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Switcher Hangout (Windows to Mac)
First time user questions...migrating from windows
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<blockquote data-quote="msandersen" data-source="post: 879927" data-attributes="member: 111852"><p>Although the thread is a bit old, my take:</p><p></p><p><strong>Video:</strong></p><p>Quicktime plugins: FlipForMac (WMVi) and Perian (most everything else)</p><p><strong><em>Flip4Mac:</em></strong> <a href="http://dynamic.telestream.net/downloads/downloads.asp" target="_blank">Telestream Downloads</a></p><p>No need to buy anything unless you want to encode into WMV.</p><p><strong><em>Perian:</em></strong> <a href="http://perian.org/" target="_blank">Perian - The swiss-army knife of QuickTime® components</a></p><p></p><p><strong>Other players:</strong> </p><p><strong><em>VLC</em></strong> and <strong><em>MPlayer</em></strong></p><p>(both play VOB files as far as I know)</p><p><strong><em>VLC:</em></strong> <a href="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/" target="_blank">VLC media player - Open Source Multimedia Framework and Player</a></p><p><strong><em>MPlayer:</em></strong> <a href="http://mplayerosx.sttz.ch/" target="_blank">MPlayer OSX Extended</a></p><p>(a better but unofficial build)</p><p></p><p><strong>Download manager:</strong> </p><p>I use <strong><em>iGetter</em></strong>. I can't say if it is better or worse than <em>Speed Download</em>, it probably isn't as good, but I can use if for free, although it does give me nag screens, and I just haven't bothered trying Speed Download.</p><p><a href="http://www.igetter.net/" target="_blank">iGetter Download Manager</a></p><p></p><p><strong>Office:</strong></p><p>What else but <strong><em>Open Office</em></strong>? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p><a href="http://openoffice.org" target="_blank">OpenOffice.org - The Free and Open Productivity Suite</a></p><p>It's Sun's attempt to loosen Microsoft's grip on the Office market, which they use to force people to use Windows (they keep some enterprise features out of the Mac version).</p><p>Never mind that the KDE project is working on a native Mac version of KOffice, its not ready and KOffice is not as good as OpenOffice.</p><p>And yes, there is of course Microsoft Office.</p><p>Apple does have <strong><em>iWork</em></strong>, but it's not so much a full-fledged Office package; it's mostly a consumer product, where <strong><em>Pages</em></strong> is <em>MS Published</em> on steroids, <strong><em>Numbers</em></strong> is a very nice home spreadsheet program, and Keynote is an excellent presentation program akin to <em>Powerpoint</em>, but nicer. I expect the latter was made because Steve Jobs needed it for his SteveNotes, and didn't want to rely on a Microsoft product. </p><p><em>iWork</em> doesn't have a database, but Apple does sell separate products under the Filemaker brand: <strong><em>Filemaker Pro</em></strong>, and the more consumer-oriented <strong><em>Bento</em></strong>.</p><p><a href="http://www.filemaker.com/products/bento/overview.html" target="_blank">Bento Personal File Organization and Database</a></p><p><a href="http://www.filemaker.com/products/filemaker-pro/" target="_blank">FileMaker Pro (database)</a></p><p></p><p><strong>Instant Messaging:</strong></p><p>I don't use <em>iChat</em>, so can't comment on its features. I use <strong><em>Adium</em></strong> because my contacts are all on the MSN network, which iChat deliberately doesn't support:</p><p><a href="http://adium.im/" target="_blank">Adium</a></p><p>Current Beta:</p><p><a href="http://adium.im/beta/" target="_blank">Adium Beta</a></p><p>It supports most IM protocols like MSN, Yahoo, Jabber (inc. GoogleTalk), ICQ, and Oscar (AOL; also used by iChat's Mac accounts).</p><p>It is a much nicer IM in my opinion, but it doesn't currently support audio or video (hopefully soon), nor does it support sending custom emoticons as MS Messenger does (coming soon), but does display the ones sent to you.</p><p>File transfers work, but are fairly slow.</p><p>There is a native version of MS Messenger, but it doesn't have audio or video: </p><p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/messenger/default.mspx" target="_blank">Microsoft Messenger for Mac</a></p><p>Some people use aMSN, an opensource clone, though I wouldn't recommend it yet; version 2 is under heavy development and sounds very promising: </p><p><a href="http://www.amsn-project.net/download.php" target="_blank">aMSN</a></p><p></p><p><strong>iPhoto:</strong> </p><p>Retitling in iPhoto doesn't change the file name. That's just how it works.</p><p></p><p><strong>Dual booting:</strong></p><p>Both XP and Vista is compatible with Bootcamp, and by reports, so is Windows 7.</p><p></p><p><strong>Networking:</strong></p><p>To get Windows machines to recognise Macs on a network, Macs pretend to be Windows NT servers, since when you're Microsoft you don't have to acknowledge the existence of anything else but Windows. Macs (and other Unix-like systems like Linux) do this with a program called Samba. Looking up Samba in the Help menu can help here, and you should find <em>"Setting up a Mac to share files with Windows users"</em>.