and now I've got a couple of questions. What programs should I download for it, particularly for IRC and MSN Messenger? Anything else I should look at downloading? What's the equivalent of a right click on a mac? I'm sure I'll think of some other questions shortly...
Download Adium for your IM'ing needs. Right click depends on what type of mac you have If you have a mighty mouse it should be just normal If you have a laptop theres a setting where if you press the trackpad with two fingers its a right click, if you use two fingers and drag it on the trackpad thats scrolling, or you can use ctrl+click.
I have one of those $10-$20 Microsoft 2-button USB laser mice with a scroll wheel and it works great with my Mac, including the right click. Same goes at work where we have the same type of mice on all our Macs. As for programs, the first ones I can think of are VLC and MPlayer OSX. Both are video players. macs can get a little funny trying to watch certain types of movie files, but having multiple video players (two mentioned, Windows Media Player, Quicktime, etc) really helps get around this small issue. I really don't like Safari all that much though I haven't really tried the newest version so I have both Mozilla and Firefox on my Mac as well. Again, some sites just act funky on a Mac so it helps to go to a different browser in a pinch. I use Mozilla as my main browser. I agree with above about Adium. You can set up any and all messanger accounts through it so yo only have to have one program. Can't think anything else off the top of my head but congrats on switching over. Once you go Mac, you'll never go back.
Don't waste money on a Apple Mighty Mouse. The scroll wheel sucks. I just bought your basic optical mouse at Fry's for $9.99 and it works great, right click and all.
Thanks for the help! Does Adium do irc? Or do I need something else? I don't see IRC in the add accounts options...
I can't think of anything else besides what's been mentioned here: Adium, VLC, Firefox (I don't like Safari). You might want to get AppDelete for uninstalling programs. It's not necessary, but if you're OCD and want to make sure every little file is removed when you uninstall a program, this will do it. iStat Pro is a great widget for monitoring your computer. Some people like Quicksilver, I only used it briefly but don't really find much use for it. All I can say is google it and try it out and see if it benefits you. And as far as I know, Adium does not include IRC accounts. BTW, Trillian is developing a new IM, which will also have a Mac version. I can't wait for that one.
Microsoft makes a Mac version of MSN Messenger. It works great. I would also get Flip4Mac which is a Windows Media player plugin for Mac. And look into Serial Box ... but thats all I am gonna say about that.
Programs off the top of my head: 1) WireTap (audio hijack too)- record anything that comes from your speakers on the fly. 2) Fink - Lets you install about 800 billion linux apps 3) Azureus - P2P 4) A myriad of handy widgets. 5) VooDoo Pad - notepad that auto-wikis. 6) Paparazzi - insta-screenshots to png. 7) Sharepoints - handy network file sharing app. (note I have not used this much)
Forgot (im at work on a pc, not at my mac)... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksilver_(software) Quicksilver is kickass.
Can I ask where you bought your Mac? I was looking for one but most all the retail locations are Windows based (with evil Vista).
arkoe... ummm... hey, man, please don't take it the wrong way, but... did you even read the manual on how to use that new awesome piece of equipment we all want to have? It could save you some time, man. I was wondering how come you hadn't learned some of those things I thought would have been easy to learn, like "right-click"'s equivalent. Interesting fact I should have written on one of those "Post one thing that [blah]" threads: After having a PC for about 4 years, I learned COPY, CUT, and PASTE on a MAC notebook's tutorial... I think it was a PowerBook... MIGHTY MOUSE REVIEW from aaMoFo: Spoiler http://www.aamofo.com/2007/08/01/apples-bluetooth-mighty-mouse-****ing-sucks/ (even the URL is NSFW, change the ****'s)
Equivalent of a right click? Depends if you have a desktop or laptop. On a laptop you can configure a double tap.