confused new Mac user

Can someone please help me, I have recently switched to a mac, primarily because i was fed up with programs fighting for control of my PC, and it was getting a mess, i was told that a mac would streamline all this and simply play my music, deal with my pictures and alow me to browse the internet, leaving my PC to do al the other scrappy things needed in my life, (I E converting files, office stuff etc), the problem is it just hasn't worked out that way, the 2 main problems that have got me here after a long depressing fruitless struggle are:
1. when clicking on a folder within another folder and then returning with the 'back button' on my mouse, the folder i have just visited is not highlighted. why not, there is absolutely no reason why that particular folder cannot be highlighted. this is absolutely infuriating when you have a long list of folders you are looking through for a particular file, I actually have to write down the name of the folder i am looking through, then press 'back' and scrool down the long list until i find it, then click on the one below, write that down and carry on!!!! this is a joke because on a pc it is simply, 'back and one down then open', that can be performed in less than a second, is there no one in the apple HQ who has not spotted this problem??!?!?!?!? please tell me there is a solution.
2. I have some locked files.. these are causing a nightmare, if you try to play locked mp3 files, i tunes says that there is a disc error?!? I'm sorry apple but this is like telling someone who has tried to open the car door without unlocking it that they have broken the car!?!?!?!
I have a long list of photo folders, somewhere there are locked files and i cannot copy or paste from this folder, I have read people settling with cmd i uncheck locked, and i have reluctantly started that very long process, but coupled with problem no. 1 it makes me want to scream. I cannot delete trash because of a locked file in there somewhere too.
It really is like walking into primary school with a scientific calculator, switching from pc to mac, now i think i know where mac users get there arrogance from, they know that there is pc stuff going on that they just wouldnt get!!, its defensive insecurity!!
If you dont belive me read on.
I have a folder in itunes named the clash and a song on it called radio clash, you would think that the itunes might hazard a guess at calling that file the clash, radio clash or just radio clash??? no its called untitled track along with all the other files i so painstakingly renamed many years ago only for a 2007 piece of software to ignore!!
Cover flow, great idea, where is the only part of the computer it cant be used?, the pictures folder in iphoto, doh..
Safari keeps crashing for no good reason and there are media streams that i cannot access.
And what is going on with new progarames? I admit that part of this is because i am new to macs, but really what a mess, i have no idea what file goes where, icons , download file, applications!!! eject, eject a programme?!?! , really it needent be like this!!!
Oh yeh, the disappearing dock, that really took the biscuit.
so to sum up, organizing pictures and music is a nightmare and safari crashes more than IE on XP
Only entourage, word and excel seem to be giving me trouble free computing and oh yeh they are both microsoft, and i thought i hated microsoft!

The sad thing is i am still very happy with my mac, compared to the politics and antivirus issues with the old PC, but i have learned to love the PC too. mixed feelings!!! please help me

Well, I do have some ideas to solve some of your problems

To unlock the files, log into an admin account and go Applications - Utilities - Terminal. Type sudo chflags -R nouchg (include the space) and drag the files and folders to that terminal window. Press enter and enter your password (it doesn't show up as you type) then press enter after that.

If you are searching for a file, you can try the Spotlight search in the top right hand corner of the screen.

When you download an application, it is in a .dmg file, this is a disk image. The app installs itself, and the drive that appears you can drag to the trash, and the app appears in Macintosh HD - Applications.

i have been a pc user till december 2007 & then i switched to mac...a few things work differently...but i love it...for your first problem...use spotlight
instead of looking through folders...just search for the name of the file/folder

you need to change your permission to modify files that are locked...(at the bottom on the get info panel) you can do this only if you are the admin.

i cannot understand your itunes problem...never encountered that...

