I am LOVING this iBook the more and more I use it.
Everything you’ve read or heard about with Tiger, Apple’s OS X 10.4 is absolutely true. Perhaps the most startling thing is the start up time on this machine Tiger. From the on button I would say (I haven’t timed it) that I get my fully functional operating system well within 1 minute. When the scrolling bar appears to say “Loading OS X 1.4″, it only makes it across the the space half way. I noticed this stage took a long time on my WinXP computer, in fact I stopped counting at 12. To turn on my PC I have to go and make a cup of tea.
Turning on my iBook I feel like I’m about to access a computer of limited function, like those palm pilots that merely take names and addresses. Of course, once you crack into Tiger, you realise just how fully featured it is. I’d be afraid of wearing out my F8 and F9 keys if it weren’t for the fact that they are so well made (F8 displays the new Dashboard, F9 arranges all windows on screen so you can click on the one you want brought to the front).
I have been a Microsoft Windows user since 1994 when we first purchased an Intel processor PC. It was Windows 3.1 back then, and I was also quite versed in MS-DOS. Before that it was Amiga’s Workbench (although I’m too young to remember, I am assured that as a 3 year old I would type the text from my Golden Books into the Amiga to have it read it back to me). I became fairly literate in Windows 3.1, and as Windows 95 through XP appeared I got to know each of them and became a ‘Power User’ of each. This is my third day with Tiger and already I think I am reaching above what an ‘Intermediate User’ might do (I’ve already delved into Terminal and got out my Linux glove to change things). I think Tiger makes it incredibly easy to use shortcuts to save time, and I feel like I’ve been using it for years.
I can’t wait till OS X Liger comes out (if you don’t get the joke, rent Napoleon Dynamite)!