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NOTE: If you are looking for more great tips and tutorials for OS X, check out my new website, www.appleinfive.com

(Author's note: This article is in response to a previous post. The previous post can be found here.)

I received some great responses from my post the other day. I am a big Digg.com fan and was ecstatic to see my article make the Digg homepage. It was great reading all the positive comments left on both my blog and Digg. I also learned a valuable grammar lesson. I will remember to proofread every article because it is impossible to tell when a story might get dugg. I guess I "should of" worried less about lunch and more about spelling.

After reading all the comments and e-mails, I have decided to build upon my previous post a little. Many people made valid points that I wanted to continue to build upon. I hope you all enjoy these other viewpoints of OS X!

I use osx, i've been using apple products since the late 80s, but i can at least admit that their operating system has flaws. Finder needs a huge overhaul, and there are some very annoying unconfigurable stupid-proof options such as "do you really want to change the file extension to *.txt???" (which of course defaults to no). Also, it adds hidden .DS_STORE files to every directory regardless of weather or not it's removable media or networked devices. I could go on, but there's no point.

All systems have their pros and cons, and until you've tried them all (mac, windows, kde, gnome, et cetera), most of people's opinions are simply related to whatever they are more used to. At this moment, i've go a mac laptop, a linux desktop, and an old box running windows. Just find the one that works for you.

Here is some great advice by cypher35. You need to make the decision yourself. I have received numerous e-mails from people stating that I helped solidify their decision to buy a new Mac. I am really glad I helped lead you, but remember that it is your decision. I suggest sitting down at at Apple store for a while before the purchase. Play around with a computer similar to the one you plan on purchasing. I would even suggest voicing any concerns you have with a Mac Genius. Make sure you make the decision yourself.

I was very surprised how much my new mac DOESN'T suck for games. I can play CIv4 and WoW, that's really all I need, I can also play AoE3, America's Army, and more. PLUS with Bootcamp I can play windows games.

Spidoman posted this on Digg. I must express that about 90% of my Mac usage has been restricted to my MacBook. If you do want to try games on your Mac, the MacBook is definitely not the route to go. The Mac Pro as well as the iMac can both be very capable of playing games. Heck, even the MacBook Pro can show off some nice games. However, the MacBook is definitely not the route to go for hardcore gamers. The main point I tried to show in my article was that OS X might not be the best system for hardcore gamers. I totally understand that some games run great on the Mac. Nevertheless, Windows blows OS X out of the water in the games category.

Simply uncheck the option in the 'Advanced' section of iTunes preferences for 'manage music library automatically' (or somesuch), and it will stop trying to manage the song files. You can just leave the files wherever you want them, and iTunes won't move them. This is the first thing I do when setting up iTunes. I can't stand how badly iTunes mangles my music library when it tries to organize it...

Here is a tip from WiseWeasel on Digg. I should have stressed that I am fully aware of this option. I was just unaware that is it turned on by default in OS X. On a PC, this option is off by default. New Mac users might be surprised by this when they initially make the switch.

"Useless applications start loading out of no where. AIM followed by MSN Messenger and Yahoo! EZ Web Chat something or another. Who the hell needs that many messaging clients? Why do they assume I want to use them when I start my computer, causing another 5 minutes of load time?"

I refuse to believe that any quasi-technically literate person who used Windows his entire life could fail to figure out how to set programs to start or not start automatically on the system startup.

I am glad you didn't believe it Gotamd. Personally, I could find out which programs are set to start on start-up and fix the problem. I guess no one saw my humor. I initially wrote to article to appeal to those who are typical Windows users. The hardcore PC user on Digg was not my target audience. I respect every hardcore user and totally understand that they are fully capable of keeping a safe and peaceful Windows PC. Users with computer habits like my Grandmother can't. I am sure that nearly every computer savvy reader of my post has experienced the pain that comes with attempting to fix a "non-techies" computer. That pain is what I tried to convey through my writing.

I agree with everything except item #1. I merely searched a mac-based forum for "installing apps" and found my answer. Once I realized the ease of installing/trashing apps I couldn't believe something like this wasn't created for Windows.

This came from GenghisKhan on Digg. In my opinion, I should have to search forums in order to get a program to work. Some programs are great. FireFox makes the whole process simple with arrows and a great ReadMe file. That makes everything great if FireFox is the first program you attempt to install. Some programs aren't so great and they can make the entire process confusing to a new Mac owner.

If you REALLY want a right-mouse click just get yourself a good USB mouse, which should work just fine.

