The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    OSX Leopard - Beginner questions

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by MBP_Admirer, Jan 16, 2008.

  1. MBP_Admirer

    MBP_Admirer Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have been a regular Windows user for over 12 years. On the verge of buying a MBP and entering the world of OSX.

    One thing that I found very striking in OSX Leopard is the simplicity of the system setting options compared to Vista. It looks clean and intuitive.

    Looks like 'System Preferences' in OSX is the equivalent of 'Control Panel' in Windows. The setting options in System Preferences seem to be fewer than what one can see on Windows. While this is good for a newcomer to OSX, does this imply that personalization and configuration options is limited compared to Windows? Am I missing something here?

    -Thanks
     
    MBP_Admirer, Jan 16, 2008
    #1
  2. Sam

    Sam Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    3,661
    Messages:
    9,249
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Sam, Jan 16, 2008
    #2
  3. CanadianDude

    CanadianDude Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    507
    Messages:
    1,476
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    56
    There are programs that you can download where you can apply different skins to make the dock look different and what not. Similar to Windows Blinds or those poeple who have a vista theme on XP.

    Personally, I think they are just a waste of RAM and slows down your system, although a MBP will probably be able to handle it.
     
    CanadianDude, Jan 16, 2008
    #3
  4. MBP_Admirer

    MBP_Admirer Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    In addition to personalizing the appearance of desktop, windows, icons, fonts etc, my question is also about other setups in system preferences.

    For example, within Windows XP professional Control Panel itself there are about 40-50 different items that can be configured (e.g., System, user accounts, Administrative tools, Bluetooth, Display, Keyboard, Mouse, Game controllers, Language settings etc etc). I am sure Vista will have many more. Whereas in OSX Leopard System preferences, I saw a much lesser number of icons - It definitely looks less complex and clean, but does it indicate lesser options to be configured?

    -Thanks
     
    MBP_Admirer, Jan 16, 2008
    #4
  5. Sam

    Sam Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    3,661
    Messages:
    9,249
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    You can search for specific keywords for the subject you need in System Preferences, it'll find you the most appropriate or correct one :).
     
    Sam, Jan 16, 2008
    #5
  6. circa86

    circa86 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    685
    Messages:
    2,463
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    the system preferences panels seem to be more logically divided up in OS X when comparing to Windows, there are quite a few options available in each preference pane.

    but a huge amount of Leopard User Interface customizations are available through command line (using the "Terminal" app, which is in your Applications/Utilities folder, or can be accessed by simple pressying the "Command+Spacebar" keys for Spotlight and searching for Terminal.

    OS X's foundation is a very powerful UNIX based system. we have a thread going for Leopard GUI customizations here that you should definitely check out:

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=183337&highlight=leopard+gui
     
    circa86, Jan 17, 2008
    #6