My first Mac, and I'm impressed!

I've wanted to try a Mac for a long time, but I could never justify the cost of such a proprietary system. I've always used Intel based hardware and run operating systems including various Linux distributions and Windows. I lucked into my Macbook Pro... my company decided to get me a laptop and gave me a $2000 budget. I was all set to get a Sony Viao when a coworker said I should check out the Mac. I was sold when I saw the ambient light sensor (yes, I'm shallow) and BootCamp.

First Impressions
My first impression in the store was that the "MBP" looked a lot larger than the Viao I had planned to buy. I also noticed that the screen seemed much more clear. I absolutely loved the way the keyboard felt and then the salesman covered up the speakers to show me the ambient light features. When the sensors (located under the speaker grills) detect decreased light, the keyboard can light up and the screen dims... SOLD! That's just cool enough to sway me. I figured I'd get it and use OSX to play with and boot Windows for work.

This is the part where the Mac purists are saying "Blasphemy, Windows on a Mac!". I am a network engineer on a Windows and Linux network so it had to be capable of running Windows for me to be able to get it... keep reading!

I ordered my MBP from CDW with an extra 512MB of memory (1GB total) for just under my budget. It arrived in 2 days in a very small but well thought out package. I opened the box to find the MBP, power adapter and a small package with a couple of thin manuals and DVD's. The packaging was minimalist but very nice.

After a brief step by step setup, I was looking at my OS X desktop. I clicked around a little and opened a terminal window to see if my Linux commands worked... they did! The next thing I did was download Bootcamp.

What is Bootcamp?
Bootcamp is software that Apple is developing to allow you to dual boot an Intel based Mac with Windows. Kudos to Apple for seeing the need for such software and even more for making the software so easy to use. It's as simple as downloading the .dmg package and running it. Bootcamp guides you through partitioning your hard drive for Windows and creating a disk that contains all the drivers. In no time I had my MBP setup and running Windows. You can set the default OS and select which OS to boot by holding down the "option" key (the one with the apple on it). If you setup your Windows partition as FAT32 you can read and write to it from OS X. The Windows partition shows up as a mounted drive in OS X, but you can't see the Mac partition when you boot Windows. Some of the keyboard features and the integrated Camera don't work, but the core functionality is available in either OS.

Back to OS X
All you Mac veterans can skip this if you want. I'm still learning OS X and you probably know everything I'm going to say. This is coming from someone that's NEVER used Mac OS.

My first impression of OS X was "Hey, this reminds me of KDE distribtions of Linux". OS X is much more polished and user friendly than any Linux distribution I've tried. Everything is easy to find. Editing system configurations is just a matter of a few clicks and changes are instantaneous. The biggest thing that stands out is the software install/uninstall process. It's as simple as dowloading the pacakage and dragging it to your Applications folder... do remove the software just drag it to trash. Thats it! I was thinking "No way it's that easy!". Linux is very powerful but getting software running on it can be tricky sometimes... Windows is easier but you often wind up with orphan programs and registry entries. Mac OS X gets an A+ for software installation!

My MBP came with a set of programs collectively referred to as iLife I think. They include, iChat, iDVD, iTunes, iCal and others. One of my favorite parts of OS X is Expose'... just press F9 and all of your current windows are displayed on the screen so you can pick the one you want to make active. You can use Expose' to drag content from one window to another easily without having to resize them. The included web browser is Safari, which I'm sure is adequate but Firefox is available for OS X universal so Firefox it is. I also installed the beta version of Open Office for Intel based Macs. I've found several free versions of the software that I used in Windows and other alternatives that run on OS X. I've got 90% of all the utilities I need to do my job running on my Macbook in OS X!

The single button touchpad on the MBP was a little annoying at first until I learned that I can use the ctrl key in combination with the button to effectively right click. I'm also learning the keyboard shortcuts that make OS X a breeze. You can use one finger on the touchpad to move the mouse cursor and two to make the current selection scroll, that's a neat feature. Of course you can attach an external two button mouse too and everything works like normal.

The more I use OS X, the more I love it. How could I have gone so long without it... it's so much easier to use than any other os I've tried!

