Ok, I'm going to try to keep this nice and short. I still have a desktop running Windows XP and my network at work consist of mostly Windows and a couple of Unix boxes. I had an AMD laptop made by HP and never again will I purchase an HP laptop if I were ever to go back to a Windows based laptop. So, I decided to take the plunge and buy an iBook after I sold my laptop to my boss. Besides losing the ability to run certain programs, I won't miss the weight and horrible battery life on my HP. My 12" iBook is super light and fits in my backpack. Anyways, onto the review. I'll just review some of the programs I use and this is based on Panther, since I just got my hands on Tiger a week ago.
- Apple Mail - I absolutely love it. I tried Entourage but it was too much for what I need. I used Outlook when I was using my previous laptop, but I've fallen in love with iCal, so no need for me to use Microsoft's mail program for notes, contacts, email and calendar feature. Mail in Panther was wonderful, but I can't say the same for the version that came with Tiger.
- Apple iCal - Wonderful, now I have to find a way to publish it online w/o using .Mac. I loved Outlook since it had the Notes, Calendar, Tasks and email all built in, but iCal enables me to have more than one calendar.
- Safari/Camino - This is where I miss Internet Explorer. I still visit some sites that wont display correctly w/o IE, but I admit that things are looking better with Safari 2.0. Firefox takes too long to long so I really didnt like using it. Camino is quicker, but Safari's built-in RSS feed is awesome (no more third party program to install).
- AdiumX - I just wish Windows had something similar to this IM chat client. While some ppl use Trillian, I found it too slow to use. So, when I'm on my Windows machine, I just use AOL Instant Messenger. I absolutely LOVE the logging of a conversation. You wont imagine the many times I tried to find links sent to me by my friends and I forgot to save them. Well, i fired up Adium and searched in the logs. Beautiful!
- iTunes - Is it me or does it load faster on an Apple than it does on a Windows machine?
what I dont like
- when hitting Apple-Q the whole program closes. No more ALT-F4 to close the individual screen. If i have 2 Safari windows (I'm getting used to the Tab browsing) open, both screen will close, NOT the active window.
- runs a little slow on 512MB of RAM, but that may be due to Tiger. My system was pretty good when I had Panther installed.
- Quickbooks sucks on the Mac. This is why i still keep a desktop running Windows XP.
Last but not least, it's based on the FreeBSD code. I have 2 freebsd servers running at work and I love the simplicity. For the past 2 yrs, i've been trying to get my laptop to run Linux/BSD and have it run flawlessly as it does on a Windows based machine. While I'm not bashing the two platforms, I just couldnt get things to run the way i wanted it to. Trying to play a video in linux was trivial to say the least, and everything in Mac OS X just runs out of the box.
Don't get me wrong, I love Linux and I'm trying to get a Debian file sharing server up and running @ work. I just wish it was easier to run a *NIX based workstation such as what Apple did with Mac OS X.
<-- Puts flame suit on
- Apple Mail - I absolutely love it. I tried Entourage but it was too much for what I need. I used Outlook when I was using my previous laptop, but I've fallen in love with iCal, so no need for me to use Microsoft's mail program for notes, contacts, email and calendar feature. Mail in Panther was wonderful, but I can't say the same for the version that came with Tiger.
- Apple iCal - Wonderful, now I have to find a way to publish it online w/o using .Mac. I loved Outlook since it had the Notes, Calendar, Tasks and email all built in, but iCal enables me to have more than one calendar.
- Safari/Camino - This is where I miss Internet Explorer. I still visit some sites that wont display correctly w/o IE, but I admit that things are looking better with Safari 2.0. Firefox takes too long to long so I really didnt like using it. Camino is quicker, but Safari's built-in RSS feed is awesome (no more third party program to install).
- AdiumX - I just wish Windows had something similar to this IM chat client. While some ppl use Trillian, I found it too slow to use. So, when I'm on my Windows machine, I just use AOL Instant Messenger. I absolutely LOVE the logging of a conversation. You wont imagine the many times I tried to find links sent to me by my friends and I forgot to save them. Well, i fired up Adium and searched in the logs. Beautiful!
- iTunes - Is it me or does it load faster on an Apple than it does on a Windows machine?
what I dont like
- when hitting Apple-Q the whole program closes. No more ALT-F4 to close the individual screen. If i have 2 Safari windows (I'm getting used to the Tab browsing) open, both screen will close, NOT the active window.
- runs a little slow on 512MB of RAM, but that may be due to Tiger. My system was pretty good when I had Panther installed.
- Quickbooks sucks on the Mac. This is why i still keep a desktop running Windows XP.
Last but not least, it's based on the FreeBSD code. I have 2 freebsd servers running at work and I love the simplicity. For the past 2 yrs, i've been trying to get my laptop to run Linux/BSD and have it run flawlessly as it does on a Windows based machine. While I'm not bashing the two platforms, I just couldnt get things to run the way i wanted it to. Trying to play a video in linux was trivial to say the least, and everything in Mac OS X just runs out of the box.
Don't get me wrong, I love Linux and I'm trying to get a Debian file sharing server up and running @ work. I just wish it was easier to run a *NIX based workstation such as what Apple did with Mac OS X.
<-- Puts flame suit on
I've switched to adium though 
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