My Hands on with 1st Mac ever :: iMac 27" i5 8 GB

[biggy52]

Hello all,

I come from a Windows Background. Been using the Windows all my life. Hated Mac users, thought they were just spoilt rich kids paying over the roof for something you would get cheaper in the PC world.

Then i got fed up of my home built Quad core , 8 GB machine. It was a powerful system , by every time i tried to edit a large sized movie, it would hang on me. And i always kept my windows in tip top shape with optimizing and cleaning weekly. So i realized what good is a high end computer, when it wouldn't let me do multimedia editing. I had NEVER moved the mouse on an OSX, But i still decided to sell and get a Mac. It would give me a chance to explore OSX and prove my point that Mac is NOT superior to Windows.

So i bought this beauty.

27" i5 , 8 GB RAM.

One word A.W.E.S.O.M.E!!!

Once i unboxed the machine, i was blown away by the build quality of the machine. its all Aluminum, it smelt so good!

It was large , much larger than my 22" HP monitor. And when i powered it up, i went through the intro video and just stared at the screen for a brief moment in disbelief at the beautiful quality and picture. I then realized what i junk monitor i was using before.

So after using this baby for 2 weeks now, i decided to write my views and hands on from a complete newbie in terms of Mac/OSX.

I LIKE

1.The Screen, The Screen, and….The Screen

2. I can do anything with it from the word go, manage my photos, view pdf, back up, edit movies etc etc . All from the start , without any installs

3. I love the Magic Mouse, with the BetterTouchTool, its made the mouse amazing. I have fairly large hands, and i don't find it inconvenient.

4. The table is so clutter free, i come from a PC which had wires all around on the table.

5. i salute the person who had the idea of Time Machine. Its like a baby can recover their files in an instant.

6. I really enjoy Front Row, i had been using my mouse on my lap whenever i wanted to watch a movie on a PC, and go to the desktop every time i wanted to change a movie. With front row and the apple remote. Its click click!

7. The System Preferences is very well arranged, it didn't take me long to master all the settings i could change. Its not like Control Panel, where you have to move around to find a particular setting.

8. Expose + Magic Mouse = Time saved. Its so easy, tap 2 fingers and u have all your open windows.

9. Spaces = i never agreed to the idea of different desktops when i was in windows, i always closed the windows when wanted to do something else. Space is a new thing, and i am starting to use it more often

10. Hardware and Software from the same company, means no driver issues. In windows after a clean install, id have to waste time installing drivers.

11. I can run windows for whenever i need to use some programs made for win. Nice!

12. Its really easy to install applications.

13. Boots and Shuts down so fast.

I DONT LIKE

1. The Finder doesn't allow cut / paste? WHY? - I know Pathfinder, but im still talking about the OSX built in softwares!

2. The Finder doesn't let me view my Documents folder in a layout where the Folders on top with order and the files below with order.

3. iPhoto, why doesn't iphoto have better folder management of pictures?

4. Why cant i have favicons in bookmarks bar in safari.

5. Applications don't close them when i close them. Im not stupid, when i say closed…CLOSE it please!

6. Why cant i open a text file on the desktop, i have got so accustomed to this feature in windows. I use it very often.

7. When i open a picture in Preview, i cannot see the other pictures in the folder by clicking next, i have to open another picture manually. Seriously???

I guess so far this is it….

I have used Windows 7 since Beta, RC and now final. I like it, i just like OSX better!

To those who are reading this forum and thinking of converting to the Mac Side, take the jump. And you wont regret it.

You definitely get , what you pay for.

Thankfully i have not got a cracked screen, noisy HDD or screen flickering. I cant seem to notice any yellow tinge, and i will not run any tests on it to find it either.
"You cant go looking at flaws the first time you have sex"….You just enjoy it!

I have had very good support from members of this forum , and they have made my conversion quite smooth for me. Thanks

Thank you for reading this long and boring post…Cheerz

 

[stridemat]

Nothing like jumping in at the deep end and seeing what happens. I cannot wait to pick one of these up myself, just waiting for a tax rebate.

Welcome to the mac world!

 

[belvdr]

The only thing I don't like are the new keyboards. They are so small compared to the iMac; they just look out of place.

 

[ColinM]

1. The Finder doesn't allow cut / paste? WHY? - I know Pathfinder, but im still talking about the OSX built in softwares!

It's a... Mac thing. I don't know, I've never understood why they don't have it either.

