Is Apple doing a good job?

[Bring4th_Steve]

Being a gadget hound and tech enthusiast, I couldn't help but to ask if anyone has played with the new track pads that Apple has come out with in their newest MacBook Pro?

One of my co-workers is a contractor who was given one of these new Pro machines. Besides its beautiful and sleek form, what caught my attention the most was the track pad. The pads are probably double the size of the typical PC laptop, which makes it a lot easier to travel the finger(s) around without feeling like you are over-driving the mouse movement. And the biggest surprise of all--no mouse button! Well, at least not in its traditional form. Now, when you decide to click on something, you can literally press down on the entire track pad and feel it click as though you pressed the mouse button. Nice!

In addition to the track pad having a larger physical presence, Apple got smart with creating "zones" in which you can assign functions or behaviors to each corner of the track pad. So not only can the operating system know when you are pressing the mouse, but at which corner.

Lastly, there's the concept of "gesturing". It is now possible to use more than one finger to instruct the mouse. In fact, you can use up to three fingers to perform time-saving functions. It almost seems logical that Apple's next phase of innovation will be to allow me to plant my forehead down on the trackpad and have it take care of all my computing needs.

The funny part about me being impressed with the new track pad is that I ordinarily dislike Macs altogether. Having grown up on a Commodore Amiga and then a PC, having only one mouse button on a Mac seemed more like a limitation than a feature! It's clear I've kept a huge bias over the years towards PCs, and overlooked Windows shortcomings because I just knew that Microsoft would get it right soon. Ha! The naivete!

This is the first time in public that I am openly admitting to price shopping for a MacBook Pro. Has anyone gone through such a transformation as well? What do you all think of Apple's clever track pad?

[Vince]

I have a standard touchpad on my Toshiba Windows laptop computer. Is this the same as the Apple mouse pad that you're referencing? Or is it different?

[Bring4th_Steve]

I have a standard touchpad on my Toshiba Windows laptop computer. Is this the same as the Apple mouse pad that you're referencing? Or is it different?

Hey Vince! The Toshiba touchpad is night-and-day compared the the new apple ones! You really should check it out. Try going to Apple's site and looking at their demonstration of the new trackpad. Amazing!

I will need to save a few pennies before I can get one of those premium machines though... The newest 17" laptops are almost $3k. I will need to wait a little bit until they become more affordable...

Steve

[Vince]

Hey Vince! The Toshiba touchpad is night-and-day compared the the new apple ones! You really should check it out. Try going to Apple's site and looking at their demonstration of the new trackpad. Amazing!

I will need to save a few pennies before I can get one of those premium machines though... The newest 17" laptops are almost $3k. I will need to wait a little bit until they become more affordable...

Steve

Hey there, Steve.

I searched and found this link about the Apple trackpad:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA22862?viewlocale=en_US

I normally have the touchpad scrolling function turned off for my Windows Toshiba laptop, prefering to use the arrow keys for scrolling instead, because I seem to lose control of the keyboard too easily otherwise, because my fingers may wander too far towards the outskirts of the touchpad. The pages just start going wild for me due to lack of precision.

However, it seems like the Apple trackpad may necessitate two or more fingers being used simultaneously to enable the scroll function, if indeed I'm interpreting the article correctly. Not sure.

[Bring4th_Steve]

Hey Vince,

Yeah, I think you may have started hitting upon the benefits of the Apple Trackpad, but there are definitely more.

With the new Powerbooks, the trackpad is actually one big button. So if you press on the track pad hard enough, the entire pad will give under your fingers and give you a physical "click". Since there is now a button, the old buttons that accompany a trackpad are now removed, which means the trackpad itself is now huge, and totally manageable with your fingers.

For the Windows users, you can even assign a corner of the pad to click on the left or right to register like a typical windows mouse. It is completely customizable.

