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Ask YC: Mac virgin wants to know, what would you install?

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Re: Ask YC: Mac virgin wants to know, what would you install?

#12
post #10

I don't have much to add, but how do you like your MBP so far? I've had mine for almost a year and like it very much. I liked my Dell laptop running Ubuntu, but I do prefer the (more expensive) Mac hardware. The fan runs almost silently when compared to the Dell and, okay, it's just a nicer design too.

I like it very much so far! I don't have a nagging paranoia that I've somehow got a virus. I like the quiet, and design itself. It's also faster all-around, and slicker.

The only downside at all so far--I can't stand the way the home and end keys work and I'm having trouble with not having ctrl-C/ctrl-V and ctrl-Z work--the apple key does those functions, but on my keyboard, I find that key to be more awkward. It's screwing with my keyboard shortcut mojo.

Re: Ask YC: Mac virgin wants to know, what would you install?

#14
post #12
post #10

I don't have much to add, but how do you like your MBP so far? I've had mine for almost a year and like it very much. I liked my Dell laptop running Ubuntu, but I do prefer the (more expensive) Mac hardware. The fan runs almost silently when compared to the Dell and, okay, it's just a nicer design too.

I like it very much so far! I don't have a nagging paranoia that I've somehow got a virus. I like the quiet, and design itself. It's also faster all-around, and slicker. The only downside at all so far--I can't stand the way the home and end keys work and I'm having trouble with not having ctrl-C/ctrl-V and ctrl-Z work--the apple key does those functions, but on my keyboard, I find that key to be more awkward. It's s…

you can swap cmd and ctrl keys if you want, in the keyboard area of system preferences. you can also change caplocks there to something more useful.

for home/end is the problem them not moving the cursor? try cmd-up-arrow and cmd-down-arrow

Re: Ask YC: Mac virgin wants to know, what would you install?

#15
post #11

Vienna is a great free RSS reader. Colloquy is great for IRC.

Why do you like colloquy? I found it barely adequate.

I find Colloquy is fine (though it has a bad habit of pinning the CPU every now and then...), but there's nothing special about it. I'd switch in an instant if someone suggested a superior alternative.

What do you suggest for an OSX IRC client?

Re: Ask YC: Mac virgin wants to know, what would you install?

#16
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you like colloquy? I found it barely adequate.

I find Colloquy is fine (though it has a bad habit of pinning the CPU every now and then...), but there's nothing special about it. I'd switch in an instant if someone suggested a superior alternative. What do you suggest for an OSX IRC client?

X-Chat Aqua is good, though unmaintained.

Re: Ask YC: Mac virgin wants to know, what would you install?

#18
post #14
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like it very much so far! I don't have a nagging paranoia that I've somehow got a virus. I like the quiet, and design itself. It's also faster all-around, and slicker. The only downside at all so far--I can't stand the way the home and end keys work and I'm having trouble with not having ctrl-C/ctrl-V and ctrl-Z work--the apple key does those functions, but on my keyboard, I find that key to be more awkward. It's s…

you can swap cmd and ctrl keys if you want, in the keyboard area of system preferences. you can also change caplocks there to something more useful. for home/end is the problem them not moving the cursor? try cmd-up-arrow and cmd-down-arrow

I'll try the swap asap for command and ctrl. That's great-- Thanks!

In windows, home and end jump to the end of line/beginning of line, so I frequently hit shift-home or shift-end to select a whole line of text, then I copy or cut and move it.

I found app-specific hacks here:

http://www.starryhope.com/tech/apple/2006/keyfixer/

but I haven't checked out how it works yet, as I think I can add Thunderbird and other programs myself. Or I'll just re-adjust...

Re: Ask YC: Mac virgin wants to know, what would you install?

#20
AIM: Adium

IRC: Snak

RSS: NewsFireRSS

Notes: FreeMind

Newsgroups: Unison

Misc: Aquamacs, AppFresh, WhatSize, Flip4Mac, Twitterific

If you go to Startup School then you should also have a copy of SubEthaEdit installed. It's a text editor for mac that lets you take notes collaboratively in real time.

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