Networking with Windows
I HAVE to connect to various servers from my notebook. Fortunately OS X has the ability to talk to other servers. To connect to a Windows server I just click "GO" in finder and select connect to server. I type in the server share using "smb://servername/share" and I'm prompted to authenticate to the domain. I type my password and I'm accessing my Windows File servers! There's even a Windows Remote Desktop Client for the Mac so I can actually control my Windows systems from my Mac. Citrix offers a Metaframe client that works perfectly as well and allows me to connect to any published application on my network. The Macbook Pro IS compatible with your Windows network!

Macbook Pro Features
Bluetooth - Allows you to tranfer data or use external bluetooth devices. So far all I've used is a bluetooth mouse. It worked flawlessly, it's just a matter of pairing the mouse with the MBP and start using it.

Wireless Networking - OSX makes it easy to view available wireless networks. You can select networks or create a manual connection. The MBP always connects to whichever preferred network I've configured. e.g, it connects right to the AP at work and then fires right up at home. No prompts for passwords or new networks, it just connects. (Both these networks are secure by the way).

MagSafe Power Connector - The power connector is magnetic around the outside to it pulls intself securely to the MBP but can be removed easily in case you trip over the cord. It's ingenious and I'm sure it'll save more than a few people from damaging their equipment.

Battery Life - I'm getting about 3.5 hours of usage from my MBP with it set on "Battery Saving" mode.

Speed - The MBP is touted as the fastest Mac ever and I believe it. It rarely takes more than a couple of seconds for anything to happen on the MBP. The Windows applications I use run just as fast as they do on my desktop

Front Row - Using the included remote control you can use the Macbook pro so watch DVDs, listen to music, and browse photos. The remote is about the size of the iPod Nano.

Built in Camera - There's a tiny built in camera at the top of the screen that takes surprisingly good pictures. The entire screen lights up white like a psuedo flash when you take a photo. The camera can also be used with iChat for video conferencing.

Hardware
The keyboard on the MBP feels very solid, pressing one key doesn't make five more give as if there is no support. The keys make contact with "normal" effort. The touchpad is large and works very well, I especially love the One Finger = move cursor, Two Fingers = scroll feature. I have a gripe here though, only one button for the mouse... I know it's an Apple thing, but come on Steve! To right click I have to press button on the keyboard. The keyboard is a long way from the end of the case so I have to take my watch off to type comfortably.

The display on the MBP is wonderful. It's a widescreen with 1440 x 900 resolution. Plenty of room for all of your windows. It's bright and crystal clear with only a slight loss of visibility when you look at it from an angle. The display can be set to automatically adjust to ambient light so that if you're in a low light area you're not lighting the entire room. (Did I mention that I love that?)

Sound quality is better than expected from the small speakers that are mounted on either side of the keyboard. Obviously there isn't much bass, but there is very little distortion and music sounds acceptable from them.

External connection ports are limited to (2) usb, audio in and out, DVI Out (with adaptor to SVGA), Firewire 400, and Gigbit Ethernet. Theres also a slot for an "ExpressCard 34" that I'll probably never use.

The CD/DVD drive is a slot load like a car CD player... there's no tray. You just slide the disk in and eject it using the eject button on the keyboard. The CD rom is pretty loud when loading and unloading.

I was creating a presentation with OpenOffice and had my Macbook pro on most of the day and I noticed that it did get very warm.

Improvements
Nothing is perfect, even the might Macbook Pro has some flaws. There's no built in modem, you can buy an external usb modem for $40, but most notebooks just come with an internal. I didn't realize it until AFTER I got my MBP. (I'd have gotten it anyway :) ) There's no serail port either which, unlike the modem, is getting to be normal. Anyone looking to configure routers and such will need to acquire a USB to Serial converter. The built in DVD RW makes a god awful racket when loading and unloading. Other than these very minor gripes I can't find much to complain about on the MBP.

Final Thoughts
I can honestly say that I am a CONVERT! The Macbook pro along with OS X has convinced me that the rumors are true... a Mac is the way a computer should be. It's powerful yet easy to use and it makes it easier to get the job at hand done. OS X has the best of Windows and Linux and then adds it's own outstanding set of features. Mac purists might not like the arrival of the Intel based Macbook Pro, but it will give Macs new found popularity and I'm sure I'm won't be the last to finally take the plunge and discover what true computer nirvana is.