</p><p>On the Mac, go to System Preferences from the Apple menu, choose Sharing, and turn on File Sharing. </p><p>Click the Options button and select "Share files and folders using SMB" (SMB is the network protocol Windows uses, hence the name Samba). This turns on the Samba file server. There's a warning that this will store your password in a less secure manner to be compatible with Windows. </p><p>Select the name of accounts to share files with. If turning off file sharing later, turn off the accounts here first, else the passwords will still be stored less securely.</p><p>You may want to create a special user for sharing with Windows users for security. The user you log onto the Mac with through the network will be able to see their entire Home directory with full privileges, other accounts will only expose their Public folder by default (in your home directory; there is a Dropbox which is writable through the network, but not viewable). This may be fine in the short run for transferring files.</p><p>Note: The Shared folder on the Mac is different; it's for sharing files between users on the computer, located in the Users directory alongside other user folders: <em>/Users/Shared</em> whereas each account has a Public folder to share over the network. You could choose to share the Shared folder over the network though.</p><p>Click <em>Done</em>, name your computer something meaningful and unique, like <em>Mac</em>, and add folders you wish to share by clicking the +, and tweak the permissions if you desire.</p><p></p><p>On the PC, go to the Start Menu, and right-click <em>Computer</em>; this gives you a menu, where you choose <em>Properties</em>. On Vista you have to click the <em>Advanced system settings</em> in the list on the left. In the resultant palette, under the Computer Name tab, it shows your Workgroup and Computer Name. Click Change, and set them; the computer name must be unique, like <em>PC</em>, or if you have several, <em>PC1</em>, <em>PC2</em> etc. The Workgroup name can be something like <em>HOME</em>, anything will do; being Windows, it is case-insensitive, one of those annoying hangovers from DOS, but I set it in all-caps just to be sure. I'm not sure if it has to be 8 characters or less, or if it can be longer.</p><p>To share a folder, right-click a folder and select Properties and select the Sharing tab, and click the Share button. If necessary add users who can access the share and click Share.</p><p>Assuming that File Sharing is on in the <em>Network and Sharing Centre</em> on Control Panel, the shares should now be available on the Mac, just as the Mac should be available on the PC.</p><p></p><p>On the PC, the Mac should be available from Network in Explorer or the Start menu.</p><p>On the Mac, in the Finder, you can go through the Go menu and either choose <em>Network</em> to browse for the share, or <em>Connect to Server</em> to enter the address directly: The path is in the form </p><p><em>smb://[computername]/[sharename] </em></p><p>eg if the PC is called <em>PC1</em> and the share is called <em>Documents</em>, the path is </p><p><em>smb://PC1/Documents</em></p><p>Clicking the + will save it for future use. You can also use protocols like FTP here to mount an FTP share.</p><p>It should also show up in the Devices section of Finder windows on the side under your Mac's share name, eg <em>Mac</em> in the above example.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="msandersen, post: 879927, member: 111852"] Although the thread is a bit old, my take: [b]Video:[/b] Quicktime plugins: FlipForMac (WMVi) and Perian (most everything else) [b][i]Flip4Mac:[/i][/b] [url=http://dynamic.telestream.net/downloads/downloads.asp]Telestream Downloads[/url] No need to buy anything unless you want to encode into WMV. [b][i]Perian:[/i][/b] [url=http://perian.org/]Perian - The swiss-army knife of QuickTime® components[/url] [b]Other players:[/b] [b][i]VLC[/i][/b] and [b][i]MPlayer[/i][/b] (both play VOB files as far as I know) [b][i]VLC:[/i][/b] [url=http://www.videolan.org/vlc/]VLC media player - Open Source Multimedia Framework and Player[/url] [b][i]MPlayer:[/i][/b] [url=http://mplayerosx.sttz.ch/]MPlayer OSX Extended[/url] (a better but unofficial build) [b]Download manager:[/b] I use [b][i]iGetter[/i][/b]. I can't say if it is better or worse than [i]Speed Download[/i], it probably isn't as good, but I can use if for free, although it does give me nag screens, and I just haven't bothered trying Speed Download. [url=http://www.igetter.net/]iGetter Download Manager[/url] [b]Office:[/b] What else but [b][i]Open Office[/i][/b]? :) [url=http://openoffice.org]OpenOffice.org - The Free and Open Productivity Suite[/url] It's Sun's attempt to loosen Microsoft's grip on the Office market, which they use to force people to use Windows (they keep some enterprise features out of the Mac version). Never mind that the KDE project is working on a native Mac version of KOffice, its not ready and KOffice is not as good as OpenOffice. And yes, there is of course Microsoft Office. Apple does have [b][i]iWork[/i][/b], but it's not so much a full-fledged Office package; it's mostly a consumer product, where [b][i]Pages[/i][/b] is [i]MS Published[/i] on steroids, [b][i]Numbers[/i][/b] is a very nice home spreadsheet program, and Keynote is an excellent presentation program akin to [i]Powerpoint[/i], but nicer. I expect the latter was made because Steve Jobs needed it for his SteveNotes, and didn't want to rely on a Microsoft