Here’s the good news: setting up a new Mac still gives me a pretty awesome feeling. The fully charged computer, the sound of the boot, the Welcome sequence with that song, the way that fades as you fill out the forms… It all still works its magic.
That said, here are some notes and minor complaints:
- Apple IDs and MobileMe accounts need to become connected. I should be able to enter one and have the other pulled in automatically. It’s kind of really weird that the whole setup process skips MobileMe - you have to go into System Preferences to add it yourself.
- I know the idea is to get the user going as quickly as possible, but shouldn’t Setup Assistant also run Software Update? There’s pretty much always some update to install on a new Mac.
- The first thing that iTunes - arguably the most important app on today’s Macs - does is to ask me: 1. Do you want to use iTunes for Internet audio playback, and 2. Do you want to scan your home folder for audio files. These questions are about ten years past their prime.
- Hey, why do Macs switch from the gray boot screen to the blue screen just before they show the desktop? There’s gotta be a way to skip this, right?
- apple.com/startpage, the first website you see in Safari, could be a bit more badass. I don’t know what that means specifically, just… badass!
There are Mac OS X defaults I dislike; this is what I immediately change them to:
- Appearance/Translucent menubar: off
- Keyboard/Keyboard key repeat rate: high
- Keyboard/Full keyboard access: all controls
- Sound/Play feedback when volume is changed: off (how about a setting of “Off when lowering volume”? Who likes hearing that POP at full blast?)
- Universal Access/Zoom/Options/smooth images: off
Your mileage is pretty much guaranteed to vary.
