This may be the last installment in this series, or then again I might continue it. This posting consist of just a few more observations.
First, the explanation of the photo with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and the Black MacBook. As I mentioned earlier the black MacBook picks up the oils from your hands fairly easily. I did a search online to see what suggestions other users had for cleaning their MacBooks and came across the suggestion to use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, which I knew was a phenomenal cleaner for hMacBookss, scuff marks, crayon, pencil and pen marks on walls and such. I am not sure how it works exactly. The foam is impregnated with a cleaner. You wet the sponge, squeeze it out and then use it like an eraser. The foam eventually deteriorates and you have to throw it out.
There are step-by-step instructions on MacApper. I tried it and it works wonderfully. The notebook is practically restored to the original flat matte finish. The touchchpad still shows some sheen, but the outside looks like it did out of the box.
My second observation is that Windows XP performs much better on the MacBook than Vista, of course this is probably true of any computer. Vista just gobbles up the resources, you forget that you have a machine with 2 gigs or RAM and one of Intel's latest dual core processors. XP is considerably snappier. It loads much faster and performs quicker with less RAM. Besides rearranging the menus, changing the appearance (it is prettier than XP) and prompting me for every little thing, I have yet to see why it took 5 years to develop Vista. I could not even install Java via IE. I had to use Firefox to do the job. I guess I could have eventually done it with IE screwing with the different protection levels until I lowered them enough to get the job done, but I was constantly going back and forth, being prompted and reloading the page. It was frustrating. However, although XP is faster, when you initially install it, there are numerous updates and they do not install all at one time. You have to install what is available, reboot and check updates again to only find even more updates. The service pack 2 update takes forever.
My third observation is that I hope that web designers and software developers remember that the 1440x900 wide screen format is a popular display format and that they do not design their pages or applications too tall. I have even bought some 19 inch screens that have the same pixel dimensions, so it is not just my little 13.3 inch screen that is the problem. For instance, the ribbon toolbar in Microsoft Office 2007 is rather thick or tall, taking up a lot of screen real estate. I'll admit it may be innovative and is probably a better design once I get used to it. Items are not necessarily where I expect them to be. The toolbar leaves much less work space for the document, database or spreadsheet that you are working on.
My new MacCase messenger bag finally arrived. I was carrying the macbook between computer magazines in a backpack which was not nearly as padded as the Incase sling bag I was using for the G4 PowerBook and I was not comfortable with the arrangement. I had ordered the MacCase bag when I ordered the computer, but it was on back order for a month. The bag was cheap, $19.99. The outer bag does not have any padding itself, but comes with a zipper-less, padded, custom fitted sleeve that protects the notebook in just about anything you want to carry it in. Th bag has all of the appropriate pockets, even one for a water bottle on the outside. I was disappointed that it did not have the Brightsight interior that was advertised on the MacCase web site, but that might be why MacMall was selling the bag for $19.99 instead of $39.99.