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Just switched... advice before I open the box

J

jgrahamc

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 12, 2007
4
0
I've finally switched. My OS history is something like CP/M -> DOS -> Windows 3.0 -> Windows 3.1 -> Windows 95 -> Windows 2000 -> Windows XP -> Ubuntu Linux -> Mac OS X. The Intel Mac means I can run Mac OS X as my main OS (and I can drop into Linux and Windows when I need to).

My new MBP 17" high-resolution, 160Gb 7200 RPM is due on Monday, before I open the box what advice do the experienced people have for me? I've heard about battery calibration. Anything else I should do with my new machine?

Cheers,
John.
 
Battery calibration is after opening the box :)

Take in that new mac smell...its brillopads...

Check for dead pixels. If you need the HD space, reinstall without languages and printer drivers.
 
Choose a good login name, cause its hard to change once you set it.

Enjoy the fast boot up!!!

Dont freak out when your 160 GB drive only has 130 GB of free space cause the apps within OSX like Ilife 06 takes up alot of space but it is for sure worth it!!!

Welcome to the mac world and congrats on the macbook!!!
 
Definitely reformat and don't install the things you know you wont use. keep 'em if you want to try them though, some of them come in handy sometimes.
 
1. Open the box
2. Check it out for any damage.
3. Switch it on and check it starts OK
4. Check for dead pixels.
5. Calibrate the battery.
6. Enjoy for years to come ... :)
 
JasonMac said:
Choose a good login name, cause its hard to change once you set it.
Click to expand...

I don't see what is hard about going to Accounts in System Preferences, entering your password and entering a new name.

But then, different brains have different capacity's :p
 
Kilamite said:
I don't see what is hard about going to Accounts in System Preferences, entering your password and entering a new name.

But then, different brains have different capacity's :p
Click to expand...

It is known to cause problems if you go in and change the macbook short name itself!!! Which is the name of the macbook itself!!! Not the users name which I'm sorry if you got confused on that. :)
 
I don't follow.

I only remember entering a username when I first opened my Mac and that is the same thing I can edit in the Accounts panel of System Pref's.
 
Kilamite said:
I don't follow.

I only remember entering a username when I first opened my Mac and that is the same thing I can edit in the Accounts panel of System Pref's.
Click to expand...

open the little system preference icon in the dock at the bottom of the macbook and go to accounts and then password and you see the field underneath your user name that says "short name" thats the name of your macbook itself for like network use etc... and its hard to change it once its set without reformatting everything.
 
jgrahamc said:
I've finally switched. My OS history is something like CP/M -> DOS -> Windows 3.0 -> Windows 3.1 -> Windows 95 -> Windows 2000 -> Windows XP -> Ubuntu Linux -> Mac OS X. The Intel Mac means I can run Mac OS X as my main OS (and I can drop into Linux and Windows when I need to).

My new MBP 17" high-resolution, 160Gb 7200 RPM is due on Monday, before I open the box what advice do the experienced people have for me? I've heard about battery calibration. Anything else I should do with my new machine?

Cheers,
John.
Click to expand...

Ouch.
 
JasonMac said:
open the little system preference icon in the dock at the bottom of the macbook and go to accounts and then password and you see the field underneath your user name that says "short name" thats the name of your macbook itself for like network use etc... and its hard to change it once its set without reformatting everything.
Click to expand...

Can't you make a new admin account with a new shortname, and delete the first one? You might lose some preferences and files though..
 
JasonMac said:
open the little system preference icon in the dock at the bottom of the macbook and go to accounts and then password and you see the field underneath your user name that says "short name" thats the name of your macbook itself for like network use etc... and its hard to change it once its set without reformatting everything.
Click to expand...

That is the account short name. The machine name is changeable from the 'sharing' tab.
 
eluk said:
That is the account short name. The machine name is changeable from the 'sharing' tab.
Click to expand...

Its just that many people try renaming the Home folder like any other, and then find out all their stuff is gone...
 
2hondas said:
Dead pixels... how do we check for that? Is that a big problem or something?:confused: My Macbook should be coming in today!!
Click to expand...

A dead pixel is just a pixel that fails to light up properly. Some people get incredibly freaked out about them (just watch the forums for a few days and you'll see). But unless you have one in the middle portion of the screen, it's hard to notice a single dead pixel unless you're actively looking for them -- each pixel is only about the size of a dust grain, after all.

To look for dead pixels, just open up a blank browser window and make sure that everything in the window is white, rather than having any black specks.
 
jgrahamc said:
I've finally switched. My OS history is something like CP/M -> DOS -> Windows 3.0 -> Windows 3.1 -> Windows 95 -> Windows 2000 -> Windows XP -> Ubuntu Linux -> Mac OS X. The Intel Mac means I can run Mac OS X as my main OS (and I can drop into Linux and Windows when I need to).

My new MBP 17" high-resolution, 160Gb 7200 RPM is due on Monday, before I open the box what advice do the experienced people have for me? I've heard about battery calibration. Anything else I should do with my new machine?
Click to expand...

Welcome to the Mac world! I've been through all of your operating systems except CP/M :eek:. Being familiar with Linux, you'll enjoy the shell prompt, though it is hard to find at first (go to Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal).

MacOS X has an Apple version of the Mach kernel, FreeBSD userland and the traditional (though vastly improved) MacOS GUI.

You will probably want to install programs that are traditionally available on Unix systems. This can be done with MacPorts (formerly DarwinPorts) or Fink (I prefer MacPorts myself).

Install X11, which should be on the DVD that comes with the computer along with developer utilities which not only gives you Xcode (Apple's IDE) but also the the typical Unix programming tools.
 
sfisher said:
You will probably want to install programs that are traditionally available on Unix systems. This can be done with MacPorts (formerly DarwinPorts) or Fink (I prefer MacPorts myself).
Click to expand...

That's good advice, thanks. I probably can't live without emacs :)

As for CP/M... you didn't miss much.

John.
 
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