Right off the bat, I wiped the hard drive and reinstalled OS X (snow leopard). It really wasn't too bad, pretty much as simple as installing Windows 7. Both 7 and OS X are less intimidating than Ubuntu, although I don't think Ubuntu is too tough either (except for the partition tools, those are scary to the newcomer!).
Setting things up in OS X isn't too bad either, and I have to admit, OS X is probably the "prettiest" of the three. Nice wallpapers, nice effects and everything is really clean and crisp on this screen.
Getting Chrome, Firefox and Python installed on the MacBook Pro were also a breeze, as simple as any Windows installation I would say. Mostly, so far, it's just getting used to the Mac way of doing it.
However, there is one big failing to OS X that Ubuntu does slightly better but where Windows 7 SHINES: Windows management. Getting two windows side by side in Ubuntu or OS X is a chore. Windows 7? Just hit Windows Key + Left Arrow Key to get one window on the left, and Windows Key + Right Arrow Key to get the other on the right. Simple, easy, SUPER useful. A quick google search shows I am not alone in the difficulty of getting things where you want them in OS X, and the only real solution I see costs money.
Really, Apple? You have this AMAZING multi-touch touch pad (which I have to admit, I love) but you still have one tiny little place to resize windows? Lame, I say. L A M E.
More to come on this topic as I put down some real time with this puppy!
---MacBook Pro/OS X---
+ Very nice screen
+Very pretty eye candy
+ Best trackpad I've used
-Resizing windows is the same as it was when I used a Mac Classic as a kid in school. Apple, take note: it's 2010. People multi-task.
-Maybe there are key combos, but where the hell are my "home" "end" and page up/down keys? (again, gotta get used to the mac way of doing things)
-This is my Windows bias here, I admit freely, but the Mac mentality of a program being separate from it's windows bugs me. If I close the last Firefox window, that means I am done with Firefox: close it out, free up the resources for the other things I have running.
- Price. If this wasn't provided by work, I never would have had one. For someone who has been computing since shortly after learning to walk, I expect more hardware for what Apple charges. A nice screen and an awesome touch pad don't justify the "mac tax".
