First Mac and a little scared.

First off I want to say "Thanks" for letting me join. I just received my first MAC ever (24" IMac 3.06 GHZ, 1 TB hard drive). I must say so far I've been really impressed with the performance and ease of use (its user friendly interface beats any windows based system hands down). My biggest disadvantage is not knowing the basic functions that I've learned over time with windows computers. The mighty mouse is a big change for me. I'm still looking to right click to "Cut & Paste". I think the biggest thing for me is just the need to sit down and learn the basics of the OS operating system. Any good suggestions on books for beginners with MACS (Lots of screen pics in the book would be a great help).

Also, what are the pros and cons of IMac computers. I've been reading quite a bit of IMac problems on this forum. Are their major issues with the IMac that I should know about. Any and all help would be deeply appreciated.

Take Care and May God Bless!

Ronin (Ed)

For some reason by default Apple sets the Mighty Mouse to act as a one button mouse. Just open System Preferences, either from the Icon with the gears in the dock or from the Apple in the Top Left Corner. Then click on Keyboard and Mouse then on the mouse Tab. Look at the top right of the mouse panel and set the right side to Secondary Click. That will enable Right Click. I posted a picture below this message to show you how to set it for Right Click.

On the Mighty Mouse itself, it works by detecting your fingers on the mouse to tell it which click to do. If you want Right Click, be SURE to lift your left finger off the mouse and press with the right and you will get a right click every time. If the Mighty Mouse ever bugs you and you can't get used to it, you can use pretty much any USB mouse, but sometimes Logitech and Microsoft come with a driver to map all the extra buttons. Look for Mac on the box.

Most applications have a cut/copy/paste option like say when editing a text file or posting here at Mac Forums. Just right click. In the Finder only Copy/Paste will show up, but you can get CUT option by holding down the Command key down and dragging the file to where you want it to go. I prefer using Copy as if anything goes wrong moving the file, you will still have a backup copy to work with.

I am sure others will answer your other questions.

Do remember on a Mac Forum this large, you get a lot of people with issues but you never see the other 90% that never have one issue! I know people with that exact iMac and they love it and have had no issues what so ever. My iMac G5 iSight has been running 24 hours a day for over 4 years now and only issue was some defective After Market RAM I installed that flaked out. Otherwise a very solid reliable machine I use every day and can depend on. If you do get a lemon, Apple will fix it for free the first year and for 3 years if you purchase Apple Care.

Enjoy your iMac. If we can help you in any way, please ask!

I hope what I posted above helps as I am pretty tired right now! Long day!

ronin67 said:

Also, what are the pros and cons of IMac computers. I've been reading quite a bit of IMac problems on this forum. Are their major issues with the IMac that I should know about. Any and all help would be deeply appreciated.

Take Care and May God Bless!

Ronin (Ed)

Click to expand...

Ed,

First welcome to the forum, and congrats on purchasing your first Mac!

As far as the Pros & Cons of iMacs...honestly, don't you think it's a little late to be asking this question? This is the sort of question to ask BEFORE you buy!

In any case, don't worry about the pros & cons...you got the computer, so just enjoy it!

As far as iMac problems you've been reading about. Like has already been said...the 90% or more folks that are problem free...they're not posting everyday saying..."Well here I am again, still no iMac problems!";D

Most of the time folks only post when they have a problem (as they should)...so of course as a new iMac owner, you're going to be reading a lot of "problem" threads.

Enjoy the new computer, and don't worry,

- Nick

I also just bought my first Mac. It is a 13" MacBook Pro for school. What I found very useful for me (As an experienced Windows user) was using shortcut keys to maneuver around. In my experience, switching to a Mac couldn't have been easier. Immediately I picked up Command-C and Command-V (Copy+Paste). I also picked up shortcut keys to go to my desktop (Command-D), to the Applications folder (Command-A), and to the Utilities folder (Command-U). Try learning some Mac shortcut keys and I guarantee that you will know your way around your Mac.

Thanks everyone! Your input has already solved quite a few issues that I have. One program I am glad I bought was Microsoft Office for my IMac. No issues bringing home work from a windows based computer to my IMac. Any other help from you great folks is welcomed. Please keep the great tips coming.

Enjoy your iMac. If we can help you in any way, please ask!

I hope what I posted above helps as I am pretty tired right now! Long day!

Click to expand...

Thank you for taking the time to assist me. I'm glad I finally got a Apple. The first time I really ever wanted a Apple computer, was when I first saw the IIe in 1986. It only took me 23 years to finally get a Apple computer.

