"The truth about switching" to the Mac

I must agree with #8. Waterfield Designs cases (www.sfbags.com) are the best of the best. Truly exceptional and incredible service to boot.

I have the Cozmo: http://www.sfbags.com/products/cozmo/cozmo.htm
the sleevecase,
the cableguy,
the camera case: http://www.sfbags.com/products/cameracase/cameracase.htm ,
and the DS Lite case.

They just emailed that they have a new bag. May get one for the gym: http://www.sfbags.com/products/slingbag/sling.htm

Truly the best of the best.

As far as good cases go, I recommend eBags (http://www.ebags.com/). I spent a lot of time searching for a case for my 17" MBP. I wanted a sling backpack, and most were too small for the 17". If you search for Everki bags, you will see a good selection of bags.

I bought this one: http://www.ebags.com/everki/cruise_sling_laptop_backpack/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=84837
even though it didn't specifically say if the 17" would fit. The 17" is just slightly too long to close the velcro strap around it and it fits tightly in the case, but it works well.

This one (http://www.ebags.com/everki/backpacks/category_search/index.cfm?N=20036581) is almost identical except for the colors (which I couldn't stand) and it being a bit bigger. They do recommend it for the 17" mbp, so I think it would probably fit very nicely if you are looking for a sling bag.

If you have a macbook, they have some even nicer looking sling backpacks for them.

"Don't expect much free stuff that works well. There's Firefox, Adium, and a couple of other things. Everything else costs money. :/"

I'm not sure what you're missing from Linux, most every open source app that runs on Linux runs on OS X. Plus you have a great list of micro vendor software in the Mac world (some call this shareware, but it isn't).

Here is a quick list of free stuff I often use: Quicksilver, Firefox, Thunderbird, iTerm, Google Notifier, GCal, Neo Office, VLC, Adium, Azureus, Handbrake, Flip4Mac, TextWrangler, NicePlayer. I didn't even list all the development stuff I use. Also if you install the libraries, you can run stuff that isn't even ported to OS X, like Gimp, etc.

Another vote for WaterField Designs.

I never really used keyboard shortcuts (other than cut, copy & paste) before I became a Mac user.

for MacBook cases (especially made for Mac), check out
http://www.MacCover.com

Just wanted to say that I can relate to finding a lot of "flaws," especially when I first switched to the Mac platform, only to find out that it was based on some pre-conceived notion from Windows. The truth is that so many people are raised using Windows PCs at school, work, and home and things that are standard to that OS are assumed to be standard to computers/computing in general.

http://www.freitag.ch/ best and most stylish laptop cases for mac on this planet

Hey (01) (you above) - press Alt+Shift+Tab to change the direction of app-switching in Windows... But maybe that's not what you were talking about?

This is a great list. I'm getting a black iMac (hopefully) with Leopard in a month or so when they release it all... Stuff like this list is invaluable to switchers. Much appreciated.

not too bad, but there were a couple things I found funny.
#11 really suprised me. If anything, I found going back to windows shortcuts to be maddening. Biggest example? After using the "command + tab" shortcut to cycle through open apps, you can press the "`" key (or ~, whichever is more recognizable) while holding down command to go back to the previous app. At least you can on a Mac... Every time I use windows I try this at least two or three times.

#12 Sure I regretted getting my 1.1 MBP when the core 2 duos came out 5 months later....but this is the case with every computer purchase you'll ever make. I'm not sure if there's a "Oh god, I miss windows" moment that I'm not getting, but I'd say my mac is tied with my ipod as my least regretted tech purchase.

I have one for those switching from Linux:

Don't expect much free stuff that works well. There's Firefox, Adium, and a couple of other things. Everything else costs money. :/