MacBook: A User's Tale (Part II)

I've had my new MacBook for the better part of a week now, and all I can say is OMFG!!!

I was so excited when it arrived that I couldn't refrain from streaming the unboxing via Qik using my iPhone (video).  Although it's been said many times (even by Steve Jobs himself), you really can't appreciate how small the MacBook's packaging is until you see it for yourself.  The MacBook is protectively nestled inside plastic tray, like a piece of art on a pedastle.  One important note: if you ordered accessories like an Apple Remote or display adapter, be sure to check under the folder containing the software and manuals.  I found my accessories under there wrapped in a white plastic caccoon.  I'd like to share my experiences using the new MacBook.  I won't be focussing on benchmarks, but more on how it has integrated with my life.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I stayed with the default 160GB 5400 RPM drive when I placed my order.  Apple wants an additional $100CND for a 250GB 5400 RPM drive, and $200CDN for a 320GB 5400 RPM BTO option.  After looking through the hard drive section of my favorite local vendor's website (http://www.b-com.ca), I found a much cheaper option.  For $125CDN I was able to buy a 320GB drive running at 7200 RPM.  Big, fast and cheap!  I also bought an external enclosure, so that when I swap-in the larger drive I can use the smaller one as a portable backup drive.

After going through the initial new Mac setup procedure, I decided to try my hand at swapping the drives.  It really is a straight forward process, but I took some video anyways (video).  One screw holds the drive in place.  The one thing that surprised me were the little metal nubs screwed into the sides of the stock drive.  Luckily, I own a T6-size Torx driver and was able to move them to the new drive.  After a quick re-assembly I was able to boot the MacBook from the drive without problem (I had installed Leopard before making the swap).

This is definitely a user do-able upgrade, and can definitely save you some cash.

My only previous experience setting up Boot Camp was on a friend's Mac Pro.  That was using the Boot Camp beta with MacOS 10.4 Tiger.  Back then you had to create the partition with the assistant, burn a driver disk, install Windows into the partition, load the driver CD and then you were done.  Now with Boot Camp in Leopard you run the assistant to create the partition, then insert the WindowsXP or Vista disk.  The Mac reboots and runs the usual Windows installation process.  Once that's done and the system has successfully booted into Windows, insert the Leopard install DVD that came with your Mac and it will automatically load all the drivers and other software Windows needs to properly use the Apple hardware.  A much simpler process than before.

To be honest, it took me two tries to get WindowsXP loaded onto my Boot Camp partition.  The first time I forgot to format the partition, so when I tried to boot into Windows I got a disk error.  An error made simply by not reading the onscreen instructions properly.  It does illustrate the best feature of running Windows on a Mac rather than normal PC hardware: when Windows becomes unusable you can still boot into MacOS and use your computer.  Had I been running a PC, that machine would be totally unusable until I had the problem solved.

The two issues I have with my PowerMac G5 Quad are portability and no support for Boot Camp.  Although I will be discussing Boot Camp in greater detail below, the MacBook is extremembly portable.  With the lid closed it reminds me of the PowerBook Duo 280c I had many years ago.  Although bigger than the Duo, the MacBook feels lighter than any other portable I've owned.  I can rest it on my lap without it feeling heavy, or getting hot.  

Battery life has been fantastic.  When I sat down to write this post the indicator said I had 6 hours and 17 minutes of battery life.  An hour later I have 5 hours and 2 minutes remaining.  Backlight set on lowest possible setting, AirPort active with Twitteriffic checking for new tweets every 3 minutes.  Even more impressive is the fact that I setup two virtual machines in VMWare's Fusion while running on a freshly charged battery.  Each requiring a full install of WindowsXP from CD, and when they were finished I still had over an hour of battery life to continue writing this blog post.

Although I don't plan on using the MacBook to replace my PowerMac, I really want to have the pair work together as seamlessly as possible.  With Apple Remote Desktop installed on the MacBook, I can control my PowerMac from anywhere in the house.  This means a large portion of the software and documents I use regularly do not have to be migrated over to the MacBook.  I can simply access them remotely as needed.  I can use a tool like Coda to do remote development work.  So far the system has worked well.

