Want a macbook but can't stand using macs.. what do I do?

I love the macbook, its design, it's small size, everything... except the mouse (one button?????????????) and I don't like using macs... uh what should I do? move on or is there a way to fix things?

 

Buy a wireless notebook mouse. I bought mine for about $20. I have seen them for as cheap as $17.50 for a logitech optical wireless mouse.

 

is there a mac equivalent to right click? why hasn't apple gotten with the new millenium yet... er wait haven't two button mice been around since the 80s?

 

Yes, I forget what the Mac equivalent right click is though. I think it is control click for right click or something similar.

 

Place two fingers on touchpad.

Click.

Viola!

I like it better than having to move my hand to right click on PC's. Trust me, you get used to it. And when your stationary, plug up a mouse... easy peasy.

 

I'm gonna have to save my 2nd install of Windows Ultimate for if I ever get a Macbook
they should bundle Windows on it/make it an option

 

It does not make a difference to me. Even if I bought a Mac laptop I would still use a Kensington Notebook mouse. I cannot stand touch pads or the pointing stick.

 

Apple won't bundle Windows with its Macs...you're a minority in the Mac user world right now (Mac-hardware lovers using Windows full time).

Anyways, its as simple as tapping the touchpad with two fingers to create a right click. This is even easier than reaching over to tap a dedicated right click button, in my opinion. Especially if you like to tap to click.

If you don't plan to use Mac OS X at all, I'd say you should look into a PC over a Mac. Its possible to run Windows on a Mac now, but since you're not planning to use Mac OS X and iLife, don't pay for what you won't be using.

 

Really, this is utter nonsense. I will be using Vista more then I will be using OS-X. The hardware on the MBP is outstanding, but I like windows, it is what I know and I have no anti-microsoft feelings. Windows works well for what I need it for...and Apple makes a killer laptop. It is a great combo!

 

And it's cool when people see your Apple computer then come around and see Windows running and they are like "whaaaaa..!" Or even better Linux with Compiz Fusions and rotating cubes, and virtual desktops (or "Spaces" as Mr. Jobs has names his "New" feature ).

 

What Sam said is quite coherent to me. You can purchase a Windows-based laptop such as the Asus G1 or Dell Inspiron 1520 with similar hardware for $2000 and $1500-1600, respectively.

 

I'm not saying that its "bad" for you to use Windows on a Mac, but my personal opinion is that you'll be paying for Mac OS X and iLife and its integrated apps when you buy a Mac. If you won't be using them, wouldn't it be better to use a PC?

Again, its just my opinion. You are perfectly fine and normal if you like to use Windows exclusively on your Mac. But personally I think going a PC route is better if you're just going to use Windows all day.

 

Yeah but he said he wants the Apple stylish look and feel. So if he wants to spend the money just on that then why not? I could get a similar system to my M1330 for less, but I want that one and I am willing to pay extra for it.

And you never know maybe he will accidentally boot OSX and start to like it?

 

Yep, I had used Mac years ago and I liked it. I have yet to try out OS X and will be hopefully visiting an Apple store once I receive my refund on the HP laptop I returned. I love the MBP's design and from what I have read and seen about OS X, it has reinforced my decision to switch from Windows to Mac OS X, although I will be using Windows on my MBP as well, which is a great thing Apple has utilized.

 

if i install windows with boot camp will the same install work with parralels?

 

I've used mac OSes extensively, it's not like it's just newbie fear

 

I believe that Parallels actually examines your Boot Camp config and uses it to make your virtual machine. I have heard that's what VMWare Fusion does anyway.

 

Just wondering, what don't you like about Mac OS X?

 

That wasn't addressed to me, but it would be nice if OSX allowed you to full screen windows. I imagine this feature will eventually be added as standard to the operating system - a feature that's existed in Windows and Linux for years, no less - and hailed as innovation, much like the ability to right click without using the keyboard. I just wish Jobs et al would stop being stubborn and implement it already.

 

if you goto www.macmall.com you can purchase it with parallels/boot camp and windows pre installed

 

And to the OP, the advice you've been given is right. If you're primarily going to be using Windows, it makes little sense to order a Mac for that purpose, unless you really are fine spending more money for less hardware - though better looks. If you /are/ fine with that, go ahead - but it's sort of like buying a hovercraft and only driving it on land. Yes, you can, but it sort of defeats the purpose. Plus, it costs a lot more than just buying a regular car with equivalent specs. If I were you, I'd either take the plunge and learn OSX, or stay on land and get a better PC for the money.