2. The Finder doesn't let me view my Documents folder in a layout where the Folders on top with order and the files below with order.

You mean having the hierarchy of the files? Maybe it isn't. But if you put it in List View, there are little gray arrows next to the folders, and when you click on that, it will do the hierarchy within that one window.

3. iPhoto, why doesn't iphoto have better folder management of pictures?

Because like iTunes, iPhoto needs some overhaul. Here's hoping iLife '10

4. Why cant i have favicons in bookmarks bar in safari.

To be honest, Safari isn't the best browser for everyone with the Mac. I like Firefox a lot. And actually, Firefox doesn't do that either. Only one I know that does is Google Chrome, I quite like it, beta release though.

If you want some added functionality for Safari, try installing "Glims". Google it.

5. Applications don't close them when i close them. Im not stupid, when i say closed…CLOSE it please!

I've always liked that, honestly. If I accidentally close my last window in Safari, I don't want to have to reopen the app. Not that hard to do Apple-Q.

6. Why cant i open a text file on the desktop, i have got so accustomed to this feature in windows. I use it very often.

Not sure what you mean here.

7. When i open a picture in Preview, i cannot see the other pictures in the folder by clicking next, i have to open another picture manually. Seriously???

If you want to do that, in Preview, Go to File > Open > And go to the folder. Will have them all in the sidebar.

Glad you're enjoying your new Mac.

 

[Croatian]

I DONT LIKE

1. The Finder doesn't allow cut / paste? WHY? - I know Pathfinder, but im still talking about the OSX built in softwares!

2. The Finder doesn't let me view my Documents folder in a layout where the Folders on top with order and the files below with order.

3. iPhoto, why doesn't iphoto have better folder management of pictures?

4. Why cant i have favicons in bookmarks bar in safari.

5. Applications don't close them when i close them. Im not stupid, when i say closed…CLOSE it please!

6. Why cant i open a text file on the desktop, i have got so accustomed to this feature in windows. I use it very often.

7. When i open a picture in Preview, i cannot see the other pictures in the folder by clicking next, i have to open another picture manually. Seriously???

I guess so far this is it….

I have used Windows 7 since Beta, RC and now final. I like it, i just like OSX better!

To those who are reading this forum and thinking of converting to the Mac Side, take the jump. And you wont regret it.

You definitely get , what you pay for.

Thankfully i have not got a cracked screen, noisy HDD or screen flickering. I cant seem to notice any yellow tinge, and i will not run any tests on it to find it either.
"You cant go looking at flaws the first time you have sex"….You just enjoy it!

I have had very good support from members of this forum , and they have made my conversion quite smooth for me. Thanks

Thank you for reading this long and boring post…Cheerz

welcome to mac ... u will love it


to answer your I don't likes

1) where are u trying to paste the info
u can past text into spotlight or finder search bar or into a folder u create in finder or to a file name ... command + v is to paste
also u can copy a file from say desktop and go to finder to a specific place u want to go to and press command + v an it will paste it there

maybe i am not totally understanding what ur trying to do ...

2) i don't fallow that question, if u go to far right and click arrange by type it will put ur folders on top and u files bellow

3) the best way is to create a new album and organize your pictures that way

4) last i checked it works .. if u add a website to your bookmark toolbar say under a folder it would show .. example if u go to news bookmark tap in your safari it should show u the fav icons for espn cnet google cnn ... if not click on the website .. let it load go back and it should be there

5) to make 100% u closed the app, use command + Q that will quite the application for you

6) you mean like when u right click on the desktop in windows and it show u an option to make a text file? yeah macs don't have that, why not just add text edit to the dock for a shortcut

7) the best way to do this is
go to your image folder and change it to be displayed in coverflow order .. size the window to how ever big you want and u can click next and it will switch to a next image

the way i like to do this is .. i select all images i wanna preview .. hit space bar and it opens up preview and i can use next, or i like index sheet option so if i wanna see all of them in small thumbnails ... this will also work with say a video file .. if u don't wanna open it .. click on it so it is highlighted hit space bar and it will preview it for you

hope that helps

 

[mobhit101]

I never use Preview to open up pictures (for browsing anyway). Just hit the spacebar on any file and a sexy preview window pops up. You can thumb through all of your files using the arrow keys!

You're welcome

 

[G-Force]

1. The Finder doesn't allow cut / paste? WHY? - I know Pathfinder, but im still talking about the OSX built in softwares!

