Macbook Pro

Reasons To Switch To Windows 7 From Mac OS


Reasons To Switch To Windows 7 From Mac OS: There may be some who think that my action to move to Windows 7 from Mac OS is a counterproductive action. It could be so, but still, this is something I need to experience myself (and maybe you too). By the way, this is my second day using Windows that I installed on my Mid-2010 MacBook Pro.

Also, read about Boot Camp common problem to install Windows on a Mac (Missing Create Install Disk Menu)

If you ask me why I did not upgrade straight to Windows 10, my answer is that Boot Camp only suggested me to install between Windows 7 or Windows 8 (depends on MacBook type). I had a bad experience with Windows 8 (which I think is a generic version of Windows 10), so I will stick with Boot Camp suggestion.

Also, read about things to do after installing Windows on your Mac.

In addition to adjusting to the Cmd switch that switches to Ctrl, I also have to adjust to the placement of buttons above the application window. I have lost track of my cursor several times when I wanted to find the buttons.

Software installation process is more complicated. Unlike a Mac that only needs to open the disk image and move the app directly to the Apps folder, the installation in Windows is determined by the installer itself, where it will go and from where I can open it. The same thing happens with the uninstall process.

Please note that this is not a Mac vs PC article since I’m a proud user of both.

Customization

Years of using the Mac and all I got were two color options (graphite and blue), and that only changed a very small part of the display. Not surprising at all, given Apple always controls everything that happens to all its products, even in the front end though. With Windows, I can freely customize, although I keep changing it to a minimum, considering I’m forgetful and tend to forget what I was doing before when my Windows display suddenly became messy.

You can change your theme by typing “theme” in the Start Menu and click on “Change The Theme”.

Softwares Are Easier To Find

Softwares for Windows are easier to find both in online stores and in retail stores. In my neighborhood, there is a large mall of nearly ten Windows software vendors, and only one that sells Apple products, it is an iStore that focuses more on hardware sales. I think this is a bit troublesome because not all applications are in the App Store. And expecting real-time answers about the software in the App Store is something impossible.

And believe not if I say the workers on iStore use templates to answer their customers? I hardly ever get new knowledge from my conversation with them. All I get is the impression, “oh, it’s so true”. They only reinforce the facts I find, not the solutions. When I asked what difference the official OS would have with my OS downloaded from the internet, he simply replied, “The official one has a dock”. That’s a silly answer.

This is different from my experience in the Windows software store. Although they are not official stores, they have a myriad of answers to what I am asking.And even giving me more ideas of what that software is capable of.

More Compatible Hardware

Just like its hardware, Mac’s hardware is harder to find, and tend to be ridiculously more expensive. I can say that if we take an ashtray, put Apple logo on it, it can be sold for hundreds of dollars. I just find out that my USB Modem is still working earlier. I thought it was broken since it was not even detected on Mac.

Windows Computer More Easily Found

This is a scenario where I decided to go for a walk and the misfortunes that always with me decide to walk with me. I accidentally left my laptop and phone at home. Then suddenly a writing idea popped into my head, and I knew that I would forget to write anything if it was suspended for a while. I’m senile, mmm … or have I ever written about this before?

I only have one choice, find the nearest internet cafe! or go home I’m willing to bet, the majority of internet cafes will rent out PCs, and not Macs. At least that’s what I met here.

Then why is this a consideration? Yes, you know how difficult it is to change the habits on the computer? Different software and hand gestures will obviously hamper our productivity. Imagine how panicky and ridiculous if we forget to close our browser window because it uses the wrong hotkeys.

Any Random Guy Is Using Windows

I’ve had to deal with several technicians over the web that I use. And there is often a misunderstanding between me and the technician because he uses Windows. The same thing I encountered when I was looking for tutorials about an app. The screenshots shown are screenshots of Windows. Of course, it is not Apple’s fault that they have chosen Windows as their primary device to work. Possibly, this reason is also one of them.

