2 years ago...
- remote doesnt seem consistent with iPod dial interface (honestly think they should have made it this way given their strategy to move iPod users to macs!)
- built-in keyboard didnt respond to keystrokes after being idle (dont know if it slept - if so, was able to type my password)
- (err having wierd keyboard problems on both my mini & macbook - this is no isolated appararently! maybe a signal to get out of my cave and have lunch and be with people face-to-face :D
- workaround was to plug in my external keyboard...alternative would be to shut it down!
- iMovie 08 looks great but doesnt import iMovie HD projects wholely (missing audio, missing transitions & text)
- clearly an opportunity to create Dance Labs video from nothing - all expressions of what we do all over the world!
- tried to plug in external mic-headset. I cannot get mic input to work on line in.
- My assumption is it is not a mic-level line input. correct: Line in Microphone not working with Headset on Apple [Support] Discussions
- workaround is to use internal mic which for all practical purposes is excellent in sound quality (even without ambient noise reduction in the Sound preference pane!)
- It will be necessary to keep my iMic (ie. cant give it away with my mini) to continue to use my mic headset (esp when I want to lie down and dont intend to have my macbook beside me!)
- UPDATE: just tried my classic "single earbud" mic headset over echo123 while in Tokyo just now and it works!!!
- Apple remote wakes up computer
- DVD Player
- Dance Chalat (v4) DVD main menu stuttered - not sure if it is the media, drive, os, or player - does concern me...
- iDVD rant (may be fixed in `08 version) - cannot use remote to flip through pictures (it is rendered as a movie) (think professional DVD with photo galleries)
- being able to split displays between my LCD and external monitor is pretty cool!
- had no idea you could rearrange the spatial relationship of displays and also choose which screen `owns` the menu bar (which includes the dock, desktops icons)
- bought a mini-DVI to VGA converter and had no idea there would be that huge of a difference in sharpness - i kinda regret buying it now! but in any case, it is easy to dock my macbook and will be able to present while at clients...
- notice there is a difference in how apps like Google Calendar show up on my external LCD (via mav mini DVI) and my macbook LCD - i actually like vibrance of my external! how to mimic?
- my cousin was used to clicking by tapping the touchpad and just found an option in the Mouse Preference pane to enable this to work - yeay!
- not able to browse iPhoto Library for picture when choosing a picture for my account. workaround was to manually inspect the pkg and drag the picture out to my desktop so I may select it...
- wow - Alex voice sounds pretty damn good! some of the Novelty voices are pretty funny... :D
- speech recognition is really good - got it to tell me the date & time and work with simple finder actions. I want it to `tell me a joke` god dammit!
- Disk Utility has been enhanced to perform non-destructive repartitioning (like Partition Magic of my windoze days!)
- works with external Maxtor firewire drive - sweet! (created a 10GB Time Machine partition for /Users only - first backup ~500MB)
- System exclude behavior on Time Machine a bit funky. total excludes:
- System [option to include `Files and Applications`]
- Library (per your comment)
- Applications (apparently not `system` related...)
- usr (i suppose backing up /usr/local makes sense - any insight here to add?)
- private (system config?)
- FUTURE: Developer
- how does Time Machine deal with automated backups when backup volume is not mounted?
- ANSWER: it just resumes backup when you connect it (duh) - what you wont get are revisions of files if you changed it 3 times while out n about
- Dock items have a new `Open at Login` contextual menu item - nice.
- Apple Remote controls presentations in Keynote - very foresightful!
- Q: did iPhoto 08 organize my events by rolls or did it actually try to merge rolls?
ongoing impressions
- wanted to send the picture I have of Mayumi over new year's eve from a Sharp mobile phone and bluetooth pairing didn't go as smoothly as I thought it would! in fact, MacSOX thinks they are paired when in fact, the mobile phone reported "profile unsupported" (i think)
- Mail.app seems to trip up using Google Mail's new IMAP connection - esp saving Notes and ToDos - it didn't exactly work as expected - in fact, using the mail server to store this stuff is an interesting proposition - i think they have a hell of a lot more to do to get this ironed out - it feels "beta" at best!
- works great in tokyo - just miss my desk!
- notice when u connect headphones - it is nice there is a different volume level (you can mute main speakers and when u plug in headphones - they will work right away instead of having to turn them up)
- what is a bit of an annoyance (maybe s/w related) is I don't see any way to have my voice audio go to my headphone and the ringer to go to the built-in external speakers on the laptop itself (ie. on Windows, ringer goes to "PC Speaker")
- pleased call quality to Bangkok mobile is excellent from Japan - helps to be on a 16Mbit connection!
- Skype video chat - works great!