Because Apple wants you to drag-and-drop files. As far as I know, there is software available that enables the Finder to cut files, don't remember the name but a quick Google search should find it.

2. The Finder doesn't let me view my Documents folder in a layout where the Folders on top with order and the files below with order.

That's just the Mac way of sorting files and folders...

4. Why cant i have favicons in bookmarks bar in safari.

I think this is not possible because it's a big mess with all those little (some of them are very ugly) icons in the bar. It also saves some space. Some people won't be bothered by this, but hey, Apple is about design and they care about the looks of their applications. They also seem to keep it looking as simple as possible.

5. Applications don't close them when i close them. Im not stupid, when i say closed…CLOSE it please!

Clicking the red close button usually means "close window" and not "close application". This is different in some applications with one window or when it's not needed to keep the application running in the background after closing it's main window. You have to stop an application to completely kill it.

6. Why cant i open a text file on the desktop, i have got so accustomed to this feature in windows. I use it very often.

It should be possible to make an Automator workflow for this action and add it to the context menu.

7. When i open a picture in Preview, i cannot see the other pictures in the folder by clicking next, i have to open another picture manually. Seriously???

Select all the pictures in the finder and press Command+O to open them in Preview. QuickLook is much easier though, just press the spacebar.

Please keep in mind, Mac OS X is not Windows and will not always behave the same as Windows.

 

[TSX]

I just bought my first mac (like 5 min ago), i got the iMac i5. Now i got to wait 2 weeks for it to get here.

 

[miniConvert]

Some things take a bit of getting used to, for sure.

A tip from me: Don't rush in there with add-ons to try and replicate functionality that you became used to in Windows. I found that, over time, I came to appreciate the OS X ways of doing things.

 

[jhbpa]

I converted 21 months ago after 26 years in the MSOFT world.

I think what he means in # 2 is that he wants his folders to appear first and then his files, regardless of view. It's definitely a windows thing and I had the same desire.

I found a terminal command that makes it happen but I can't find it again.

Maybe a more experienced Mac person can take it from here.

 

[jhbpa]

Some things take a bit of getting used to, for sure.

A tip from me: Don't rush in there with add-ons to try and replicate functionality that you became used to in Windows. I found that, over time, I came to appreciate the OS X ways of doing things.

SO TRUE! As Paul says try to Let It Be.

 

[Badger^2]

Theres so much more, you havent even scratched the surface =)

With 8 gigs of ram, dont bother quitting any Applications, its just a waste of time to restart them. You have more than enough ram to keep as many applications as you like open and running without suffering any performance hit.

Favicons work fine in my Safari. Try Firefox. Or Google Chrome. All pretty much the same.

6) right click >> open with >> Text Edit
Try this: "Get info" on any text file, in the "Open with" section, choose "Text Edit" and then "Change All". This will cause all of your text files to open in Text Edit instantly.

Others have alluded to "Quick Look" -- select as many files as you like and hit the spacebar. viola!

7) is part of 6, Quick Look.

How about Customizing your finder tool bar? Mine looks like this. I just drag files to the icon.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1417918/Picture 6.png

How about placing the dock on the left side of the screen and using something like Dragthing? http://www.dragthing.com/english/about.html

Ive used it for well over 10 years.

 

[Travisimo]

Your experience mirrors mine about 9 months ago when I got my first Mac (a 24" early 2009 iMac). The screen failed on that one and Apple ended up replacing my computer with the new 27" and I upgraded to the i5 with 8GB of Ram.

Anyway, I think Windows 7 has made some strides so I actually use both on my iMac. Windows 7 runs great in Parallels for just about anything other than gaming, so that's what I do most of the time. I just keep it in full screen in a Spaces window and switch to it when I need to. With 8GB of Ram, I dedicated 3GB to Windows 7 and the rest to my Mac and unless I have a zillion things open, the computer still runs lightning quick! For gaming, I switch over to Boot Camp and actually have a fairly competent gaming machine (not high end by any means, but definitely decent).

Video editing on the Mac is so much better than Windows! I've NEVER had a good video editing session in Windows no matter what machine or software I used. I use iMovie, which is perfectly fine for my uses but I may eventually upgrade to Final Cut. My wife, who is very computer illiterate, can even use iMovie which great success.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences and reminding us why we love our Macs!

