The New iMac

Got the iMac up and running finally. This is like learning a whole new language. It's taken me a little bit to just know how to find my way around some very simple things. In Windows XP everything is limited to one pane or "window" that you are looking at. OS X deals in smaller "windows" with the active window's preferences all in a menu bar at the top of the screen. that was a simple, but tough one for me to figure out at first. I'm thinking, "Where the Sam Hill is the stupid preferences!?" All the while they are hiding in plain view at the top of the screen. Uhhg! I'll learn, just give me time.

My first impression out of the box is that this machine is very well built. In fact, it makes every other machine I've worked on seem like a cheap imitation. I installed a 512mb stick of ram and was floored by the simplicity and beauty of the machine without ever turning it on. These machines just look great. Very impressive.

Set up was fairly intuitive. I didn't know the finer points of my internet settings and fiddled with that for a while. Turns out all I needed to do was ignore the questions and proceed. It worked without a hitch. Seamless. Overall, I'm pleased. I feel that I have way too much to learn before I get to the point where I've got a handle on how these things really work. It's been fun searching around this evening.

You can expect some posts regarding my experience as a "switcher" in the coming days.