[OFF TOPIC] Mac OS X for a Windows User

Sorry for the off topic message but I think I'm going to get the best advice here then anywhere else.

I'm seriously considering purchasing a Mac as my next home computer (I've had it with Microsoft and having to diagnose OS problems whenever I want to do something). I was shocked by the number of VW users that responded to Eliot Miranda's 11/22/2006 question about the version of Mac OS X that their running.

I'm interested in some books/websites/whatever for Windows users that are moving to Mac. I'd like to do some reading before I have the Mac so I'm not fumbling around in the dark and I figured the response from similarly technical users would get me farther then just a simple Google. If you can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.

Pardon the interruption...

Thanks

Sean

Hi Sean:

The Mac came from Smalltalk.  Mice, Menus, bit-map graphics, icons,  
overlaping windows, everything.  It is no surprise that smalltalkers  
recognize their "heritage".

In 1989(I think), I bought Smalltalk/V so that I could better  
understand my Mac.  In many ways, the rest is history. :-)

By all means, dump Windows; it is the Bizzardo-world  version of the  
Smalltalk and Mac. ;-)

But, to answer your question, I find the the "Missing Manual" series  
offers solid info and good value.  In your case, look to: http://
www.oreilly.com/catalog/switchmacmm/reviews.html

Best of Luck.

On Nov 27, 2006, at 1:38 PM, Sean McGinty wrote:

Thanks!!
Joseph Bacanskas [|]
--- I use Smalltalk.  My amp goes to eleven.

Sean McGinty wrote:
> I'm seriously considering purchasing a Mac as my next home computer
> (I've had it with Microsoft and having to diagnose OS problems
> whenever I want to do something). I was shocked by the number of VW
> users that responded to Eliot Miranda's 11/22/2006 question about the
> version of Mac OS X that their running.
I expect there would have been more replies too except he posed an Intel
only question (I think).

I've had my G4 laptop for 2 years. Beware though, depending what you do
things are not all as rosy as most macophiles would have you believe.
There are many weird and quirky things in the Mac world too. The most
annoying for me is a lack of standards for the keyboard (is that the
ctrl, option or apple modifier?) which one seems to vary from app to app.

Also it sometimes has a mind of its own. Once it has a default
application association its a real bugger to change it, I ended up
downloading a utility to do so - that shouldn't be necessary!

I have not yet managed to download something that needed compile and
make and successfully had it work yet, and I've tried assorted things
that make it 'easy'.

There have also been OS/apple app upgrades that have not gone well, if
you're lucky you hear about the issues before you apply it. Of course
the same goes for Windows.

cheers
Steve A

Sean,

I wasn't surprised at all. I even expect many more Smalltalk Mac users
in the future. MacOS X quickly became a favourite platform for students
and web developers. Those who got used to routinely blame the "Mac" in
general for its exotic niche position, should revise their opinion: The
odd days of a shaky OS9 are long gone. Since OSX, Macs are getting more
and more momentum these days (e.g. three of my colleagues recently
switched from a Windows laptop to a Macbook).

You should know however, that VW currently is rather slow in terms of
GUI performance, except you don't mind using X11, which makes it
impossible to create usable Desktop applications. Cincom announced an
improved object engine for OSX with 7.5 this winter release. You should
give it a try in any case.

I strongly hope they'll continue the effort of adapting VW to modern
GUIs! Many students and new Smalltalkers try out VW on their Macs first.
If it doesn't perform well, they'll probably abandon it. Apple users are
future decision makers and passionate evangelists! That's some great
potential for the Smalltalk community.

Andre



Sean McGinty wrote:

Hi Steve,

> I've had my G4 laptop for 2 years. Beware though, depending what you do
> things are not all as rosy as most macophiles would have you believe.
> There are many weird and quirky things in the Mac world too. The most
> annoying for me is a lack of standards for the keyboard (is that the
> ctrl, option or apple modifier?) which one seems to vary from app to app.
>

not sure which apps don't support the standard keys, but native mac apps
usually have the same shortcuts based on the cmd-key (apple-key).
actually that is what annoys me in windows the most... no really good
shortcut support.

if you're using thunderbird or firefox though, the shortcuts they use
are pretty uncommon imho.

> Also it sometimes has a mind of its own. Once it has a default
> application association its a real bugger to change it, I ended up
> downloading a utility to do so - that shouldn't be necessary!

yes, that can be really annoying.

> I have not yet managed to download something that needed compile and
> make and successfully had it work yet, and I've tried assorted things
> that make it 'easy'.

maybe you should try fink or some of these apps for that problem


as to sean: i think the main difference for windows users that use a mac
for the first time are 2 things:

- one menu bar for each app that is changing dependent on which app is
selected

- applications can run, even if no window is open, you have to tell the
application to quit and not only close the last window.

good luck
Karsten

Sean,

        pardon the even more off-topic reply but I can recommend the Mac Intel Core Duo/Parallels combination.  Parallels allows you to run Windows in a virtual machine such that Mac OS and Windows get a core each.  I'm told that WIndows graphics performance is not stellar (because you'rew not using the graphics card directly), although it feels snappy enough for me.  But compute performance is uncompromised.  The advantages this has over Boot Camp are that Windows and MacOS are running at the same time and that one can easily share files and copy/paste as they run side-by-side.  So you can move your Windows envuronment on to the Mac and migrate stuff to MacOS at your leisure.

HTH

"Sean McGinty" <[hidden email]> wrote:
| Sorry for the off topic message but I think I'm going to get the best advice
| here then anywhere else.

| I'm seriously considering purchasing a Mac as my next home computer (I've
| had it with Microsoft and having to diagnose OS problems whenever I want to
| do something). I was shocked by the number of VW users that responded to
| Eliot Miranda's 11/22/2006 question about the version of Mac OS X that their
| running.

| I'm interested in some books/websites/whatever for Windows users that are
| moving to Mac. I'd like to do some reading before I have the Mac so I'm not
| fumbling around in the dark and I figured the response from similarly
| technical users would get me farther then just a simple Google. If you can
| point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.

| Pardon the interruption...

| Thanks

| Sean

| -----
Eliot Miranda                 ,,,^..^,,,                mailto:[hidden email]
VisualWorks Engineering, Cincom  Smalltalk: scene not herd  Tel +1 408 216 4581
3350 Scott Blvd, Bldg 36 Suite B, Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA Fax +1 408 216 4500