Giving New Life

Just like installing Linux on my old MacBook Pro, installing Windows also gives new life for this old man. High Sierra is cool, stable, amazing (add yourself what you expect from an OS), but it feels heavy when running on my MacBook. To prevent too much oath I am computing, installing Windows is the best choice besides installing Linux. Especially, the cool Deepin Linux. 🙂

Also, read more about Deepin OS.

Saving on Hardware

Although I rarely find hardware constraints on my MacBook Pro, or almost never. But it would be nice if we can get insight from hardware constraints that we find. The answer to this hardware constraint is tantamount to the experience I encountered with software constraints. Answer the Mac technician we can guess, that is … replace with a new one!

If you’re like me, who has an “insider” acquaintance, you’re lucky enough not to have to replace all your MacBook pro lids just to overcome Wifi or Webcam constraints. This can be understood because Apple is a hardware manufacturer, and they sell Apple Care to guarantee the performance of its products.

This also happens if you use Windows on MacBook Pro or other Macs. Inevitably we have to take care of our hardware constraints to Apple’s official branch. However, if you use Windows on PC… congratulations, you have a lot of advantages and savings if one of your PC components is troubled.

Click here to read about how to resurrect your old MacBook.

MacBook Upgrade: The Easy Way To Resurrect Your Old MacBook/Pro


If you’re reading this, chances are you’re in one of the scenarios below:

Scenario 1:

Have an old MacBook/Pro and feel if your MacBook is not able to serve your needs well? Wait, do not let it be thrown away or sold at a cheap price. Because with a little effort (and cost) we will be able to prosecute MacBook Upgrade and make it endure for at least the next few years.

So let your nephew who has been begging for your MacBook waiting for a few more years. Because, you’ll fall in love with your MacBook (Pro) again!


Scenario 2:

You see someone selling a used MacBook on Amazon for a very cheap price, and you really crave it once.

Scenario 3:

You are a technician who is dismantling a MacBook belongs to a person who is in one of the two scenarios above.

Let’s Start Our MacBook Upgrade

Read the tips for MacBook Air here.

  • SSD

Older MacBook doesn’t have SSD since SSD was not even invented yet. But now you can easily replace your old HDD with SSD. SSD was first introduced in MacBook Air, hence the slim body and anti-shake. I even dropped my SSD on purpose and the data can still be accessed. SSD has no moving parts, so any kind of shaking won’t destroy the data in it (unless if the damage is done physically).

This can be done on MacBook Pro & MacBook

  • 2 SSDs!

The average SSD comes in a smaller capacity than the HDD. This actually makes sense, because anyway most of the data we can save in Cloud services.

Read more about Cloud storage here.

But this will be a problem if you need physical storage media to do video and photo editing (among other tasks) that require real-time data rotation.

This is when we’ll be using 2 SSDs at once, by putting it into the caddy that we then put into our MacBook.

This can be done on MacBook Pro & MacBook

  • Using RAID 0

If you still have an extra HDD, why not use two HDD’s inside your MacBook? Use the same method with the 2 SSDs above, insert your HDD, then make your 2 HDDs into one Raid 0. Raid 0 works to use both HDDs that you have simultaneously with speed as its primary goal.

I was tempted to make 2 SSDs into RAID 0, but I did not feel any significant change. Apparently, this is still a questionable thing to its usefulness.

Here is how we’ll do it:

  • Press Cmd and Space to open Spotlight
  • Type diskutil to open the Disk Utility
  • Go to File > RAID Assistant…
  • Choose Stripped (RAID 0)
  • Click Next
  • Choose your disks
  • Set the properties*
  • Everything should be well guided from there

*Be careful when choosing Chunk Size, as this will prevent the occurrence of the Bottle Neck effect. Remember how the Bottle Neck effect in the movie Saving Private Ryan? This is similar.

