Some Questions/Answers for a Switcher

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I have compiled a list of questions that I wanted answers to before I went and purchased a new iMAC, and I thought I would share it with others. If it helps great!

I appreciat the help I got from everyone on these forums....Thanks. :D

MAC Questions

Site of Interest: http://www.apple.com/getamac/movetomac/

1. How do I burn Data CD's? DVD's?
Using Time Machine to back things up
The easiest way to back up is to use Time Machine, which helps you preserve everything including photos, music, movies, and documents.
Once you set up Time Machine, it backs up your computer on a regular basis without any more effort on your part.

Using other backup methods
Besides Time Machine, you have several other choices for backing up your important files.
You can burn backup CDs and DVDs, manually copy files onto an external drive, or use your iDisk if you have a .Mac account.


2. How do I burn Music CD's?
iTunes is able to burn new music CD's and backup your existing music CD's

3. What do I use for my email program?
Interestingly enough there is an email program called Mail which is part of the Leopard OSX 10.5

4. What browsers are available for the Mac?

Firefox, Opera, Safari are the three most common..

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/

5. How do I view, edit, read PDF Files?

Adobe Acrobat for the MAC is the easiest way to do all of the above. Adobe Acrobat Reader, allows you to read PDF documents. Google Docs allows you to export files to PDF format. And OpenOffice.org allows you to print documents to PDF.

6. Do I need a virus scanner? If so, which one?

Depends on who you talk to. Viruses are not common with MACs, but as more and more people move to MAC, the odds increase that someone will poison our paradise. One virus scanner is at www.intego.com.

7. What do I use to create/edit "word" documents?

If you do not have MS Office for the MAC, then you could try OpenOffice

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/index.html

Or

http://www.pure-mac.com/spreadsheet.html

http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/404.php

8. What do I use to create/edit "excel" type documents?

If you do not have MS Office for the MAC, then you could try OpenOffice

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/index.html

or

http://www.pure-mac.com/spreadsheet.html

http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/404.php

9. What file search tools are available on the Mac?

Finder is a built in "Windows Explorer" type program which allows you to search for any application, file, etc

10. What do I use to view, edit, modify pictures/photos?
iPhoto is one particular application, and the other is called "Preiview", which has some basic photo editing abilities.
 
OP
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11. Can I hook up my printer from my PC to the Mac?
If it is either network or usb contivity for the printer, then yes!

12. How do you "network" a PC and a Mac?
Network connection
To move files by connecting your Mac to your PC on the same network:

a. Make sure that both computers are turned on and connected to the Internet.
b. In the Finder on your Mac, choose Connect to Server from the Go menu to open the window.
c. Type your PC's network address in the Server Address text box using this format: smb://ServerName/ShareName,
or select the name of your PC in this window (if it appears).
d. Click Connect.
e. Enter your PC's workgroup name, your user name, and your password when prompted, then select the volume or folder you wish to access.

f. Your PC volume should appear on your Mac Desktop.
g. Open the volume and drag and drop files directly from it to anywhere on your Mac.
h. When finished, drag your PC volume to the Trash to unmount it.


For easier moving, you might want to consider Move2Mac, a third-party application that makes the moving process easier. Not only will it move files from your PC to your Mac, it also transfers other items such as your email account settings and address book, Internet Explorer bookmarks, desktop backgrounds, dial-up Internet settings, and more.

13. How to I move/transfer/convert my PC files (mp3's, emails, etc) to the MAC?
http://www.apple.com/ca/support/switch101/
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304721
For easier moving, you might want to consider Move2Mac, a third-party application that makes the moving process easier. Not only will it move files from your PC to your Mac, it also transfers other items such as your email account settings and address book, Internet Explorer bookmarks, desktop backgrounds, dial-up Internet settings, and more.

14. What do I use to watch DVD's, Movies on the MAC?

The beauty of MAC once again shines with an included DVD Player application...called...DVD Player.

