Hello folks, going to be a Apple user soon and have a few questions

Yes indeedy I am planning to get my first mac here in a few months, reason being is that well I am going to save up some money to get a mac for myself at least a week after my birthday so I said to myself why not waste time and start talking to other Mac users to get some tips before I hop into my mac experience.
Currently I am schooled in both Windows (from 95 to Windows 7) and Linux and I am looking to buy a Mac to get some hands on experience with the OS outside of the apple stores.
I am a big computer freak so all OS's have their place with me and OSX is the only one I have never had any long term experience with.
Now being familiar with Linux and other Unix like systems (my main OS is Linux Mint so you know) my questions about directories and getting used to the filesystem should be a simple task for me, but I would still like some tips.
Such as tutorial videos, to be honest paying $99 for the One to One program is not ideal as there are very few apple stores near my area that I can take the time out to go to, I work nights and driving 30 miles for who knows how long is not my idea of fun.
I rather deal with forums and other mac users via chatrooms and such.
I would like help getting used to the apple setup, now currently I am mimicking OSX on my linux machines to get used to the look and feel, I got a global menu bar similar to the menu bar in OSX and a dock that is also similar to the one in OSX but since I dont have a full hands on experience with the OSX setup any help would be appreciated.
I got about two months to save up money in, with any luck by early/mid September I will have my Mac (as my birthday is in september)
I plan on getting the mini with the 500GB HDD install then some time later get the extended service plan... maybe as I have a best buy that I can go to.

The first thing I would like is vids explaining the GUI setup, as even though I know the bases I would like a guide to get me started.

To show how serious I am I have a screenie of my current OS setup:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Good day and welcome!
If I may suggest check out the Apple site for great tips Apple - Support !
Love that desktop!

I don't think you'll have a hard time adjusting to the Mac OS gui, it's simple and yet effective.

You can poke around the apple web pages and look at their Mac OS videos:
Apple - Find Out How - Mac Basics

As far as one-on-one, that would be a waste of money, especially for a user comming to the Mac OS from Unix systems. I always thought it's meant for people who are not very sure of themselves when it comes to computer OS in general.

scathe said:

I don't think you'll have a hard time adjusting to the Mac OS gui, it's simple and yet effective.

You can poke around the apple web pages and look at their Mac OS videos:
Apple - Find Out How - Mac Basics

As far as one-on-one, that would be a waste of money, especially for a user comming to the Mac OS from Unix systems. I always thought it's meant for people who are not very sure of themselves when it comes to computer OS in general.

Click to expand...

There's far more to One-to-One than just "used by people who are not very sure of themselves when it comes to computer OS in general."

Apple: One to One

dancingmadrb3 said:

Yes indeedy I am planning to get my first mac here in a few months, reason being is that well I am going to save up some money to get a mac for myself at least a week after my birthday so I said to myself why not waste time and start talking to other Mac users to get some tips before I hop into my mac experience.
Currently I am schooled in both Windows (from 95 to Windows 7) and Linux and I am looking to buy a Mac to get some hands on experience with the OS outside of the apple stores.
I am a big computer freak so all OS's have their place with me and OSX is the only one I have never had any long term experience with.
Now being familiar with Linux and other Unix like systems (my main OS is Linux Mint so you know) my questions about directories and getting used to the filesystem should be a simple task for me, but I would still like some tips.
Such as tutorial videos, to be honest paying $99 for the One to One program is not ideal as there are very few apple stores near my area that I can take the time out to go to, I work nights and driving 30 miles for who knows how long is not my idea of fun.
I rather deal with forums and other mac users via chatrooms and such.
I would like help getting used to the apple setup, now currently I am mimicking OSX on my linux machines to get used to the look and feel, I got a global menu bar similar to the menu bar in OSX and a dock that is also similar to the one in OSX but since I dont have a full hands on experience with the OSX setup any help would be appreciated.
I got about two months to save up money in, with any luck by early/mid September I will have my Mac (as my birthday is in september)
I plan on getting the mini with the 500GB HDD install then some time later get the extended service plan... maybe as I have a best buy that I can go to.

