My iMac and OS X Rock!
Well, I received my new iMac SE Graphite (700MHz G3, 60GB, 1GB RAM, OS X 10.1.3, iSub) on this past Friday and have been playing with it ever since. I've been organizing, filing and basically just familiarizing myself with the OS and Mac in general. So far I?ve updated the OS to the current 10.1.3 and downloaded some cool apps found at the OS X site from Apple. I installed Office X, Toast and a few other must haves. I?ve also transferred a few files from my PC over to the iMac and all seems to be well so far. I am not migrating to Mac, I am a happy user of both X and XP and have a need to use both.
Here are my perceptions, so please let me know if I am misperceiving the OS in any way by not understanding it fully or by doing something wrong ? this is all very new to me:
What?s great:
Stable. OS X so far has been very stable. I?ve been installing, organizing, moving, deleting files and programs, and have not received any errors (3 days in a row of heavy use).
Multitasking. OS X is great at allowing the user to download programs, tweak system settings, search for files and what not all at the same time with hardly any (if any) slow downs.
Simplicity. I am loving the ?drag folder to hard drive? installs! I was a bit taken by the way I was able to install Office X by one folder drag, now ? that?s cool. The system is well organized without too many overwhelming choices to make (though, this can be a bad thing as well).
Style. My god my desktop is gorgeous.
I've downloaded tones of wild, funky and brilliant desktop images and hordes of icons from Xicons. Everything flows nicely with the interface and I think the dock is a brilliant idea. The ?Genie? effect works great and I haven?t seen any lag whatsoever in terms of the GUI. I love the transparencies of the drop down menus as well. I love the new clean look of XP as well, but the GUI in OS X is more consistent and better looking.
Speed. Say what you will about the now ?classic? iMac - but, this little bad boy is fast and OS X is very snappy and responsive. Maybe it?s because I have 1GB of RAM? Whatever the case, from the horror stories I have read, this system is a lot faster than I thought it would be. In terms of the MHz Myth, well ? this may seem faster than a 700MHz system, but no faster than lets say a 800-900MHz Intel (out of experience). So the myth is still greatly exaggerated as this machine clearly can use a push in the MHz area.
Connections: I bought the iSub to boost the internal iMac HK Speakers. It?s an outrageous addition and actually adds power to the little speakers and takes all the lows to the sub. Anyway, all I had to do was plug it in! My Zip USB drive was also just popped right in. Then comes my Canon Digital Elph camera. I thought I?d have some problems with it. Well, I plugged it in and pop! The window came up asking me to download my pictures! I then chose iPhoto to handle the job in the future. I also successfully hooked up my Ethernet cable connection with absolutely nothing to configure. All this, and not one device driver needed. Windows XP is good in this area as well, but it needed specific drivers for my camera in order for it to work properly.
Starting up and shutting down is better than I thought it would be. Sure, it still takes a bit too long to start (not bad though), but shutting down is VERY quick. Also, when I choose to put it in sleep mode, it goes into that state and wakes up instantly without any hangs or lags.
What needs work (IMO):
Folder preferences. The biggest thing bugging me about this OS is the fact that it can not remember my window size and position or folder preferences! It?s just maddening and I am sick and tired of reconfiguring them! it?s not all of them mind you, it?s my Apps and Hard Drive folders mostly. As a work around, I leave my Hard Drive folder opened but minimized in the dock before I shut down. Now when I log back in, it is still in the same state in which I left it in.
Apple Pro Mouse ? SUX. I think Apple is more than capable of making an excellent mouse with a SCROLL wheel and TWO buttons! It looks great and matches my keyboard, but I am going to have to buy a new one. I have also noticed that the mouse speed is slow even at the highest setting. This pisses me off. I am a mouse person. I will click a mouse before I type in an Apple Command. I am a huge ?right mouse button? user and hope that Apple?s contextual menu?s improve (providing they introduce a 2 button mouse).
Millions of windows. One of this things I never liked about the Mac OS is that many programs seem to have too many little floating windows open at once. The tool bars, formatting bars, main window, this window, that window! I much MUCh prefer programs to have one boxed integrated, tight interface. Some MAC programs have this and it?s very refreshing.
