Junk

Cheetos would’ve been almost appropriate

This entry really isn’t about snacks, but instead, random junk from installing a new OS. After frantically trying to find my Microsoft shirt to wear at the Apple store tonight, I gave up and have resigned myself to tackle laundry this weekend.
A wipe of my drive and another frantic search to find installer discs of my core applications, I am now all set and everything is where it should be, minus the year’s worth of crap I’d glommed on to my system.

And so, initial thoughts of Tiger…

• This is by far the most (initially) subtle of OSX releases
• Spotlight really needs an option to stop indexing crap (like external drives)
• I keep things pretty organized without titling or tagging bits of data (like photos), but it will be interesting to see how Spotlight lives up to the enormous hype. When/if Firefox and webservices (delicious, flickr, porn) are integrated, it’ll be sweet
• The sound effects in the finder to let you know a file has moved or copied is welcome.
• Dashboard might actually come in handy as a separate workspace for utilities and tidbits. I can see how I’ll use it more than Sherlock or the web proper for infoclutter.
• Alas, the Dictionary widget doesn’t allow text copying (wtf), and the font choices are poor for legibility.
• Really bummed that water effect when adding widgets only works on G5’s or something. (waaah)
• I’m going to test Mail.app for my personal account, this requires using Address Book
• Mail icon/buttons are not as heinous as I imagined.
• I thought I’d try out iCal as well, and it is so 1.0 I think I’ll scrap it (try adding a birthday and let me know how that works)
• Signal vs. Noise was right, animations seem like they have a reduced frame rate.
• Overall response of the finder seems faster though, of course, a fresh install is a fresh install.
• Safari is also zippier.
• RSS reading in Safari is nice, but migrating from Firefox or NewsNetWire is too much trouble. As a newcomer to the to subscription based surfing, it has legs.
• Image Capture finally recognizes my camera (iPhoto does as well) and makes thumbnails. This is a true joy.
• I have no idea what to do with Automator as it stands with system applications. Integration with BBedit and Photoshop might help it rock, but those apps do fine for the most part on their own.
• I still wish I could select a file and invoke a command to "move to" another location (like Windows)
• There was no discount for other stuff at the Apple store during the event. That stinks.
• I won a free song on iTunes with my lottery ticket, I really was hoping for a laptop.
• The RSS screensaver is nifty.
• I’m most happy about the quiet lines removed from the menubar, replaced with a faint shimmer.

What’s it all add up to? Not 130 bucks, but split with 5 over a family pack, it’s worth all 40 smackaroos.