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MacBook Pro Laptop

macbookpro

Yesterday I upgraded my Latitude E6520 laptop computer at work to a new MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015). This is the first time in my career that I am using a Macintosh as my primary computer. I have used a Macintosh laptop in the past, but it's always been my personal laptop. It's great having the latest and greatest Macintosh laptop as my primary computer. I do have an iMac at home that I use when I work from home.

I was even more surprised when my desktop was replaced with a Thunderbolt display. My previous setup had a dual monitors with 1080x1950 resolutions; now I have a single monitor with 2560x1440 resolution. (I was able to figure out the resolution by taking a screenshot and then seeing the dimension of the image.)

It's been a long time since I been actively using a Macintosh laptop. My last one was a PowerBook G4 from 2003 and my most recent use would be for simple tasks, such as recording radio broadcasts and using an old version of Photoshop to touch up files. The Powerbook Titanium G4 has 70 GB hard drive and 8 GB of memory. This computer is so much thinner with a 500 GB flash drive and 16 GB of memory. It's amazing the difference of the computers when they are put side to side.

The first set of applications that I installed was TextExpander and Drop Box. I needed TextExpander because that's where I store my website login shortcuts. On Windows, I use Breevy and the application integrates with Text Expander very well. I store the database files in Drop Box and simply link it to my Text Expander on the new computer.

Other applications that were installed right away include Firefox, Evernote, Transmit, BBedit and Pixelmator.

I plan to keep things simple on this laptop. After backing up my Drop Box files to a DVD, I removed most of the files. I realized that there were a lot of files that I just didn't need on a regular bases. I plan to only install only essential applications.

 

About

A Mac veteran since 1989, I'm here to share my experience with tips and tricks every Friday. Witnessing the evolution of Mac software and hardware firsthand, I've gained a deep understanding of how these machines work and can help you troubleshoot any issues that may come up.

Schedule

FridayMacintosh
SaturdayInternet Tools
SundayOpen Topic
Monday Media Monday
TuesdayQA
WednesdayKeyboard Maestro
ThursdayGluten Free