EndLine Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 What do you mainly use your MacBook for? I was really hoping to use it for more than just music (on iTunes). I really haven't explored anything else other than the occasional "click and close program". I am really not in the Apple bandwagon as some of you seem to be. Does anyone use their MacBook for school? I can't do any school-related assignments on it due to the lack of free programs. Anyone have any cheap alternatives for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furcalchick Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 what type of assignments are you talking about? for nearly every type of app, i've seen free or cheap alternatives out there. to start for task planning, ical included on the macbook helps plan your day, week and month without a hitch, and goes well with address book. iphoto is good with the photo management and you can do some basic photo editing on there. imovie is 100 times better than windows movie maker, so if you are film, that will be worth the macbook. i can go on and on about things. but in short, i use the macbook for more than internet and playing tunes (in fact, not one itune has been played on my macbook since i got it two months ago). start with iprocrasentate and task list for assignment planning (there are a few more of these type of apps too, and they are free). check out macupdate and version tracker for some more mac software, with alot of free ones too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish4Life Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 I use my macbook for alot of things for school... The program I use the least would probably be iTunes and iPhoto. :lol I use Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro the most... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 For school work and personal things I use "Open Office" which is a free, open source program that is a lot like M.O. You do need X11 to be able to run it however so make sure you get that. It took me awhile to figure out how to get that but I eventually did. I mostly use my MacBook for, well, everything. Browsing the net, playing games, schoolwork, music, and photo albums. Things awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyJuice Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 ive heard about x11.. how does that work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndLine Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 I'm installing Open Office at the moment. I hope I have X11 installed. The whole setup process looks like on big pain in the neck. Update: I don't have X11 installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 You want to get X11 installed for sure, because Open Office is a great program. I have no idea however how I got X11 onto my computer but I remember it being a large pain in the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndLine Posted February 22, 2007 Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 I'm looking for a good word processor program. I'm going to search online for one. Any of you recommend me one? Something less complicated than what Dodge recommended (I can find that darn startup disc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furcalchick Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 smultron or text wrangler could be what you are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BullDurham Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Dodge, NeoOffice (http://www.neooffice.org/) is an Aqua implementation of OpenOffice, so you won't need to use X11. I'd rather stick to using the Aqua interface rather than having something that needs to open in X11 or Classic (well, Classic doesn't mean anything to someone with a CoreDuo chip, but I have a PPC). If you're looking for a standalone app, try AbiWord. Speaking of which, I'm so jealous of people who have a MacBook. I couldn't wait to buy my iBook b/c of the way my old Sony VAIO was going downhill. At least this will last me until Jobs decides to require Intel-only builds rather than Universal Binaries or EOLs the PPC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSwift25 Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Just curious as an iMac & PC laptop owner, do you all have the Macbook or Macbook Pro? Generally speaking, I see a lot of people steering clear of the Macbook Pro because the bang for the buck isn't there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambridge Marlin Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 I use X11 on my iBook for logging into Linux based system via ssh at the university to run most technical programs like Matlab and FE Software. Can't remember ever installing it either back in the day, think it came on the installation cd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FlummoxedLummox Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Just curious as an iMac & PC laptop owner, do you all have the Macbook or Macbook Pro? Generally speaking, I see a lot of people steering clear of the Macbook Pro because the bang for the buck isn't there. Unless you intend to be doing some highly graphically intensive work, there is really no reason to splurge on the Pro. I upgraded the RAM to 2gb on my MacBook, and the thing easily runs just as fast as my dad's MacBook Pro. The main difference between the two models is the MacBook's lack of dedicated RAM to the GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) -- it's allocated from the main system memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndLine Posted February 28, 2007 Author Share Posted February 28, 2007 MacBook (White) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.