What can/cant I do?

[Foggy]

Ok, in the imminent future I am planning on replacing my windows laptop with a Macbook Pro (just trying to hold out for WWDC but struggling!)

I will most likely install boot camp or parallels for things like web page checking in IE, but I was wondering what else I can and cant do on the mac that I do at the moment. I realise some of these are obvious (like SSH etc) but it is a way of me kind of thinking out loud. My preference is for shareware/free software . Currently I use the following/do the following on my laptop:

SSH (& SSH Tunnels) with Putty.
DVD Ripping with DVDecrypter & Auto Guardian Knot (slowly converting all my DVD's so I can store them on my Terastation and access through XBMC).
Office with OpenOffice (I also have MS Office somewhere).
Video Editing (Using ULead Videostudio which sucks, cant wait for ILife).
Digital image editing (Photoshop)
Web browsing (Firefox)
Email (Thunderbird)
Watch movies (Both DVD and DivX/XVid)
Print via HP PSC 2510 networked printer
MS Money 2005
Google Earth
Use Nero6 for DVD Burning
Mysql ( & Mysql Query Browser)
Apache
PHP

I also sync/connect to the following devices:

Ipaq 4700 WM based PDA.
Ipod,Ipod Nano and Sony NetWalkman (NW-E407)
Garmin Forerunner 305
Sony Ericsson W810i
Nokia 6230

As a fall back I have a couple of dual boot PC's that run Linux but also have windows on them for when I have to use it.

 

[SilentPanda]

I will most likely install boot camp or parallels for things like web page checking in IE

As long as you don't need fancy 3D graphics Parallels will be your best option (granted it will cost you more than bootcamp but you won't have to reboot). I've ran IE, watched videos, done VB .Net stuff, etc in Parallels and it's been great. iMac 2.0 Core Duo with 2gig of RAM.

SSH (& SSH Tunnels) with Putty.

Should be fine with plain old terminal.

DVD Ripping with DVDecrypter & Auto Guardian Knot (slowly converting all my DVD's so I can store them on my Terastation and access through XBMC).

Should be a relief for you to use Handbrake.

Office with OpenOffice (I also have MS Office somewhere).

Check.

Video Editing (Using ULead Videostudio which sucks, cant wait for ILife).

You'll like iLife... and if not... off with your head!

Digital image editing (Photoshop)

Depending on what you do there are a decent range of graphics programs. I use Graphic Converter mostly and it's cheap too.

Web browsing (Firefox)
Email (Thunderbird)

Both run on OS X and of course Safari and Mail are available if you wish.

Watch movies (Both DVD and DivX/XVid)

DVD is fine, DivX and XVid work when you download the codecs and VLC.

Print via HP PSC 2510 networked printer

Can't say for sure but most likely you'll be fine.

MS Money 2005

I hope you like Quicken... or you can run MS Money in Parallels.

Google Earth

Yup!

Use Nero6 for DVD Burning

Roxio Toast has what you'll want most likely.

Mysql ( & Mysql Query Browser)
Apache
PHP

Yup, yup, yup.

I also sync/connect to the following devices:

Ipaq 4700 WM based PDA.
Ipod,Ipod Nano and Sony NetWalkman (NW-E407)
Garmin Forerunner 305
Sony Ericsson W810i
Nokia 6230

You'll want to check the iSync site. Not being on there doesn't mean they won't work though... it just means you might have to try harder.

As a fall back I have a couple of dual boot PC's that run Linux but also have windows on them for when I have to use it.

You probably won't need them with Parallels.

 

[Makosuke]

Everything on your non-device list has (generally better) no-problem options except for MS Money. Your Mac will come with a QuickBooks demo but I know nothing about Money so I can't tell you what the difference is.

A couple of notes: For Open Office, I recommend NeoOffice instead. It's the same codebase, but runs as a native OSX application instead of via X11, so the interface looks more "Mac like" (the menus are where they're supposed to be on a Mac, for example). It's also easier to install. Even the Alpha versions work fine for me.

Two, Toast covers the Nero ground comfortably, but if you just want to burn .iso images or data CD/DVDs, then you don't even need Toast--that's all built into the OS either directly in the Finder or via Disk Utility. Same for burning video DVDs--iDVD (part of iLife) does that so well it's not even funny.

Three on the DivX/XviD video, the previous poster said download the codecs AND VLC. Should have said "or"--if you install JUST the DivX codec, nearly every DivX/XviD encoded AVI will play just fine--you don't even need the XviD codec specifically. Or you can install VLC, which of course plays darn near everything. If you want, you can install both, just in case, or to use whichever you prefer. There's also a decent Mac version of MPlayer, though I don't use it much.

Finally, you have no idea how much you are going to love iMovie. Heck, depending on how much editing you're doing, even iPhoto might cover your photo needs--the latest version handles cropping, rotation correction, color correction, and basic scratch removal touchup very well.

Last note: Thunderbird of course works fine, as does Firefox, but I would recommend at least giving Mail a try--I've used both, and I prefer Mail for a number of reasons. For the browser, in addition to Safari, I highly recommend you give Camino a look--it uses the Gecko rendering engine so it's just as compatible as Firefox, but it has a MUCH nicer, Mac-like interface. If you prefer all the UI customization and plugins in Firefox, you won't want it, but if you just want to browse, I'd say it's a better option.

 

[SilentPanda]

Three on the DivX/XviD video, the previous poster said download the codecs AND VLC. Should have said "or"

True. Only reason I threw the "and" in there was to enable easier full screen playback. Quicktime won't play full screen unless you purchase Quicktime Pro ($30) or I think there is an Applescript somewhere that will fake it into it. You might be able to play the videos full screen if you import them into iTunes.

 

[Eidorian]

True. Only reason I threw the "and" in there was to enable easier full screen playback. Quicktime won't play full screen unless you purchase Quicktime Pro ($30) or I think there is an Applescript somewhere that will fake it into it. You might be able to play the videos full screen if you import them into iTunes.

Watch it in Front Row, use the Apple Script, try Quiktime FS (PowerPC), or play it in VLC.

 

[Core Trio]

True. Only reason I threw the "and" in there was to enable easier full screen playback. Quicktime won't play full screen unless you purchase Quicktime Pro ($30) or I think there is an Applescript somewhere that will fake it into it. You might be able to play the videos full screen if you import them into iTunes.

ever since I downloaded flip4mac (for free) ive had pretty much all the capability of Quicktime Pro, including all the AV manipulation and full screen. I dont know if this was supposed to happen but Im not complaining.

Sadly for switchers tho, f4m is only for PPC at the moment

 

[Makosuke]

Watch it in Front Row, use the Apple Script, try Quiktime FS (PowerPC), or play it in VLC.

Yes, yes, yes, and you forgot that DivX also comes with the DivX player, which also does fullscreen (although I admittedly don't like it). Personally, I say it's all about frontrow.

 

[Eidorian]

Yes, yes, yes, and you forgot that DivX also comes with the DivX player, which also does fullscreen (although I admittedly don't like it). Personally, I say it's all about frontrow.

Isn't the DivX Player PowerPC only though? It was slow as hell running on my iMac G5.

 

[Makosuke]

Isn't the DivX Player PowerPC only though? It was slow as hell running on my iMac G5.

Currently, yes, but it works on my MBP. I said I didn't like it, just mentioned it as an available option.