Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - New "Switcher" -- what do I need to know?

ratbastid · 04-04-2007, 06:35 PM

Today the shop let me know that my laptop's display problems are terminal. Repairing them will cost more than the old girl is worth.

On one hand it's sad. On the other, it's the opportunity I've been waiting for to fulfill on a promise I made when the first Intel Macs came out: My next computer, I told myself, would be a Mac.

Today I ordered myself a 15" MacBook Pro. I'm pretty excited about it. It came with a free-after-rebate copy of Parallels, which is good because I own a lot of Windows software.

I'm also pretty nervous. I sat at a Mac a couple weeks ago in a client's office and was totally bewildered at the UI. The last Mac I owned ran OS 7! I've got about a brazillian questions about what I need to know to set this thing up, and it's mostly about integrating the apps I currently use.

I'm going to need a good, preferably free, programmer's editor (is BBEdit still around?). I have one I really like for Windows called PSPad. How well does Parallels really integrate? Will I still be able to have a smooth workflow in a Windows editor under Parallels?

What's it like setting up music composition software under Parallels? Does it handle MIDI okay? Or should I be looking to (gulp) GarageBand? Is there a Google Talk client for the Mac? Is iTunes what I really want to be using to play music? I use VLC in Linux, I assume it's also the best option for video playback on the Mac?

How does the Mac handle Samba and NFS shares?

04-04-2007, 06:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
ratbastid Darth Papa Location: Yonder	New "Switcher" -- what do I need to know? Today the shop let me know that my laptop's display problems are terminal. Repairing them will cost more than the old girl is worth. On one hand it's sad. On the other, it's the opportunity I've been waiting for to fulfill on a promise I made when the first Intel Macs came out: My next computer, I told myself, would be a Mac. Today I ordered myself a 15" MacBook Pro. I'm pretty excited about it. It came with a free-after-rebate copy of Parallels, which is good because I own a lot of Windows software. I'm also pretty nervous. I sat at a Mac a couple weeks ago in a client's office and was totally bewildered at the UI. The last Mac I owned ran OS 7! I've got about a brazillian questions about what I need to know to set this thing up, and it's mostly about integrating the apps I currently use. I'm going to need a good, preferably free, programmer's editor (is BBEdit still around?). I have one I really like for Windows called PSPad. How well does Parallels really integrate? Will I still be able to have a smooth workflow in a Windows editor under Parallels? What's it like setting up music composition software under Parallels? Does it handle MIDI okay? Or should I be looking to (gulp) GarageBand? Is there a Google Talk client for the Mac? Is iTunes what I really want to be using to play music? I use VLC in Linux, I assume it's also the best option for video playback on the Mac? How does the Mac handle Samba and NFS shares?