1st Mac

[Geekbabe]

My Christmas gift has been ordered, a 13 inch MacBook Air 1.7GHz , any hints or tips to get me started?

 

[jacktesterson]

Return it!

Jk... :-/

 

[TheStu]

If you intend to use OS X, do not, do not, do not expect it to be like Windows. In many ways it is similar, but in just as many ways it is different enough that if you expected it to be just like Windows you will want to pull your hair out.

Explore the OS, feel free to experiment, you are unlikely to really screw anything up so bad as to completely break it.

And of course, stop by here and ask your questions. Also, google is your friend.

 

[amdhunter]

What are your plans for it?

The first thing I'd do is format the thing and install my own copy of Lion.
Then Tinkertool to tweak a little bit.
Then install any apps I need.
Then run Monolingual since I only have a 60GB SSD and crave space.
Then Trim Enabler + Applejack to trim my SSD every so often.

 

[dclive]

For someone new to the Mac, I'd not recommend any of that. It's not required, Apple's Lion works just fine, and it will likely confuse someone new with all the options.

I suggest OP keeps what he has and gets familiar with Safari, iLife '11, and the other built-in apps, and then it would be helpful if he posts what he intends to do with the machine - tv/video, MS Office-type work, etc.

 

[JSt0rm]

What are your plans for it?

The first thing I'd do is format the thing and install my own copy of Lion.
Then Tinkertool to tweak a little bit.
Then install any apps I need.
Then run Monolingual since I only have a 60GB SSD and crave space.
Then Trim Enabler + Applejack to trim my SSD every so often.

Why would you format it? It doesnt come with any bullshit apps like a dell does.

 

[Kadarin]

What are your plans for it?

The first thing I'd do is format the thing and install my own copy of Lion.
Then Tinkertool to tweak a little bit.
Then install any apps I need.
Then run Monolingual since I only have a 60GB SSD and crave space.
Then Trim Enabler + Applejack to trim my SSD every so often.

Uh, no.

Just open the box, connect it to the internet, and use it do do whatever you want. Yes, it's really that simple.

 

[gizmo7]

Not getting it til Christmas? Load up a copy of Linux with Gnome and go to town. Will help familiarize you with several different commands and navigation.

 

[amdhunter]

Why would you format it? It doesnt come with any bullshit apps like a dell does.

I know - I just do it anyway.

 

[Geekbabe]

Not getting it til Christmas? Load up a copy of Linux with Gnome and go to town. Will help familiarize you with several different commands and navigation.

The computer should be here some time this week I'll be using it for Office type stuff, light photo editing, small movie clips. I have an Apple TV and an itouch will also be interested in seeing how the devices work together.

 

[Geekbabe]

What are your plans for it?

The first thing I'd do is format the thing and install my own copy of Lion.
Then Tinkertool to tweak a little bit.
Then install any apps I need.
Then run Monolingual since I only have a 60GB SSD and crave space.
Then Trim Enabler + Applejack to trim my SSD every so often.

This is good advice & what I'd normally do with a pre-built system but I think I'm going to just go with the stock configuration at first, learn my way around Lion & the built in app's before I start formatting & blowing things away.

 

[alfa147x]

Formatting a new MBP and installing Lion will not do anything but waste time. Honestly what do you plan on doing with it? Does it come with iLife? Mess around with iPhoto. I use Aperture but I've heard good things about iPhoto.

Once you get comfortable with all of the gestures try out Better Touch Tool to further customize.

 

[Geekbabe]

Formatting a new MBP and installing Lion will not do anything but waste time. Honestly what do you plan on doing with it? Does it come with iLife? Mess around with iPhoto. I use Aperture but I've heard good things about iPhoto.

Once you get comfortable with all of the gestures try out Better Touch Tool to further customize.

