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MacBook & Software

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
OK, So I'm gonna take the plunge and buy a macbook .....
But just as a curiosity factor, can you download software for it as you would the PC?

What DOWNSIDES can you think of to a MacBook over a laptop?

Ta :)

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BritJamez wrote: »
    What DOWNSIDES can you think of to a MacBook over a laptop?
    could do with a better graphics card
    if you're going to splash out, the PRO version is better
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A MacBook is a laptop...
    :yes: but sure he meant a PC laptop :)
    If you wanted to you could partition the hard drive and run either OSX or Windows on it so you have the best of both worlds!

    boot camp for that
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I "Switched" in november and i coulden't be happier with my macbook, I cant really fault it.

    OS wise, it's faster, more stable & (arguably) prettier than a vista alternative.

    Software wise, nearly all software either has an osx port, or has a good alternative. The only things I cant do is use uTorrent (which i had grown to love) and i have to settle for azereus, and there's currently no intel build of the macromedia shockwave player.. but shockwave is very very rare these days (I think maybe only habbo hotel and a handful of other sites use it)

    I've been able to directly compare my macbook against a similarly spec'd acer vista machine and the standby/wakeup procedure is alot quicker, and you don't get nagged to fuck 3 times everytime you load a program that you know is safe.. You won't need antivirus, or spyware scanning.

    If you're a creative fellow, iMovie HD is a very comprehensive movie creation program. Garageband and iPhoto are both also very decent for music/photos. these are all part of the iLife suite.

    Divx/xvid/wmv playback is all working , you also get a funky little remote control & frontrow software.

    The only thing that is a bit lacking is (as has been said) the graphics. but obviously apple needed to make *some* kind of difference between the Macbook and the MBP, but saying that it's still pretty powerful considering it's intergrated, It will happily play gta: san andreas , C&C3, and other relatively modern games without much fuss.

    If you play games alot, or can forsee wanting to play games though, you should PROBABLY try and stretch to the macbook pro, It is another 300/400 quid but if you can afford it :)

    If you need to know anything else specific feel free to ask, or just go to your local apple store (if you have one) and talk to one of the people there, they're always happy to explain every feature of the computers, and won't patronise you like the cunts at PC World
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Oh, and in answer to your original question, there are NO downsides to owning a mac....

    except becomming maybe a little bit of a mac zealot.. but that comes as a feature
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I 'converted' (after much kicking and screaming) to MBP, and I'd never go back to Windows now.

    My work is far better organised now, it's an intelligent system with an easy to use interface, you can manipulate the workspace far better than you can in XP (I'm not sure about Vista), and it generally just...works. I think in the 8 months I've had mine now, it's crashed maybe 3 times.

    Noog pretty much covered all the software stuff, and the Apple Download page is the central depositry for a whole bunch of mac softward (mainly shareware, but there is freeware as well), but you don't have to look far to download free software from other sites.

    Dashboard kicks ass, smart-corners kick ass, motion-sensor alarm kicks ass :)

    I'd also reiterate what Noog said and tell you to go for a MBP. I tested both macbook and macbook pro, and the macbook keyboard felt very cramped for my liking. The screen is also a bit small for what I needed, and I ended up opting for the MBP version.

    Honestly, besides the price (it's expensive) there's very little to fault the macbook. Do it, and you'll never look back :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Great to read some opinions on them opposed to the usual Windows slating replies!

    I've half heartedly been considering getting a laptop/macbook for a while now.

    The more i put it off the further to the Macbook side i find myself going, the only real negative i can see aside from the price is as soon as its on my lap and i press that power button, i'll turn in to an obnoxious fool...

    But by the sounds of it, that's a small price to pay :thumb:
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