Biting the bullet

[DarkCarnival]

Situation: (I need it for study-related things and light multimedia):

Right. I'm on the verge of going to a university - at least if my applications went through

 

Now. I've tried to organize notes on paper and like any geek, I fail horribly. I can't even read my own hand-writing.

 

I've had a Macbook (non Pro) before and frankly I wasn't too thrilled (we'll get to that in a sec), but my situation is this:

 

I would like a neat note-taking application. And I know of two: Microsoft OneNote for Windows and Microsoft WordNote for Mac.

I'm a linux user by heart but neither will run in Linux unless I turn to virtualisation which limits my usage of the program somewhat (less speed, can't truly link files into it, etc).

 

So. I'm left with getting an additional laptop for either Windows or Mac OSX, seeing as Windows 7 will be built on top of Vista ( you'd think they learned their lesson ) and the fact that XP was what eventually drove me to Linux. Between Windows and OS X I really can't see myself going elsewhere than a Mac.

 

Hopefully, I'll also avoid tinkering too much with the system so that it'll primarily be used for note-taking and light coding along with various media tasks- Things (I'm sure) OS X will handle on par with Linux.

 

What is it I need advice with ?

Now. I figured some of you mac lovers (no offense ) might be able to help me here. These were my greatest problems with my former mac

 

* It felt clunky and as if I had no screen space

 

I used 1280x800 and the height really wasn't enough, the docker took up way too much space for this.

I'm thinking a Macbook Pro with a 1920x1200 display will fix this.

 

* The keyboard symbols were off.

I really really need symbols to be as the standard QWERTY layouts (ie. as in Windows and Linux ).

Is it possible to adjust the layouts inside OS X to accomodate this ? (And also, will this carry through to VmWare fusion, if I have a few windows apps ?)

 

* Dual booting with Boot Camp was hell

Back then it was beta, but it was horrible, you'd have to have windows installed at a certain partition for it to boot up properly, otherwise I'd claim some DLL's were missing during the boot of Windows and so.

Is this better now ?

 

* Is it supporting these programming languages ? (for develpment, that is, IDE tools, compilers etc)

If anyone knows anything about the support of any of these three languages (C#, Java and Python) , in particular the last two, then I'd be grateful.

 

* Linux ?

WON'T MATTER MUCH. Again, most likely I'll be doing my utmost to just use it for simple tasks and doing the real fun stuff on my other Linux machines. It's meant as a study PC so I can't really end up exploding my OS X installs because I wanted to play with other OS's, but it would be nice to know if support is somewhat better than what I saw with the Macbooks back then (they were rather hit and miss, depending on revisions)

 

Now, as with any student, whether or not I end up purchasing a Macbook will depend on where I'll end up living, because that might suck up considerable amounts of cash. But if they're there, I'm really contemplating it.

 

Anyway, I thank any and all input that I may receive

[DarkCarnival]

bumpy bump ?

 

If I cannot get a answer to my thoughts here, where on earth might I get em' ? Guys, for all it's worth, compared to most other mac fortresses, some of you guys actually seem to know a bit about computers.

Please, I'd really appreciate some advice as I don't have the money to buy an MBP and be sorely disappointed about something

 

 

A summary of the above topic:

 

* OSX requires a high res ?

I'm thinking 1920x1200 will solve my needs ? (keep in mind I thought 1280x800 was *WAY* too little )

 

* Keyboard layout

I don't know why Apple persists in placing symbols differently than any other vendor / computer system. but they do. Can I get a STANDARD qwerty layout in OS X (ie. can I get symbols and such to be placed like they are in Windows, Linux, BSD's and Unix's ? )

 

* Dual-booting was hell in Bootcamp beta

Is it working better now ? Less picky about partitioning layouts ?

 

* Programming ?

Anyone know about the state of of support for: Java (my studies will require it), Python and C# ?

 

* Linux for dualbooting ?

Not so important as this laptop will mostly be for studying but.. Down the road, will this laptop work well in linux ? --If someone knows...