Yes, it will come with ilife, I got a refurbished i5 from the July 2011 release, the Apple Store says it MIGHT also come with other software

 

[alfa147x]

Yes, it will come with ilife, I got a refurbished i5 from the July 2011 release, the Apple Store says it MIGHT also come with other software

Check out the App store. Software there from Apple are very cheap. For example iWork

 

[Geekbabe]

Check out the App store. Software there from Apple are very cheap. For example iWork

I'm starting to get really excited about this

 

[alfa147x]

I'm starting to get really excited about this

Do you have any media you would like to stream to you aTV?

 

[Geekbabe]

Do you have any media you would like to stream to you aTV?

I have a small pile of itunes cards, was going to rent movies to stream

Strange, we're a real Windows household & suddenly I have Apple TV, itouch and now MacAir. I really do like the look & design of Apple products, am nervous about adjusting to the new OS though.

 

[alfa147x]

I have a small pile of itunes cards, was going to rent movies to stream

Strange, we're a real Windows household & suddenly I have Apple TV, itouch and now MacAir. I really do like the look & design of Apple products, am nervous about adjusting to the new OS though.

That's how they took me over.
iPod, Hackintosh
MacBook
MacBook Pro

Now: MacBook Pro, iPhone, Apple Tv, Hackintosh. Can't get enough of it

 

[alfa147x]

I have a small pile of itunes cards, was going to rent movies to stream

Oh okay. If you had a lot of media that wasn't itunes based or itunes friendly I was going suggest Plex media server.

 

[dclive]

Yes, Plex MS plus a hacked AppleTV.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I have a small pile of itunes cards, was going to rent movies to stream

Strange, we're a real Windows household & suddenly I have Apple TV, itouch and now MacAir. I really do like the look & design of Apple products, am nervous about adjusting to the new OS though.

Welcome to the club

<---former hater, current fan. It nice because everything dovetails togehter well, as long as you're happy with Apple's ecosystem, prepare to be ruined for Windows stuff.

The touchpad on your new Air will suck you in, and there's virtually no going back (a lot of converts like myself reverse the "natural scrolling")

First off, navigate to System Preferences; you can find this by searching for it in Spotlight or by the gear icon in your dock.

From within the System Preferences menu, navigate under Hardware and click on Trackpad where you are greeted with Gesture Setup.

At the top of the settings pane you’ll find three sub-navigation buttons. Click on Scroll & Zoom under the sub navigation.

There you’ll find your setting to reverse the scrolling direction back to normal. Uncheck the box next to Scroll direction: natural and you’re finished. You’ll now be able to scroll in a more familiar direction that you are used to.

From here, feel free to explore the other trackpad menus to find and customize your trackpad movements to your liking. There are too many to explore in one article, but do a little experimenting and see what works for you. As always, Apple provides an animation for every gesture to see exactly what it does.

The next trick is to convert Red, and get him to build you a hackintosh desktop computer

 

[alfa147x]

Learn to use spotlight. You'll love it and it saves you time!

 

[Geekbabe]

Welcome to the club

<---former hater, current fan. It nice because everything dovetails togehter well, as long as you're happy with Apple's ecosystem, prepare to be ruined for Windows stuff.

The touchpad on your new Air will suck you in, and there's virtually no going back (a lot of converts like myself reverse the "natural scrolling")

Hey thank you for your help, I think my husband is worried that I've lost my mind or something

I will still keep my windows laptop, my desktop is going to be re-purposed because since I started with a laptop, tablets and my phone all the desktop does is sit there gathering dust.

 

[Emulex]

1. use it
2. setup time machine

that's about it. why i love mac's - after day of dealing with pc's patching endlessly it's nice to have a machine that doesn't require so much upkeep.

 

[VinylxScratches]

What are your plans for it?

The first thing I'd do is format the thing and install my own copy of Lion.
Then Tinkertool to tweak a little bit.
Then install any apps I need.
Then run Monolingual since I only have a 60GB SSD and crave space.
Then Trim Enabler + Applejack to trim my SSD every so often.

Sounds like another case of Windows Syndrome.