So I'm now the proud owner of a Macbook Air but this is my first real experience with OS X (Lion), I'm used to Windows 7 and Linux. I'm hoping some of you may have some tips, information or tricks, or know where to find such things, similar to Windows Button+ Left/Right to snap windows to one side of the screen etc. I already had a quick look through the "Must have software", but software suggestions are welcome as well (in particular I'm looking to do some light photo/video editing, code writing, web browsing/SSH/FTP etc).
The finger gestures make every other os feel inferior once you start using them, e.g. 4 finger swipe up / down etc. Apps wise, perian makes the web louder and brighter For coding I tend to stick with vim - it's available on all platforms, but there's a compelling mac only alternative called TextMate. Hope this helps
Sorry, but finger gestures are the most useless feature of OS X - what is the point of them when for any real work you need mouse, and switching from mouse or keyboard to touchpad for just one thing is crazy. For example i'm starting to think about killing someone from Apple for not having the Home/End/Page Up/Page Down keys on the keyboard (yes, i know i can do the crazy Option/Ctrl/Alt+arrows combos, but those are not for people who type a lot). I use Netbeans.
Snap windows can be done with a piece of software called Cinch. For Code Writing I would recommend CodeBox but it does depend on what you are writing. For SSH I have always used the Terminal. For photo editing Aperture is good but costs of course. I love Hot Corners. Hot Corners are certain actions when you move the mouse to the each corner of the screen. Go to System Preferences, Mission Control, Hot Corners and have a play. Also visit the Trackpad section and have a play with the different settings. Hazel is a brilliant piece of software I just discovered which moves files conditionally. For example, I have my downloads folders setup into Music, College etc. Anything from a College website will automatically be placed into the College folder. Anything with a Music extension (mp3 m4a etc) will go into the music folder. Need anything just ask.
I use my trackpad for everything I do on my laptop everyday and never once have I thought I would prefer a mouse. Every time I use any other kind of notebook though the trackpads feel awful.
Thanks for all the advice so far! Personally I quite like the gestures on the touchpad (I've used mouse gestures in Opera for years) although sometimes I feel like a mouse could be useful. Edit: The programming I do is mainly C or Java, for which vim is fine most things, but it is nice to have a fully featured IDE sometimes. I assume things like NetBeans and Eclipse work on OS X?
you should try xcode - it was quite nice when i last used it. also, use iTerm as a terminal replacement. Tabs!
Well, for coding I use Coda. But it's all web stuff. Not sure if it does C. On Snow Leopard (not sure about Lion), I would also recommend Quicksilver. Other than that, the others have said it: Gestures. It's gotten so bad with me (and I sue a LOAD of machines every day: 1 WinXP Lappy, 1 Win7 Lappy, 1 Win7 Desktop, 1 OSX Snow leopard MBP 13") that I want to two finger swipe back and forth on a mouse, 4 finger swipe to desktop, two finger scroll, etc. I actually find mousewheels annoying nowadays. Not to mention lack of momentum scrolling.