The first thing I would like is vids explaining the GUI setup, as even though I know the bases I would like a guide to get me started.

To show how serious I am I have a screenie of my current OS setup:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Click to expand...

Good choice on the Mac Mini (HDMI is a big plus).

One to One includes a plethora of informative tutorials, and doesn't require you to take advantage of the in-store portion.

I'd personally avoid Best Buy like the plague... Commission kills true help

AppleCare > BestBuy plans

mac took me about 2 weeks to get used too. meaning if i needed to change a setting i usually know where to look and i know how to install and uninstall software. there are similarities to windows in osx. its just a matter of going ok this part is basically osx version of control panel. I still have questions now and again, but i feel very comfortable using it.

this book is very useful and removes all the needs of a tutorial or guide.

Amazon.com: Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual (9780596153281): David Pogue: Books

sure but

scathe said:

I don't think you'll have a hard time adjusting to the Mac OS gui, it's simple and yet effective.

You can poke around the apple web pages and look at their Mac OS videos:
Apple - Find Out How - Mac Basics

As far as one-on-one, that would be a waste of money, especially for a user comming to the Mac OS from Unix systems. I always thought it's meant for people who are not very sure of themselves when it comes to computer OS in general.

Click to expand...

What about community videos as opposed to those done by apple, the issue I have with the ones on the apple website is that they seem more of a advert then an actual tutorial.
I like to do things via the community, as thats where most of the real help comes from.

By the way will I have to deal with a capatcha each time I make a new post or reply?
I can understand it popping up for the first time I make a post to keep out spam bots and suchand maybe the second but will the capatcha go away after a bit?

I hate those bloody things

I think the captcha goes away with a certain amount of posts/time spent on the forums. All I can tell you is that I don't see any captcha right now

For videos the best place, as always, is youtube. There are a bunch of videos, but still, you will learn the system in no time at all once you get your hands on it, trust me on that

I found this list of videos you might want to look at:
195 Free Mac Video Tutorials – The Master List for New Mac Users :: My First Mac - Help Buying and Getting Started with Your New Mac

scathe said:

I think the captcha goes away with a certain amount of posts/time spent on the forums. All I can tell you is that I don't see any captcha right now

For videos the best place, as always, is youtube. There are a bunch of videos, but still, you will learn the system in no time at all once you get your hands on it, trust me on that

I found this list of videos you might want to look at:
195 Free Mac Video Tutorials – The Master List for New Mac Users :: My First Mac - Help Buying and Getting Started with Your New Mac

Click to expand...

Well yes I have tried to fish around youtube, you know how disorganized some search engines are...
Heck microsofts so called "decision engine" is just their old search engine with fancy backgrounds and its still crap.

Yes captcha goes away after a while. I wondered that myself, but I dont get it anymore, and I dont have loads of posts to my name

I would highly recommend the tutorials on the Apple site just to get a general idea of the OS. Some of them are broad but I feel they address a lot of the questions that new switchers have and they're really clear, whereas some of the YouTube ones are hit or miss, with some of the "instructors" assuming too much, using incorrect terminology, using fuzzy screen recordings, and using a lot of um's and uh's.

Oneironaut said:

I would highly recommend the tutorials on the Apple site just to get a general idea of the OS. Some of them are broad but I feel they address a lot of the questions that new switchers have and they're really clear, whereas some of the YouTube ones are hit or miss, with some of the "instructors" assuming too much, using incorrect terminology, using fuzzy screen recordings, and using a lot of um's and uh's.

Click to expand...