Choose a small chunk size if your MacBook data usage is small but often (eg typing blogs and other Office tasks), and use large sizes if you’re working on large data (for example, continuously applying Photoshop or Final Cut Pro X filters).

  • Resetting It Completely

After years of usage and hundreds of times installing and removing applications, lots of junk files are left on our Mac. Of course, we can use “app forced to us to install it”, know what application I mean?

But nothing is cleaner than actually resetting our Mac to be as new (even with the latest OS version).

First of all, make sure you have an internet connection.

The trick is to hold down the Cmd + R key when turning on the Mac. Then select New Install from there. Leave your Mac, and do activities as usual (unless your usual activity is to use a MacBook). Once that process is complete, your MacBook will look like new.

  • Other OS

Mac OSX is by far the most sophisticated OS I’ve ever had. But, just like what Apple always does, the older device would be rendered useless from one update to another. This is the time you should consider to run your old MacBook on other operating systems that run perfectly on your old MacBook.

Here is the list of other OS that runs smoothly on my MacBook Pro Mid-2010:

Read here to learn a trick for MacBook Pro on Deepin/other Linux.

  • Alternative Apps

Another way for MacBook Upgrade is by using alternative applications. Doing this can also make your MacBook feels lighter. For example, replace heavy Adobe Photoshop with GIMP, replace Adobe Lightroom with Photos, Replace Final Cut Pro X with iMovie.

Read more about Free Photoshop alternatives here.

It’s like circumcising many functions, but we can use several small separate apps to get similar results, without the temptation of trying hundreds of tool functions in Photoshop that we don’t need have never touched before (and this is related to the chunk size we discussed earlier).

That concludes our topic about MacBook Upgrade, see you on the other topics.

Menghilangkan Berisik Pada MacBook Pro (yang menjalankan Linux)


Intro Panjang

Jadi begini, saya selalu menginginkan suasana kerja yang lebih sunyi sambil mendengarkan lagu-lagu Megadeth kesukaan saya. Intinya adalah tidak boleh ada sumber suara lain selain dari lagu yang saya dengarkan. Terdengar mustahil? Ternyata tidak.

Sebelumnya, saya mendapatkan hal ini ketika saya masih melakukan pengetikan menggunakan Samsung SM-P901 yang sampai sekarang belum berhasil saya bangkitkan dari mati suri. Jelas saja sunyi, karena seperti semua tablet pada umumnya, P901 tidak memiliki fan. Begitu juga bila saya menggunakan Chromebook yang juga fanless. Tidak ada suara yang mengganggu suasana kerja saya.

Konsep inilah yang ingin saya terapkan pada MacBook Pro mid 2010 saya.

MacBook Pro ini sudah berumur delapan tahun, lumayan tua. Tapi dengan kelakuan Apple yang terus menerus memberi update (dan sialnya saya terus mencoba), proses kerja semakin berat. Untuk itulah saya kemudian memutuskan untuk menginstall Deepin setelah dengan impulsif menghapus semua partisi Mac OSX saya.

Kenapa Deepin?

Deepin menawarkan segala yang saya butuhkan. Yaitu aplikasi yang cantik dan berguna, proses penginstalan yang tidak ribet, dan tentu saja penampilan yang tidak memalukan. Kita tahu bahwa Mac OSX unggul karena hal yang satu ini (bahkan untuk mereka yang betul-betul hanya pemakai).

Tapi…

Satu hal yang mengganggu saya adalah… saya merasa terganggu karena ternyata kipas MacBook Pro ini menjadi sangat berisik. Dan menurut saya betul-betul berisik dan mengganggu.

Untung saja saya menemukan solusi yang tidak membutuhkan rutinitas baru bagi saya. Maksudnya, saya hanya perlu melakukan satu kali setup dan beres.

Beginilah caranya…

What To Do After Pop OS Installation on Chromebook or Mac


This is My list of what to do after Pop OS installation:

 

First Setup

After a fast installation (versus other Linux distro installation) and restarting, you will be greeted by the Welcome screen. If nothing happens after the restart, make sure that you have unplugged the Live USB drive.  Hit Next.