The finger motions you were talking about are called "gestures'. You are right--you can use one finger to point and click, or two fingers to scroll a page up and down. Three fingers will let you flip your browser forward and backwards, and four fingers lets you move the actual windows around, when you grab them at the top and drag them. The beauty behind the gestures is that the laptop does a great job interpreting what you want to do. There are many other gestures you can do, like rotating your index finger and thumb on the glass track surface to rotate a picture. Or pinch your fingers together on the glass to shrink and image, while spreading apart your index finger after and thumb will create a zoom effect on photos.

If you go here:

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/features-17inch.html

and scroll down about half way, you'll see a Quicktime video with these gestures in action. I've tried them as well on a new MacBook Pro that my friend purchased, and it is really a productivity booster! Much better than the 2-inch wide pads that you typically find on PC laptops.

But the trackpad is just one of many other cool innovations that Apple came out with. I am actually more impressed with the idea that you can now run the laptop for 8 hours before needing to charge it, while running its 17-inch screen! Now that's impressive...

And I still am not a Mac guy, but getting very close to becoming one.. :-)

Steve

[Vince]

Your forum is requiring about five minutes per sentence for me to type a sentence when I'm quoting text. It takes about one second to input each character. There's some type of odd typing delay. I've posted on twenty different forums and never encountered this.

Is anybody else experiencing this? Or am I the only one? Am I in the wrong wisiwig mode or something?

If this continues, it will be impossible for me to reply to any thread. What is causing this? Can it be corrected?

I really want to respond to a few posts, but there's some wierd typing delay.

[artichoke]

Your forum is requiring about five minutes per sentence for me to type a sentence when I'm quoting text. It takes about one second to input each character. There's some type of odd typing delay. I've posted on twenty different forums and never encountered this.

Is anybody else experiencing this? Or am I the only one? Am I in the wrong wisiwig mode or something?

If this continues, it will be impossible for me to reply to any thread. What is causing this? Can it be corrected?

I really want to respond to a few posts, but there's some wierd typing delay.

No delay here. I don't know what is causing you to have that problem.

[Bring4th_Steve]

Vince, I bet you're using IE. You have to ditch it, man! IE has a major (unrepairable) security flaw right now, it's JavaScript engine is not nearly as efficient as Webkit, which is what Firefox and Safari use. It also does not follow W3C CSS design standards, so many times IE will not display pages the way that they are "supposed" to be displayed.

So that is why you are experiencing the delay. It's not only this site that will cause the issue, by the way. I've researched the issue thinking I had made a programming error, and the issue is actually not tied to the forums, but to the technologies used to drive the forums. Many sites are now using newer web technologies for a better user experience, and IE is simply not changing to accommodate the need for better performance from these advances. Perhaps it is because they are focusing more on their newer browser versions, such as version 8, which is now in beta, but I am just speculating there.

Good luck with the issue,
Steve

[Vince]

Okay, is there a way that I can transfer my bookmarks from IE to Firefox? (I don't want to lose my bookmarks.) And I also want to be able to have my 8 homepages that turn on when I click the one button.

I really want to take part in the forum. My ultimate goal is to explore and discuss the Law of One texts. I enjoyed attending the last homecoming group and want to familiarize myself more thoroughly with the materials. They shine with higher thought patterns.

[Bring4th_Steve]

Yep, you absolutely can copy your bookmarks, personal info, passwords, etc. into Firefox without losing them in IE. All you have to do is open Firefox and choose "File", then "Import". You'll see the option already selected for Internet Explorer. When you click next, you'll be able to copy over anything that you allowed IE to save in the past. So in reality, you don't give up any part of your past activity or experience unless you choose to. Firefox did a great job in making sure the migration path was made easy.

Vince, even if you don't ultimately go with Firefox, or you decide to use it as a secondary browser, you should still notice performance increases in how fast the pages load.

I'm glad you decided to give it a shot... As much as you'd hate to have a less than enjoyable experience here, I know we all would not want to lose you as part of the community, either. So thanks!

