New to Macs, any tips?

[Daddy Elmis]

doesn't FAT32 limit hard disk size to something like 30gig?

 

[Sawday]

(1) Buy 'OSX - The Missing Manual'
(2) Gaze in awe at your new mac
(3) Read the manual (see 1)
(4) Do some more gazing (see 2)
(5) Make your all your mates know you have the coolest maching on the planet (my imac excepted)
(6) Let your mates gaze at it (see 2,4 &5)
(7) Wipe the grin off your face occasionally to read the bits of the book that you haven't read yet
(8) Try and remember anything good about PC's (tough one that)
(9) Check out this website as often as you can - hint you can use you new mac to do it
(10) Forget all the above (except 1-9) - just enjoy it!!

 

[FasterPussyCat]

I also highly recommend The Missing Manual. Though its not the end all be all of everything you might want to know. There are also text just on iWork and iLife

 

[the8thark]

Here are a few things worth looking into as a new Macintosh user.

1. Perian
http://perian.org/

Perian is a free, open source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats.

Basically what ths does is allow you to play many non Macintosh standard videos (mostly ones made through windows sysyems) on your Macintosh.

2. Onyx
http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english/apps.html

OnyX is a multifunction utility that enables you to verify the startup disk and the structure of its system files, to run miscellaneous maintenance and cleaning tasks, to configure parameters in Finder, Dock and some of the Apple-own applications, to delete caches, to remove certain problematic folders and files, to rebuild various databases and indexes and more.

The Macintosh does not need reglular antivirus checks like Windows PCs do but running this application every so often in my opinion does help keep your Macintosh system running in top shape. Just remember to read the documentation that comes with the downloaded software.

3. The Missing Manual for OS X - Snow Leopard
http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596153281

For a company that promised to "put a pause on new features," Apple sure has been busy-there's barely a feature left untouched in Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard." There's more speed, more polish, more refinement-but still no manual. Fortunately, David Pogue is back, with the humor and expertise that have made this the #1 bestselling Mac book for eight years straight. This one witty, expert guide makes it all crystal clear.

A few have suggested this above. And I will too. This book is one of the best for learning all about the Macintosh system. But I will say look at it in your local bookstore before you purchase it. If you think you will not need the book then don't get it, it'd be wasted money then. But on the other hand if after looking it, you think you will need it then it would be a useful purchase.

4. Mac-Forums
http://www.mac-forums.com/]

The ultimate source for your mac

Yes this is these forums. And yes I know you know about this place. Why this is on the list is to say is in many cases asking your Macintosh questions here is a really good idea. Just a little reminder to never forget this.

5. Essential Mac OS X Applications
http://macspecialist.org/content/articles/essential_apps/
http://www.mac-essentials.info/
A list of some of the most useful Macintosh applications. I would highly recommend you look into these two links. As they can make your time using your Macintosh much easier and more pleasurable.

6. Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343

Learn about common Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts. A keyboard shortcut is a way to invoke a function in Mac OS X by pressing a combination of keys on your keyboard.

As the quote above from the Apple website says shortcutcuts are a part of the Macintosh system. And the link shows you a large selection of them. You do not need to memorise them all or any of them if you wish. They just exist so if you chose to you can use a shortcut to do a task in a much quicker way.

7. Time Machine
http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/time-machine.html

Never again worry about losing your digital files. Time Machine automatically saves up-to-date copies of everything on your Mac — photos, music, videos, documents, applications, and settings. If you ever have the need, you can easily go back in time to recover anything.

This is Apple's way to back up the data on your Macintosh's Hard Drive. It is not the only option to back up your hard drive. But in my opinion it's one fo the more straightforward ways of doing it. So it's a good idea to read the link here and learn all about Time Machine. Sure Macintoshes do not have too many problems but better safe than sorry.

 

[droflex]

To wrx295:

This video explains how "spaces" works.

Mac OSX Spaces - Demo | How To Do Things.com

If you dont want to use the keyboard you can use "Expose" along with spaces and set up "hot-corners" so that all you have to do is place your mouse in a one of the corners to bring up spaces instead of using the keyboard like the video shows. Expose and spaces together make it even better.

The attachment below shows how I have my "hot-corners" set-up in expose. Unless I need to type something in, I dont have to touch the keyboard.

 

[iThinkiCan]

I'm still getting used to my iMac after being a PC user for over 10 years. I've had it for a few months and I have no complaints. Wish I would've made the switch a long time ago. Really considering buying a macbook as well. Still got some research to do cause something tells me Jobs has something under his sleeves.

 

[Tom163]

All this information is gold! thanks alot everyone. I should have it with me tomorrow .

(1) Buy 'OSX - The Missing Manual'
(2) Gaze in awe at your new mac
(3) Read the manual (see 1)
(4) Do some more gazing (see 2)
(5) Make your all your mates know you have the coolest maching on the planet (my imac excepted)
(6) Let your mates gaze at it (see 2,4 &5)
(7) Wipe the grin off your face occasionally to read the bits of the book that you haven't read yet
(8) Try and remember anything good about PC's (tough one that)
(9) Check out this website as often as you can - hint you can use you new mac to do it
(10) Forget all the above (except 1-9) - just enjoy it!!

Hahhahaha

 

[JohnMak]

Hi to all, I'm a 66 yo retiree and after years of threatening and frustration I've changed from Windows to OS-X ...... not just because I thought Windows was awful software but mostly because I thought Apple machines were really well made. I had no way to form an opinion about the software.

Anyway, bought my 27 inch quadcore iMac a week ago and love it to bits ..... still because of the superb build quality and still because I can't comment much on the software. My God it is different and at time severely frustrating but I know I'll get there.