Culture clash - My first weeks with Mac OS X
I’ve finally given in to all the Mac addicts around me and got one, too. There is now a Mini Mac sitting right next to main working machine and I toy around with it when there is some spare time. I’ve started asking myself if it was a mistake to get an Amiga 3000 instead of a neXtStation all those years ago.
Yes, it is a cool box. It is small, sleek and quiet. I’ve hooked it up to a 17″ LCD using DVI and while I still wonder why the image is so dark (though it is sent digitally to the monitor), it took me no time to get used to the Finder. However, for a long time Linux user, the Finder is still something to get used to. Why can I go to /var in a shell but I don’t seem to be able to go there in the Finder?
One thing that I’m really impressed with is the way that MacOS deals with all my gadgets. I do remember the pains getting my Palm to actually _talk_ to my Linux box (I’m not talking about syncing e.g. with Evolution. Never got that to work). On MacOS: Plug it in. Load the Palm OS Software. Select iSync conduit. Finished. Syncing with my mobile phone over Bluetooth? Piece of cake. Putting my contacts onto the iPod? Done in a second. Sweeeeeet!
Speaking of Bluetooth: Apple rocks here! I also got a naviPlay remote (Bluetooth headset) for my iPod. After a firmware update, the Mac finds this as an input/output device and allows me to use it with iChat.
There are a few downsides, though: I hate the fact that MacOS has “click to focus” and “raise when focused” just like Windows. And the keyboard sucks royally (not only the hardware, also the german layout. Where is ~ and | ). I’ve also decided to ritually burn the “Mighty Mouse”. Should’ve spent that money on a decent mouse and a PC USB Keyboard.
And I lose all my network drives when suspending the box. I have to log off and on again to get them back. There is probably a trick here that I don’t know yet.
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