Update on MacBook-2nd post Sunday Nov 8

I am quickly getting used to using the MacBook and I really do love it. The keyboard is the nicest I have ever used, and to think it's a laptop keyboard! Most of it has been fairly intuitive, but there are a few things I haven't or can't figure out:

The trackpad is driving me crazy. If I so much as hover over a photo or a link it suddenly appears even though I swear I didn't touch the pad. The pad is great for scrolling, but I got out my usb mouse for the rest, and it doesn't work all that well since I mostly hold the computer on my lap while sitting on the couch, and it is too awkward to reach and use the mouse.

I have a webcam but so far have not been able to use it satisfactorily. I can connect with my daughter using Skype, but the picture freezes and is out of focus, and picture and audio are very choppy, from my end as well as hers. I read on a forum that Skype doesn't work well with the Mac. So far my search for help from Apple and from Skype haven't given me anything to go on.

I've also tried to use iChat; as I understand it I have to open an account with a messaging service and then use it with iChat (or something like that). On my computer iChat opens with Jabber, but nothing I have done has worked with it. That leaves AIM, Instant Messenger, and a few others. I just haven't been able to find decent directions for setting it up for video chat.

iPhoto doesn't do what I had hoped it would. Programs of all kinds get much more complex than they were 5-10 years ago, but with some things I just want to perform a basic task and updated versions are overkill. I find this with printers, cameras, photo programs, and many others. I want to create folders/albums - call them what you like - and be able to easily transfer photos into the folders I choose. I used to use the program that came with my old Lexmark printer, bought in 2003, and which I still use on my desktop PC. Many folks like Picasa but to me it isn't worth the trouble it would take me to learn it. And I DON'T want a computer program to recognize faces or anything else in my photos. Just show them to me and bow out!

iTunes is fun and easy to learn and use. Certainly folks who are really into collecting music and listening to it everywhere on multiple devices, would go much further with this program than I want to. I like to be able to click on it and listen to songs I choose while I'm doing other things on the computer. Background music.

I needed to print a downloaded document yesterday and pulled my old Brother B/W laser jet out from the under-bed storage. It has a usb connection and didn't take long to set itself up and print my 3 pages. Had I tried to hook up the HP all in one I'm sure it would have taken at least 1/2 hour to install it and then I would have all kinds of HP junk that I don't want on my computer.

But I've just digressed from the point of this update - which is not to complain about HP printers, but to comment on using a much different computer OS than I've ever used before. I think I've come a long way, and I am very happy with my choice. Would I like to have room for both desktop with Windows XP as well as the MacBook? Sure, I miss the games for one thing. But putting the desktop away was the best thing I could do because it has resulted in my learning this new computer much faster.

I've heard a lot of good things so far about Windows 7, and it certainly would have been a less expensive option. I'm glad I made the break with Microsoft and all their drama about "Microsoft has discovered an issue . . ., so download this fix."

In the long run, I'm happy to be a Mac user. I welcome advice or solutions from other Mac users.