Apple's Mac mini - Tempting PC Users Everywhere
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 25, 2005 7:39 AM EST- Posted in
- Mac
A First Look at Pages
The idea behind Pages is to make document creation, layout and publishing easier than ever before. If you've ever used Word for anything above and beyond just a text editor, it often times have little quirks that can frustrate you after dealing with them for a while - such as footnotes that don't always work properly, an ornery table of contents or especially dealing with graphics and text boxes and getting them to not screw up the pagination of your document. Word is a very powerful word processor, but in all of its might, it has lost a considerable amount of simplicity. Then there are page layout and publishing applications that generally require a higher level of expertise than what the beginner user is going to have, and they are generally much more expensive than $79. So there is a need for something else. The question is whether or not Pages happens to be it.
Before I get to the built-in templates within Pages, let me talk a bit about the interface. When you're first dropped into Pages, you immediately notice that the interface is extremely bare, almost to the point where it is bland. There is no font drop-down - all of the buttons you're used to seeing in a word processor or any application for that matter are all gone. There's a row of 10 oversized buttons at the top of the page and that's it.
The default view in Pages has no rules, no layout markers, nothing. You can turn all of those on, but for me, they unnecessarily clutter the interface to be on all the time.
I mentioned that there is no font drop-down in Pages. Instead, in order to change the fonts and settings, you have to use the font panel, which you bring up by either hitting the button on the tool bar or hitting Command + T. Despite my initial reactions to it, I actually preferred Apple's decision here simply because I rarely adjusted my fonts when typing in Word; it was just something that I had expected to be in the toolbar and unnecessarily so. Font sizes are another thing, and this is one area where Pages encourages you to go in a much different route from what you may be used to. Normally, you create page or paragraph headers by either making the header bold or increasing the font size. You can obviously do the same using the font panel in Pages, but there is an alternative. Pages heavily encourages the use of styles for text, which are both pre-defined and user-definable.
The other thing that Pages does extremely well is its handling of columns - there's a columns drop-down at the top of the page that will let you select from 1 - 4 columns. You can adjust the number of columns within any shape object or apply it to the document as a whole, quite easily.
Despite the relatively simple interface, there are quite a few controls offered within Pages, they just remain hidden until you bring up the Pages Inspector. The Inspector window is a small window that lets you adjust options for everything in Pages, as well as features things like document information. If there's anything that you need to do or find in Pages, it's in the Inspector.
For example, if you want to define more than 4 columns, click on the column button in the Inspector. If you want to change how text wraps around objects, click on the appropriate button in the Inspector. Colors, tables, charts, everything is customizable from the Inspector - and when you're done, you can leave it on the desktop or hide it. You can also open up multiple Inspectors, each at a different settings page if you like having access to everything without bringing up more windows.
Multiple Inspectors
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bob661 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#126Graphics card swap hardly agonizing but Joe $499 User won't know how or care to do that, I agree. I am still wondering how a PDA can be useful for me but since I can't think of a reason to get one I am obviously not the market for those.
Chuckles - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#120:1: Given that a 3.5" is about a third the size of the computer, what do you think?
2: Do you think Joe Luser is willing to spend the time and agony upgrading his graphics card?
3: If the past is any indication, no, its got about 4, maybe 5 years of "official" OS support.
4: Does your PDA have the ability to serve as your HD backup, play music for 8 hours, and still fit in your pocket? Capability is a matter of perspective. The PDA I have does exactly what I need it to, my iPod does different things.
Concord - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
Oh, yes! Dying - strong word but its true and bestdescribes situation. Macs represent now less than 1 percent of the market. Of course we do our best to keep them alive. We vote for personal computer's diversity :)). But frankly speaking this miniMac is so badly constructed (I have at least 10 reasons for this claim) so I see at this moment only one reason to buy. Your girlfrend would say - Oh, its so cute! Maybe this reason is strong enough to buy it. But I will give you strong consumer advice (it was in 1st post) - wait for a couple of month and you will buy it on eBay for 200 US, of course if you will not change your mind.
bob661 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#123People will still jump on these because the $499 buyer doesn't know about how much system or video memory they'll need. Like someone else said, the $499 market only cares about price and name.
Dualboy24 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#121 "A pitiful attempt of the dying platform."- People have been saying its a dying platform since the early to mid 90s. Perhaps even earlier. But that hasnt stopped tens of millions of people worldwide from buying their products.
I am sure that everyone would agree that they would love standard 512MB RAM and 64MB or 128MB video memory. If apple were to offer this a large amount more people would jump on these Mac minis. Perhaps a good rule is to hold off a few months. Until the buying rush is done with and apple tries to start a new rush by offering more advanced features. I dont know if they could get in a 9600 or higher video card with heat reequirements though. But the 9200 should do fine for the OS and the higher res work with more video memory.
bob661 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#71Shuttle is making gaming machines. They need to be able to fit a 6800 or X800 in them. Also, they use full size hard drives and DVD/CD drives.
Concord - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
A pitiful attempt of the dying platform.There are no reasons to buy it. Stylish? This soap box? I am dying laughing! Try to have your own look on things. Apple is trying to make an impression that it does so much good for us poor users and for only 499 US we are among choosen.
Ha-ha buy and enjoy - You are different! That's all you can get.
peachee - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
It uses 2.5" HD. Does that mean 3.5" HD upgrades won't fit?Is the graphics card upgradeable?
Will it take 1 - 2 years before Apple completely abondons this computer when a new OS update comes out?
When people realize that a PDA is cheaper and more capable than an IPOD, will MS have to bail out Apple again?
Cygni - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
"figure out the case and internal hardware components to use such as those you suggest be used for an alternate base Wintel"Thats true, the shuttle will take considerably more setup time and prior knowledge. That does not lessen the bang/buck of the hardware, in my eyes, and i think thats what Anand is speaking of.
"when it comes to downtime, system maintenance,"
I am typing this on my G4 Powerbook, and i think this is an unfair comment. I have K6-2 machines running WXP that havent rebooted in months. I also have friends and coworkers with Macs that consistantly freeze (especially when opening a 3rd party program). In all honesty, if you have any type of downtime problems with ANY modern system, something is wrong. There doesnt seem to be any measurable difference to me... they are both quite solid.
"I'd bet my daily income, that if you would install a good AV SW, many ,even tens of, viruses would be found."
I havent installed an AV program since Windows 3.1, and i have never had any problems with viruses. I run HouseCall every couple of months, and its never found anything. Honestly, how do people get these viruses? I use P2P programs all the time, i open and install community made programs all the time... never gotten a thing. And i have yet to recieve any type of virus from all these amazing holes in XP where viruses just fly through the internet at your computer. If you DONT click anything on the screen on a shady site, you will never have any problems... doesnt matter what browser you use. If you drop all the security levels and click yes to everything, whose fault is that?
msva124 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
I don't care what the PC costs, I already have plenty of PCs. I want to buy a Mac. First of all, I will need 512MB RAM ($75 extra). Second, I want to get a keyboard with apple keys so that I can get used to the new shortcuts ($30). It should also have a USB hub, or I will need to get one seperate ($15). Third, I need wireless, unless I never want to use the internet($79). Fourth, I need a two button usb mouse with scroll wheel ($20). Finally, the cheapest 15" LCD with good reviews on Amazon is the AG Neovo F-415 ($215 with shipping). That comes to $933. A similarly configured Emac is $953. And the lowest cost Ibook upgraded to 512MB is $1074.Why would I not want to upgrade to the Ibook and get full portability?