Just got my MB... need a little help.

This will take some getting used to!

First thing, how in the heck do you switch between open windows?? On Windows there is the task bar on the bottom of the screen.... on this MB the only way I see to switch is if you first minimize the window.

Second, is there any magic place to click and have the window go auto full zoom, meaning auto expand to the full size of the screen??

Pretty excited..... just need some basics so i can start tinkering efficiently!

there is a feature called "Expose" that lets you view all open windows at once. hold down the "function" key and then hit "9". "10" also does it too. there are settings in your system preferences to set up "hot corners" that do this as well.

as for expanding windows to full screen, there are three little buttons in the upper left hand corner of finder windows (red, yellow and green). Red closes the window (X), yellow minimizes (-) and the green maximises (+). hope this helps.

if you have the new MacBook with the multitouch trackpad, you can swipe down with 4 fingers to get the expose view

personally I switch through windows/applications by cmd+tab

also I think there is a shortcut to cycle through windows of the same application, maybe cmd+; ... not sure, I set my own in preferences/keyboard and mouse/keyboard shortcuts

the green button doesn't max the window the same way as on windows, it changes the size to the maximum width ... w.g with web pages, it changes to let you see the whole content, not actually max out the whole screen .... to have a window cover up your whole screen click and drag the bottom-right corner

This thread is a most read: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/switcher-hangout/49528-mac-forums-switchers-faq-information.html

mcjacksonnelson said:

there is a feature called "Expose" that lets you view all open windows at once. hold down the "function" key and then hit "9". "10" also does it too. there are settings in your system preferences to set up "hot corners" that do this as well.

Click to expand...

I just wanted to mention that on the newer MacBooks, you can activate Exposé by simply hitting F3 (and you don't have to hold the fn key to do so).

LOL... Thanks guys!

I laugh because this thing is so simple it is hard... does that make sense? The more I mess with it the more I see just how simple it is.

For example:

With Windows Vista, even after years of use I STILL get lost in the control panel ( I don't tinker as much as I used to either, that could be it??). Going to settings on the Mac and I feel like there is something missing.

I don't get spaces yet.. what I like is the 4 finger horizontal swipe. I don't think I understand it yet fully either. LOL..

The F3 button does bring up something, the same as a 4 finger vertical swipe, but I have no clue yet. It will all come together.

I'm going to go read that post mentioned above and then put FW on the mac and load a copy of Vista. I was going to load XP, but I have a ready to go copy of Vista so I'll just use that.

Are those classes at Apple store worth attending? Are they a basic lesson on how to turn the computer off and on or do they get into some more advanced stuff?

Also, there was a program I saw and I can't find it anymore. It was about "if you do this on a p.c., you do this to accomplish the same thing on your mac"

Anyone know what I am talking about?

If you have several windows/apps open at once pressing F3 will display all of these on screen at once in miniature versions, just click on the one that you require.

There are some lessons from Apple here Apple - Support - Switch 101

For example Switch 101: On Windows, I used to...
Mac 101: Mac Essentials


This is also well worth buying Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual: David Pogue: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Thanks.... People keep giving me links. It's much easier for me to do a search when I come across a problem. I learn better this way.

Please keep the links coming though, as I do read them.

One thing I realized, is that anything open is on the dock and you can just click on that. Am I missing something here or is the dock the same as a Windows task bar??

pdxrealtor said:

With Windows Vista, even after years of use I STILL get lost in the control panel ( I don't tinker as much as I used to either, that could be it??). Going to settings on the Mac and I feel like there is something missing.

I don't get spaces yet.. what I like is the 4 finger horizontal swipe. I don't think I understand it yet fully either. LOL..

The F3 button does bring up something, the same as a 4 finger vertical swipe, but I have no clue yet. It will all come together.

Are those classes at Apple store worth attending? Are they a basic lesson on how to turn the computer off and on or do they get into some more advanced stuff?

Click to expand...

for the system settings, it's very light compared to the windows control panel; you're not allowed as much ability to mess stuff up on the Mac OS. if you want detailed information, the system profiler is where all system specs are laid out much like device manager, sans control. for disk management, disk utility is much like disk manager in the windows administrative tools. the utilities folder in your applications folder is where you'll find more powerful tools for control over the hardware and software.

since you have a multitouch trackpad, here we go... 4 finger swipe downward will activate 'expose', which is the same as hitting F3. 4 fingers up will clear your desktop, just like the "show desktop" command in windows.

4 fingers to the left or right will bring up the task switcher, which is the same as using command+tab, which is the same as the alt+tab shortcut in windows.

as for the classes, they are VERY basic. some stores offer a "switchers" class that you may be interested in taking, though. to be honest, i was quite dissatisfied with the workshops as they were below my level of knowledge, but to each their own... my background may be different than yours.

pdxrealtor said:

Thanks.... People keep giving me links. It's much easier for me to do a search when I come across a problem. I learn better this way.

Please keep the links coming though, as I do read them.

One thing I realized, is that anything open is on the dock and you can just click on that. Am I missing something here or is the dock the same as a Windows task bar??

Click to expand...

the dock is less like the taskbar and more like the start menu. open tasks will be highlighted in the dock if a shortcut for that app is in the dock. minimized apps will also show up on the right side of the separator in the dock. as for the file menu that you see at the top of every window in windows, you have just one, connected to the tray on the Mac OS, and it's dynamic; it changes for whatever application is on top.

anabolix said:

yeah,also I think there is a shortcut to cycle through windows of the same application, maybe cmd+; ... not sure, I set my own steroids in preferences/keyboard and mouse/keyboard shortcuts on ..

great
thnx

Click to expand...

cmd+arrow keys to move within an app, cmd+tab to switch between apps.

Use Command-Tab to switch between apps.

Use Command-~ (tilde) to switch between windows within the same app.