- connect my external firewire drive (rumor has it I can't boot off the partition created by my PPC mac mini)
- I love being able to plug my firewire external in and it backs up automagically - good work Apple!
- NOTE: this is not version control - it does an incremental backup since u last plugged it in!
- NOTE: Time Capsule in my future - 1TB of backup for only $399 with integrated WiFi basestation - nice!
- setup Time Machine
- this would be beautiful to get working just for my Documents folder (thanks John for the idea!)
- I need to clean up my external and create room to backup my macbook - I am still unclear if I choose a partition with data already on it, if it will overwrite existing data or not.
- decide how I want to use my 160GB HDD
- UPDATE: partitioned system to be 40GB (just like mini)
- partitioning your drive unfortunately makes Boot Camp Assistant freak out - it won't let me install Windows now :/ an excuse to install Leopard from scratch anyways....
- WORKAROUND: use Disk Utility to delete Windows partition. move all data off non-system partitions back onto your system partition (use an external drive in the event your system partition is too small (like mine was!) and manually get back to one System partition. Boot Camp Assistant should work fine at this point.
- sync with iPhone - iPhone & iLife we a match made in heaven!
- Safari
- Safari 3.1 is turning out to be an excellent browser
- impressed with speed and is winning out in favor of Firefox-based browser (even pimped up Flock)
- PDFs opening up inside the browser is ingenious - it really works and save a lot of steps and clicks not to mention time!
- it really works when PDF continues to be the only file standard that is standard across all platforms!!!
- http://www.arf-asia.org/amana amana : Joomla template still doesn't open up properly - not standard CSS?
- tab behaviour is quite different from Firefox
- windows open up externally (opposed to current window) quite often.
- I miss "recently closed tabs" and being able to restore a tab I realize I didn't want to close
- bookmark behaviour is quite different - no Web 2.0 integration (outside of .mac - the Apple way) and it does sync with my iPhone
- session restoration works poorly compared to Firefox.
- doesn't seem to get slower over time (due to memory leaks!)
- GRIPE: external speakers are not very loud (you really can't crank up the volume for music)
- when you open the lid and wake up on sleep, the login dialog sometimes times out. For some reason, pressing a key doesn't bring it back! workaround: you need to close and open the lid
learnings
- secure laptop - separate Admin user with password, non-admin user, password on wake up
- NOTE: block incoming ports before plugging into Internet
- counter-debate while discussing http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=100329&st=20#|Skype can launch only once if firewall in Leopard is enabled]].
- unless you've enabled a bunch of stuff in the Sharing preferences and created users with easy-to-guess passwords, there's really not much need for the firewall in the first place
- Safari is far from ideal at the moment...
- formatting text in gmail doesnt seem to work correctly on Safari... ho-hum...
- creating events on Google Calendar is an iffy proposition...
- Google Docs not supported on Safari [although there is a view-only iPhone interface so there is hope!]
- UPDATE: appears to support Safari 3.x now...
- after converting my iPhoto 5 library to iPhoto 7 (`08) - I found iPhoto 5 orphaned a hell of a lot of files! approx 783 of em!
- 576812 Modified
- 2602388 Originals
- 1945572 Orphaned.iPhoto5
- there is fairly significant battery drain while sleeping!
- confirmation and some tips
- I personally experienced about 20-25% in 12 hrs on the evening of Jan 28th
- "There's more to just RAM that affects battery drain, including ambient temperature and battery condition. 3% in an hour doesn't sound that bad. What happens if you let it sleep longer?"
- Q: does keeping my macbook constantly plugged in while it is "docked" any danger to my battery - esp since the adaptor seems to know when it is already "full" (green light on MagSafe plug)
- Boot Camp (dual-boot)
- partitioning your main drive kills the assistant - doh!
- 5GB is not enough for the power user like me - WinXP SP2c install defaults to nearly 4GB!
- overall it works - quite pleased with Second Life on Intel 945 chipset ;-)
- iChat AV
- video quality reportedly higher between two nodes in the states (hypothesis: more bandwidth)
- personal experience is Skype has better video quality between Thailand & the states (hypothesis: P2P optimizes network traffic between multiple nodes)
- there is no way to assess the quality of a document you present over iChat Theater before you share it with a "client" - you have to wait for them to saw "I can't read shit!"
- nice feature to share an iPhoto album and be able to talk to it - great concept!
- LOOOOOOOVE the effects! you are able to change your shitty apt background and really just play with video conferencing - life is about fun u know!
- iCal - sync with Google Calendar
troubleshoot
- Dashboard widgets....
