Taking the plunge--MacBook ordered!

Well, after significant deliberation, I finally decided to order a refurbished MacBook. I'm an experienced windows user, but I've only dabbled with OSX (and Linux a bit too), so I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I have to admit I'm looking forward to trying something new.

I've read the FAQ above, but I'm just wondering, for people who've switched from windows to Mac OS, is there anything you know now that you wish you had known/figured out sooner (i.e. some trick about how to efficiently operate MacOS or some particular programs, some widgets that are cool and useful etc.)? I'm particularly curious to hear from people who've run OpenOffice on their Macs, since I'm not quite sure if I want to shell out for a port of MS office anyway...

Also, I bought this notebook with the idea of upgrading the memory (since it came with only 512mb)--any recommendations? I'm pretty familiar with hardware that works well with windows machines (Corsair, Kingston, OCZ come to mind), but is there anything else special I should be looking for for my Mac?

I'd appreciate any input on either of these subjects.

 

OpenOffice (or NeoOffice you might want to look at for OS X) is highly compatable with MicroSoft Office and seems to be able to open and edit some pretty complex Office documents without issues.

I use it for Business and Technical documents daily and seldom run into any issues. Occasionally something will appear a bit different in NeoOffice or some complex PoewPoint presentation won't have all the multimedia features but usually everything is great.

I got 2x1gb sticks from Crucial. Its worked flawlessly so far. Search through this forum and you'll see lots of recommendations. I started with 1g which seemed to run fine but since I went to 2gb everything is much faster.

 

don't be afraid, it should be nice experience ! i've switched, and i'm really happy about that ! in the furture, i see... my next computer... which is... a mac ! ^^

 

In case your looking for how to install extra RAM on your Mac, here is a helpful tutorial:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303491

 

Yay mac people!!!

anyway I'm about to order a macbook pro but Barclays Bank is retarded and can't program the site so that the juniper credit card gets added to my apple store account automatically so I'm waiting until tomorrow...sigh.

I'm getting base configuration with a glossy screen yay

 

Take a look at the stickies for recommended programs.

Not much I wish I would have known. I guess I wish I would have shelled out money for Parallels to begin with.

 

Parallels is that much better than boot camp (i.e. to justify the expense)? Thanks for the link r.e. installing extra memory too--I'll definitely make use of that. Thanks also for the note about NeoOffice. I'm already pretty comfortable with OOo, so it's good to have options other than MSOffice.

 

Depending on what you want to use Windows for, one or the other will usually be better yes. If you want to play games or use anything 3d-related or that requires maximum performance, use Boot Camp. For anything else, Parallels means you won't have to reboot which is quite convenient.

There are many threads on the subject in this forum, read a few and form your own opinion on what is best for you

 

I just ordered my apple yay!!!! Except there was a major screwup with the credit card because I ordered and then cancelled and then reordered and the first charge didn't get cancelled because Apple forgot to call Juniper and the second charge kept getting rejected, which Apple GLADLY fixed, and the charge should go through at midnight and my macbook pro should be on its way by sometime after the holidays. I can't wait!!!

By the way I love Apple customer service. And their hold music.