Window sizing. When browsing the web I like to have my browser ?maximized?. On the Mac I can?t seem to achieve this (the way you can on a Windows machine). The windows always appear smaller than I?d like them to be and it never remembers how you?ve just had them. I would like to be able to resize any window from any direction ? not just the lower right hand corner.
Aqua. It?s awesome! But, everything is so white with those little color dots and the blue scroll bars and buttons never change. Not that I don?t love this look, but Apple should have incorporated internal themes to change the GUI (somewhat). Nothing crazy, just a few color changes. I would like to see more colors as options in addition to the only other ?Graphite? option. I have the same beef with XP, at least they included 3!
Software. Where? The ?comprehensive? list that Apple gives has a lot of shit on it. Of course that?s not Apple?s fault, it?s still just very annoying to have to worry and think ?will there ever be (not only a Mac version), but an OS X version?. People complained that Apple released this OS too early, but I think it was a wise decisions to help developers make software sooner so that by the time the OS was truly ready, there?d be plenty of apps. Well, there are plenty of apps, but there should be more and of better quality. Come on developers!
Fonts. For some reason (maybe it?s me) but at first all the fonts on my iMac were or still are tiny! There is one font in particular that I completely HATE! It?s the one you see when you type in an address in IE5. It?s that little, horrid, spaced out font and I hate it! It seems to be everywhere and many programs use it! Where is it, and how can I change it? Why are fonts smaller on the Mac? A friend of mine on Windows said that my AIM text was huge where it was so small on my side? What am I doing wrong?
Tweaking. The System Preferences Panel is great! It's neatly organized and logical. However, there needs to be a control panel with all the utilities in it instead of a folder, and Apple needs to let us be able to tweak more things and options within the OS than what?s available. Maybe I am too inexperienced to see what I can do, I am just making an observation in comparison to XP which lets you change just about everything.
Internet Experience. I have a very fast cable internet connection. For some reason, it seams slower on the Mac than it does on my PC. Pages take longer to load and there is just not that snappy feel there that I am used to. I have used IE5, Opera, and Netscape ? they all are second rate with IE5 being the best performer (oddly enough). Is it the browser(s)?
Sounds. Still only one sound event? Can?t we choose which sounds we want to hear when the Mac starts, shuts down, when emptying trash, when receiving new mail and so on? I like the new sounds they have for ?alert? but there should be options for other sound event?s other than from 3rd party apps.
- - - - - - - -
Overall, I am VERY happy with OS X and think Apple did a great job re-vamping (or rebuilding) their OS. I am sure the next builds or versions will be even more stable fixing and addressing some of the current issues. I would like to see the things above added ? but that?s just my own personal opinion. I am not sure why some sill claim this OS is not yet useable and too slow. Maybe it is on some machines, but at only 700MHz, this machine performs very well! <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
[ 03-10-2002: Message edited by: Patchouli ]</p>
Here are my perceptions, so please let me know if I am misperceiving the OS in any way by not understanding it fully or by doing something wrong ? this is all very new to me:
What?s great:
Stable. OS X so far has been very stable. I?ve been installing, organizing, moving, deleting files and programs, and have not received any errors (3 days in a row of heavy use).
Multitasking. OS X is great at allowing the user to download programs, tweak system settings, search for files and what not all at the same time with hardly any (if any) slow downs.
Simplicity. I am loving the ?drag folder to hard drive? installs! I was a bit taken by the way I was able to install Office X by one folder drag, now ? that?s cool. The system is well organized without too many overwhelming choices to make (though, this can be a bad thing as well).
Style. My god my desktop is gorgeous.
I've downloaded tones of wild, funky and brilliant desktop images and hordes of icons from Xicons. Everything flows nicely with the interface and I think the dock is a brilliant idea. The ?Genie? effect works great and I haven?t seen any lag whatsoever in terms of the GUI. I love the transparencies of the drop down menus as well. I love the new clean look of XP as well, but the GUI in OS X is more consistent and better looking.Speed. Say what you will about the now ?classic? iMac - but, this little bad boy is fast and OS X is very snappy and responsive. Maybe it?s because I have 1GB of RAM? Whatever the case, from the horror stories I have read, this system is a lot faster than I thought it would be. In terms of the MHz Myth, well ? this may seem faster than a 700MHz system, but no faster than lets say a 800-900MHz Intel (out of experience). So the myth is still greatly exaggerated as this machine clearly can use a push in the MHz area.