I can understand, just looking for some basics

Here's my list of thoughts/advice/suggestions for new Mac switchers. Not all of it may apply to you personally but humour a brotha and read it anyway:

1. Follow Apple's intentions until you find a genuine good reason not to.

For example, when you get your Mac you'll notice some folders have already been set up, like Movies, Pictures, Documents etc. That's where those sorts of things should go (and the default programs will put them there automatically), and Apple has good reasons for this. Until you get into a situation where you *need* an alternative arrangement, just go with Apple's flow. Don't trash the "Music" folder just because you don't plan on loading any music on. Don't keep all your crap all over the desktop. Don't install an anti-virus, and DON'T tinker around in the System and Library folders. Which leads me to:

2. Use Apple's default programs until you find a genuine reason not to do so.

There are plenty of great alternatives to the programs that come bundled on your Mac, but unlike in the Windows world, the bundled programs on your Mac are **INCREDIBLE** in terms of quality and design. You will be blown away. I know some people prefer (for example) Firefox to Safari, or Entourage (soon to be Outlook) to Mail, but AT FIRST, while you're learning the Mac, use the programs Apple supplied. Especially iTunes, which will not only amaze you as you explore it, but will also subtly teach you how most other Apple programs work.

3. Don't pirate. Pay for what you use.

I'm not speaking to you directly on this, but in general Windows users pirate like crazy -- to the point that they are not even aware that they're doing it. Particularly when it comes to software, the Mac platform NEEDS to retain the best programmers, and that means those programmers should be paid for their work. Hunt for bargains, take advantage of sales, but I think you'll find that most Mac software is of WAY higher quality than most Windows software, and we really like it that way, so please pay for what you use.

As for entertainment, I think you'll find iTunes so much easier and more enjoyable (and for the most part reasonably priced) to use you'll appreciate the value. As my dad always said, "Nothing is ever really free. You always pay Peter when you rob Paul." This is why Mac users sometimes come off smug -- because we understand VALUE versus just PRICE.

4. I know it's hard to believe, but security is handled, and its a non-issue to you.

What (very) little "malware" (not to be confused with viruses) exists out there for the Mac is all non-critical "trickware" that relies on you being stupid (specifically by downloading "porn codecs" and pirated software). So don't do those things. Your machine ships with its ports closed, in stealth mode (right out of the box), no viruses no hackers. Your best "protection" against any future problems (not that I expect any) is to stay in touch with the Mac "community" via forums like these. Should a miracle occur and a virus for OS X develops, you'll hear all about it here MONTHS before it has a snowball's chance of actually reaching you. But again, there are very sound reasons why this will probably never happen.

5. Watching videos.

One of the very few areas where the Mac is lacking "out of the box" (apart from a complete lack of bundled Solitaire [!!!]) is in full support of the million-plus various Windows video codecs out there. So, after you get settled in and start running around on the web, download Flip4Mac WMV Player and Perian (both free) and install them. You should also keep VLC around as an alternate player. This will make video support a non-issue 98% of the time.

6. Switch 101. Visit.

7. Macs don't need much maintenance, but they do need a little.

The primary thing you should do is use Time Machine and/or a clone program (like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner) to back up your stuff to an external drive. They make it bone simple and automatic.

The occasional (repeat, OCCASIONAL) running of a maintenance program like the simply-named (and free) Maintenance or the not-free donationware YASU should take care of everything else. The Mac is surprisingly self-maintaining but it still needs your occasional attention. Another important tip: keep a fair amount of HD space free at all times. This won't be a real issue at first, but over time you will start to fill up that hard drive. I always tell people to keep AT LEAST 12GB free at *all* times. Mac OS X needs a lot of "elbow room" for temp files, virtual RAM and other functions. Once you go much below that, you're asking for problems and may see the machine palpably slow down.

8. SERIOUSLY, keep liquids and foods away from your computer.

We all like to drink and eat at our desk. We're nerds, that's what we do. But you would NOT BELIEVE how many posts in any given Mac forum start off "so I had this beer (wine, soda, acid, grape juice, etc) ..."

Keep the liquids and food far enough away from the Mac that if you spill something you have time to clean it up before it reaches the machine. DO NOT drink over a laptop, DO NOT drop crumbs in your keyboard. It seems like a common sense thing but you'd be surprised. People rely on computers so much that they forget they cost $1,000-plus to fix when you do The Stupid Thing You Did. And no, stupidity is not covered under warranty.

