New MacBook Pro owner; what are your apps/tips for a first time user?

[theMot]

Get an Amiga!

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

Make sure to get an external Ethernet adapter, optical drive, memory card reader, and video adapter, because apparently these aren't "pro" enough for Apple anymore. Maybe get a nice Apple-branded bag to carry the dongle spaghetti with you.

 

[evil wasabi]

My mbp is from 2012 and still runs flawlessly. I bought it to replace a 2007 which had slowed down to near uselessness. In 2014 I bought a new dell notebook which was fast but now it’s super slow, and it has practically nothing on it except .net framework, and was used for presentations. It’s currently slow as shit, and the 2012 mbp runs circles around it.

Make sure to get an external Ethernet adapter, optical drive, memory card reader, and video adapter, because apparently these aren't "pro" enough for Apple anymore. Maybe get a nice Apple-branded bag to carry the dongle spaghetti with you.

You forgot external 3.5 and 5.25 drives, a zip drive, 14.4 baud modem, and a set of sound blaster speakers.

 

[fake]

You mean people who make smarter financial decisions?
No no I'd rather waste money on apples chic laptop design and equally wanky OS but at least you can feel like a hacker dual booting into Windows. #AppleLife

I was half joking. I don't care what type of computers people use unless I'm working with them. Even then, Apple adapted XML files to work with video editing software, so it's really not a big deal anymore. But on the half serious side, I bought my bottom tier iMac in the spring of 2011 for $1099. I spend $200 to upgrade the RAM to 32GB myself. 1299 divided by 9 years is about $150. Pretty much everyone IRL I know that uses $500 or $600 PCs has to upgrade every 3 or 4 years because the system slows to a crawl. I'm thinking I'm the one that made the smarter financial decision. I don't know what happened with Shroom's Mac. He probably spilled Fanta on it. My previous Mac, the original MacBook (when they switched to Intel) lasted from 2006 to 2016. It only died because the HDD crapped out. I could easily buy a $20 drive and it'll be up and running, 13.5 years later.

I'm not sure what you mean by a wanky OS. The only times I even have to shut down my systems are when there's the rare update that requires a reboot, and I can't remember the last time one them crashed. MacOS has gotten a little bloated over the years - I wish they'd offer a slimmed down version without all the casual user junk. But compared to Windows, there's no comparison in terms of how stable it is, how it doesn't break down after a few years (I've never had to reinstall MacOs), the fact that it's free with any Mac, how complete it is out of the box (you barely have to buy any apps to get basic stuff done)...Really, the only feature I'm jealous of is how you can split windows and snap them to each side of the screen.

 

[evil wasabi]

The beginning of the end for PC was having to shell out money for Windows ME.

 

[Kid Panda]

I will say, I still have a IBM Thinkpad I bought around 2008 that still kicks hard using Windows 7, I use it for music and light work still and have no issues, hell I still run dosbox on it and games run fine which surprised me, it's really going to boil down to what you do. I wouldn't trust a newer mac but for sure the older ones are rock solid.

 

[fake]

I will say, I still have a IBM Thinkpad I bought around 2008 that still kicks hard using Windows 7, I use it for music and light work still and have no issues, hell I still run dosbox on it and games run fine which surprised me, it's really going to boil down to what you do. I wouldn't trust a newer mac but for sure the older ones are rock solid.

Aren't ThinkPads the go-to for good build quality though? The only risk would be Windows breaking down. And if it's not your everyday machine where you're doing lots of work, browsing, downloading files, etc. I'd imagine it would last a while. That said, ThinkPads can approach Apple prices and go beyond them depending on which model you're looking at.

 

[evil wasabi]

I will say, I still have a IBM Thinkpad I bought around 2008 that still kicks hard using Windows 7, I use it for music and light work still and have no issues, hell I still run dosbox on it and games run fine which surprised me, it's really going to boil down to what you do. I wouldn't trust a newer mac but for sure the older ones are rock solid.

I wouldn’t trust a new pc. They have been built to fail for years now.

 

[Kid Panda]

Well my new laptop I bought has given me zero issues using it pretty hard, (I don't game on it at all), but other things it works great.

 

[Dr Shroom]

The beginning of the end for PC was having to shell out money for Windows ME.

Windows 10 was the first one I actually paid for, and then it was 15€ or something for a key.

 

[Heinz]

I was half joking. I don't care what type of computers people use unless I'm working with them. Even then, Apple adapted XML files to work with video editing software, so it's really not a big deal anymore. But on the half serious side, I bought my bottom tier iMac in the spring of 2011 for $1099. I spend $200 to upgrade the RAM to 32GB myself. 1299 divided by 9 years is about $150. Pretty much everyone IRL I know that uses $500 or $600 PCs has to upgrade every 3 or 4 years because the system slows to a crawl. I'm thinking I'm the one that made the smarter financial decision. I don't know what happened with Shroom's Mac. He probably spilled Fanta on it. My previous Mac, the original MacBook (when they switched to Intel) lasted from 2006 to 2016. It only died because the HDD crapped out. I could easily buy a $20 drive and it'll be up and running, 13.5 years later.

