Naves Caelorum- Mac Page
I bought a Mac at the end of March 2004, mainly to see what they are like. I'd never used one and didn't know anyone with one, but as it is really a BSD Unix underneath the skin, I thought it ought to be fun.
I bought an iBook (a small white laptop). It's not the cheapest Mac, their eMac is a couple of hundred quid less, but it's the cheapest laptop they do. I don't have room for another desktop machine and my old laptop is starting to show its age (particularly when running KDE or Open Office.org). I could have bought a PC laptop for the same price, but I didn't want the hassle of Windows XP.
Macs have a reputation for ease of use. I was very surprised when I plugged my home network cable into the side of the machine and it told me that it had figured out an internet connection, was playing nicely with the DHCP server and would I like to play on-line? I expected to have to tell it a few things, but it wasn't interested.
The Mac wanted to do a few software updates. This took a while with a broadband conection. Why can't computer shops provide machines with a CD-R of the latest updates? If you had dial-up, you wouldn't be best pleased.
The battery has to be charged then allowed to go flat. The documentation claims that 5 hours endurance is possible. This is one of the best reasons to get a Mac. The battery life is also displayed under the case by pressing a button. A row of lights shows how much power is left.
The machine sleeps when the lid is closed, a white light on the front shows it is only in a light doze. Open the lid and it's ready a second later. The Apple symbol on the back of the lid lights up when the machine is on. If you leave it open the power management will shut the screen down. Press the On button to arouse it.
The case is made of white plastic and has rounded edges. The combined DVD drive-CD burner is a slot-loader. You push the CD into the slot, the machine takes it off you and eats it. There's no sliding tray to break or jam. The power lead has a light on the end where it meets the machine. The light is orange while it's charging, green when it is fully charged. Nice design features IMHO.
There are two USB ports, a firewire port, a video out fitting (which comes with a VGA adaptor), ethernet and modem ports, a place to plug in headphones and a slot for a security lock. Open the lid and there's an inbuilt microphone, small speakers and a power button. The keyboard has an Apple key and has American layout (the @ sign is above the 2). Slightly irritating but not a disaster.
Compared to a Windows PC, the Mac comes with a tremendous amount of good software. The Mac initially seems dearer than a PC, but take the software into account and you realise that you've already got a machine that you can use. I've not really explored Appleworks, the office suite, but it seems to have everything. iTunes is the CD burner and music player, GarageBand allows you to record your own songs and instruments, then add others from the library. iMovie is there to edit your movies, the included software list is impressive. Whether you want the software provided is another matter. There's a Tony Hawk skateboarding game and a 2D space blaster included. Not my cup of tea, thank you, but someone presumably likes this kind of stuff. Compared to any Linux distribution, there's not as much software, but how many web browsers or text editors do you actually use? (The Mac has I.E hidden under "applications" which is where it will stay). The Mac's standard browser is Safari, which seems to be a version of Konqueror. It's OK, in a low-key sort of way. The only weak program I've found is Finder, the Mac file manager. It feels 10 years old and ought to be replaced with something better (hint: Konqueror is nice).
Installing software is stupidly easy. The file ends up on your desktop, you drag it to where you want to store it and that's it. The Dock is a series of icons arranged in a line for fast access to your favorite programs. There's a menu bar accross the top of the Mac screen which shows the options available for the selected program.
I found no difficulty in transferring files to the Mac from my Linux machine. Just enable sharing on the Mac, type in the iBook's address into Konqueror and there's all your files.
So, what's wrong with the Mac? My iBook feels a little underpowered at times, even though it's a G4 with 250 mb of RAM. I also think I should have got a mouse while I was in the shop. I'm not a fan of touchpads, although I like the one on the iBook. The single button feels odd, I want to right click for a KDE menu. I had a spare USB mouse, I plugged it in and it worked fine. Apart from Finder, I can't think of any other problems, it's a really good machine, I'm really pleased that I bought a Mac. I should have bought one years ago. If you want transparent computing (where you don't have to be involved in administering a computer) and would prefer to get on with using the machine, then a Mac is a great choice.

Will it be replacing my Linux machine as my main workhorse? No. I like being involved with my machines. I like trying to understand Unix, I like contributing to the GNU/Linux movement, it's fun. You get used to Linux tools, then miss them when you go to other OS's that don't have them. Linux encourages you to learn and to contribute to the software. You'll not learn computing with an Apple, but you will enjoy having one.

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