Micheal suggests a USB mouse if right-clicking is a necessity. I totally agree. I just wanted to give this tip to people who are stuck using a trackpad. If you are looking for a mouse, I suggest Apple's Mighty Mouse. It is a great Bluetooth mouse if your computer has Bluetooth capabilities. A Bluetooth mouse is great because it doesn't take up a precious USB slot.

How much did Apple pay you to write these lies?

Not nearly enough.

Wow... all those comments and not a single person mentioned Quicksilver.

More powerful than Spotlight. Faster (in my opinion). Looks better (from a 2-paned "glass" style window to an overlay on the menu bar). Easier hotkey, for example, I double-tap the Apple key, and the menu appears, and I can start typing. Insane amount of plugins (Firefox/Mozilla, Disk Image, Terminal commands, iApps, Growl support (a notification app, growl.info), Keychain support, the list is endless.

I disabled Spotlight completely in favor of Quicksilver.

Here is a nice little suggestion from Modulo1. Quicksilver is a great app. It does take time to fully learn Quicksilver. However, once you learn the ins and outs of the program, it will really save you some time.

I've been a Windows user since birth, but am thinking of purchasing a Macbook. I don't do much gaming, so I'm not worried about the integrated graphics card. However, I don't know how to configure a Mac:

- Which Core 2 Duo - 1.83GHz? 2.0?
- How much Memory - upgrade to 1GB? 2GB?

Although I appreciate this article's discussion about some 'idiosyncrasies' of switching to OS X, I'd appreciate a hardware article as well.... Anyone?

Here is a question from Enrique. I would personally upgrade as much as I could afford. Just like any computer purchase, it will be well worth the upgrade in the long run. I am currently running a 2.0 Ghz Core Duo with 1GB of RAM. I feel like I have tons of power and would recommend this system to anyone.

I'd like to add that printer compatibility kind of sucks with the Mac. It probably has to do with the manufacture than anyone else. That said, you might need to buy a new printer.

Valid point by Sigintop. Just make sure your printer is compatible with OS X and definitely make sure any new printer you buy is compatible. If you search Google for your printer model number and OS X in the same search term, you should find some some great insight from users who already have the printer. I also agree that the problem is definitely the manufacture.

@ brundlefly76, I'll bite.

-Apple being ahead of the Intel processor curve was a one-off for the Intel launch - from now on, you wait until the PC folks get new CPUs, and wait...
>That's funny, because I received my MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo the same time as those from other manufacturers were receiving theirs.

-If you are used to a 14" screen, dont get a 13.3" MacBook, because besides being smaller you cannot fullscreen apps in OSX for some reason.
>Wanting to "fullscreen" apps is a habit that takes most Windows users a week to get over. You didn't really own a MacBook, did you?

-MacOS has context menus but no right button, and it is as annoying as it sounds
>Get an external mouse, or learn to adapt. It feels perfectly natural for me to Control-click now (my hands are always by the keyboard anyways).

-Quicken for Mac cannot import your financial records from Quicken for Windows.
>Agreed. You should e-mail them and complain :-).

-The tiny black arrows show the apps which are currently running, and yes it is frustratingly obtuse
>What? This makes no sense. I don't get what is hard to understand about whether an app is running or not...

-The BSD underside of MacOS is different enough from Linux/BSD that you dont want to use it for Unix development.
>As a Mac OS X/Unix developer, I disagree. But you may have some points.

-The cool effect where the icons grow in the taskbar is the first feature you will turn off.
>It doesn't come turned on.

-GarageBand only records in aiff
>This is a valid concern, but is easily remedied by any number of numerous free converters.

-Going to the computer store to browse the software shelf is no longer any fun
>Hmm, I still find it tons of fun, considering most computer stores stock Mac software these days.

-You will want to punch you're friends when you see them playing BF2
>Actually, I'll join them! My MacBook Pro runs BF2 beautifully.

In conclusion, it sounds like you didn't own your Mac long enough to give it a chance. If you ever try it again, remember that the Mac OS is not Windows, and that you'll need to learn and change your ways. It is tough at first, but the reward is usually worth the effort :-).

Here is a great post on Digg by DaveyMcGav. He is responding to questions proposed by brundlefly76. I couldn't agree more with Davey's answers. I was actually going to write my own response to brundle, however Davey answered so well I didn't even bother wasting my time.


Well, that turned out to be more than five more things. I hope you don't mind. I also wanted to mention that I will also allow members to subscribe to my blog by e-mail. If you would like to subscribe by e-mail, just send an e-mail to TeenageFanboy@gmail.com with "subscribe" as the subject line.

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