So, does has the MacBook compared to my other computers?

My job requires me to run IE6, IE7, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and WebEx in a Windows environment.  My employer issued me an Acer laptop that I use to run everything but IE7.  I hate that laptop.  It's heavy, slow, loud, hot, the video camera doesn't work, nor does the mic.  Since I only recently learned of a way to get IE6 and IE7 to co-exist on the same drive, I run IE7 on an old, rehabilitated PC.

With Boot Camp setup I could easily have the MacBook do everything the Acer does.  However, there are a couple issues here that bother me.  First, I'm a firm believer that as little software as possible should be installed into Windows and that Windows should only be used for the tasks that absolutely require it.  For example, I would rather run MSN on my PowerMac then on the Acer.  One less app taking up limited laptop screen space, and one less piece of Microsoft trash to cause problems.  Secondly, using Boot Camp means that I either have a Mac OR a PC.  If I need to switch from one to another I need to reboot.  Time consuming and kills workflow.

So, instead of running everything in WindowsXP I'd like to run those mandatory Windows apps along with my MacOS apps.  To accomplish this I downloaded and installed VMWare's Fusion (Fusion).  One virtual machine will run IE6, Firefox 2.10, Safari 3, Opera 9, Chrome and DreamWeaver.  This will be my main work VM.  Another VM will run IE7 and Firefox 3.  Setting up VMWare was easy.  Creating each virtual machine required a separate install of WindowsXP.

The only problem I was having with Fusion was that it wouldn't allow me to mount my Boot Camp volume as a virtual machine.  I thought it has something to do with the partition being formatted in NTFS rather than FAT32.  However, it turns out that the there was actually something wrong on the Boot Camp partition.  Big surprise, problems with Windows.  Deleting the partition and another reinstall of Windows solved the problem.  Now I can load my Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine, as well as mount another VM for work.  So, now I can rid myself of both the IE7 PC and the Acer laptop.

Creating two VMs for work takes up very little space, and it has the added benefit of not cluttering my Boot Camp partition... which can now be used solely for gaming.  Which brings me to my next topic...

This is where the MacBook really blows my mind.  Once Boot Camp was setup I immediately started installing Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.  My gaming PC runs WAR fairly well.  The MacBook, however, leaves now doubt that any comparison between the two machines is meaningless.  The game loads quickly, and I have no difficulty clicking interface buttons.  Smooth camera panning and animation with all visual settings on high.  No lag when RvR raiding during peak hours.  And quitting the game gets me back to the desktop in seconds (whereas the PC can take between 7 and 10 minutes to quit WAR and return me to desktop).

So far the only MacOS-native games I've installed and tested are World of WarCraft and Jets'n'Guns.  Like WAR, WoW runs in 1280 x 800 fullscreen mode with zero lag.  Jets'n'Guns is a 2D side-scroller that certainly does not require a lot of graphics horsepower.  However, the audio is full and rich on the MacBooks internal speakers.

Initially, the quality of gaming on the MacBook had been a concern of mine.  After seeing it in action, I know this tiny machine will more than meet my needs.  One thing I notice is that the fan runs constantly while playing WAR, and the MacBook gets warmer than usual.  However, it does not actually get hot to the touch... unlike other portables I own.

Right out of the box the MacBook felt snappy.  Flipping through Spaces happens quickly, as does scrolling in Safari.  I'm not sure how much of an effect expanding the RAM had on the machine's performance, but what I do know is that with 4GB I should be able to have several apps operating without seeing much of a performance hit.  For me spending money on additional RAM rather than a faster processor was the correct choice.

Between Boot Camp and VMWare's Fusion I can start tossing my collection of PCs and assorted parts.  This also means that I can do a large chunk of my daily work away from my desk... perhaps in a coffee shop or on the couch watching a soccer game.  I now also have a fantastic gaming machine as well (certainly compared to my previous rig).  No more lag in Warhammer Online.  I can also play new Mac titles like the upcoming City of Heroes Mac Edition.

I simply love my MacBook.