Peter's Blog

One of many great things about Mac is that you can do a lot of stuff just after launching your computer for the first time. So here is another one, you can create iso image of your CD/DVD just using apps which are already in the OS. Lets start then:
1. Put the disk into your drive.
2. Go to Apps -> Utilities -> Disk Utility.
3. Choose your disk from the list on the left and click New Image.
4. Browse to location where you want to save the image, put the filename you desire and select DVD/CD master as Image Format.
It would create cdr image, so now you need to convert it to iso. You can do it with single command in Terminal:
hdiutil makehybrid -iso -joliet -o .iso .cdr
That’s it. You have created iso image of your disk without using any third party software! Isn’t it just great.

Most famous Urban Legend for Mac computers is that there aren’t viruses for Mac OS. Wrong! There is at least one and it’s pretty cool actually:)

But seriously there are viruses for Mac, maybe not so common as for Windows systems, but still. So don’t bet on luck and install anti virus program.

If you like Mac vs. PC commercials, now you have all of them on one site. Enjoy!

As new Mac user I’m reading a lot of stuff about it. And I’ve realized that apps helping you to focus on some subject are becoming more and more popular. Just to name two there are: Concentrate and Think. They have only one purpose to isolate apps you need to work with at the moment and let you concentrate on your work, so you’re not being distracted by incoming mails, IM messages and so on. I wonder if people really hit this level that they can do it by themselves. When I have a work to do I’m just doing it and have no problems with paying attention. Or maybe users just want to feel like some writer or artist with only typewriter or easel in front of them, completely targeted at the subject. Maybe, but still I find it weird. But maybe I’m weird, not buying this entire “go to Starbucks to write a blog post” thing. Possible.

Today finally, after three weeks of waiting, I’ve received my Magic Mouse. Christmas gift from my lovely wife. I must say that I’m impressed. It takes a while to switch from MacBook’s touch pad, but it’s worth it. It’s pretty accurate, but it’s not surprise as it’s laser based. At last I have a mouse which is wireless, blue-tooth. My previous mice were wireless, but always radio based, so they got often jammed by other media. Here I got very decent connection and it’s fast. Now I can move precisely and quickly around Mac OS, everything takes less time and is more enjoyable. What is a little bad is the fact that you have different gestures for mouse than for touch pad. It’s not very convenient as I must remember two sets of gestures, but will live. Also for minus is the clicking sound when hitting one of two “normal” buttons, it sounds like in very old mice. I hope I would get used to it. Scroll is amazing, very fast. No problems with gestures, I have a feeling that Magic Mouse is more responsive than touch pad. And of course now I can easily select multiple files and drag and drop them wherever I want, it wasn’t so easy without my rodent. I like it, a lot.

Again thanks to my wife, she always know how to make me happy:)

As we know main sync software on Mac OS X is ITunes. And you’re probably aware of the fact that smartphones based on Windows Mobile (like my Samsung) are not compatible with this sync method. Have no fear! There is great app called SyncMate which will solve all your problems (at least related to syncing). In basic (free) version it syncs calendar and contacts which is really enough for me, but if you’re willing to pay for expert edition you can sync literally everything. Just tested and it’s really working! Love it!

As newbie Mac OS user I’ve faced problem “where the f**k are page up, page down, etc. keys?”. A little of exploration and here it is (MacBook Pro):
fn + arrow down = page down
fn + arrow up = page up
cmd + arrow down = end
cmd + arrow up = home
fn + backspace = delete (this is quite annoying that on PC I’ve had one button for that)

As I have new toy (MacBook), I need new software for it. As I’m a little paranoid about security (yeah, I know, there are no viruses on Mac) I’ve wanted to add some antivirus to my new system. I’ve worked with many such programs in the past, so I know that sometimes (or mostly) it happens that they’re slowing down computer. I’m new to Mac OS and very happy already about it performance, so I don’t want to ruin it. Obvious thing for me was to try some trial version, before I would buy it. As I’m using Norton on my desktop PC I’ve wanted to buy Symantec product also for Mac, I’ve didn’t noticed any trial version on their website, but didn’t gave up and called support. They’ve told me that indeed there is no trial, but I can buy it and return it if I’m not satisfied in 60 days. OK, it’s not bad I thought and was planning to buy it as soon as I would get back from work. When at home I’ve recalled that Kaspersky was about to release antivirus for Mac, so I’ve checked their site and yeah, there was trial. I’m using it right now and didn’t noticed any slowness (well, system is starting up and shutting down a little longer), so I would probably buy it after 30 days trial. Even though it’s 10$ more expensive than Norton.

Why companies are killing trial version? It’s so good method to sell the product.

Since yesterday I’m happy owner of MacBook Pro! I’ve waited long time and had many other desktops and laptops in the past, but finally I have it:) And it was a good deal, so double win, or like Americans like to say win win. And guess what? Yes, you’re right I’m writing this message from my new Mac!

As I’m still a newbie everything keeps amazing me. I’m really surprised what Mac OS offers right out the box. I’ve read a lot before I’ve bought it, but still shocked how easy it is to do anything on this computer. From the moment I’ve took it out from the box to be completely operable passed like 2-3, and it was already connected to the Internet! No more drivers. Most programs I need for day-to-day usage was already there, so to customize everything to my needs took me a lot less time than with Windows. And of course my favorite terminal is here! I can now log in to my Linux servers without third party programs. Pretty amazing. Hope everything be so fine in the future of my Mac journey.