 

[mdjasrie]

Theres so much more, you havent even scratched the surface =)

With 8 gigs of ram, dont bother quitting any Applications, its just a waste of time to restart them. You have more than enough ram to keep as many applications as you like open and running without suffering any performance hit.

Favicons work fine in my Safari. Try Firefox. Or Google Chrome. All pretty much the same.

6) right click >> open with >> Text Edit
Try this: "Get info" on any text file, in the "Open with" section, choose "Text Edit" and then "Change All". This will cause all of your text files to open in Text Edit instantly.

Others have alluded to "Quick Look" -- select as many files as you like and hit the spacebar. viola!

7) is part of 6, Quick Look.

How about Customizing your finder tool bar? Mine looks like this. I just drag files to the icon.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1417918/Picture 6.png

How about placing the dock on the left side of the screen and using something like Dragthing? http://www.dragthing.com/english/about.html

Ive used it for well over 10 years.

Like what he said, with 64 bit computing and loads amount of ram, there really isnt a dire need to totally close the application completely. I get annoyed too initially, but got over it soon after i realise that it doesnt really slow down the computer too much or anything.

And also congrats on purchasing your imac 27inch. Its a beauty no doubt. I only got the new mac mini (poor university undergrad here) but i have been loving it since and like you, my first mac purchase!

 

[dborja]

Great writeup, Biggy52! Welcome to the Mac and OS X world! Mac fans are often accused of having "drunk the Kool-Aid" but there's a reason for this passion...

 

[TennisandMusic]

What are you using for editing? Editing on Mac is much worse than PC overall because you're limited to iMovie (which is total garbage), or final cut which is just ok (referring to express here, I can't imagine you're going to buy the full thing). It's far easier to edit HD movies on Windows 7 as well, I am wondering what program was giving you hang ups? Plenty of my mac programs crash, both audio production, web authoring etc. Crashes almost every day, that is just the nature of Snow Leopard for me so far.

I think you will find that the OS is just another OS. OSX is actually all I use, but it's hardly something to gloat about, or think "Oh wow I'm so glad I got out of windows for this!" There are loads of ridiculous problems in Apple land, and just realize that the grass is not always greener.

Not trying to be a downer here, but this is reality, and don't let the iMac's nice design cloud your judgment. I had two of them. I'm back on my laptop. Please inspect your expensive machine thoroughly.

FYI, in my time using Windows 7 on other machines, it has been far more solid, capable, and flexible than OSX. OSX is prettier though.

 

[Cerender]

1. The Finder doesn't allow cut / paste? WHY?

I'm not sure what you mean here. You can copy and paste files or text into file names. I just selected a file on my desktop, did cmd-c, cleared the selection by clicking an open area on the desktop and then did a cmd-v. The finder gave me a copy with 2 appended to the file name.

This was added in OS X at some pint but I forget when. Maybe during the switch ad time frame since I remember this being added as a nod to windows users.

The big gotcha in my experience is the difference in folder copy between OS X and Windows. OS X replaces the folder while windows merges. Growing up a Mac guy I like the replace way. If I want to merge folders I open the folder contents. My Windows using friends though usually hate it and get mad when they see they lost files which comes across as evil and not "Mac Like."

Sorry to go off topic... Back to STO forums and waiting for my 27" iMac.

 

[Sir Cecil]

don't let the iMac's nice design cloud your judgment. I had two of them. I'm back on my laptop. Please inspect your expensive machine thoroughly. FYI, in my time using Windows 7 on other machines, it has been far more solid, capable, and flexible than OSX...

Your post reminds me of a film I saw on DVD recently, with Jim Carrey in it. Can't recall the title though... something about Christmas...

 

[ntrigue]

Now treat yourself to a backpack for the external.

 

[biggy52]

To answer ...

@belvdr : i have never used the old keyboard. So i dont know I did freak out when i had saw the keyboard being so small. As i always used logitech which were large and heavy. But i have got used to this new keyboard now.

--------------------------

@ColinM :
2. I mean when i open the Documents i have files and folders in the Documents folder. I want the list to show the contents of My Documents in the following way;
All folders on top sorted from A-Z
THEN All files after the Z folder. The files sorted A-Z as well. Am i clear here?

4. I am a chrome user. I wish chrome for mac would start supporting extensions atleast in the dev versions

6. In windows i usually right click on the desktop and say create a new text file. I can in OSX, i have to open TextEdit and type it out.

