Another Switcher!

J

jparge

Registered
Hello everyone,

I just made the switch... well... almost. I still have my Vaio desktop. :)

I had my new MacBook delivered yesterday with a 30gig iPod and a nifty little bag, straight from the Apple Store!

I have to admit I'm quite impressed with the Mac, I can't get enough of the Speech thing: "Computer, tell me a joke..." :p

I still have a lot of things to figure out, hopefully this site will help me get there.

I just have a few questions, I'm sure someone will have the answers...

I saw a demonstration once where switching between windows and applications had a changeable effect. If I remember correctly, there were box-like effects, fade-ins, pixel-effects, etc., etc., how do I do this?

I'm so used to the way windows works, Mac is a whole new language for me, there's a whole heap of things I don't understand; I installed FireFox this morning and I couldn't find it in my applications when I wanted to use it. I seem to have sorted the problem by reinstalling and sticking the icon on my dock, will I need to do this with all my programs that I install? I'd end up with a pretty big dock...

The last problem I've got is rather bizarre, I can't seem to maximize the windows to fit the screen, there's always the dock in sight and part of the desktop, I seem to have to stretch it to all four corners if I want to solve this problem, is there no another way?

Thanks very much in advance, I hope I'm not too much trouble here. :p

One more thing, is there really no delete button on this keyboard or is that just me? I found backspace alright... but no delete key!
 
Welcome to the party! And trust me, there's not too much different from Windows in terms of navigation....remember that Mac OS was the foundation for Gates' innovation that is Windows. :D

As for learning more about app installs and whatnot, see this link:
http://guides.macrumors.com/Installing_Applications_in_Mac_OS_X

And there's nothing wrong to hold on to a PC. I have an iMac G5 and two other desktop PCs, along with a PC laptop from work. Of course, all of those PCs are running Linux as I've been free from the clutches of Microsoft for some time now (except, of course, at work... :().

As for the delete key, it's there on my keyboard (but then again I have a recent Apple keyboard that does have it). What Mac do you have? Some of the earlier Apple keyboards weren't full size since some of the keys that PCs use aren't used in the Mac OS, so why include them? Of course, now with virtualization solutions like Parallels, dual-booting through Boot Camp, and emulation through apps like Virtual PC a full keyboard is very necessary. Thankfully, with USB Macs you can also use any USB keyboard...of course, it you use a USB Windows keyboard with Mac OS X, be aware that the Alt key functions as the Apple/Command key and the Windows key functions as the Option/Alt key.

Now, if only we can find a solution for that "any" key..... :confused: :D
 
Lol. :D

Well I can now delete what I was going to say because I found out how to delete. I have to push "fn + backspace" :D

Would you happen to know how to work the special effects thing? Or how to run something in full-screen?

In response to your question about the Mac, it's a MacBook2, 1.83Ghz. I was going to go for the next one up but then I would not have been able to purchase the iPod. I guess it was one or both... I chose both. :p
 
So it's one of the Core 2 Duo MacBooks, correct? I couldn't understand from what you described. :p Heck, any of the models they have are quite nice. the Intel GMA graphics chipset is decent enough for normal use, but don't expect it to perform as well as dedicated graphics chipset like those from ATI and NVIDIA. Even still, I would purchase a MacBook if I couldn't get the MacBook Pro.

As for the effects, I believe you're referring to Exposé which allows you to switch between applications in a very cool way. If you hit F9, all apps zoom out and you can view all of the apps you have open and switch among them. if you hit F10, then you view all of the windows open for the top-most application (or rather, the active application). F11 will swipe all windows away to allow quick access to the desktop (like the Show Desktop button in Windows, but much cooler ;)).

As for maximization, the way it works in the Mac OS is that the application maximizes to it's optimal setting, not necessarily full screen. This is mainly because of the design of the Mac OS in that it uses the universal menubar as opposed to a file menu in each window (file manager or application). The universal menubar changes depending on what you have active, and the name of the application is listed next to the Apple icon at the top left. Although some people would still rather have a fully maximized application window (there are third party apps that will do this for you, but I don't remember the name), it doesn't always work for the way the Mac OS is designed to work which is to allow you to drag-and-drop and interact between applications (such as dragging an image in your web browser to an open window in Photoshop, for instance).

In the end, you'll notice that the maximize option depends on the application's developer. Some do maximize to full screen, some only maximize to the optimal size of the document being viewed or modified. Hopefully this inconsistency changes, as even for a veteran Mac user like myself it's a pain to deal with since it wasn't like this before OS X.
 
Oh well, too bad about the maximization. At least I can see what I'm doing in FireFox and Word. :D
I think you're right about Exposé, that really is quite cool!

Thanks very much for all your help and welcoming me to the forum, I'll be hanging around for some tips over the next few months. ;) Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you!
 
Trust me...after a while, you'll realize that you don't need the full max onthe Mac. I've gotten used to it and only use it when I'm on Windows or a Linux desktop environment. The only app that does the optimal maximizes optimally that gets on my nerves is Safari. But since I use Firefox and never Safari, it's not a problem for me. ;)

Oh, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too. :D
 
nice thread, have question I'd like to uninstall garage band to make more space. Anyone see a problem with this? thanks
 
No real problem. You can reinstall it later from the additional software CDs that came with your Mac.
 
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