Mac OSX Tiger (Mac OS X)

Member Name: imsooosickofu

Product:	Mac OS X
Date:	09/12/06 (575 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: faster, friendlyier, looks nicer

Disadvantages: lack of software

I haven't been able to find a review on here for Mac OSX Tiger, so here's my little bit, well its quite long actually.

I've been using my first mac for almost 6 months now, so I've got used to the operating system now at first it was a bit daunting, from using windows pc's for years, and knowing my way around it pretty well. I considered myself to be pretty good with computers and i was able to solve any problems I had myself however...

I had really had enough with the amount of spywear and viruses infecting my computer, constantly having to run programes such as Norton, that would kindly tell me that i had a virus, but then also tell me that it could do nothing about it. The final straw for me was when I installed an update from Windows Automatic Updater, and it seemed to delete some of the system files on my computer and Windows wouldn't even load.

I'd heard a lot about Mac OSX, how it doesn't crash, it doesn't get viruses, its faster, better. So when i saw the new macbook and how pretty it was, and after reading about OSX on forums and review sites I was quite excited about using it.

So i get my shiny new Macbook and i turn it out, the first thing that struck me was how quickly OSX starts up, it then takes you through step by step to set up your settings, password, date and time etc etc. So then i was ready to go... now where exactly do i go.

The Dock
So you're probably used to the menu system of windows, having all your applications available from the start menu. OSX doesn't have anything like that, you've got the dock at the bottom which is like the quick launch buttons on the taskbar in windows. You can add as many applications to this as you want and remove them, obviously, you can change its size, change what happens when you move your mouse over icons etc. The trash can is also in the dock, which is really handy because no matter what your doing the dock is always displayed and anything you want rid of can be simply dragged into the trash can. The dock is also where your minimised windows and applications go, when you minimise a movie into the dock, without pausing it, it keeps on playing, a simple thing really but I thought it was pretty cool. I really like the dock actually its just a lot cooler than the outdated windows task bar, and it works just as well, if not better.

Finder
This is like opening My Documents / My computer, the pre defined folders are, Desktop, User Account (your name here), Movies, Music, Pictures, Documents. These folders are displayed in a frame on the left and you can add and delete them as you wish. At the top of this frame you can also access the Network folder (to access shared files on a network), and any other external storage devices, USB flash drive etc. There aren't really any major differences between this and My Documents on windows, and neither is better than the other although OSX does allow for more customisation of how your files and folders are displayed, adding colour to folders, backgrounds etc.

Spotlight
This is one of the best features of OSX, in the top right of the menu bar (this is where all your file, edit, view, format, help etc etc menu's are but it changes obviously for each application, the battery meter and date and time are also displayed here, like the top line of a mobile phone display. You click on the spotlight logo and type in whatever it is your looking for, applications, photos, music, documents, e-mails, folders, and it searches instantly as you type. This is a far more advanced way of searching for files on your computer in comparison to the START - SEARCH on windows PC's. Its really good actually i use this all the time if i know what i'm looking for its much quicker and easier, its also really good if you know you saved that file someplace but can't figure out where.

System Preferences
This is the 'Control Panel' not too much to say on this really, it works in the same way as the windows control panel, you set all your preferences for everything on the computer. OSX does allow for a greater level of customisation compared to windows though, and the bundled screen savers are pretty cool.

Automator
Apple do go on about this quite a bit, and i can see why its good, but to be honest i think i've used it once, and i really didn't have to it was just to try it out. Its basically like writing your own computer application, but its a lot easier to use, you can get it to do repetitive tasks like renaming all of your photos in a photo album etc etc, all those little annoying things you like to do to make your computer look neat and tidy.

Dashboard and Expose
I love this, even when Im using windows computers now I find myself hitting the F9 key, and obviously, nothing happens :o(. Expose is really simple but its really useful, you set specific keys on the keyboard to do these things, the keys are predefined as F9, F10, F11, F12, you can change these to whatever you want but ill tell you what each key does.

F9 - This displays all your currently open windows and files, its great for quickly switching between applications, and it looks cool when you do it as well.

F10 - brings to the front the application you select after pressing F9, or you can just click with your mouse,

F11- Hides all applications and files, this is good when doing xmas shopping and you don't want whoever is peering over from behind the sofa seeing what your looking it, its also like using the show desktop button on windows.

F12 - Opens the 'Dashboard' this is a good feature, although i don't use it that often, the dashboard is basically where you can access little applications called widgets, these are pre-installed but you can download as many more as you want free from apples website, they can do all sorts of things like, currency convertors, calculators, random quote generators, itunes artwork grabber etc etc.

Software
The bundled software with OSX is pretty good, everyone knows about iTunes, there's also;
Mail, apples Outlook express, its essentially the same but much simpler to use i've found.
iMovie well i haven't used this yet but it looks like a pretty decent movie editor. iDVD, creates and burns DVDs.
iChat, I've never used this its an Instant messenger but there's no support for MSN Messenger contacts.

Thats about all i have to say really, I could go into great detail about all the features and how to do everything on OSX, but then you could just go to Apples website for that, on that note actually, i've found the forum on the Apple website to be really helpful when trying to sort out problems, other mac users seem to be really happy that you've made the switch and are normally more than happy to help.

This is a fantastic operating system, it doesn't take long to get used to and there is plenty of help available for you if your struggling. Personally i prefer it to windows, in the six months I've been using it its never, crashed, i've never had a virus or spyware and well it just looks better. It seems to be a lot more seamless and faster than XP and when i go from using my mac to windows PC's i do feel like I'm taking a step back in computer technology. I would hold off buying now though, if you can, and wait for the next version of Mac OS, Leopard, coming in spring 2007.

Summary: a fantastic operating system

Variety of features:
Reliability:
User friendly: