I've been using Windows for many years, and just recently, I have decided to switch to Apple.
This is going to be the first time I'm using an Apple product, so I'm completely lost :(

What program do people normally use to take notes on those PDF lecture notes with a MacBook?
Does this program come with the MacBook when you purchase it?

Sometimes you gotta bite the bullet:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/university

Originally Posted by qwerty91

Sometimes you gotta bite the bullet:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/university

Can you edit PDF files with that as well?

I have always edited my pdfs with preview - easy to add text directly to the slides

A Samsung and an s-pen.

Oh wait................. ..............

Originally Posted by ta2012

Can you edit PDF files with that as well?

OneNote is the number 1 note taking software. You also get powerpoint, word, excel, access and basically microsofts fully fledged office suit. Nothing (apple, google, open source...anything) has come even close to de-throneing Office as king of productivity software.

I believe word 2013 can directly work with PDFs.

OneNote demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_pB12Aw6fQ

The built-in preview program on Macs allows you to view and edit PDFs without having to buy/install anything.

You'll probably wanna get Microsoft Office as well at some point, but office on Mac kind of sucks (and has a few compatibility issues with office on Windows). If you can, I'd suggest running the Windows version of Office in Parallels.

You can also download Adobe Reader for free which allows greater manipulation of PDFs. Skim is another great program.

I typically don't make notes on PDF's because I find the notes don't flow as well. I type out all of my lecture notes and then take a screenshot of whatever information I want from the PDF, inserting that into my Word document. That way I can write as much as I want and I don't have to worry about comments or text boxes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenshot#Mac_OS_X --> How to take screenshots on a Mac.

I use a program called "PDF Convertor Free" (available in the Mac App Store) when lecture notes are in PDF format. It converts them to PowerPoint so that I can take notes in the notes section.

it really depends on your preference as you can see based on all the responses. i personally like editing PDFs using preview, when notes are released as powerpoint i convert them to PDFs and edit them. it's probably the least time consuming.