Good luck, and let me know if you need any further assistance.
Steve

Okay, is there a way that I can transfer my bookmarks from IE to Firefox? (I don't want to lose my bookmarks.) And I also want to be able to have my 8 homepages that turn on when I click the one button.

I really want to take part in the forum. My ultimate goal is to explore and discuss the Law of One texts. I enjoyed attending the last homecoming group and want to familiarize myself more thoroughly with the materials. They shine with higher thought patterns.

[Vince]

Yep, you absolutely can copy your bookmarks, personal info, passwords, etc. into Firefox without losing them in IE. All you have to do is open Firefox and choose "File", then "Import". You'll see the option already selected for Internet Explorer. When you click next, you'll be able to copy over anything that you allowed IE to save in the past.

There was some type of problem with the transfer again. I've just reinstalled Firefox again, setting it up as my default browser. In the setup process, it asked me if I wanted to transfer my bookmarks and homepage. I said 'yes' of course, but it didn't transfer the bookmarks, even though it had specifically asked about it and I told it to transfer the bookmarks.

Then afterwards, I went into 'File' and 'Import' as you suggest. It again asked me if I wanted to transfer bookmarks from IE to Firefox, so I clicked 'Next'. Guess what? Nothing happened. The bookmarks never transfered. I don't have them. (Not that this reflects on you, but I get frustrated with these goofy computers.) Now I have to uninstall Firefox for a second time to get my bookmarks back again.

Am I out of options? Or is there something more that I can do? I must have those bookmarks. I have about 200 bookmarks that I've organized over the years into various subfolders.

EDIT: Oh wait, forget it. This time it still allows me to use IE when I want, even with Firefox installed. In my previous installation of Firefox, it deleted my IE icons and bookmarks. I still can't access my IE bookmarks through the Firefox browser (because they won't transfer for some reason), but I can at least still access IE with Firefox installed (unlike last time).

Hopefully, everything should run smooth now. I'd like to respond to a few more posts soon. Thanks much for your help.

---

With the new Powerbooks, the trackpad is actually one big button. So if you press on the track pad hard enough, the entire pad will give under your fingers and give you a physical "click". Since there is now a button, the old buttons that accompany a trackpad are now removed, which means the trackpad itself is now huge, and totally manageable with your fingers.

For the Windows users, you can even assign a corner of the pad to click on the left or right to register like a typical windows mouse. It is completely customizable.

The finger motions you were talking about are called "gestures'. You are right--you can use one finger to point and click, or two fingers to scroll a page up and down. Three fingers will let you flip your browser forward and backwards, and four fingers lets you move the actual windows around, when you grab them at the top and drag them. The beauty behind the gestures is that the laptop does a great job interpreting what you want to do. There are many other gestures you can do, like rotating your index finger and thumb on the glass track surface to rotate a picture. Or pinch your fingers together on the glass to shrink and image, while spreading apart your index finger after and thumb will create a zoom effect on photos.

If you go here:

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/features-17inch.html

and scroll down about half way, you'll see a Quicktime video with these gestures in action. I've tried them as well on a new MacBook Pro that my friend purchased, and it is really a productivity booster! Much better than the 2-inch wide pads that you typically find on PC laptops.

This does really seem like a productivity booster. Perhaps the standard computers will get up to speed in a few years.

[Bring4th_Steve]

Vince,

I do understand how important it is to keep your bookmarks handy.

You might also want to consider this as well:

http://www.linkagogo.com/

This site allows you to save all of your bookmarks in your own private place, so that no matter where you go, or what browser you use, you always have 100% access to your bookmarks.

I cannot recommend this enough. If I go to a Library, coffee shop, bookstore, or a web cafe, I can use a public computer and still have access to all of the bookmarks that I normally use.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Steve

[Vince]

Now everything seems to be working.

[Vince]

Apple has done a very good job of marketing to their 3.5 per cent of the market. windows doing a great job with the other 96.5 per cent.

does this then mean that windows is doing a better job than apple by 30x?