On the Welcome screen, you’ll have to choose your keyboard layout. The most common is English (US). If you’re not sure, click the preview and compare the layout on the screen to your physical keyboard. Hit Next again.

Select your Wifi connection and insert the password. If you are not in any Wifi area, you can skip this. But, I recommend that you connect to the internet for the sake of completing the first installation.

Choose whether you want to turn the Location Services on or off. This will help Pop to determine which server you’re going to get everything Pop needs among other common location related.

Choose your Time Zone then hit Next.

This is the best part of Pop OS.It offers what elementary OS (my first favorite), which is Gnome Online Accounts. Connect your Online Accounts by selecting the services and then complete your activation. You can have multiple accounts at the same time.

The services are:

  • Google
  • Next cloud
  • Facebook
  • Microsoft
  • Flickr
  • Pocket
  • Foursquare
  • Microsoft Exchange
  • Media Server
  • Todoist
  • IMAP and SMTP
  • Enterprise Login (Kerberos)

Hit Next to bring you to your personal profile. Fill the form and choose whether you want to encrypt your home folder or not. Be careful, encrypting home folder means more security. No one can access your data, and that’s including you if you forget how to access your hard drive when shut happens. Hit Next to bring you to the last setup page and start using Pop!_OS. You will then have to log in with the password you set before.

What Next?

Click Files on the dock. The dock is where your icons sit waiting for you. The dock is by default auto-hide itself. So you might need to move your cursor to the far left of the screen.

In Files, you can see your Google Drive sit there just like your hard drive. Cool, huh!?! It really helps someone with storage space issue like me. Remember that it only works online. The good thing is, you don’t have to bring your laptop home from the office or vice versa because everything is stored in the Cloud.

Also read Cloudbacko, Mega and Deego, and Blaze, cloud storage solution.

Turn on Tap to Click

I do this because Acer C720P doesn’t feel really nice clicking.

Go to your setting by pressing super (search) button on your keyboard and type “tap” without the semicolon. It will call the Mouse & Touchpad setting.

You can also do other tasks from this search bar. For example, typing “vol” will call volume related items such as Hard drive and Sound. Typing “pic” will take you to Pictures, and so on… experiment with it. It’s fun.

You can change what will be included in the search later. In short, it’s like pressing cmd + space on a Mac.

Update Your Software

If you have the active internet connection, you can type “up” then select Software & Updates. Click “Download from” then choose “Other” for the server selection. Click “Select Best Server”. A series of tests will be executed to find the best server for you. most likely it will point to somewhere near your location. Click on “Choose Server” and then enter your password.

Close and then reload. It will then updating cache and begin downloading.

You can also try the harmless way by opening the terminal and then type: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade. This will tell Pop to… well, update and upgrade.

Set Keyboard Shortcuts

Chromebook has limited buttons, hence the keyboard shortcuts.

Press power then types “key” then chose the keyboard. You will then see the default keyboard shortcuts. Don’t memorize it, change them to your likes  (unless you’re sharing your laptop).

You can press ESC to cancel or go back to your previous screen/menu.

Install The Software You Need

Open Pop!_Shop and then install your software from there. Pop! can also do the most task using the command line, but I think, using a Terminal is not the reason why you use Pop! in the first place, right?

This Is My List of Top Priority Software:

  1. Google ChromeThis might sound contra-productive if you’re running Pop on your Chromebook, but having Chrome installed means reducing the need to re-install the same application you already installed and/or purchased on Chrome Web Store.And Since Google killed the apps and games section on another platform, the only way for you to get Chrome Apps is by installing on your Chromebook using Chrome OS and then it will be automatically available on all Chrome you’re using. All you have to do is open the Chrome and let it finish the installation.One more thing that makes this step is necessary is your Chrome apps will be working like a native application. So simple, right? It’s like unzipping a compilation of apps altogether.

