OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE

A few suggestions:

Quicktime 7 Pro - a bit pricey, but an extremely useful app for converting video and audio files, as well as a very good video player that will play virtually anything you can shoot at it thanks to Perian.

Perian - a plugin for Quicktime that allows it to play many more video formats. It's free, so it's really a no brainer.

Toast: One of the best disc burning suites available.

InsomniaX: allows you to close a MacBook or MBP without putting it to sleep. Good for if you want to connect your MBP to a large TV. Free.

The Unarchiver: a good decompression utility that's compatible with most compressed file formats. It's also free.

There's lots of cool software that comes with new Macs as well.

There are also a lot of good emulators for Mac OS X. They're easy enough to find.

One thing you might not realize: it has an optical (toslink) audio output. This is a pretty rare feature for a laptop. If you have a nice surround receiver and want a good way to listen to music or watch movies from your MBP, get a long optical cable (they're really cheap) and an adapter for the MacBook Pro's output.

That's all I can think of right now.

 

^^ i tried insomniaX could not get it to work. dont think it suports my model as it just made every thing freeze when i open and closed the book

 

Wine has an semi official OS X port on x86 so you can run some Windows only software. I use my old Power Mac for graphics work emulation music web and restoring deleted files.

 

For Windows apps that you can't replace, you can always use Codeweavers's Crossover... haven't used it myself for Mac, but works damn good under GNU/Linux.
Other than that, I'm not for or against Apple (although I don't like the way they approach many things, but then again, if I think about it it's the same with every other company), so I'll just say: Enjoy it!

 

One little app I use is Alarm Clock. It'll play a song from your iTunes library to wake you up. It works great and is the only alarm clock that's been able to wake me up. xD

 

Get liquid cd , unarchiver , I defrag, ccleaner , and steam if you're a gamer lol.

 

I'd just like to interject for a moment.

What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

 

That's why I called it "GNU/Linux" in my post; however no matter how hard you try most people will still call it "Linux" (either when talking or writing)... This is the name they first heard and got used to it, and most people will stick to what they're used to when talking/writing, even if it's not right (everyone will still understand what they're saying...):shrug:
Plus it's easier and shorter to say "Linux" than "GNU/Linux"... People love using short names.

That said, it's a good thing to remind everyone once in a while about this. :thumbsup:

 

I am sure a low end 486 PC could do the same job

 

Bugger me Apple makes you install another app for that? In windows you just enter the power settings and choose what happens when you close the lid... (and without charging you for patches)

 

It's just Stallman copy pasta, however I like to call it Gnu + Linux because that's what it is really

 

I am well aware , that you now a days can not say Linux without saying GNU , because they are interconnected. But to be honest, then Stallman was the guy behind GNU (back in the 1970´s ?) but Linus Thorwalds , based his Linux system on Minix (which later on also became open source). Which then was based on UNIX, which Minix is a derivative/based off/inspired by. And to be perfectly clear, then Minix stands for Mini Unix. So there you have it, but then again I could be talking out of my arse. But I think there is some truth to it. So can we please stop punching each other with GNU and Linux ?

 

You don't need to use insomniaX. When the lids shut, just use (wake from sleep) under the bluetooth preferences or a wired mouse, that will wake it up.

As been said before. Handbrake, Toast,

Betterzip
Hidden Cleaner (Good for getting rid of those annoying DS-Store Files)
Cocktail (Good for house keeping)
App Cleaner (Cleans up when deleting programs)
Little Snitch (Network Monitor)
Transmission (Bit Torrent Client)

 

exactly, you can use your laptop with the lid shut if you have a mouse/keyboard

appcleaner: awesome app for deleting apps and all traces of it.

 

Damn this topic is an explosive and controversial one at that. Any how I got my little signature avatar setup for the holidays.

 

LOL! I don't know... I'm a fairly heavy sleeper....

And there's nothing like blasting 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' to get me outta bed and ready to start my day.

 

Mac version:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

PC version:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

Of course this is Logitech, not Apple with their Super Drives.

 

grats tom, I don't bash mac hardware, they usually have some of the best build quality. I will bash OSX because I just feel like im being treated like a 4 year old with some form of mental illness.

Windows 7 that bitch and you got yourself an awesome lappy for uni.

 

You can use a standard PC keyboard on a Mac. It's just a little awkward due to the location of the Windows key. I've never tried it, but there's probably a program that would let you assign the control key to the apple key in OS X, which would fix that problem. I may end up doing that once I finally get OS X working on my PC.