[A Nonny Moose]

First off, the MacBook non pro will never have a super high resolution because I believe it's the screen's fault itself. Do your research on Apple's website and see what the pro model will offer. Since you did that, please remember that screen resolution is a very subjective thing to rate. My Mac looks wonderful with a 1280x1024 resolution. It looks like everything is too tiny on a 1600x1200 resolution (the max my 17 in studio display). Of course your needs will be different and even my max resolution is too large for you.

 

The keyboard layout thing I just don't understand. A keyboard is a keyboard and they all have a QWERTY layout. Be stupidly specific here.

 

I've personally heard of no problems with dual booting, but this is anecdotal evidence, much like your experience with the beta. Remember, though, you used Boot Camp as a BETA, and of course there will be problems. I mean, there are always problems with betas and 1.0 releases.

 

Python.

 

Java

 

C#

 

You won't need Linux. Most *nix critters have already been ported to OS X and anything else you can get through Fink.

[DarkCarnival]

Was meaning to reply sooner but I closed the tab by accident *facepalm*

 

Anyway, thanks for the reply !

 

Resolution

I think the 1920x1200 is what I need TBH I have 1920x1200 on my desktop (and loving it!) as well as I've had a 17" Dell Laptop also with 1920x1200. I end up feeling almost claustrophobic if I run out of screenspace too fast. (Kind of like when my desk is in a state of disarray !)

 

Keyboard

Odd I'm starting to think that it might be in line with the UK/US layouts symbol-wise. I live in a rather small country (Denmark) and it might be that it's only in a select few smaller countries like ours, that the layouts differ somewhat from our standard keyboard layouts.

But I'll try to explain never the less, it might be the differences are too subtle for most to notice

I think most of the symbols that I have to reach via a different key combination are: \ , ~ , [ , ] , { , } and so.

 

Are they reached in the same way on your mac (in your country) as your regular average PC keyboard ?

 

Bootcamp

Yes you might be right. I suppose too much time in the Linux camp has made me accustomed to betas often being flawless and certainly 1.0 releases (!)

(With one exception, Wine, which is an incredibly complex undertaking)

 

Programming

Nice to hear that I'll check up some more on that

 

Linux for dualbooting

The laptop would be for study use mostly and so I don't plan on tinkering too much with native Windows or Linux installations.

Truthfully I view OS X as being rather simplistic and targeted compared to some other OS's, which is why I think it would serve me well for study purposes, I don't think I'll feel like tinkering with it, really

 

But on that notion, I tried both Fink and practically every other compilation system I could find for OS X last time, and it doesn't nearly satisfy an actual GNU software addict. Much of the software is either broken or outdated - Now I appreciate that they even try getting things on OS X but I wouldn't call it Linux-replacement-ready much like I wouldn't say Wine could replace windows

 

Anyway, again, thanks for your answers. The only thing I truly still need help with is the Keyboard symbol layouts

[laatmaarzien]

I hear ya, I was in the same boat a month back. I too wanted more screen real estate - more the better. I liked the Macbooks in everything but that aspect. That alone made me go for a Macbook pro, a 15" model - which in my opinion was an ideal compromise between size/weight and resolution. And I couldn't be happier.

 

Only the 17" MBP has the option for the full HD display I am given to understand.

 

I don't quite know what you mean with the keyboard layout. I didn't see any changes in the layout once I shifted to Mac, save the placement of the CMD key.

[DarkCarnival]

It seems that every foreigner I discuss this with hasn't noticed any layout changes, but I've talked with some countrymen about it and they recognize the change. So it might simply just be our particular layout :/

 

Anyway, I got some suggestions on molding the layout inside OS X somewhat.

 

But I don't know, right now I'm also contemplating the Ubuntu Studio 17 which sports the same resolution and even if not better specs across the board along with a better GFX card and 4 years of both replacement warranty and accident coverages.

 

So I don't know, it's either that or waiting for the next Macbook Pro line, because I'm not too hot about the Nvidia 8600M chips :/