I'm not sure what you mean by a wanky OS. The only times I even have to shut down my systems are when there's the rare update that requires a reboot, and I can't remember the last time one them crashed. MacOS has gotten a little bloated over the years - I wish they'd offer a slimmed down version without all the casual user junk. But compared to Windows, there's no comparison in terms of how stable it is, how it doesn't break down after a few years (I've never had to reinstall MacOs), the fact that it's free with any Mac, how complete it is out of the box (you barely have to buy any apps to get basic stuff done)...Really, the only feature I'm jealous of is how you can split windows and snap them to each side of the screen.

I'm not sure how Windows breaks down? Or grinds to a halt? This sounds like old person whining because they installed 20 toolbars, countless programs, a desktop covered in shortcuts and a hard drive that's on it's last 1gb of space.

 

[Dr Shroom]

The days of DOS based Windows shitting themselves are way past us now, guess members of the cult haven't got the memo yet.

7 and 10 are super solid OS's, just don't be a complete idiot and everything will work fine. Fak, I'm currently restoring an old 933 MHz Pentium 3 just for fun, and even Windows 2000 is super fast and stable on that thing.

 

[evil wasabi]

Well my new laptop I bought has given me zero issues using it pretty hard, (I don't game on it at all), but other things it works great.

Wait 2 years and you’ll need to throw it out and buy a new one.

 

[Late]

My mbp is from 2012 and still runs flawlessly.

Almost same, I have a late 2011 one that I maxed out the ram and replaced the hard drive with an ssd.

 

[eek]

To the OP, before you feel the need to try running Windows stuff on the Mac with stuff like Parallels, give VirtualBox a try first. It is free. If you find that it gives you all that you need then you don't need to spend the cash on Parallels or VM Ware.

Outside of that, if you have an iphone there's a lot overlap between the two that I find pretty useful. For example, when people text me I tend to reply back on my mac instead of from my phone.

I use to build my own PCs but went Mac in 2006 and never looked back. Macs tend to last a long time for me. 1st gen Intel Mac mini gave me a solid 8 years. My 2014 mac mini is still running fine. 2017 mbp no issues either.

I also use a 2017 mbp at work. No issues with any of them. What's funny was that in the time I've had my work mbp, my office mate's HP laptop broke multiple times, either hardware or software.

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

You forgot external 3.5 and 5.25 drives, a zip drive, 14.4 baud modem, and a set of sound blaster speakers.

I haven't seen an office in 10 years that uses a Zip drive. In contrast, 100% of offices I've ever worked in have been chock full of Ethernet cable in every room, at every desk, and cable-tied on every ceiling. Ethernet is still an active standard and an essential part of a computer workstation. It's laughable to sell a "pro" computer that needs a dongle to connect.

 

[basic]

Wait 2 years and you’ll need to throw it out and buy a new one.

Even thought this is commonly reported, I've never had an issue like this.

 

[evil wasabi]

I haven't seen an office in 10 years that uses a Zip drive. In contrast, 100% of offices I've ever worked in have been chock full of Ethernet cable in every room, at every desk, and cable-tied on every ceiling. Ethernet is still an active standard and an essential part of a computer workstation. It's laughable to sell a "pro" computer that needs a dongle to connect.

That’s probably more because “Legacy users” are still dominant in the workplace than the industry demanding optical drives, memcard readers, or video adapters. None of that stuff is necessary anymore, with WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.

 

[evil wasabi]

Even thought this is commonly reported, I've never had an issue like this.

Thanks for your empirical evidence?

 

[basic]

Thanks for your empirical evidence?

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize your comment was more than an anectdotal statement.

 

[Heinz]

Thanks for your empirical evidence?

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize your comment was more than an anectdotal statement.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

 

[basic]

Fight! Fight! Fight!

lol <3

 

[LoneSage]

I'm still pissed about Microsoft Office being an annual subscription.

 

[RAZO]

I use both. Old 2008 Macbook for porn and PC for everything else. Never had any issues with either. Did the usual upgrades when necessary like ram and hard drives on both. Good luck on doing any upgrades to your new mb's. Loved Windows Xp, 7, and now 10. I never install a OS until I hear good things about it. I've had my current PC for over 6 years, zero issues. My old pc is still at my parents house going on over 10 years and still runs great.

All this PC is crap talk is nonsense. If you are buying some budget piece of crap at best buy, it will fail in like 2 years. If you are buying a PC with quality hardware, it will last just as long as a Mac and run with no slow down or issues.

 

[evil wasabi]

I use both. Old 2008 Macbook for porn and PC for everything else. Never had any issues with either. Did the usual upgrades when necessary like ram and hard drives on both. Good luck on doing any upgrades to your new mb's. Loved Windows Xp, 7, and now 10. I never install a OS until I hear good things about it. I've had my current PC for over 6 years, zero issues. My old pc is still at my parents house going on over 10 years and still runs great.

All this PC is crap talk is nonsense. If you are buying some budget piece of crap at best buy, it will fail in like 2 years. If you are buying a PC with quality hardware, it will last just as long as a Mac and run with no slow down or issues.

You have a child. I expect more from you.

No more porn.