Connections: I bought the iSub to boost the internal iMac HK Speakers. It?s an outrageous addition and actually adds power to the little speakers and takes all the lows to the sub. Anyway, all I had to do was plug it in! My Zip USB drive was also just popped right in. Then comes my Canon Digital Elph camera. I thought I?d have some problems with it. Well, I plugged it in and pop! The window came up asking me to download my pictures! I then chose iPhoto to handle the job in the future. I also successfully hooked up my Ethernet cable connection with absolutely nothing to configure. All this, and not one device driver needed. Windows XP is good in this area as well, but it needed specific drivers for my camera in order for it to work properly.
Starting up and shutting down is better than I thought it would be. Sure, it still takes a bit too long to start (not bad though), but shutting down is VERY quick. Also, when I choose to put it in sleep mode, it goes into that state and wakes up instantly without any hangs or lags.
What needs work (IMO):
Folder preferences. The biggest thing bugging me about this OS is the fact that it can not remember my window size and position or folder preferences! It?s just maddening and I am sick and tired of reconfiguring them! it?s not all of them mind you, it?s my Apps and Hard Drive folders mostly. As a work around, I leave my Hard Drive folder opened but minimized in the dock before I shut down. Now when I log back in, it is still in the same state in which I left it in.
Apple Pro Mouse ? SUX. I think Apple is more than capable of making an excellent mouse with a SCROLL wheel and TWO buttons! It looks great and matches my keyboard, but I am going to have to buy a new one. I have also noticed that the mouse speed is slow even at the highest setting. This pisses me off. I am a mouse person. I will click a mouse before I type in an Apple Command. I am a huge ?right mouse button? user and hope that Apple?s contextual menu?s improve (providing they introduce a 2 button mouse).
Millions of windows. One of this things I never liked about the Mac OS is that many programs seem to have too many little floating windows open at once. The tool bars, formatting bars, main window, this window, that window! I much MUCh prefer programs to have one boxed integrated, tight interface. Some MAC programs have this and it?s very refreshing.
Window sizing. When browsing the web I like to have my browser ?maximized?. On the Mac I can?t seem to achieve this (the way you can on a Windows machine). The windows always appear smaller than I?d like them to be and it never remembers how you?ve just had them. I would like to be able to resize any window from any direction ? not just the lower right hand corner.
Aqua. It?s awesome! But, everything is so white with those little color dots and the blue scroll bars and buttons never change. Not that I don?t love this look, but Apple should have incorporated internal themes to change the GUI (somewhat). Nothing crazy, just a few color changes. I would like to see more colors as options in addition to the only other ?Graphite? option. I have the same beef with XP, at least they included 3!
Software. Where? The ?comprehensive? list that Apple gives has a lot of shit on it. Of course that?s not Apple?s fault, it?s still just very annoying to have to worry and think ?will there ever be (not only a Mac version), but an OS X version?. People complained that Apple released this OS too early, but I think it was a wise decisions to help developers make software sooner so that by the time the OS was truly ready, there?d be plenty of apps. Well, there are plenty of apps, but there should be more and of better quality. Come on developers!
Fonts. For some reason (maybe it?s me) but at first all the fonts on my iMac were or still are tiny! There is one font in particular that I completely HATE! It?s the one you see when you type in an address in IE5. It?s that little, horrid, spaced out font and I hate it! It seems to be everywhere and many programs use it! Where is it, and how can I change it? Why are fonts smaller on the Mac? A friend of mine on Windows said that my AIM text was huge where it was so small on my side? What am I doing wrong?
Tweaking. The System Preferences Panel is great! It's neatly organized and logical. However, there needs to be a control panel with all the utilities in it instead of a folder, and Apple needs to let us be able to tweak more things and options within the OS than what?s available. Maybe I am too inexperienced to see what I can do, I am just making an observation in comparison to XP which lets you change just about everything.
