I recently acquired an Apple MacBook Pro in order to do some iPhone/iPad/iPod (well…)/Mac development on for work.

The Old Waiting Game

Being the “fanboy” that I openly am, I jumped with joy at the chance to (for the first time) use a Mac regularly. I purred over the possibilities on the online Apple Store, configuring outrageous configurations that I neither needed nor understood (my best being ~£3,900 for a 27″ iMac that I could actually “justify” the purchase of to myself).

Finally a 17″ MacBook Pro was ordered (no processor upgrade, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD @ 7200RPM) along with a Magic Mouse and an Incase Neoprene Sleeve.

Coming from China it was never going to be delivered the next day – but I could hope. It didn’t. I think it took around 10 days which isn’t too bad all things considered.

Anyway, I’ll try and write something of note now instead of wittering on about how much I love Apple, etc.

*Interestingly, I’ve just noticed that “etc” isn’t in the default Google Chrome dictionary. Odd.

**I’ve also noticed that I can’t change the size of this text using WordPress alone – luckily I know HTML and so can create this. <- makes it sound difficult, lol. “Lol” isn’t in the dictionary either – come on Chrome, get with the times.

MacBook Pro 17"

Usage

Wow.

From a pure design perspective, give that man a carrot. Superb is not the word. Everything about the MBP is sleek and well thought out. I went for the glossy screen because I think it looks better. Yes, this was a stupid decision in case I ever want to work where there is light.

I care not. Good decision.

The keyboard is well laid out and easy to use, the keys more than comfortable to type on. But then that is to be expected.

Gripes

Yes, there are some.

The first, and perhaps one of my major problems, is the lack of a hash key. I (thanks to good ‘ol Google – by the way, more websites should be designed like this. Just the name of what it does, for simple things. What about www.howlongdoesittaketoboilanegg.com, or www.whichwayisleft.com) now know that this can be achieved with Alt + 3 but this is a pain! In the world of “tag this”, “tag that” you can’t be using two keys just to start your tag!

Another is the bizarre way that you install applications. Dragging things around and whatnot confuses me. But then I am very used to double-click, “install”, “yes, there is fine”, “no, I don’t want to install the Yahoo! Toolbar, no matter how good you think it is”, “yes, I’ve already clicked install, please do it”, “restart? again?”. Perhaps I’m not as much of a Mac-snob as I thought I was.

Here’s a question for you, Steve (Jobs that is, in case you didn’t get the reference) – why does Cmd + M minimise the current window, but Cmd + M or even Cmd + Shift + M doesn’t maximise the currently selected window? That makes no sense. Even Bill (Gates ) got that right (only recently admittedly) with Win + Up/Down.

I’ll think of some more later, for now I’m just going to enjoy pressing Cmd + M and watching my windows disappear like genies.

Edit:

I said I’d find some more gripes soon and there is one – quite a big one but a very anal one:

When writing emails at work, I use Outlook 2007. My reading pane is to the right and as such, a new message or a reply can be maneuvered to fit neatly in the bottom-left of my screen, leaving me free to view the message I’m replying to whilst drafting said reply.

In OS X? No. The Mail app WILL NOT remember where I position new messages. This means every single new message I write has to be dragged out of the way of the previous message, so I can see it whilst I reply. WHY???? Just remember where I left it! Everything else seems to be able to!