    Read: How to Install Google Chrome on Linux.

  2. GIMPGIMP is a photo editor that supports image layering and blending just like Photoshop. Sadly, it’s not available in the Pop!_Shop. Pop is quite strict about what’s in and what’s not. But I personally think that GIMP should be in the Shop.You can install GIMP by Terminal with sudo apt-get install gimp

    Read about GIMP here.
  3. PitiviPitivi is a video editing software. It’s simple and zero learning hour needed. Not as powerful as other video editing software, but it has everything a casual user needs.

    You can install GIMP by Terminal with sudo apt-get install pitivi

    Read about Pitivi here.

  4. You can continue using the same step I did with elementary OS here.

No Tweaking

Pop is my second favorite after elementary OS. Both look just great out of the box. I always have difficulties when I have to choose one of them. So, I currently have both installed. >;p

Perbandingan Chromebook, Macbook Pro Mid 2010 dan Samsung P901


Perbandingan Chromebook, Macbook Pro Mid 2010 dan Samsung P901

Ya walaupun bikin perbandingan Chromebook seri ini dengan MBP dan Samsung Galaxy Pro P901 emang gak nyambung juga, tapi siapa tahu ada yang butuh.


Hari ini kami mendapat kiriman Acer Chrombook C720P dan juga Keyboard Bluetooth Samsung untuk seri P901. Dalam perbandingan ini, kami hanya menggunakan aplikasi Chrome saja.Karena sebelumnya kami bekerja menggunakan Macbook Pro Mid 2010 yang sudah kami pasangi 2 SSD 500GB namun kami pakai untuk mengerjakan pekerjaan yang kurang lebih sama (seputaran web browsing), maka tetap kami masukkan ke dalam perbandingan. 

 

  1. Pengetikan:

    MBP terasa lebih nyaman karena lebih banyak area untuk meletakkan tangan.

    Acer terasa agak kaku, terutama di ujung-ujung keyboard, jadi saya lebih sering hovering kalau ngetik.

    Samsung memberikan sensasi pengetikan mirip MBP, karena desain tombol hurufnya yang rendah, dan juga sedikit sekali lebih luas daripada Acer.
     

  2. Hot Keys:

    MBP kurang sarat hotkeys kalau untuk urusan browsing internet, karena memang peruntukannya bukan untuk itu.

    Acer menyedikan hotkeys untuk Fullscreen (untungnya, karena layarnya mungil), tombol untuk menunjukkan aplikasi apa saja yang sedang terbuka, tombol reload, back dan forward untuk browser. Jadi harus agak hati-hati, kalau sudah bikin kerjaan panjang-panjang, tahu-tahu kepencet tombol reload…duh.

    Samsung memiliki fasilitas hotkeys lebih lengkap, bisa sampai memilih bahasa dan menmpilkan keyboard virtual di layar, selain itu, keybordnya juga mampu melakukan apa yang mampu dilakukan Acer tadi, plus tombol-tombol standard seperti pemutaran media dan lain-lain.
     

  3. Performa multi-tasking:

    Untuk urusan multi-tasking jelas MBP yang menang, jadi bagian ini ga usah diikutsertakanlah ya.

    Acer terasa agak lambat kalau dibarengi dengan kegiatan menonton video.

    Samsung lancar banget sampai ketika mulai panas.
     

  4. Bisa diandalkan (Tetap kegiatan Chrome)secara mobile:

    MBP dan Acer jelas-jelas matot kalau dibawa mobile, kecuali punya personal hotspot sendiri atau ketemu WIFI yah.

    Sementara, kalau Samsung, karena dia memiliki slot SIMCARD, maka dia bisa menggunakan mobile networks kalau sedang di perjalanan.

