Too big of a switch!

[danielqho]

My aunt just bought me a iBook with OS X for my middle school graduation and uploaded pretty much all the programs i will ever need or really want such as:

ichat
dvd player
adobe photoshop elements 3
image capture
itunes
all the microsoft word stuff
quicktime
safari
mozilla
adobe bridge
adobe creative suite 2
adobe golive cs2
adobe illustrator cs2
adobe indesign cs2
adobe photoshop cs2
adobe version cue cs2
garageband
imovie hd
iphoto
adobe stock photos

the only thing is that i really dont know what anything does and i dont know the commands. I also tried downloading software such as aol instant messenger and aim triton but all the software downloads are saved to the desktop into mac binary form and when i try to open them, they open in excel and i dont know how to install it. I also dont know how to work the programs like garage band and imovie hd and connecting ichat to my ichat camera. I'm also really new with all the adobe applications i have. The only thing i really know how to use properly is iTunes which i now have 3,057 songs on, 29 videos, all my photos, and a bunch of podcasts.

I am very comfortable with Windows XP and have been using it up until now. I know how to make spreadsheets and excel and powerpoint have pretty much beenknown to me since i was in 1st grade. I also use outlook extensively and can see that Entourage is the equivalent of that. All the mac programs however are so much different.

Is there any site or place that I can go to help me out?
ANY HELP IS VALUED!

[lbj]

apple.com has a ton of tutorials. check them out first.

[Satcomer]

Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition will help you immensely.

[nixgeek]

Navigation through the Finder (that's the name of the desktop and file manager for Mac OS X) is not that hard. Remember that lots of the desktop navigation stuff is pretty much the same since both environments use windows, menus, and icons. It's just a matter of orienting yourself to things like storage devices.

On Windows, everything is in My Computer. On Mac OS X, most of it you'll find on the desktop. When you insert a CD/DVD or USB flash drive, or any other external storage device, it automatically shows up on the desktop. To eject it, you just drag the storage device to the Trash and it ejects or you can Control-click the device (meaning hold down Control and then click on an item with the mouse button) and a menu will popup similar to the one you get when you right-click in Windows. As for the drag-to-Trash option, this is confusing to people that are new to Macs and computers in general. It's something that Apple should have changed, in my opinion, since people then think that it will erase the drive. Thankfully, the Trash icon changes to an Eject icon when you drag a storage device to it, so that helps (in Mac OS 9 and below, this wasn't the case).

There is no Program Menu like in Windows, but if you open up a Finder window you'll notice shortcuts on the left side of the window (the window should have a brushed metal look....if not, then click on the lozenge at the top right of that window and it will change modes). You'll notice a spot for Applications. Click there, and you'll see all the applications that are currently on your Mac.

As for installs, there are two major ways of installing:
1. Drag an application icon from the disk image to the Applications folder.
2. Run the installer

This really depends on how the software designer wants the application installed. Normally, Mac applications are just dragged from their disc or disk image to the applications folder (sometimes they give you instructions on the disc or disk image on what to do). This is one of the areas where Macintosh truly shines is in application installation and uninstallation. If the app was installed by simply drag-and-dropping into the Applications folder, it can be removed by just dragging the unwanted application from the Applications folder to the Trash and emptying it.

Some software titles come with an installer. This should be familiar to Windows users. For uninstallation, usually there's an uninstaller that comes with the installer, or the installer app has the option to remove the application as well from a drop down list. This was the case when Classic applications (those made for Mac OS 9 and below) used and installer to install an application.

Another thing you have to get used to is what's called the Universal Menu (which is the menu bar that is at the top of the screen). Depending on what application is active, this menu will change and the name of the active application will display at the top left next to the blue Apple icon. The reason for the Universal Menu as opposed to a menu within each application is that the Universal Menu allows you to multitask easily between applications. It takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it it's not that bad. The nice thing about it also is that it makes certain items in the menus consistent, so if it's one place on one application, it's usually in the same in another (the mark of a well designed Mac application) Trust me....after some time, it will make sense. I personally had a hard time having to deal with menus on each application window when first using Windows 95. I had been using Macs for some time and the Windows menu method was just too cluttered for me. I finally got used to that as well.