7. All picture viewers automatically picks the pictures from the folder. Dont you think its a bit odd that preview doesnt?

--------------------------

@Croatian

1. I am trying to Cut / Paste a FILe in finder.

2. Ok i didnt know that, i'll check it today. Thanks

3. I have my pictures in deep deep folders and subfolders, creating and album for it is going to take a lot of time I'll stick to picasa for now

4. I want favicons on the bookmarks bar, not address bar.

7. Nice trick. Thanks alot

----------------------------------------------

@mobhit

Space bar previews the image? nice trick...Thanks alot.


-----------------------------------

@G-Force

1. I know its Pathfinder. But i dont want to add unnecessary apps to my shiny new baby

5. Thats the problem, its inconsistent, some programs close, some stay open.

 

[biggy52]

What are you using for editing? Editing on Mac is much worse than PC overall because you're limited to iMovie (which is total garbage), or final cut which is just ok (referring to express here, I can't imagine you're going to buy the full thing). It's far easier to edit HD movies on Windows 7 as well, I am wondering what program was giving you hang ups? Plenty of my mac programs crash, both audio production, web authoring etc. Crashes almost every day, that is just the nature of Snow Leopard for me so far.

I think you will find that the OS is just another OS. OSX is actually all I use, but it's hardly something to gloat about, or think "Oh wow I'm so glad I got out of windows for this!" There are loads of ridiculous problems in Apple land, and just realize that the grass is not always greener.

Not trying to be a downer here, but this is reality, and don't let the iMac's nice design cloud your judgment. I had two of them. I'm back on my laptop. Please inspect your expensive machine thoroughly.

FYI, in my time using Windows 7 on other machines, it has been far more solid, capable, and flexible than OSX. OSX is prettier though.

FYI, I have had the same experience with Windows 7. I really like it, i dont deny it. But in my experience working around in OSX is quite simpler and easier in some ways. Both OS have pros and cons. But i am just touching OSX , hence my excitement, i am a kid all over again.

I used Windows Movie Maker, Nero Vision
to Convert some movies from AVI (my home made) to MP4 , if the file is say more than 2 GB, it would crash during conversion.

Nothing can cloud my judgement. Thats why i wrote my experience AFTER using it day n night. I have already started hating some things about the OSX too. But you have to give credit to Apple for its design and Quality. Sorry to those who had a defective iMac. But in my first experience i am quite impressed. I am already considering to let go of my HP Laptop and get a Macbook Pro if a new one is announced this January.

Cheerz !

 

[biggy52]

Some things take a bit of getting used to, for sure.

A tip from me: Don't rush in there with add-ons to try and replicate functionality that you became used to in Windows. I found that, over time, I came to appreciate the OS X ways of doing things.

I know, but i am a fast learner, so i got used to it already. OSX way of doing things is fun and fast, but not all the time. Like the Cut/Paste files/folders. I found the OSX way to be less productive. I mean i would have to copy the files, then look for the location where i want to paste it, and then go back and move the files to thrash. Weird.

I know the spring folders work great, but only great if you know where you want to paste it, with my folder management in documents and pictures, i usually have to dig deep to remember where i want to paste my files/folders.

I am getting used to it though. but that doesnt mean its the best way.

 

[biggy52]

Now treat yourself to a backpack for the external.

That looks really nice. But i wouldnt want to put my WD 1TB there. I am a bit of a clumsy dog. I might move around the screen without thinking the HDD is back there. And the HDD would fall. I will pass on that for now. thanks!

 

[G-Force]

@G-Force

1. I know its Pathfinder. But i dont want to add unnecessary apps to my shiny new baby

5. Thats the problem, its inconsistent, some programs close, some stay open.

1. Nope, it's FileCutter (which is not an application but a contextual menu plugin.) However, I see now it doesn't work on Snow Leopard.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/29931

5. It's not inconsistent if you quit applications. Just right click the dock icon and click Quit, it will always kill the application. Why the close button behaves like it does has been explained. But there is no need to close applications with 8GB of RAM, that would be pure waste of that memory.

About inconsistency, in Windows the close button can be just as inconsistent as in Mac OS X. Internet Explorer shuts down when you click it. Windows Live Messenger minimizes to the system tray. I'm sorry, but the close button does whatever works best for that particular application, that's the way it works in pretty much all operating systems.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

Excellent thread! Thanks for sharing!!!

Bryan