9. Don't put Windows on right away. Learn the Mac first.

Too many switchers use the Mac's ability to run Windows as a "crutch" to allow them to continue the bad habits that made Windows such a hassle in the first place. It's important that you UNlearn a lot of what you learned about Windows in order to really go beyond the basics of the Mac and enjoy its full awesomeness. Certainly people have perfectly valid reasons for perhaps installing Windows on down the line, but I think it's really important to immerse yourself in the Mac "mindset" and really spend time getting the whole Mac experience down pat before going back to Windows.

10. Keep in touch.

There are tonnes of great resources for Mac users and enthusiasts. This is one of them. Ask your "dumb" questions. We'll answer them with a smile!

TGITC said:

Yes captcha goes away after a while...

Click to expand...

Yup, mine went away today -there was no captcha on my 15th post!

brilliant post chas m. Well done!

1. Follow Apple's intentions until you find a genuine good reason not to.

For example, when you get your Mac you'll notice some folders have already been set up, like Movies, Pictures, Documents etc. That's where those sorts of things should go (and the default programs will put them there automatically), and Apple has good reasons for this. Until you get into a situation where you *need* an alternative arrangement, just go with Apple's flow. Don't trash the "Music" folder just because you don't plan on loading any music on. Don't keep all your crap all over the desktop. Don't install an anti-virus, and DON'T tinker around in the System and Library folders.

Click to expand...

I am used to the Unix layout of folders being a linux user so this should be a non issue.
Admittedly when I first started I used the windows layout on linux as I pust my Music and folders and such in the doccuments folder as in windows all personal files are in the my documents folder which is the windows equivalent to the home directory in unix like systems
Now that I got used to it the unix directory system this is a non issue

2. Use Apple's default programs until you find a genuine reason not to do so.

There are plenty of great alternatives to the programs that come bundled on your Mac, but unlike in the Windows world, the bundled programs on your Mac are **INCREDIBLE** in terms of quality and design. You will be blown away. I know some people prefer (for example) Firefox to Safari, or Entourage (soon to be Outlook) to Mail, but AT FIRST, while you're learning the Mac, use the programs Apple supplied. Especially iTunes, which will not only amaze you as you explore it, but will also subtly teach you how most other Apple programs work.

Click to expand...

I have worked with Safari but honestly it does not impress me, now the native mac mail client I will give a shot with but eventually I will pop on thunderbird as i do like it.
The one I would not really use is Itunes, I know apple and mac users pride themselves on it but I really dislike Itunes...
I am sure its fine on OSX but on windows its always been a pain

3. Don't pirate. Pay for what you use.

I'm not speaking to you directly on this, but in general Windows users pirate like crazy -- to the point that they are not even aware that they're doing it. Particularly when it comes to software, the Mac platform NEEDS to retain the best programmers, and that means those programmers should be paid for their work. Hunt for bargains, take advantage of sales, but I think you'll find that most Mac software is of WAY higher quality than most Windows software, and we really like it that way, so please pay for what you use.

Click to expand...

Still I will probably mix in some open source apps as opposed to pirated stuff, I like most of them as a linux user.

As for entertainment, I think you'll find iTunes so much easier and more enjoyable (and for the most part reasonably priced) to use you'll appreciate the value. As my dad always said, "Nothing is ever really free. You always pay Peter when you rob Paul." This is why Mac users sometimes come off smug -- because we understand VALUE versus just PRICE.

Click to expand...

Well despite my bad feelings towards itunes it is still better then windows media player.