And what is going on with new progarames? I admit that part of this is because i am new to macs, but really what a mess, i have no idea what file goes where, icons , download file, applications!!! eject, eject a programme?!?! , really it needent be like this!!!
Oh yeh, the disappearing dock, that really took the biscuit.

i didn't quite understand the point of this....are you asking where to put these files? applications go in applications...downloads go in downloads... icons...well go anywhere you want...i have a sub folder in documents where i save my icons...
eject a program? a little vague...

i dont know how the dock disappears either...i have had that problem only after viewing a dvd in fullscreen mode...the fix is simple...you exit full screen...enter fullscreen again...& when you exit this time the dock is back...(this may not apply in your case)

sounds like hes just having a good 'ex PC user bitsh', I have one every once in a while when I have to press 2 keys instead of one to delete a file

lol. Stick at it, once you get used to the mac and its mannerisms you will learn to love it and appreciate it for it's superiority to windows.

I converted to "the religion known as Mac" almost 5 years ago now with my first eMac and I have to say it was awful... however here's the thing... due to the over influencing effect of MS on the computer world (just look at workplaces, schools etc) we're all a little brainwashed... hang on... what I mean is look at your Mac as learning a new language and that Windows is your native tongue (just because you were born into it!!!) now don't compare the 2 instead become bilingual

REMEMBER the reason you changed to Mac was coz whilst you understand Windows you think it's rubbish and you wanted to find a better option... BELIEVE ME YOU'VE FOUND IT. I have to work with Windows at work and whilst it is getting better it is only by imitating Mac OSX...(subjective I know) keep learning and you'll eventually find yourself annoyed that your Windows PC doesn't work right... it doesn't do things the way it should... like the way... errr.... like the way your MAC DOES IT!!!!!

1. Maybe you could try the Column view in Finder? That will give you a proper view of what folders you are in and such. I take it you are viewing through the thumbnail view right now.
1. iTunes recognises your ID3 file tags and so names it. So if your track ID3 says "Untitled" you can't really blame iTunes. However, since it is easy to change ID3 tags, you can pretty much rename your entire library within a few minutes.
2. If a file is locked, it is locked. Computers are not human beings. They are mathematical. It can't do a thing if a file is locked cause that's what the feature is. Now I take it Locked is the same as "Read Only" in Windows. I also think Read-Only is applied to files burnt to CDs which is why they appear Locked in Mac OS X. Try using ethernet or external HDD to transfer files.
3. iPhoto doesn't have CoverFlow, true.
4. Disappearing Dock? You might have enabled the hide dock feature. Just hit Command+Option+D and it should stay there.
5. Installing Apps: You better take a good look at this guide (or so many others on the net): http://www.silvermac.com/2006/how-to-install-application/

You can also set preferences so that when you double click a folder to open it it opens a new window. So to go back one, exactly were you were, you just close it.

Finder>Preferences>Check Always Open Folder in New Window

thanks everyone for your help, I do love my mac, hot corners and expose are the things that float my boat, speeeed, i just have to much to do, which is why problem no. 1 is my main bug bear, thanks dakineyi for almost sorting it, still have to hit red button though! thanks goobimama, but the icons are far too small for looking for pictures in column view, and yes spotlight is great but not when your looking for "that photo with the birthday cake in it"!!!
I still think that not highlighting the folder just visited is a grand oversight, I know I am right because there would be NO issues whatsoever by doing so: as far as where you go from there is concerned, you may have to click the title of that folder if you , say, wanted to cmd I the folder open instead of the one 'just visited', which in my fantasy world would have a nice blue bar behind it!!!! I cant be the only one to pick this up, surely when writing leopard , this would have been such a tiny tweak!
THE DOCK CAN DISAPPEAR WITHOUT WARNING, you have to go to activity monitor to quit and then it relaunches, clean out your stack folders and it goes away (so far). as for id3 tags, i shouldn't have to worry about this , the file names as they appear in finder are the title of the songs, cant itunes guess that??

If there weren't any ID3 tags embedded in those MP3 files of yours, iTunes might be able to guess. But if there is already an entry for Artist or trackname as "Untitled", iTunes has no choice but to go ahead with it.

