The wife hates the Mini- help!

I recently bought a MacMini after telling my wife, an avid PC user, that Macs are so much more user friendly. Now, the last time I used a Mac was with OS9 so I'm having real trouble proving that Mac's are easier because I don't really know my waty round OSX after having had to use PC's for the last 3 years.
Of the many things she is complaining about, some are:

1. You have to go through the System to be able to connect to the internet. There is no shortcut on the desktop and the icon in the finder bar isn't always there.
2. A pop-up keeps asking if she wants to stay connected to the internet- why does it not just stay connected if there's activity?
3. Word and other Office docs take ages to start up.
4. When opening attachments in emails she is always asked which programme to open it in- why does it not find a default programme like a PC does?

There are many more, but these are the ones which wind me up most- can anyone help me with these or any other bits of advice so i don't have to move the Mini and replace it with another big Bill Gates box?

I hear a 7200RPM hard drive helps with those long startup times for programs, but the biggest one they made is 60gb.

Hey there, I can help with number one. Click the finder (the face icon in the dock)>then click applications> then click internet connect> If you are using dial up, there is a box you can check to keep the icon in the tool bar at the top!

Do you have at least 512MB RAM ---- I've got the same box and its fairly snappy --- but also have DSL -------- If there is one upgrage anyone should do is get DSL or cable modem --- many rural areas are getting local wireless high BW hook ups

I think I can answer all of your questions so far....

BigMac said:

1. You have to go through the System to be able to connect to the internet. There is no shortcut on the desktop and the icon in the finder bar isn't always there.
You can either a.) Drag the Internet Connect icon to the Dock or b.)Put an alias to Internet Connect on the desktop or c.)Put a check in the "show modem status in menu bar" box in the Internet Connect under Modem
2. A pop-up keeps asking if she wants to stay connected to the internet- why does it not just stay connected if there's activity?
Windows does this by default too, for the Mac, there is a preference again in the Internet Connect option under Modem if I am not mistaken that will allow you to avoid the prompt. It has been a while since I used dial-up so I am not sure of the exact place
3. Word and other Office docs take ages to start up.
Either a faster HD or more RAM should clear this up
4. When opening attachments in emails she is always asked which programme to open it in- why does it not find a default programme like a PC does?
It is the same on a Mac. What programs or file types are you trying to open, where it is asking you to find a program?

Click to expand...

- I tried all the options in 1 but can't seem to find the drag- i drag and nothing moves.

- I vaguely remember using dial-up in the mists of time, I'm broadband active so don't really care how long it's connected for. It seems to prompt regardless of activity.

- This is an 80GB. 1.42GHz number, surely it's powerful enough to open Word in less than a minute? If not, I'm screwed when I get round to installing Photoshop etc.

- It asks me regardless of the programme I'm trying to open, whether it's a jpeg or a Word document or anything else.

I'm in the office on my PC at the moment, but when I get home I'll try number 1 again.

You also have to realize its Night here and your in Hong Kong, Youll get more help while your sleeping I reckon

Everything on ours that is microsoft produced seems to take longer to load, perhaps fact, perhaps my vehement hatred for Microsoft products (except the xbox)

ours is a 40 gig 1.25 GHz model, and it opens word in about 10 seconds Id guess?

stick with it, as you learn to use it better, you'll like it more

BigMac said:

- I tried all the options in 1 but can't seem to find the drag- i drag and nothing moves.

- I vaguely remember using dial-up in the mists of time, I'm broadband active so don't really care how long it's connected for. It seems to prompt regardless of activity.

Click to expand...

If you're using broadband, it will remain connected, no matter what. There will be no prompts to remain connected. If something is prompting you, then it's not the Mac, it's some program you've installed.

- This is an 80GB. 1.42GHz number, surely it's powerful enough to open Word in less than a minute? If not, I'm screwed when I get round to installing Photoshop etc.

Click to expand...

It depends on how much memory you have. If you're running with the 256MB it comes with, your 1.42GHz system will probably be slower than my 0.87GHz system with 640MB of memory.

Even so, Word should start in less than ten seconds. If you're seeing times longer than that, then something is definitely wrong.

- It asks me regardless of the programme I'm trying to open, whether it's a jpeg or a Word document or anything else.

Click to expand...

Again, something would have to be seriously wrong for this to happen.

I'm in the office on my PC at the moment, but when I get home I'll try number 1 again.

Click to expand...

If you're having this many problems, you should probably call Apple for help. There's a limit to how much the people on this site can give you.

tbh id back up and re-install

might be drastic i know but solves problems quickly, then when your done get all the updates and then fire away and see what happens?

Agreed with all the answers above.

Are you using Dial Up or Broadband. If Broadband are you using a router or OSX to connect if it's DSL? If you are using a router you do not need anything on the Mac to connect. If not and it's SBC DSL then you use the PPPoE Dialer in OSX. Click on show in the toolbar.

If your Mini has 256 Megs RAM it might take a long time to load LARGE apps and especially Microsoft apps as they take longer. My 1.25 Ghz Mini when I was at 512 Megs RAM loaded Microsoft Word in way less than 10 seconds with the stock 40Gig 5400 Seagate Momentus HDD. Neo Office takes maybe 12 seconds. Word is faster loading probably due to NeoOffice using Java. Photoshop 7 takes maybe 12 seconds to load. If it's taking a minute something is wrong. Stock RAM? Upgrade to at least 512 Megs. It will be night and day..

The rest of your questions others have answered. If I can help farther please let me know.