4. I know it's hard to believe, but security is handled, and its a non-issue to you.

What (very) little "malware" (not to be confused with viruses) exists out there for the Mac is all non-critical "trickware" that relies on you being stupid (specifically by downloading "porn codecs" and pirated software). So don't do those things. Your machine ships with its ports closed, in stealth mode (right out of the box), no viruses no hackers. Your best "protection" against any future problems (not that I expect any) is to stay in touch with the Mac "community" via forums like these. Should a miracle occur and a virus for OS X develops, you'll hear all about it here MONTHS before it has a snowball's chance of actually reaching you. But again, there are very sound reasons why this will probably never happen.

Click to expand...

Again I will point out that I am a linux user so I am used to not installing any anti virus or anti malware stuff.
Though I might still consider an anti virus app for my mail client so i dont pass anything bad onto my windows using friends, I do the same thing with linux.

5. Watching videos.

One of the very few areas where the Mac is lacking "out of the box" (apart from a complete lack of bundled Solitaire [!!!]) is in full support of the million-plus various Windows video codecs out there. So, after you get settled in and start running around on the web, download Flip4Mac WMV Player and Perian (both free) and install them. You should also keep VLC around as an alternate player. This will make video support a non-issue 98% of the time.

Click to expand...

Again as a linux user I am used to being on the non supported side of the force, and I do use VLC extensively on both windows and linux

6. Switch 101. Visit.

7. Macs don't need much maintenance, but they do need a little.

The primary thing you should do is use Time Machine and/or a clone program (like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner) to back up your stuff to an external drive. They make it bone simple and automatic.

The occasional (repeat, OCCASIONAL) running of a maintenance program like the simply-named (and free) Maintenance or the not-free donationware YASU should take care of everything else. The Mac is surprisingly self-maintaining but it still needs your occasional attention. Another important tip: keep a fair amount of HD space free at all times. This won't be a real issue at first, but over time you will start to fill up that hard drive. I always tell people to keep AT LEAST 12GB free at *all* times. Mac OS X needs a lot of "elbow room" for temp files, virtual RAM and other functions. Once you go much below that, you're asking for problems and may see the machine palpably slow down.

Click to expand...

Got it, a non issue

8. SERIOUSLY, keep liquids and foods away from your computer.

We all like to drink and eat at our desk. We're nerds, that's what we do. But you would NOT BELIEVE how many posts in any given Mac forum start off "so I had this beer (wine, soda, acid, grape juice, etc) ..."

Keep the liquids and food far enough away from the Mac that if you spill something you have time to clean it up before it reaches the machine. DO NOT drink over a laptop, DO NOT drop crumbs in your keyboard. It seems like a common sense thing but you'd be surprised. People rely on computers so much that they forget they cost $1,000-plus to fix when you do The Stupid Thing You Did. And no, stupidity is not covered under warranty.

Click to expand...

Well no duh, I actually take care of my stuff so you know

9. Don't put Windows on right away. Learn the Mac first.

Too many switchers use the Mac's ability to run Windows as a "crutch" to allow them to continue the bad habits that made Windows such a hassle in the first place. It's important that you UNlearn a lot of what you learned about Windows in order to really go beyond the basics of the Mac and enjoy its full awesomeness. Certainly people have perfectly valid reasons for perhaps installing Windows on down the line, but I think it's really important to immerse yourself in the Mac "mindset" and really spend time getting the whole Mac experience down pat before going back to Windows.

Click to expand...

Well if I wanted to use windows I would be using windows right now, but I dont, I am used to alternative OS's for better or worse.

10. Keep in touch.

There are tonnes of great resources for Mac users and enthusiasts. This is one of them. Ask your "dumb" questions. We'll answer them with a smile!

Click to expand...

This is a non issue really, being a linux user I am used to community support

dancingmadrb3:

My lengthy post was written for switchers generally, not you specifically -- and as you can tell, aimed more at Windows switchers than Linux switchers.

If you're comfortable with shells and command lines, you'll find a treasure trove of goodies already built into Mac OS X, and many more easily ported over.

Hey chas_m,
Thanks for the helpful tips on switching to a mac. I'm in the process of saving up for a mac and I was a little concerned about how to use one, but you really put me at eas.
Thanks bud
Zach