My MacBook Pro Experience - Day 1

Through the TalkBack section of this blog a number of people have mentioned that it would be interesting to read a Windows user's take on the Mac OS X.  Well, thanks to Apple's PR department I have the opportunity to do just that.  Today I took delievery of a brand new 17 inch MacBook Pro notebook (no, it's not a freebie, it's gotta got back!).

The machine has a 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB DDR2, 160GB hard drive, 17 inch TFT widescreen display.  Apple also installed Aperture onto this machine for me too.  Overall, a very good specification. 

Regular readers of this blog or PC Doctor will know that I'm a Windows guy - I've dabbled with both Linux and Mac before but I've never tried to do any real work on a non-Windows system.  The next few weeks is going to be interesting.  I'm actually looking forward to it a lot!  I'm wondering if at the end of this review I'll want to buy a MacBook Pro or not.

I've only had the MacBook Pro a couple of hours so right now is a good time to put down my initial/early impressions of the device.

• As with all Apple products, the packaging is a work of art.  As with every other Apple product I've handled lately, the packaging feels like an extension of the product.
• The aluminum finish is smart.  Very sleek and sexy.  No arguments from me there.
• The notebook is a big one but it's light and thin.  This is a surprise as I expected it to be heavy, or at least heavier than it is.
• The keyboard is easy on the fingers and easy on the eyes.  I love the light-sensitive backlit keys.  When the room lights are on, the keys are not lit, but turn down the lights and on comes the backlight – very cool!  My only complaint is that the keyboard is quite far forward so it feels far away, so I find myself hunching a little to get to it.
• Bootup is fast, but about the same as my XP notebook (at least as fast as it was when it was new before I installed many apps on it).
• The MagSafe power connector is one of the most brilliant innovations in hooking up a power supply to a device.  I absolutely love this feature.  It eliminates the risk that someone tripping over the power cord will make the MacBook eat dirt.  It also eliminates the risk of damaging the connector and cable.  Very nice.
• Currently I can't get the MacBook to connect wirelessly to an encrypted WiFi network but I have figured out how to steer Mac OS X enough to get to the point where I can see the available wireless networks that I can’t connect to just yet.
• I'm not going to make much in the way of comment on the Mac OS just yet.  Initially I felt that the notebook was being sluggish but I'm now putting that down to programs being used for the first time and me not noticing the feedback that the Mac OS is giving me (I’m used to the kind of feedback that Windows gives when it's busy and as yet I haven’t spotted the Mac equivalent – maybe it’s there I’m just not seeing it yet).
• I like the iSight camera.  A nice touch.  No having to mess about with drivers, no installing, no wires, the camera was just there, waiting to be used.

Over the next few days I plan on getting the MacBook set up so that I can do some real work on it (writing, research, blogging ...).

Got any tips for a Windows guy planning to use a Mac?