Internet Experience. I have a very fast cable internet connection. For some reason, it seams slower on the Mac than it does on my PC. Pages take longer to load and there is just not that snappy feel there that I am used to. I have used IE5, Opera, and Netscape ? they all are second rate with IE5 being the best performer (oddly enough). Is it the browser(s)?
Sounds. Still only one sound event? Can?t we choose which sounds we want to hear when the Mac starts, shuts down, when emptying trash, when receiving new mail and so on? I like the new sounds they have for ?alert? but there should be options for other sound event?s other than from 3rd party apps.
- - - - - - - -
Overall, I am VERY happy with OS X and think Apple did a great job re-vamping (or rebuilding) their OS. I am sure the next builds or versions will be even more stable fixing and addressing some of the current issues. I would like to see the things above added ? but that?s just my own personal opinion. I am not sure why some sill claim this OS is not yet useable and too slow. Maybe it is on some machines, but at only 700MHz, this machine performs very well! <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
[ 03-10-2002: Message edited by: Patchouli ]</p>
Comments
Now, please take a number and wait 18 months for your requests to be filled by Apple... <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
[quote]Window sizing.<hr></blockquote>The "Mac way" is not the same as in windows. You should note that the green button is called the "zoom" button, not the "maximize" button. That is designed to adjust the window to fit the content. For example, if you open a graphic and click that, it won't fill the screen but rather adjust the window to fit snugly around the graphic. Regarding web browsers, some of them try to fit it to the appropriate size of the web page. Internet Explorer, however, is a poorly coded app in this regard. Others perform much better. In IE, you'll just have to manually resize the window. [quote]Not that I don?t love this look, but Apple should have incorporated internal themes to change the GUI (somewhat).<hr></blockquote>Several people, myself included, have written "themes" that hack the system resources and change the overall appearance of OSX. These can be dangerous when not used with caution, though, because they actually *replace* key files in the system. I'd suggest visiting the forums at MacNN.com and look around the OS X General Discussion area. [quote]Software. Where?<hr></blockquote>Check VersionTracker.com for your software needs. I visit VT at least once a day to check for updates and look at new software. VT is probably the best database for current Mac software anywhere. [quote]and Apple needs to let us be able to tweak more things and options within the OS than what?s available<hr></blockquote>Search VersionTracker for "TinkerTool" ... you should like that one. Also, you can do all sorts of wild and crazy fun stuff from the Terminal, but that's only recommended for advanced users who aren't afraid to really screw up some things.
:cool:
And I think it is very good practice to check out versiontracker/macosx out once a day too! Lots of yummy things pass through there.
<strong>Speed
That's a broken record for those of you too young to remember.
<strong>Speed
OS X is actually fast on newer machines. Instead of using it on a 266MHz iMac and saying it's slow, try it on a G4. I'm happy with it on my iBook, but I know that it wouldn't be good enough for you.
I rest my case.
Click, click.......click, click........click, click........
Okay ... OS X is great. It's perfect. I wouldn't change a thing. Apple did a great job. There are no problems. Apple Apple rah rah rah.
Both of you: get over it and shake hands!
Patchouli: I hope you'll forgive these clowns. This kind of argument can break out anywhere at AppleInsider without much warning.
Peace. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
You can read more <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000471"; target="_blank">here</a>
<strong>I use Linux now. I can't stand OS 9 (always had a love/hate with the Mac OS) OS X is way to slow and unfinished and always will be.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Scott, don't be such a pessimist. We know your experiences with OS X and you have a right to be unhappy about it. But to make blanket statements like that is no better than someone saying that OS X is perfect. Have you thought about getting some psychological help for the distress that OS X is causing you? Maybe we should take up a collection or something.
Second point, You have NO WAY to substanciate statements like " it may never be ". I have never claimed to be an expert here. I just use common sense. One thing I'm really sick of is so called, self appointed experts making proclaimations about OS X's future. So far these proclaimations ( crap ) have been wrong. <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
[ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: jimmac ]</p>
<strong>I use Linux now. I can't stand OS 9 (always had a love/hate with the Mac OS) OS X is way to slow and unfinished and always will be.</strong><hr></blockquote>
How the hell can you say it'll always be slow and unfinished? Idiot.
[ 03-12-2002: Message edited by: EmAn ]</p>