MAC/select

Currently using a MAC for work, don't have much experience on this piece of equipment. I am using a medical program and I cannot figure out how to select multiple files. I know that on a PC you hold CTRL or SHIFT to multi-select files, but nothing works on the MAC. When I press and hold CTRL and click it just does the 'right' click like a PC. When I press SHIFT and click, nothing happens, at all.

I should also mention that I am working on a MAC, with a MAC mouse, but a PC keyboard. No Command button.

IDEAS?

Hold down Command.

figured it out myself, its the windows button.

Really? Shift doesn't work?
It depends on which View you've selected, which you neglected to mention.

toMACsh said:

Really? Shift doesn't work?
It depends on which View you've selected, which you neglected to mention.

Click to expand...

Since he doesn't use a Mac except for work and he's never used one before I don't think even I (not yet a Mac user though quite experienced with computers in general) would not know to tell which view I was in. I didn't know there were specific buttons to use in specific views.. Windows is so very different than Mac OS. I'm learning all I can about Mac's because I will be switching to Mac in the next month or so when I have money to buy a Macbook Pro Retina.

So I would ask which view they were in instead of being rude and saying "well you didn't tell us which view you were in"... Asking a question is more helpful than stating that after the fact.

xdunlapx said:

So I would ask which view they were in instead of being rude and saying "well you didn't tell us which view you were in"... Asking a question is more helpful than stating that after the fact.

Click to expand...

Sorry you think that was rude. I don't see it. It was a "backhanded" way of asking the question, sure. People do that all the time and I don't consider them to be rude. Another thing people do all the time is post to forums and fail to provide helpful information that would lead to an answer. In conversation, that gets resolved quickly. In a forum, it takes a lot longer.

I"m not trying to be argumentative. But a new mac user (myself included) wouldn't know there was a difference between which view you were in in regards to the command key or other key sequences. Windows doesn't work that way so we would have no idea. I just wanted you to know that.

@xdunlapx:

We're all here to learn and help each other. Sometimes what seems obvious to a seasoned user is out in left field for a new user. Part of the learning process that we all go through. I'm still learning things from other members in these forums and I've been a Mac user for years. Just be patient and take it all in. Relax and enjoy your Mac.

Thanks chscag. I haven't ordered it yet I'll be getting the rMBP when I get my grant money for going to college. I hope to receive that money in about 30 days. I see that the wait time for building the rmbp has gone down from 2-3 weeks to 1-2 weeks. I hope by the time I order it it will only be one week or less build-time. But I doubt that LOL

I would go pick one up at an apple store but I want the upgraded RAM. I want to future proof this laptop so it lasts a long time since Mac's are expensive compared to the typical PC notebook. But I know it's worth the price. I'm debating on getting iWork instead of MS Office for college because it may become retina-optimized much sooner than Office would be (if it ever does get optimized). But probably in a year or so I'll have to get Office since I will most likely need MS Access.

So we'll see. I'll probably get iWork for now and get Office later. By that time they may update the mac version of Office for retina displays. We'll see.

chscag said:

We're all here to learn and help each other. Sometimes what seems obvious to a seasoned user is out in left field for a new user. Part of the learning process that we all go through. I'm still learning things from other members in these forums and I've been a Mac user for years. Just be patient and take it all in. Relax and enjoy your Mac.

Click to expand...

Well said. I've been a Mac user since the System 7 days and still find things I either did not know or had forgotten. I've even had new mac users remind me of a few tricks. Particularly for tasks I don't do often.

So we'll see. I'll probably get iWork for now and get Office later. By that time they may update the mac version of Office for retina displays. We'll see.

Click to expand...

The new Retina MacBook Pro is an amazing machine. I'm sure it will be well worth the wait and money spent when you get it. I have a retina display iPad 3. Be sure to check with the university you're going to attend about what they recommend to use for an Office suite. There's certainly nothing wrong with using iWork applications, however, there may be some things that you will need to use Office for.

chscag said:

The new Retina MacBook Pro is an amazing machine. I'm sure it will be well worth the wait and money spent when you get it. I have a retina display iPad 3. Be sure to check with the university you're going to attend about what they recommend to use for an Office suite. There's certainly nothing wrong with using iWork applications, however, there may be some things that you will need to use Office for.

Click to expand...

Well they want MS Office Professional since it provides Access and I'll need it since I'm in the Programming degree program. But I've heard that the font is blurry in MS Office since it's not retina-ready. And I don't have any faith in MS that they will make it retina ready anytime soon. So that's why I was going to use iWork. Since I'm sure Apple are working on it already. Heck, I may just get both. Use iWork for my projects outside of school and use Office for school projects. iWork isn't very expensive. Though it's not cheap by any means. lol

The iWork applications are now being sold separately in the Mac App store for $19.99 each. If you only need Pages (Word substitute) there's no point in purchasing the other two apps. (Keynote and Numbers)

As for MS updating Office 2011 for the Retina, don't hold your breath. MS is going to be more involved in providing a version of Office for their upcoming tablet that they plan on introducing at the end of this year.

xdunlapx said:

I"m not trying to be argumentative. But a new mac user (myself included) wouldn't know there was a difference between which view you were in in regards to the command key or other key sequences. Windows doesn't work that way so we would have no idea. I just wanted you to know that.

Click to expand...

Windows Explorer, the counterpart to Finder, has 8 different views to choose from. Finder has four.

chscag said:

As for MS updating Office 2011 for the Retina, don't hold your breath. MS is going to be more involved in providing a version of Office for their upcoming tablet that they plan on introducing at the end of this year.

Click to expand...

I must take gentle issue with the above. Microsoft is a big company with completely separate (nearly independent) groups that develop software for various platforms. The above is akin to saying that Microsoft won't produce Office for the Mac anymore because they're too busy working on the XBox.

Trust me, they can produce software for the Mac, the iPad, and the Surface all at the same time if that's what they want to do. The question is "is that what they want to do" and the answer is "nobody here knows for sure."

I don't share your optimism chas, but I certainly hope that you're right.

I'll be downloading the trial version of the newest MS Office before I buy it on the Mac. Gives me more time to really decide if I want it right now. There is a preview of Office 2013 which I just installed. It's nicer than 2010. But I know the mac version won't be out for another year, at least I think it wont from what I've read. I think the Mac version comes out a year after the Windows version. Which I think is a bummer.

Teehee I'm so excited about getting the RMBP! It's going to eat up half of my grant money for college but I know it'll be worth it.

Do you know when there might be hard shell cases for the retina mbp in the apple store or on amazon? I want to get one because (as a brand new mac user...) I've heard that the unibody is quite prone to scratches. I will definitely be getting a keyboard cover to protect the keys from becoming shiny like my currnent laptop has due to use. They were a matte finish and now they are all shiny, and the A button's white paint on the A is all worn off. That's just in 2 years of use. OR are the macbook keys higher quality than a dell's keyboard?