Also, remember that you need to go to <Application-Name>-->Quit if you truly want to quit out of the program. Usually, closing the window with the red window button only closes the window but leaves the application running. However, Mac OS X manages idle-running apps elegantly by freeing up any memory they were using when actually active, so you can leave applications running without any open windows (until you need to open one) and not worry about memory being wasted. Windows has a tendency to "leak" memory, which means that it doesn't free it up when running idly (especially since the window HAS to remain open for the application to run, hence the menu in the window instead of at the top universally).

I hope all of this has made some sense to you. Hope we can continue to help you out on the forum!

[Lt Major Burns]

the Heirarchy

another thing which stumps people is the heirarchy of a mac file system. [for this, i'll assume that your name is fred, and that your hard disk is still named the default, Macintosh HD]

In Windows, a typical path could be, say

Desktop/My Computer/C:/Documents and Settings/Fred/My Photos

The mac would be:

fred/Macintosh HD/Users/Fred/Photos

the desktop is not the highest place any more. the 'root' is the highest place, usually, the name of the computer, usually the name of the person who owns it. to find the desktop in a finder window, you'll find it under

fred/Macintosh HD/Users/Fred/Desktop.

the above mentioned shortcuts in the left hand side-bar of a finder window include a 'fred' shortcut, as well as a documents one.

Keystrokes

some typical windows keystrokes would be, say Alt+F4, or Alt+Tab. others are things like ctrl+c, or ctrl+v. most of the ctrl+[ ] commands are the same, with ctrl replaced by command (because you're making a key command, i guess. the alt ones also usually use command as well.

command generally starts a key stroke. here's some examples:

command+c - copy
command+v - paste
command+s - save
command+tab - much like alt+tab in windows
command+q - quit the current application
command+w - close the current window, not the whole app
command+p - print.

so command is a basic keystroke, a command. alt, or option, is more true to it's name on the mac. for example, option+command+w closes all the open windows in the current app, but keeps it running.

alt also works to modify the things around you in your desktop environment. try right (or ctrl+)clicking a file, the context menu appears much like windows. now play with the alt key. notice how things change to a similar but alternative stance? this also works in itunes, play with alt and watch the 'add playlist' button become an 'Add smart playlist' button. alt really is the option button.

ctrl is used mainly for the ctrl click, the context menu, but can be bound as an extra modifier.

[jpb5151]

Originally Posted by danielqho

Is there any site or place that I can go to help me out?
ANY HELP IS VALUED!

After reading your post, I've got the answer. It'll fix everything.

Send your new Mac to me!

OK, I'm not a Mac expert but once when I was thrown into looking after a Mac lab I got familiar with things just by jumping in.

Just keep clicking, learning and reading (above-listed help sites and in-post tips). It's not going to be overnight; you're probably looking at at least a solid month to decontamin^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hget used to using Mac OS instead of ms windows. Please be patient, though. It _will_ pay off and you'll be surprised at how clean, logical and easy things are.

[fryke]

Lt. ... "In Windows, a typical path could be, say Desktop/My Computer/C:/Documents and Settings/Fred/My Photos - The mac would be: fred/Macintosh HD/Users/Fred/Photos
the desktop is not the highest place any more. the 'root' is the highest place, usually, the name of the computer, usually the name of the person who owns it. to find the desktop in a finder window, you'll find it under fred/Macintosh HD/Users/Fred/Desktop."

That's just sooooooooo wrong! Do you mean "fred" as the machine's name or the username? Either way, the machine name is not really part of the path on a UNIX system. So the Desktop would be at /Users/fred/Desktop ("fred" being the short username). But for Windows, it's also different. It'd be \\C:\Documents and Settings\fred\Desktop ... But I don't think that that's much of a problem. People figure these things out some way or another.

I generally agree that a good book can help, but I'd really just try and keep trying. Specific questions will get specific answers here.

[Lt Major Burns]

i had a feeling it was wrong. but, although the windows one is also technically wrong (and i knew it), that's how it appears to work, in laymens terms...

apologies for confusion. if someone could clarify that would be great.