[Peregrinus]

Oooh a MS vs Apple thread! I'd better stay away from this one, being I have a PC and a MBP. Two years ago, different story, but today, why not have the best of both worlds, duel-boot?

Very easy and slick system
Portable Apps on a thumbdrive
Firefox
XMarks (syncs bookmarks and passwords between multiple computers, thumbdrive based, apple, or pc, which are running firefox)

I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would run Explorer, except those like my 79 year old mother who it is easier to leave with what is basic.

[Bring4th_Steve]

Well, I did end up getting a MacBook Pro after all, after loving Windows for nearly two decades.

And since I have to use both Windows and Macs every day, I can still say that I would whole-heartedly choose a Mac over the PC. Sure, there are plenty of things that both OS's are very good at and horribly bad at. So I can only give a subjective opinion that according to my particular desires in a computer, the MBP comes out ahead in every single way. For me, "it just works." And I say this after many years of resistance against the Mac. Maybe it was just the fact that OSX was such a major improvement that it actually became tolerable to the masses? Not sure.. But I'm liking it so far...

[Vince]

i'm just afraid that i might have to use a program someday that isn't available in a mac version. that's why i stick to windows.

maybe if i started using two computers simultaneously, it would make a difference.

what if i purchased a mac just for word processing but nothing else? would that be a good idea? i want to write a book.

[Ali Quadir]

Huh?? Why? Whats the point? You can write a book in windows!

Mac OSX is essentially a version of linux well disguised, why not try linux? It's free, if it does not work out you can always go back to windows. And if you have some space left on your drives you can offcourse choose to dual boot.

No need to spend money on good software.

I dual boot. I play games on windows... Linux is for everything else.

[Vince]

Huh?? Why? Whats the point? You can write a book in windows!

Mac OSX is essentially a version of linux well disguised, why not try linux? It's free, if it does not work out you can always go back to windows. And if you have some space left on your drives you can offcourse choose to dual boot.

No need to spend money on good software.

I dual boot. I play games on windows... Linux is for everything else.

thanks much. i will try linux. i assume that i just download it and run the program?

[Peregrinus]

Try ubuntu. Download it, burn it to disc, boot to disc. You can even check it out without installing it, running it from disc.

Actually, Linux and OS X were at one time the same operating system, but systems that have evolved in their own direction. Linux has broken off into many other forms, some of the popular ones being Ubuntu, Mint, and Fedora. Ubuntu is by far the most user friendly "out of the box", which is why I suggest it.

[Ali Quadir]

Actually, mac os 9 was becoming outdated. Macintosh needed a drastic new direction. Linux was the only system available that could offer it... Mac OSX is essentially a linux distribution. It's been hacked and modified by the Macintosh guys. But all those changes were also pushed upstream.

They're essentially the same system. It just looks different. Just like mandriva redhat and ubuntu all look different.

I don't mind them using linux to create their own distribution. That's what linux is for, to build your own stuff on the basis of someone else's previous work. But the fact that so few of the people using mac osx actually know that they're working on a real version of linux kind of bums me out. Linux has this stigma of being hard. Which was true about 10 years ago but it's actually much easier to use than windows these days. And much safer. Yet people say "Go mac OSX, it's easier than linux". While it IS linux...

Sorry, just a pet peeve

I agree on the rest though, try out ubuntu. It's the simplest of them... And these days if your pc has no esoteric hardware it should pretty much work out of the box, and you can test this with booting from the live cd..

They named the distribution after an african word. Here's a bit about the meaning of the word ubuntu you might like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODQ4WiDsEBQ

Games don't work under linux. If you want the full 3d accelerations under 64 bit ubuntu meaning rotating desktops wobbly windows and fancy effects that windows has not actually dreamed of yet. Then you might have some bad luck with internet flash movies. Youtube for example sometimes does not respond to mouse clicks.. I'd recommend disabling that feature. Other than that I've seen no problems.

