newbie

[KLank]

Well, here it is. My first post from my brand new 12" PowerBook G4. I'm sure over the next few days I'll have some questions for you guys. But so far, so good.

What is everyone using for an AIM client? I like the chat windows you get in iChat, but I don't like the way it displays the buddy list. Does the Mac version of the AIM client have all the ads and spyware crap that the Windows version does? On the PC side of things I used to use Trillian Pro. What are you guys using?

Thanks,
Ken

 

[witeshark]

Well first congratz!! I use the iChat in my aim account and I love it! I get no ads at all. The transition was instant, keeping my buddy list as it was since that is stored on aol servers anyway. Are you up to speed on cron task and repairing permissions?

 

[KLank]

I tried iChat and didn't like the fact that it doesn't seem to keep your groups and show group counts. So far Adium seems pretty good. Do you know if there is a way to have iChat show your online Buddies in groups?

Nope, haven't seen / played with any cron tasks. Also, I've heard that sometimes you need to run the repair permissions stuff, but not sure how. I think someone mentioned that it was in the utilities folder.

 

[StarManta]

iChat does support groups.... sorta. Click View -> Show Groups.
If you're like me, you won't have a hard time getting used to iChat's way of sorting things; I used AIM for a while and the several-second lag it took it to recieve messages (I'm not exaggerating) combined with the ugly interface was the reason I went to iChat. I had only tried Fire, which for some reason took up huge amounts of my CPU, so I gave up on that.

 

[witeshark]

Repair permissions, about every 2 weeks and after every software update. Finder>Applications>Utilities>Disk utility> select volume - repair permissions. Cron task, if the system is not on (not asleep) around 0400 - 0600 in the morning either use Mac janitor or maunally by Finder>Applications>Utilities>Terminal type (switch to root) sudo sh /etc/daily every week do the same where /daily becomes /weekly, and every month /monthly. you get prompted for admin password.

 

[KLank]

iChat does support groups.... sorta. Click View -> Show Groups.
If you're like me, you won't have a hard time getting used to iChat's way of sorting things; I used AIM for a while and the several-second lag it took it to recieve messages (I'm not exaggerating) combined with the ugly interface was the reason I went to iChat. I had only tried Fire, which for some reason took up huge amounts of my CPU, so I gave up on that.

Yeah, I had seen that, but I didn't like that way. I have quite a few people on my list and the groups is really useful. Currently I'm using the nightly build for Adium. Seems pretty fast and it works pretty well.

Ken

 

[KLank]

Repair permissions, about every 2 weeks and after every software update. Finder>Applications>Utilities>Disk utility> select volume - repair permissions. Cron task, if the system is not on (not asleep) around 0400 - 0600 in the morning either use Mac janitor or maunally by Finder>Applications>Utilities>Terminal type (switch to root) sudo sh /etc/daily every week do the same where /daily becomes /weekly, and every month /monthly. you get prompted for admin password.

OK, so what are the cron tasks? And why isn't there something that will automatically kick off the missed cron tasks?

And not looking to start trouble, but if the OS X is supposed to be so good and stable, why do people have to manually repair permissions and run missed cron jobs to keep it running smoothly? I'm just looking for some information here. As so far I really like the laptop, but I am thinking about saving up and moving the wife from her WinXP laptop to an iBook when I get the money. And there is no way in **** I am going to get her to be doing tasks like that! Everything else seems to be geared to just "work", so why doesn't system maintenance fall into this category too?

Just curious.

Ken

 

[Padawan]

OK, so what are the cron tasks? And why isn't there something that will automatically kick off the missed cron tasks?

And not looking to start trouble, but if the OS X is supposed to be so good and stable, why do people have to manually repair permissions and run missed cron jobs to keep it running smoothly? I'm just looking for some information here. As so far I really like the laptop, but I am thinking about saving up and moving the wife from her WinXP laptop to an iBook when I get the money. And there is no way in **** I am going to get her to be doing tasks like that! Everything else seems to be geared to just "work", so why doesn't system maintenance fall into this category too?

Just curious.

Ken

Running the tasks and repairing permissions is extremely easy, especially if you have a program that automates them for you. I personally use OnyX, and with one click, it will run the daily,weekly, and monthly tasks, and also repair the disk permissions (as well as perform various other assorted tasks). The reason that OS X may sometimes "miss" a task is because of its UNIX heritage. On UNIX machines that were left running 24/7, tasks were scheduled to run in the late evening/early morning hours when they had the least potential to interrupt users. Many Mac users do not leave their machines on 24/7 (either shutting down or sleeping), in which case the scripts do not run.

 

[witeshark]

cron task

maunally by Finder>Applications>Utilities>Terminal type (switch to root) sudo sh /etc/daily every week do the same where /daily becomes /weekly, and every month /monthly (promted for password)

 

[Beatles4Life]

KLank: I use AIM 4.7 for Mac, and it works very well. I really don't mind the ads. I tried iChat, but I had sooooooooo much trouble figuring out how to use it that I decided to use AIM instead because it was easier.

If you want AIM, click here .

Otherwise, you can just use iChat. It's entirely up to you.

 

[muso]

Well I know I'm being naughty by saying this, but I've never had to repair permissions on my iBook and it's about half a year old now. I've had two kernel panics in that time, and didn't do anything to stop them happening again and it worked - I haven't had problems in months.

So I guess it's just a safety thing repairing permissions, although it's not something you have to do. Definately do it if you get problems. I use macjanitor for those cron jobs - and only do it every month or so.

 

[WilliS]

i use Adium as well...great program i think...give it a shot if you think ichat is a little weak when it comes to options

and also, ive had a mac for 2 or 3 years now, and i just formatted it for the first time...never once repaired permissions or cron whatevers lol its certainly not something that MUST be done...but im about to do it now, just to see if it does anything for me