 

By the way, I quite liked my analogy there. You see, the regular car/trucking vehicle is a PC, which can run Windows, but not OSX - the way the terranious vehicle can run on land or sand or through the woods, but not in the sea. Older generation macs are like boats - capable of running on water, the way old macs ran OSX, but incapable of running on land, ie Windows. The Intel Macs are like hovercrafts - capable of running on both land And sea, the way the new macs can run both Windows and OSX. However, per the analogy, a hovercraft costs more than a land vehicle does for the same horsepower, seating capacity, fuel efficiency, and speed. So a person planning on solely driving on land would be far better running a car than running a hovercraft (buying a PC rather than buying a Mac), unless the person really liked the aesthetic appeal of hovercrafts.

 

i'd say if you're just after the design then go for sony or the new dell... dont force urself on a mac

 

Drop back ten and punt.

Try a Sony or an Asus. Most look great, are well-built, and work fine.

 

Yeah they don't want you!

 

Werd.

You might want to practice this before actually trying it. Us PC kids generally lack the middle finger strength to accomplish this.

 

He's not "forcing" himself on a Mac however I agree with Sam, the OP should look into Windows notebook offerings. See, the Macbooks are still Macs regardless if you try to fake them out with installing Windows. The keyboard is a Mac keyboard with specific Mac design keys. The trackpad is designed for the Mac OS system. It's like trying to use OS X on a Windows laptop. The Windows key and control key work differently and will appear awkward when using it with OS X.
Apple will never pre-install MS Windows on their Mac computers. Why would they? It's like saying our Macs can't make it without Windows. Macs have sold very well long before they were infused with Intel.

 

^^What he said

it would be foolish to buy a macbook and only run windows imo.

 

There's a pretty good joke in there, but this is my evening to behave; just can't bring myself to post it.

 

I was waiting for someone to build something off of my perfect setup

 

I lawl at you Joshua.

Want a secret confession? When at work, on a XP or Vista laptop... I catch myself trying to two finger scroll, or use expose >.<

God its barely been a month an i'm already hopeless.

 

Talk to me my son...

 

Im also a part of the minority I guess. I love the look and specs of the new mbp the 2500$ one with the 2.4ghz cpu and 256mb card.

If they had a middle way like a 2.2ghz model with the better video card for 2200$ I would have had to give it a very very hard thought before I would have settled with the asus I got.

I dont know if I would use mostly windows or osx. I would dual boot from them so I can use windows for my games and things, and then be able to try out osx and see what it has to offer.

i did the same between xp and vista not long ago.

the mbp is definitly a nice machine just in the hardware and design, even if you dont think about the OS it uses so I can see why more and more people would be tempted to swich or try one. before when it was OSX only tho I woudnt even get close to one. To many things are windows only :/

 

Answer: don't get a mac.

If you're referring to the Macbook and don't want to use OSX, there are plenty of decent PC alternatives out there that are comparable in specs (or better) and quite stylish as well -

i.e. the Dell XPS m1330
Sony makes a few as well
Asus as well (yea too lazy to look up the models, it's W-something)

 

Don't get a Mac to solely run Windows on. It just does not seem like a good idea. For one, you will have to purchase a Boot Camp license when Leopard is released, which is only $29, but still extra cash, and then you will need to purchase a full copy of XP or Vista. That will run you another couple hundred, so be sure to factor both of those into your price. At this point you are paying significantly more than you would for a PC, and all for looks since there are several PC's out there with the exact same, if not better hardware.

People buy Apple to run OS X, that is why we pay a premium, not for looks.

 

This thread doesn't make any sense. The guy wants to buy a Mac, but doesn't like OSX. You would think he'd be much better off buying a Windows laptop, and spending a little of the saved money on modding, or accessorizing it.

 

im going to second the opinion that you shouldn't buy a macbook pro exclusively for windows.

you don't necessarily see this side of the spectrum with the whole "equal hardware + equal os = equal performance!" honeymoon. while windows on a mac does perform at an equal speed and stability to other pc laptops with equal specifications, there are a few things to consider.