[Vince]

will ubantu or linux affect any other programs beyond my microsoft word program? i just want my microsoft word program to operate easier so that i can write a book. i don't want any of my other programs to be affected. i want my other programs to run in standard windows format. i just want to alter my microsoft word program to make it easier.

can i affect one program and not the others?

[Ali Quadir]

Well, you won't get MS office on linux, however there is a brilliant alternative, not just a mockup. It's Open Office, you can download it and run it in windows. Just go ahead and try it, it's free and if you don't like it, just uninstall it. I prefer it because it has some extra features I actually use while it is sparse on the features I do not use making the whole feel more "to the point".. I only miss the outline view of MSWord for regular use... The alternative to MS Draw is especially much more intuitive to me. I would not dream of making my coding diagrams in another program.

Check it out at
http://www.openoffice.org/
It's totally free and has no strings attached.

Many programs run on both linux and windows, but many also do not, in those cases there's usually a good alternative for anything you want to do on the computer. But to be sure you can of course name your favorites and we can see if we know alternatives and tell you how good they are.

The last remaining bastion of linux compatibility issues are in scanner drivers. They are still a bit of wild west. Producers don't apply to standards and many of them act as if their protocols are trade secrets. Essentially breaking linux users ability to use their scanners. There are scanners fully supported there is a list if you happen to own a scanner and want to check let me know I will find the list for you.

My personal primary reason for using linux are philosophical choices. I don't want to support M$... And I don't really want to steal from them either. So I prefer to ignore them as much as I can and use the more humanity oriented software. In practice as a programmer I've got a lot of unique itches to scratch and I hang out in the console a lot. But thats not required at all I know people happy in Linux without ever touching the console. It's going to be cool if you eventually get there though. It's like old fashioned Dos but decades more advanced and usable.

At any rate, Open office is also included on the live ubuntu cd. If you intend to download that you can wait with installing openoffice on windows and just try it out from the live cd. Keep in mind that the live cd feels a bit sluggish. It's doing everything from CD so it's going to be limited in speed. An install feels much more snappy.

[Peregrinus]

will ubantu or linux affect any other programs beyond my microsoft word program? i just want my microsoft word program to operate easier so that i can write a book. i don't want any of my other programs to be affected. i want my other programs to run in standard windows format. i just want to alter my microsoft word program to make it easier.

can i affect one program and not the others?

I think you may be confused. Linux is not a program. It is an operating system the same as windows or Mac OS X. In order to use Linux (Ubuntu or whatever flavor) on a permanent basis, you would have to set up to either replace windows with it or duel boot with windows and Linux. As I mentioned, you can try Linus Ubuntu with the CD without installing it. It will just run from the CD.

Windows (95,95NT,98,2000,ME,XP,Vista,7)
Mac (System 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,OS 8,OS 9,OS X)
Linux (Ubuntu,Kubuntu,Red Hat,Fedora,Mint, etc etc)

[Monica]

I used to be an old-school mainframe programmer, and I now have zero interest in tinkering with my computer! (I'm really not a Geek at all, which is why I got out of programming after 18 years.) But, my son is quite the Geek, and he installed Linux Ubuntu on my laptop, and I love it! I use all OpenOffice and I love that too! My computer now runs much faster, I don't have to mess with drivers, I can plug and play when I need to use the printer...all around it's just a lot less hassle. I also love the whole idea of open-source, free software.

There's only 1 feature I miss from MS Word: the copy text only feature. Unless there's a way to do it that I don't know about...?

[Ali Quadir]

I'm sorry Monica, I don't know that feature.

If it copies text without formatting there's no equivalent that I know of.
But you can copy paste and then ctrl-m to apply default formatting to the whole selection after.

It should functionally get you there, IF I understood your question correctly

[carrie]

There are two ways:

1) Copy selected item.
a) Paste into Notepad
b) Copy from Notepad <-- comes as text w/o selection

2) Paste|Special,
a) Select Unicode Text

[Ali Quadir]

Oh ctrl-m definately does that I used the notepad trick before I discovered the short cut. Great minds think alike huh Carrie?