Take Care and May God Bless!

Ed

ronin67 said:

I'm glad I finally got a Apple. The first time I really ever wanted a Apple computer, was when I first saw the IIe in 1986. It only took me 23 years to finally get a Apple computer.

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Ed,

The first Macintosh I ever saw was a Macintosh Plus back in 1986..I got it & have been a Mac user ever since!

- Nick

I made the switch from PC to Mac in my personal life about 4 years ago. I have a MacBook Pro and a 20" iMac. I will never switch back. I originally bought the new iMac because it had an intel processor and I figured I could have the best of both world, but in reality I never used Windows so i took it off.


The only Con to a Mac is gaming. If you are a hard core PC gamer, the Mac doesn't have as much to offer and the selection of games is not as deep.

On the other hand, the only issue I have had is with my Macbook Pro.. I had to replace the harddrive last month which cost me $125 because I ran it everyday all day for 3 years straight.

Both my systems have been great... never locked up. Never had a virus. Never slow to boot or shutdown. Tons of software. Great Video Editing (I had a top end PC before using Vegas and it would always freeze or need to be rebooted).

Maybe I have been lucky.. but congratulations.. I am sure you won't regret it.

P.S. - I am on the phone with my corporate IT at least once a week for issues with my brand new IBM Thinkpad. I actually had no cpu for almost 1 week while they tried to resolve a driver conflict last month. Never had to even load a driver with my Mac other than a Wacom tablet driver which wasn't required.

I have been running a G3 i Mac for over nine years and the only thing I have done to it, besides upgrading the OS from 9 up to 9.4 and then to OS X Classic is to install a new hard drive and that was just after I had it for 9 years. I cant recall how long I had my power Mac before that but never had any problems with that either.
So don't worry, just enjoy your new machine and I am sure any problems you have someone here can help you.

missing manual series

try this by David Pogue "Switching to the Mac"

And some helpful stuff here

Welcome to Macintosh World, Ronin.

I've been a Mac user since late 1999. That was OS 9.

Which I still kinda miss...

I agree with Whit about the lack of games for the Mac, but there is always the option of installing Windows on your Mac. I have no desire to do that.

Incidentally, a couple of years ago, Apple was supposedly in talks with Electronic Arts to produce their sports titles for the Mac. Obviously the concept never went far.

frankly to say, 2 weeks straight using imac well its a good thing to experience.. i was a pc user but now.. wow.. it seems that ill be enjoying this imac that i use...

I have been running a G3 i Mac for over nine years and the only thing I have done to it, besides upgrading the OS from 9 up to 9.4 and then to OS X Classic is to install a new hard drive and that was just after I had it for 9 years. I cant recall how long I had my power Mac before that but never had any problems with that either.
So don't worry, just enjoy your new machine and I am sure any problems you have someone here can help you.

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OS 9.4? OS X Classic? What?

OS 9 only ever went to 9.2.2 and there is no such thing as OS X Classic, unless you mean running Classic in OS X.

ronin67 said:

First off I want to say "Thanks" for letting me join. I just received my first MAC ever (24" IMac 3.06 GHZ, 1 TB hard drive). I must say so far I've been really impressed with the performance and ease of use (its user friendly interface beats any windows based system hands down). My biggest disadvantage is not knowing the basic functions that I've learned over time with windows computers. The mighty mouse is a big change for me. I'm still looking to right click to "Cut & Paste". I think the biggest thing for me is just the need to sit down and learn the basics of the OS operating system. Any good suggestions on books for beginners with MACS (Lots of screen pics in the book would be a great help).

Also, what are the pros and cons of IMac computers. I've been reading quite a bit of IMac problems on this forum. Are their major issues with the IMac that I should know about. Any and all help would be deeply appreciated.

Take Care and May God Bless!

Ronin (Ed)

Click to expand...

You will pick it up quickly, so don't worry. Also after a while of using it, if you go back and use a windows computer for a bit you might have to pause and remember some things first, and you will be very annoyed that windows doesnt come with an expose equivalent.

ADKhikerVW said:

OS 9.4? OS X Classic? What?

OS 9 only ever went to 9.2.2 and there is no such thing as OS X Classic, unless you mean running Classic in OS X.

Click to expand...

Your right, I stand to be corrected, it's 9.2.2 as for OS X Classic or Classic in OS X you know what I meant, OS X Classic is what the tech that installed it called it, and **** whats in a name, it's old but still better than Vista.