First- im throwing price out the window(s) - tee hee - but in all seriousness, those of you who have already done it have made the choice, but those of you still thinking about it should consider the price one last time. a solid sony is sleek and stylish just like the macbook pro.

but you REALLY like the mac hardware design. its cooler than the sony and we both know it. price isn't an issue for you. the fact is, you want the macbook pro, and you want windows, and you don't care that you are paying for osx and iLife. and keep in mind with pc laptops you get windows pre-installed. you are going to have to buy your own copy now, and vista isn't cheap. ultimate runs like $399, vista premium / business are probably $250-300 or so...

these are the "non-price" factors you should consider:

First and foremost, you cannot just get rid of osx. you are going to have to give up a formidable amount of hard drive space reserved for osx.

The good news is, if you don't want to see osx, you dont have to. the partition wont even appear in windows without some effort (macdrive).

The usability of the macbook pro as a windows pc is very high. The usability of the macbook pro as a windows laptop, however, is very low. There are a bunch of crucial features that are either missing or incomplete.

First- there is NO software fan control for windows on the mac hardware. That means that the only time you are going to hear the fans "kick in" is when your hardware starts complaining that the heat is getting dangerous. People complain about windows running hotter than osx. they aren't kidding- but its not that windows is bad, its just that there isn't any software control of the fans. your computer can't think "oh the temp of the gpu or processor is 55 degrees, time to crank on the fans" and more importantly, it can't think "oh the gpu and cpu are under heavy load (game) - better start up those fans"

any pc laptop will function properly that way. i have had a few blue screens of death from what i have to assume is overheating. the parts just decide they are done to prevent damage. thats good, but just having full fan support is better.

there is a way around this, but it involves first booting into osx when you turn on the machine, then rebooting into windows. you can set the fans to a minimum rate of like 4k or 5k rpms, then reboot into windows without turning off the machine, with smc fan control. thats an acceptable solution if you only use windows as a gaming os, but you dont want your computer sitting there idle blasting the fans away while you are typing up your paper either.

also- the speed step doesn't work correctly. i think its downclocking the cpu like it should, but something is still up. its a stretch of the imagination to think that you will have 3 hours of battery life in windows. realistically, think 2 hours max. why? not sure exactly. maybe windows is inferior, more likely there is a driver problem. you are counting on apple to fix that. they may or may not. it doesn't really matter if everyone is using windows plugged in for gaming only.

also, the trackpad doesn't work properly. its really wonky. two finger scrolling does not work properly. it has a wonky implementation in the vertical direction and you are completely omitted from horizontal scrolling. that means that the AWESOME OSX trackpad you get is less useful than a normal windows trackpad with the side scroll bar. clicking with the trackpad does not work at ALL. that is correct. you can NOT perform a left (one finger) or right (two finger) click using the trackpad. you HAVE to use the single click button. that is a left click. to make a right click, you can either hold down TWO fingers on the trackpad AND click the mouse button (one finger will not do) - or you can do an fn-click.

the key layout isn't exactly the same between OS'es. what if you run a program that needs a scroll lock? uhh where the hell is scroll lock? home, end, insert, delete? ctrl alt delete is handled with the backspace key (which is labeled delete but is actually backspace in both os'es) a fn-backspace performs a delete. hardly optimal.

so basically, there is a good chance that some programs you will need to use will force you into getting an external keyboard. however, i think most of the omitted keys are actually handled with the use of the extra function key that non-apple keyboards do not have. but fn-key commands that aren't already used in osx aren't labeled. that means home, end, insert, delete, scroll lock, among others. i will mention that a 4x4 block of keys that represent the numpad is used with the fn key- and that is labeled.

what does all this mean?

if you want to be a power windows user and have a lot of windows open and still be highly productive, you will need to be plugged in, you will need an external mouse and keyboard, and if you don't want to fry your machine you will probably need to boot into osx, then reboot into windows.

if you are a mac user that wants to use windows to play games, you are fine with boot camp. if you are the mac user who has that one piece of windows software you need, you are fine with parallels (i like vmware better) - which don't have any of the software support problems that plague boot camp (you are still actually running osx). the trackpad works correctly in the virtual machine, for example, and the speed step and other low level functions like fan control are all controlled by the host operating system (osx). if you fit both categories (gaming and compatibility with a program or two - lucky you, you can run a virtual machine from the same installation of windows that you boot into with boot camp normally.

i hope i have made myself clear? i hope i convince someone not to get a mac for windows only and then be disappointed with non-existent driver support that is a basic standard of any pc laptop vendor. mac is NOT a pc laptop vendor, even if it can run windows.

good luck!

 

Firstly when I touched the mac, I have the same experience with you "where the hell is the right button of the mouse?", well, now I am totally ok with it. The mac new mouse has the right click, the same thing as windows. When you have one button mouse, you can just hold "ctrl" then click.
My office has one button mac mouse, and I love it very much.

