Guide for Users New to the Mac

[TheStu]

Alright, so I have been working on a slight update to this, still haven't done the iMovie one yet because I haven't even opened it since I installed iLife '09. Also need to update the rest of iLife to take into account changes in iLife '09.

Something else that I am planning on doing with it is including links to sites that much more in depth reviews and looks at the things that I talk about since I just don't quite have the time to sit down and explore every app and write about what it can do.

My guide is meant to just be a primer, for people that just got a new Mac and are maybe looking for some simple tips.

 

[MotionMan]

Is there a recommended/preferred FTP program (other than command line)?

MotionMan

 

[chuckywang]

Is there an calculator app in OSX?

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: chuckywang
Is there an calculator app in OSX?

Yes. In the Applications folder.

MotionMan

 

[fatpat268]

Originally posted by: MotionMan
Is there a recommended/preferred FTP program (other than command line)?

MotionMan

I use filezilla

 

[KeypoX]

how do you get the home and end keys to work?

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: KeypoX
how do you get the home and end keys to work?

LOL. I was wondering the same thing, but figured it was just a Mac thing

MotionMan

 

[KeypoX]

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: KeypoX
how do you get the home and end keys to work?

LOL. I was wondering the same thing, but figured it was just a Mac thing

MotionMan

google turns up some results but al lbased for 10.4.x

so i dunno. How do people get back to the beginning of a line on mac? Im happy that my mouse has mac software though...

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: KeypoX

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: KeypoX
how do you get the home and end keys to work?

LOL. I was wondering the same thing, but figured it was just a Mac thing

MotionMan

google turns up some results but al lbased for 10.4.x

so i dunno. How do people get back to the beginning of a line on mac? Im happy that my mouse has mac software though...

On a laptop you can either hit CMD+left or Fn+left for HOME and CMD+right or Fn+right for END

On the desktop I believe there are dedicated keys, but I am not at home right now.

Sorry it took so long to respond, I didn't notice the new posts... 2 months ago

 

[Duddy]

Just bought my MacBook Pro to replace my PC. Frickin' LOVE this thing! $2000 and not one bit of buyers remorse!

Quick question. I have this thing set up to stream my media from this Mac to my PS3, but I need my Mac to be on to use it.

How do I keep my Mac from sleeping when I close the lid?

 

[kondspi]

The Macintosh Quick Reference Card

 

[TheStu]

You can use insomniax for that, or if you just want to turn off the screen but not close the lid, hit ctrl+shift+eject

 

[QueBert]

I'm just getting OSX installed on my Hackintosh, took me a deal of work getting my BIOS and system set up properly. But the install went smoothy (and fast) once I figured it out. I'm one of those long time Windows users, so I'm sitting here trying alt+tab, crtl-(whatever) to copy,paste,etc. I am definitely feeling like a fish out of water. I have not read this thread yet, but I know AT has some quality guides so this should be a perfect starting point

 

[QueBert]

I read all the posts and there were a few very useful tips, things I definitely wouldn't have figured out on my own. Well, except for maybe by mistake lol. CMD+SPACE is especially cool. Being someone who used Windows since 3.1 the adjustment to OSX is going to take some time. I have figured out a lot on my own, it's similar in some ways. But, just different enough to puzzle me in a lot of others. A week into my Hackintosh experience I have it finally running fairly smoothly. And am really enjoying it so far. Expose and Spaces are pure bad ass. I am also utterly impressed at iLife '09, picked it up cheap from a dude on Craigslist, and it's damn awesome.

 

[AdamK47]

Do they make something like a hand sanitizer lotion to remove the dirty feeling after using a Mac? I would need several cases.

Knock off the trolling

-Apple Mod Aphex

 

[AdamK47]

I am deeply sorry for the Mac dissing. I have no reason to be in this sub forum and it shant happen again.

 

[sportage]

One of my issues was with quicktime. In pc, you can set QT to "play on startup". I found no tweak option for this setting in QT-x pref menu. Then I came across commands you use in the TERMINAL app to tweak settings of programs. If you google you can find tons of tweaking command lines pre written by others, used thru the TERMINAL. ANyway, I used terminal and one command someone else had made to tweak QT to play on startup. You have to be trusting they knew what they were doing in writing the command. But in this case it solved my issue.

PS. another issue I had on the new machines, 21" and 27", is that all the connections are on the back of the screen/unit. Hard to get to when plugging in a usb stick or headphones. So I went to an add-on USB hub. Stuck it on the monitor stand. Just make sure you get a powered usb hub, since attaching a non powered hub will not have the juice to run an external usb drive. Will work fine with flash drives, but not with usb hard drives. You'll either need a powered usb hub, or you can use the actual usb connections on the back of the iMac monitor for the usb drive.

 

[Rottie]

Thanl you TheStu...Great post..I learn something new today..."The Might Blue Apple" link is dead so let you know.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Good thread, but the Apple is Black! I learned that the equiv of F5 is command R so I have got something out of this. It was bothering me having to hit the reload icon in FF all the time. Can you map reload to a mousepad gesture?

Also, I don't think I saw a Remote in my '11 MBP box... Do I need to take another look in the box?

 

[Tyranicus]

Good thread, but the Apple is Black! I learned that the equiv of F5 is command R so I have got something out of this. It was bothering me having to hit the reload icon in FF all the time. Can you map reload to a mousepad gesture?

Also, I don't think I saw a Remote in my '11 MBP box... Do I need to take another look in the box?

This thread was first written in 2007 before Leopard (OS X 10.5) was released. In Tiger (OS X 10.4), the Apple was blue.

You can use BetterTouchTool to make custom trackpad gestures.

When this thread was written, all Macs came with remotes by default. You can still buy the remote from Apple, but they don't come bundled with your Mac anymore.

 

[SAWYER]

Is there a way to enable ctrl-c and v?

 

[Tyranicus]

If you got to System Preferences > Keyboard, you can create keyboard shortcuts for anything you want to. Just so you know, Cmd-C and Cmd-V do the same thing in OS X as Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V in Windows.

 

[SAWYER]

I dont use an apple kb

 

[Tyranicus]

I dont use an apple kb

If you don't have an Apple keyboard, the Windows key is mapped as the command key.

 

[TheStu]

If you got to System Preferences > Keyboard, you can create keyboard shortcuts for anything you want to. Just so you know, Cmd-C and Cmd-V do the same thing in OS X as Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V in Windows.

I dont use an apple kb

In the System Preferences > Keyboard there is also a section called Modifier Keys, I think that you can change CTRL to CMD in there. I don't have my mac in front of me though.