As for your finding a picture of 'that photo with the birthday cake in it", I highly suggest you move your photos to iPhoto or if you are a pro-photographer, Aperture or Lightroom. Using a photo manager is very important especially if there's lots of them. And searching for photos in iPhoto is a breeze. And just so you know, iPhoto recognises the file name so you don't have to manually reenter the names.

And while this is not a practical solution, Spotlight can in fact find a picture of 'that picture with a birthday cake in it'. You will have to enter the keywords in it's file information of course

What the...and then the...

To sort your mp3 tag issues have a look at dougs scripts. There are many there so it's worth a dig around but these 2 'jumped out':
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=firstitemtotag
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=tagsmirrorartalbfnom

goobimama said:

As for your finding a picture of 'that photo with the birthday cake in it", I highly suggest you move your photos to iPhoto or if you are a pro-photographer, Aperture or Lightroom. Using a photo manager is very important especially if there's lots of them. And searching for photos in iPhoto is a breeze. And just so you know, iPhoto recognises the file name so you don't have to manually reenter the names.

And while this is not a practical solution, Spotlight can in fact find a picture of 'that picture with a birthday cake in it'. You will have to enter the keywords in it's file information of course

Click to expand...

Yes, this is correct! Stay out of the finder! Find your photos from within the iPhoto app itself. If you will organize your photos there (i.e., rename the event to something that means something to you, create folders and albums as you import, and use keywords as you import, etc.) you will be able to find any photo almost instantly. Mucking about in the library in finder is a sure route to disaster. iPhoto is extremely good at organizing, just let it do its thing and don't try to micromanage in the Windows way. In fact, part of some switchers problems are just that -- trying to make macs work like pc's -- which they are not. I had problems at first, too, but when I relaxed and let the programs do things for me rather than me trying to bend them to my old ways, I fell in total love with the mac. Relax and let go, and have the easiest way possible.

Good luck, and welcome!

Thanks mary, but I would rather look through a list of thumbnails for the picture i am looking for, in fact it is the only way as i am not about to name several thousand pictures!!!!! I certainly dont want a program just to look at my files, i tried iphoto for very short while until i found out that there was no cover flow, which i assumed was put to best use with photos! and as for naming events, well thats easier said than done when you have random pictures together.
I like to keep things simple, which is why i bought a mac!!??!!??!!?? really, using an operating system to organise photos and music is by far the best and most simple way, mac or PC.
New update, the dock dissapeared again and i now have no bluetooth, (ps these are not my fault, common glitches by all accounts)

Can anyone say that there is a good reason why, when you hit the back button, the folder just visited is not highlighted (i e lost!)?????
No. this mirrors such a classic theme that runs throughout my life, people who have found a less than efficient solution to a problem that SHOULD NOT BE THERE, keep telling me not to worry, and to spend the rest of my life, in this case opening new windows and then having to close them to get round problem...
I thought there would be a dedicated team on the mac and pc teams, trying to take the best bits from both os? how the mac camp missed this is a bit slack really...

slugger said:

Can anyone say that there is a good reason why, when you hit the back button, the folder just visited is not highlighted (i e lost!)?????
No. this mirrors such a classic theme that runs throughout my life, people who have found a less than efficient solution to a problem that SHOULD NOT BE THERE, keep telling me not to worry, and to spend the rest of my life, in this case opening new windows and then having to close them to get round problem...
I thought there would be a dedicated team on the mac and pc teams, trying to take the best bits from both os? how the mac camp missed this is a bit slack really...

Click to expand...

aw, come on m8! dont get a strop on! the question of efficiency in this matter is almost completly suggestive... perhaps there is a different way of doing something that is just as efficient... what's wrong with using the column view? or even coverflow in finder? both these options will snap back and highlight the previously viewed folder....
or if you have to view your files the way you are and the only workaround is to open new windows each time (stop moaning... at least there is a workaround) then command-w will instantly close said window without any fuss.... go forth and be happy!