 

garage band 10.2.0

Garage Band Murah Meriah Makin Lengkap


Tadi pagi waktu gw bangunin Mbp gw dari sleep, ternyata dia lagi ngedownload soundbank buat Garage Band. Setelah beres download, penasaran dong gw, apa aja sih yang berubah? Apa bener cuma nambah sound bank doang?

Ternyata gak, tampilannya pun berubah. Dan yang paling bikin gw hype adalah munculnya fitur Tap Tempo!

Gileee… terakir kali gw pake Garage Band waktu beli seharga (rasanya) Rp. 99rb di App Store, fitur ini belom ada, dan ini cukup ngeselin, secara Cakewalk aja udah bisa pake fitur tap tempo dari tahun 2009-an gitu.

 

garage band 10.2.0

Tap Tempo!

Sehebat apa sih fungsi Tap Tempo di Garage Band? Dan buat apa?

Jadi gini sob, misalnya lu mau bikin kover sebuah lagu… bukan kover album dengan foto narsislu ya… tapi kover dalam artian bikin ulang sebuah lagu dan lu mau pake tempo pas sama lagu aslinya, lu tinggal ketuk-ketuk aja di tombol Tap Tempo ngikutin ketukan lagu aslinya. Bisa sambil dengerin lagu aslinya juga.

Emang sih di internet udah bertebaran banyak partitur, tablature, catur dan lain-lain, tapi beberapa yang gw temuin gak selalu pas. Mungkin yang bikinnya pas pake Tap Tempo mendadak dikagetin temennya.

Setelah tempo ditentuin, lu bakal disediain satu layer kerja yang ngikutin tempo yang tadi udah lu buat.

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Secara tampilan…
garage band 10.2.0

GUI Yang Unik

Secara tampilan sih lu ga perlu kaget. Secara lu tahu sendiri gimana malesnya orang-orang Apple ngerubah tampilan. Tampilannya ya masih gitu-gitu aja. Dan kayanya ga akan berubah sampe beberapa saat ke depan.

Sedikit melenceng nih… Apple iPhone 6 ke iPhone 7 aja gak beda-beda amat sob! Sampe tahu-tahu pas dipake motret.. eh kok kejet-kejet sendiri? Eh kok hasil fotonya bisa gerak (LIVE). Ya gitu deh, produk Apple itu buat dialamin, bukan diliatin…tsaaah… Atau emang bagian desainnya berprinsip “Don’t fix what’s not broken!”?

Balik ke GUI nih. Langsung gamblang jelas di situ buat dipake apaan. Gambar ampli, ya berarti tar keluar suara ampli yang lu pilih. Buat drum, udah disediain track drum yang LUAR BIASA dan seolah lu maen sama orang beneran. Gak perlu repot-repot bikin midi dulu. Malah seringkali nih, beat yg dihasilkan sama drummer virtual ini bisa ngasih kita ide buat lagu yang bakal kita garap. ga percaya? Cobain!

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Terus kalo Udah Jadi Lagu…?
garage band 10.2.0

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Kalo udah jadi lagunya, lu bisa kirim buat lu dengerin di iTunes. Kalo udah masuk iTunes, gak cuma buat lu dengerin sih, tapi bisa langsung lu pake juga di Final Cut Pro X, klo lu suka ngedit video. Bisa berbagi via Soundcloud, Airdrop dan email atau ya disave aja ke hardisklu.

Sob, sekarang jadi musisi ga sesulit dulu (ya bukan derita mereka juga sih). Kalo lu udah beres bikin lagu, lu bisa jual ke iTunes dengan biaya yang ga mahal kok. Videoclipnya tayangin di Youtube. Enak kan?

Gimana, tertarik jadi musisi? Atau jadi sound engineer? Denger-denger bayarannya gede loh sekarang.

Kaya studio Nayaz ini nih, yang berhasil garap album Dani Daksinaputra.

Gw udah ga sabar pengen cobain sih, sayangnya tetangga gw lagi dangdutan! Coba gw tap tempo yah… kali2 bisa ngejam bareng se-RT.

Merdeka!