The updates can be found here: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/dvdplayer46.html

15. How to I create web pages, and FTP them on a MAC?

http://webdesign.about.com/od/htmleditors/tp/aatpwysedmac.htm
FTP : http://www.pure-mac.com/ftp.html

16. How do I connect to the internet?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8452.html
http://consumer.telus.com/jsp/productcatalogue/personal/help/internet/highspeed/highspeedInstallMacOsx.jsp

17. Are there any tips/tricks a new users should know:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303636
http://www.apple.com/ca/support/mac101/
http://www.apple.com/ca/support/switch101/

18. How do install RAM on my iMAC?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306204

19. Is there any updates I should be aware of, and where do I find them?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303903

20. What other downloads are there to consider?
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/


21. How can I use my iPOD to move my music files from the PC to the iMAC?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173

22. How do I move my bookmarks/favorites to the iMAc from the PC?

Browser Favorites or bookmarks
You need to export your Favorites or bookmarks to a format that your Mac can understand. Then you'll copy them to your Mac so Safari can find them. Here’s how:

Internet Explorer:

On your PC, open Internet Explorer.
Choose Import and Export from the File menu.
Export your Favorites and save the file as “Favorites.html” on your Windows desktop.
Switch back to your Mac and copy Favorites.html from your PC to your Mac desktop.
Open Safari and choose Import bookmarks from the File menu. In the dialog, locate the bookmarks or Favorites file and click Import
.

Firefox, Netscape 6/7, or another browser:

On your PC, open your browser.
Choose Manage Bookmarks from the Bookmarks menu. The bookmarks management screen appears.
Select File > Export Bookmarks.
Name your file “bookmarks.html” and save it to your Windows desktop.
Switch back to your Mac and copy bookmarks.html from your PC to your Mac desktop.
Open Safari.
Choose Import bookmarks from the File menu. In the dialog, locate the bookmarks or Favorites file and click Import.


23. What file system format do I need to have my external hard drives formatted to for the iMAC to read/write, and Windows to read/write?
FAT32

http://davidtse916.wordpress.com/2007/12/02/how-to-connect-a-new-external-hard-drive-to-your-mac/

24. Is there any Apple/Mac Forums?
http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa

25. How do I move my contacts / address book(s) from the PC to the Mac?
a. you could use your iPOD
If you’re using Mac OS X v10.4 or later, you can use iTunes to sync the contact and
calendar information on iPod classic with Address Book and iCal. If you’re using any
version of Mac OS X earlier than 10.4, you can use iSync to sync your information.
Syncing information using iSync requires iSync 1.1 or later, and iCal 1.0.1 or later.

If you’re using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, and you use Windows Address Book or
Microsoft Outlook 2003 or later to store your contact information, you can use iTunes
to sync the address book information on iPod classic. If you use Microsoft Outlook 2003
or later to keep a calendar, you can also sync calendar information.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iPod_classic_Features_Guide.pdf

26. Having Issues with Leopard - OS X 10.5
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307005

27. Is my favorite software "xyz" available for the MAC?
Check here - http://guide.apple.com/index.lasso

28. What software comes with an iMAC
Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (includes Time Machine, Quick Look, Spaces, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book,

QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode, Developer Tools)
iLife ’08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand)
iWork ’08 (30-day trial)
Front Row
Photo Booth


29. What are the specifications on an iMAC

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Blackbook, 2GB RAM, 2.2Ghz, 160GB HD. 160GB Ipod Classic. 16GB iphone 3GS. Red 2G Shuffle.
Great - very much appreciated from a newbie to Macs like myself, great post.
 

Neo


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Your Mac's Specs
white MB 2.16GHz 3GB 320GB 10.6.1
Well bless your heart, but you've just scratched the surface. Pretty comprehensive scope, but not very developed at all. More detail is needed in most answers, and some answers are incomplete. Keep going; good luck.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
iMac = 20-inch, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 320GB HD, Leopard. iPod Nano = 4GB, Silver
WOW so much information and will be helpful for me, as I just switched to a iMac:) Thanks
 

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