New to Macs

the PLA · Post by **the PLA** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:35 am

Well I just got my first Mac , a MacBok Pro with an Intel Processor. I'm learning my way around OSX a bit, there's still plenty I haven't really gotten comfortable with quite yet. I've already bootcamped it & have Win XP set up on a partition.

I just wanted to ask if any of the Mac users around here could recommend some programs/applications. I am looking for a good bit torrent client, a multi-messenger (like pidgin or trillion) & any other tools you find realy useful, widgets or whatever.

Also, besides spending $10 on Unsanity's Mighty Mouse software is there a way to change the color of the cursor in Safari? Having a black cursor sucks when a webpage has a black background.

Thanks in advance!

stargurl · Post by **stargurl** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:15 am

For torrents, I use Azureus, and I think Adium is a nice multi-network IM client (MSN transfers are painfully slow, but I have no other complaints). The 'current' version of Office for Mac is really old... I use NeoOffice instead.

I'm no help on the cursor thing, unfortunately- I use Firefox instead of Safari.

discocyst · Post by **discocyst** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:12 pm

Transmission is the best torrent software i've used on the mac i found it better to use than azureus or tomato.. but it's personal preference all of them do the job.
and adium is hands down the best IM client

oh and you can't change the cursor color as far as i know

the PLA · Post by **the PLA** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:24 am

Thank you both very much!

Adium is great so far, super easy to use & customize the way I want it. I've gone with Transmission for now because I was never very happy with Azureus in windows.

I've got my first mac training class next week at the Apple store so I'll ask them about the cursor then & while I'l probably be changing to Firefox soon I'm going to let them have it a little if there's no way to fix the cursor problem. It's so basic you'd think they would have fixed it by now.

Timbob · Post by **Timbob** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 6:05 pm

oh, and you should try to find a program called Windows XP. i heard it's available for intel macbooks and super easy to use

the PLA · Post by **the PLA** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 12:49 am

the PLA wrote:Well I've already bootcamped it & have Win XP set up on a partition.

As I said, it's already done.

But only because I'll need XP for some school & work stuff & it will also allow me to play my games. I really do want to learn my way around OS X & plan on using it as the main OS on my laptop. I even kept the XP partition at 32gigs so it could be formatted with FAT32 making all the files there read/write-able for OS X.

Timbob · Post by **Timbob** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:08 pm

hm
I was so overexcited about making a joke i didn't read the complete post.

My parents also just got a new mac mini. I always hear from people how easy it is to switch. even old people can do it

but it isn't all that logical. I can work with both just fine. And a lot of things are easy on a mac, but not everything is logical to me.. And simplifying stuff takes a lot away from tweaking and adjusting. Some stuff in Windows might be complex, but if you put some time in it you can adjust everything to the way you want.

usernick · Post by **usernick** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 4:58 pm

The thing that annoys me most about Macs is the lack of a right mouse button....

The context menu is the best thing about Windows... If Macs had it, then it would make the switchover relatively painless...

Timbob · Post by **Timbob** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 6:08 pm

usernick wrote:The thing that annoys me most about Macs is the lack of a right mouse button....

The context menu is the best thing about Windows... If Macs had it, then it would make the switchover relatively painless...

1998 called, they want your opinion about macs back.

right click is available for a long long time. the mighty mouse has left and right mouse button, a scrollball that can click too and side buttons...

usernick · Post by **usernick** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:47 pm

Timbob wrote:
usernick wrote:The thing that annoys me most about Macs is the lack of a right mouse button....

The context menu is the best thing about Windows... If Macs had it, then it would make the switchover relatively painless...
1998 called, they want your opinion about macs back.

right click is available for a long long time. the mighty mouse has left and right mouse button, a scrollball that can click too and side buttons...

My dad's got a later Mac than 1998, it's running OS-X, and it's only got one button!

the PLA · Post by **the PLA** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:25 am

Tecnically the mighty mouse ony has one button according to Apple. It's just that it can sense weither you press the right or left side of the button & the things on the side are pressure sensors, not buttons. (Sure they are !?!?!)

Back in the day Steve Jobs said that a mouse should never need more then one button & Steve in NEVER wrong, at least according to Apple.

but it isn't all that logical. I can work with both just fine. And a lot of things are easy on a mac, but not everything is logical to me.. And simplifying stuff takes a lot away from tweaking and adjusting. Some stuff in Windows might be complex, but if you put some time in it you can adjust everything to the way you want.

So far I agree with you. It seems like there are a few illogical steps in a few of the things in OS X but once I get used to it I think everything will be fine.

Timbob · Post by **Timbob** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 1:37 pm

but if you plug in a multiple button mouse it will work just fine...

usernick · Post by **usernick** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:22 pm

Timbob wrote:but if you plug in a multiple button mouse it will work just fine...

That never used to be the case...

Timbob · Post by **Timbob** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:35 pm

usernick wrote:
Timbob wrote:but if you plug in a multiple button mouse it will work just fine...
That never used to be the case...

as long as i can remember, that works..
anyway, it works now, so that's important.

hippy dave · Post by **hippy dave** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:40 am

transmission is definitely the way to go for torrents - unless you particularly need encryption, which it can't do yet - but you don't, so go for transmission

i agree adium is a great messenger client, i've tried it and i like it - the only reason i don't use it myself is that it doesn't yet (last i checked) support the personal message thing on msn, and i can't quite live without that (for no particularly good reason

) so i use mercury - which is a bit of a clunky java beast but not bad otherwise. as soon as adium adds support for the personal messages i'll switch

(i only use the msn network so i don't need multi stuff generally)

other stuff i find really useful.....
steermouse (to make full use of my bluetooth logitech's seven buttons, thank you)
growl (gives you nice little popup bubbles with info from various apps that support it)
cog is my music player of choice (i'm not into itunes' "library" way of working personally)
firefox is still my browser of choice (safari looks quite good but i can't live without various firefox plugins)
little snitch is fairly essential if you're going to be running, ahem, "naughty" versions of software and don't want them telling on you to the developers (i obviously don't condone software piracy

)
vlc is a very useful media player for difficult formats not supported by quicktime/front row.

that'll do for now, but if there's anything else specific you're after, ask away

www.loopzorbital.com

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