It hasn't impressed me with its proclaimed ease of use (I'm still floundering helplessly).
Yeah, it's certainly a learning experience, especially coming from a long history of Windows. I think a big difference is that with Windows, most Windows users want to know what's going on behind the scene and perform some type of maintenance. Apple users just expect all is well, and don't bother with any behind the scenes stuff. So, I think as Windows users we look for things that just aren't easily found.
What I like best about the Mac, is the fact that it goes to sleep and wakes up instantly from sleep. That works fantastic for my home use. I grab my laptop, flip it open, browse a few forums, close the lid and go onto other things. This laptop is fantastic for that. It wakes up and sleeps as fast as my mobile phone.
do you determine which programs are open if you can't see the program windows?
They will have little underline markers on the dock icons, which indicate they are open. Also, you can hit command-tab and it will show you everything that is running.
I've had to come to grips with using it. I put Chrome on here, and it works just fine, but it really sucks down the battery compared to Safari. I have a plugin for Safari that is allowing me to share my Google bookmarks and keep them synced, so that solves my biggest concern.
I close a program, the menu remains open.
Then you aren't closing the program, but simply minimizing it. If you hit Command+Q, it will quit and the menu will go away.
I log in, it automatically starts 2 copies of PowerPoint and no one can tell me how to stop it.
Well, if it's working normally, it's in System Preferences, Users, and the Login items tab. But just like Windows, it's possible something has gone wrong and is launching 2 copies. I'm sure somebody with some Unix/Linux experience could look into this and get it sorted for you...since behind the scenes it's pretty much Linux/Unix underneath.
using Windows for >15 years I guess it is to be expected.
Yeah, it took me a number of months to become proficient. I bought the MacBook Pro to learn about the Apple ecosystem. We have more Apple devices hitting my place of employment and I was getting tired of saying, "Yeah, sorry, I don't know". So, since I was in need of a new personal laptop at home, I thought that I would give the MacBook Pro a shot.
Thus far, pretty happy with my purchase. But in no way have I become an Apple diehard. I'm not even remotely close to being sold on Apple as my only choice. If I had to pick 1 and only 1 computer right now, I'd go with a PC running Windows.
I think for basic users, it's a compelling unit. It does't crash much (mine hasn't yet). It comes with Time Machine, which makes backups and restores a piece of cake. It's far less impacted by Viruses and Malware. If you live near an Apple store, getting hands on support is really easy. And in the event that the whole thing goes south, it's incredibly easy to boot into restore mode and get your OS reinstalled. You don't even need media, you don't need license keys and you don't have to bother with activation.