- my first web clip - demo iPhone interface as a dashboard widget failed miserably - it won't login after pushing login a zillion times!
in progress
- Parallels Desktop (simultaneous windows)
- eval copy of Microsoft Office - Outlook with Netcentrics GTD plug-in
- demand for this increasing to effectively take out the unknowns in my configuration. accept laying down Outlook bricks with the end in mind?
- uses my Boot Camp install out of the box - yeay!
- Coherence is great but it doesn't let me move windows between my beloved two-LCD setup (doh!)
- Second Life didn't work :/
- TODO: find option to disallow access to Macintosh drives from Parallels
- Mind Manager
- Mac version isn't as bad as I thought it was - still feel like the Windows version feels better - have to wait and see now that I have a WinXP install up!
- of course, I had to discover http://www.mind42.com in the process!
- Time Out
- havent seen this work yet! seems like a dud...
suspended
- accessing shared printer on my mac mini
- accessing and controlling my desktop remotely
- Mail.app
- really doesn't work so hot with gmail IMAP unfortunately (good news is gmail IMAP works great on my iPhone!)
to try
- iChat AV
- 4-way chat!
- Share Desktop (resolution-dependent?)
- remote desktop (both directions) (use built-in s/w if possible)
- reinstall Leopard when original disc arrives (for now live on web the best of my ability)
- finally got my Leopard upgrade (read: not install) DVD in the mail
- iLife 08
- create my first podcast... using Garage Band
- help Mayumi create a simple web site using iWeb
- .mac 60-day trial - sync bookmarks, dock, ...
- eval iWork 08
- Numbers - forecast spending trends
- Pages - open complex Word doc (Malaria paper, BBL proposal...)
- Keynote - Albert makes it look pretty sweet!
duds
- gSync
- WARNING: deleted my calendar online! thank god I had a basic.ics file...
data
- Safari bookmarks (~/Library/Safari/bookmarks.plist)
- downloads (~/Downloads) (and /+Downloads)
- Software Updates (no big deal)
- iChat chat history
- is any history kept? can`t find any...
- configurations (Preference Panes)
- bluetooth (off)
- airport (city_fl4)
- date & time (flash, show day)
- Expose & Spaces (turn on Spaces)
- Time Machine (excludes - see above)
- Dock (left)
- Spotlight (exclude index Clone)
- Energy Saver (high perf plugged in)
- Display (BenQ GP71G+S)
- Security (per app for incoming connections)
- Keyboard & Mouse (trackpad behaviour)
- Photo Booth photos (~/Pictures)
- media
- iPhoto library (last 4 months backed up to DVD-RW)
- iTunes library (purchases based up to DVD-RW - ripped music I own on CD-R)
see also Data Sources in
Home Office
apps
- Second Life
- Firefox (2.0.0.10)
- add-on: Foxmarks
- add-on: Distrust
- Skype
- (Plaxo) - sync with Address Book
- overall - great!
- does not preserve: relationship meta-data (friend, spouse), pictures, and home page
- be awesome to sync pictures from iPhone to central server
- Microsoft Messenger - Mayumi put this here....
- NeoOffice - already on laptop - comes in handy every so often
- Parallels Desktop - My Boot Camp shortcut on desktop - able to use existing Boot Camp partition - very nice!
- Joost - replacement for cable - really!
- GCalDaemon - keeps Google Calendar in sync with iCal (set aside iPhone/iCal sync issue gripe!)
- Lingon - very nice launchd GUI!
Articles
- Apple Updates Macbooks to Santa Rosa GMA X3100 - had to happen - literally as we were buying our macbooks, these were being released! 4GB max is nice, slightly faster CPU, and hear the integrated graphics may make a big difference. other possible improvements is on battery life as power-consumption features are integrated into the chipset...
feature requests
now - Apple is in the business of
integrating the hardware
and software experience - it is debatable whether any of these should specifically be on the
Mac OS X component side of things...
- Hibernation mode (see 3%/hr battery drain while sleeping note above)
defects
- Mac OS X won't restart or shutdown. It seems to get stuck somewhere. Most frustrating when there are no error messages!
Why
use cases
- serious writing & editing (drafting): books, memos, letters, proposals
- outlining, mindmapping
- journaling, blogging
- video chatting, conferencing
- video editing
- podcast producing
- interviewing dancers around the world
- graphic designing
- web producing
- music creating
- book "reader" (large screen real estate)
- consider audiobooks
- Amazon device...
what makes the case for a
Macbook Air
benefits
not a complete list...
- Thai keyboard
- Bluetooth
- iPhoto upgrade *
- Portable
- 160 gb hdd
- "cool factor"
- Front row
- Remote - presentations
distinct from mini
- iSight - video
- Portable - on the go; lecturer
- Battery - UPS *
- Keyboard - one piece; no wire; bed *
- Dual screen - canvas