product. [i]iWork[/i] doesn't have a database, but Apple does sell separate products under the Filemaker brand: [b][i]Filemaker Pro[/i][/b], and the more consumer-oriented [b][i]Bento[/i][/b]. [url=http://www.filemaker.com/products/bento/overview.html]Bento Personal File Organization and Database[/url] [url=http://www.filemaker.com/products/filemaker-pro/]FileMaker Pro (database)[/url] [b]Instant Messaging:[/b] I don't use [i]iChat[/i], so can't comment on its features. I use [b][i]Adium[/i][/b] because my contacts are all on the MSN network, which iChat deliberately doesn't support: [url=http://adium.im/]Adium[/url] Current Beta: [url=http://adium.im/beta/]Adium Beta[/url] It supports most IM protocols like MSN, Yahoo, Jabber (inc. GoogleTalk), ICQ, and Oscar (AOL; also used by iChat's Mac accounts). It is a much nicer IM in my opinion, but it doesn't currently support audio or video (hopefully soon), nor does it support sending custom emoticons as MS Messenger does (coming soon), but does display the ones sent to you. File transfers work, but are fairly slow. There is a native version of MS Messenger, but it doesn't have audio or video: [url=http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/messenger/default.mspx]Microsoft Messenger for Mac[/url] Some people use aMSN, an opensource clone, though I wouldn't recommend it yet; version 2 is under heavy development and sounds very promising: [url=http://www.amsn-project.net/download.php]aMSN[/url] [b]iPhoto:[/b] Retitling in iPhoto doesn't change the file name. That's just how it works. [b]Dual booting:[/b] Both XP and Vista is compatible with Bootcamp, and by reports, so is Windows 7. [b]Networking:[/b] To get Windows machines to recognise Macs on a network, Macs pretend to be Windows NT servers, since when you're Microsoft you don't have to acknowledge the existence of anything else but Windows. Macs (and other Unix-like systems like Linux) do this with a program called Samba. Looking up Samba in the Help menu can help here, and you should find [i]"Setting up a Mac to share files with Windows users"[/i]. On the Mac, go to System Preferences from the Apple menu, choose Sharing, and turn on File Sharing. Click the Options button and select "Share files and folders using SMB" (SMB is the network protocol Windows uses, hence the name Samba). This turns on the Samba file server. There's a warning that this will store your password in a less secure manner to be compatible with Windows. Select the name of accounts to share files with. If turning off file sharing later, turn off the accounts here first, else the passwords will still be stored less securely. You may want to create a special user for sharing with Windows users for security. The user you log onto the Mac with through the network will be able to see their entire Home directory with full privileges, other accounts will only expose their Public folder by default (in your home directory; there is a Dropbox which is writable through the network, but not viewable). This may be fine in the short run for transferring files. Note: The Shared folder on the Mac is different; it's for sharing files between users on the computer, located in the Users directory alongside other user folders: [i]/Users/Shared[/i] whereas each account has a Public folder to share over the network. You could choose to share the Shared folder over the network though. Click [i]Done[/i], name your computer something meaningful and unique, like [i]Mac[/i], and add folders you wish to share by clicking the +, and tweak the permissions if you desire. On the PC, go to the Start Menu, and right-click [i]Computer[/i]; this gives you a menu, where you choose [i]Properties[/i]. On Vista you have to click the [i]Advanced system settings[/i] in the list on the left. In the resultant palette, under the Computer Name tab, it shows your Workgroup and Computer Name. Click Change, and set them; the computer name must be unique, like [i]PC[/i], or if you have several, [i]PC1[/i], [i]PC2[/i] etc. The Workgroup name can be something like [i]HOME[/i], anything will do; being Windows, it is case-insensitive, one of those annoying hangovers from DOS, but I set it in all-caps just to be sure. I'm not sure if it has to be 8 characters or less, or if it can be longer. To share a folder, right-click a folder and select Properties and select the Sharing tab, and click the Share button. If necessary add users who can access the share and click Share. Assuming that File Sharing is on in the [i]Network and Sharing Centre[/i] on Control Panel, the shares should now be available on the Mac, just as the Mac should be available on the PC. On the PC, the Mac should be available from Network in Explorer or the Start menu. On the Mac, in the Finder, you can go through the Go menu and either choose [i]Network[/i] to browse for the share, or [i]Connect to Server[/i] to enter the address directly: The path is in the form [i]smb://[computername]/[sharename] [/i] eg if the PC is called [i]PC1[/i] and the share is called [i]Documents[/i], the path is [i]smb://PC1/Documents[/i] Clicking the + will save it for future use. You can also use protocols like FTP here to mount an FTP share. It should also show up in the Devices section of Finder windows on the side under your Mac's share name, eg [i]Mac[/i] in the above example. [/QUOTE]
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