UP TECH: I Got A Mac! What next?

Finally

Over the years, I have been waiting for that moment in which I could experience what my friends, family and coworkers have all been able to experience: OSX! Finally, I now hold in my posession a MacBook Pro 15" Laptop computer!

For those of you who don't know, OSX is the operating system that Apple Computers all run. 

That being said, I've had it for about 2 weeks now, and the excitement from the new computer and recent purchase are all starting to fade.  So now what?  I've finally got my dream computer, and here I am, not a clue what to do with it next! Ironic, isn't it? 

Maybe you've found yourself in the same boat. 

I've put together a list of things to do with your brand new Apple Computer! I'll compile the list in order of things that I did first, second and so on.

First Things First

Even when I was on windows machines, there were a series of things I had to do to make my computer more "me". Here's that list:

1) Chrome Browser - I can't stand default internet browsers. Internet Explorer was never good enough for me, and I found that, similarily, Safari was a bit too much like Internet Explorer for my liking.  So the very first thing I did after signing up and creating an account on my new hardware was heading to download this amazing browser

2) Changed The Background - OSX 10.6.8, or more commonly known as Snow Leopard, has an amazing selection of desktop backgrounds, of which I liked one of the black and white variants the most. This is personal preference, no real need to change anything if you don't want to.

3) Configure Mail - If you use comcast internet, or CenteryLink (formerly qwest) You will have an email account associated with it, and odds are, you use it for your daily email communication needs. Even if you have a Windows Live email address (@hotmail.com or @live.com), this goes for you as well.  You can use OSX's built-in Mail app, suitingly called "mail," to browse your emails, send your emails, and even keep them organized, all without ever needing to open up your web browser. How neat is that?

More of Me

4) Apple ID - When I got my MacBook, I already had an apple ID from an iPhone I had used a few years back, so I was able to use the Apple ID that I already had to sign in. This allowed me to access the Mac App Store, as well as the iTunes Music Library System.  You may have to create one, or may have already made one. but this is something many people forget about till they find that they need to download an app or song. Why not take care of it before hand?

5) Game Time - I get bored rather easily, so I like to have some games to ease my mind. Some of my top picks are all either free or very inexpensive. First, a must have: Angry Birds. Yes, it is available for your bird-flinging needs right in the app store. Second, I love sudoku, and there are a plethora of sudoku apps, free and paid, all at your fingertips in the app store.  I also download my Steam engine from the internet to have access to all my previously purchased Mac-Enabled games

6) Friends in CyberSpace - I like to keep in touch with my friends, and in many cases, that means Instant Messaging. I find it no easier than to use a Multi-Platform Messagin system, such as Trillian or Meebo, so that I can use One program to log into my AIM, Windows Live, yahoo and Facebook Chats, all at the same time. 

Go Pro

7) Make Music - Whether you're curious about making music or have been in the music industry for years, there is an App for that.  Jump on in to Garage Band (included with iLife) to mess around with your choice of instruments, or dive even deeper, for those of you who care to take the time to learn the rather steep learning curve, and try out Logic Pro. Either way, you'll have a great time, and will get to experiment with all the fun and passion of creating your own music.

8) Take Pretty Pictures - Whether you use Adobe's Photoshop, or the Open-Source (free) Gnu Image Manipulation Project, aka GIMP, you can feel like a pro when you make your pictures and images shine like the sun! Or if you're going for a darker scene, then Dim as the Moon! 

9) Make Movies - Again, there's an app for that!  Also with iLife, iMovie can help you make DVD-quality movies out of your home videos, home pictures, music that you want to add, and then create an awesome DVD style menu. After that, it's as simple as popping it into a DVD player and you're off!

Miss Windows?

I know, making the switch can be difficult. But it's ok! There are options to make it so you can run windows programs within Mac OSX, or even Install a full copy of windows right alongside your OSX Install! Now, keep in mind, these steps aren't exactly easy, but both methods have lot's of support and work near seamlessly.

10) Parallels - This is an amazing program, for the sheer fact that it allows you to install what's called a "virtual machine" within your already-running OSX environment. That may not be very impressive at first glance, but what makes it more impressive, still, is that it allows you to run programs originally designed to run on a Windows machine natively inside of a window on your osx Desktop! That's definitely something.

11) Boot Camp - This is similar to Parallels, however slightly different, and also built into the Mac OSX System.  This allows you to create a section of your hard drive that is SOLELY for the purpose of running Windows. In other words, this allows you to turn off your Mac and reboot it into a full windows environment, without OSX running at all. This is better for those that need a full Windows environment not inhibited or slowed in any way.

Well that about does it! Now that you've got it all up and running, setup and up to your liking, you're ready to go! 

Anything I missed? Programs I should have mentioned? Why not let me know in the comments!