 

Well let's be fair. If yo'ure going to get a mouse, a multi-button mouse is far superior.

I do love the touchpad though.

 

Also, for the longest time Apple kept saying they only need one mouse. But a lot apps still have the right click menu, you just have to press alt+click. That always bugged me. You have the functionality for right click menus, but they refuse to make a two button mouse.

alt+click is more trouble than right click. Atleast they made the 2 finger click, that's a start.

 

And Apple was so wrong with that . If there's anything that Apple did wrong, their mice is the worst. Really, Apple's mice aren't great. Logitech takes the crown.

 

Yeah it's silly because as soon as you stick a 2-button mouse in there everything works great. The menus and everything are there already, take one for the team Apple and give in!! hehe.

 

After analyzing your comment ive concluded its shallow and superficial
What youre saying is you want the look and to be seen with such possession but 'cant stand' operating such possession.
But thats not a big deal if thats what ya want and how you feel you need to be accepted in ur circle of friends.
Its no surprise a lot of kids/younger adults buy or switch for the sole reason of thinking they look cooler with such hardware.
(... and the mac peeps start going into denile now lol)
Having been to dozens of photography seminars theres lots and i mean lots of junior people that are just like you.
For that sole reason is why Apple made boot camp/MS OS available on the mac.
If you cant see yourself using it then dont get it.

 

What?? Don't speak for the OP like you know his thoughts or anything.

Can't he like the hardware of the MacBook? Can't he like the design and the iSight camera and the Magsafe power cord? Or is every switcher that uses Windows just after the coveted Apple logo?

I said before, I don't recommend getting a Mac and running Windows all day. But for many, the reason people are looking at Macs running Windows is because they love the hardware and the extra hardware features, not because they wanna look cool. But that's a plus as well .

 

And dont you speak for the OP like you know his thoughts are indifferent or incorrect based on my analyzing his statement.
Take some of your own advice and dont speak like you know what he means.
He made a statement ( Want a macbook but can't stand using macs) followed with a specific question ( what do i do?)

Its not hard to figure out he wants possession but cant stand using possession. You can relate 'possession' to type of car, designer clothes, shoes or anything else. Do you get it yet?? guess not

Wanting something to never utilize is senseless and his feelings are typical and often voiced in various mac cult books. I suggest you go to a book store and read some books on the mac culture.

Did you even read what he said?
He CANT STAND USING macs. All those things you mentioned could be part and partial to his 'cant stand using' comment
Its obvious his dislikes is deeper than the 1 button mouse.

 

Blah I might have to just wait until I can get as a secondary laptop for the hell of it. Always wanting, never more.
I would probably use it to run windows only.. although I've seen Steve Vai use a program called ProTools (is that made by Apple?)
Just going to take a long time to think about it first

btw I wasn't referring to the macbook pro?

 

He can't stand using Mac OS X, I'm pretty sure is what he can't stand. Of course, I'm not speaking for him, but I'm pretty sure he likes the Mac hardware but not Mac OS X. Otherwise, why would he want to run Windows on a MacBook, if he hates a MacBook anyways?

 

Well actually he says he loves the macbook..its "everything", except the mouse and a rather vague contradictory statement which I interpret to mean the OS.

The mouse thing isn't much of an issue, as others have pointed out. The OS is the real killer of course. If you dislike the OS, don't go with the Macbook.

Andrew just posted a review of the Dell XPS m1330, check it out. The Asus W7 is a nice alternative. The..wait didn't I post something like this already?

Actually, in my opinion, I'm not seeing any reason why someone who likes the design of the Macbook but dislikes OSX wouldn't go for the m1330. I don't think the XPS loses out in style, and it certainly doesn't lose out in specs - since it's newer and has better features than the Macbook at the moment. Also, they're both relatively expensive laptops, so it's not like price is an advantage for either one.

Check out the M1330

 

Yes, the XPS M1330 is amazing . Ultra sleek, ultra powerful. It hints of Sony+ASUS design. I wonder if its a one-hit wonder for Dell though .

 

I do not think it will be a one-hit wonder. It looks like Dell is starting to make better laptops. The XPS M1210 has awlays been popular, but I think the 13.3" laptop will be a more popular size. The Inspiron series seems to have taken advice from the Latitude series. Now that Inspirons are more durable and come with better video cards, I think the Inspiron's popularity will increase. The only laptop that still needs a major overhaul is the XPS M1710.