My first Mac; some questions?

[JonKemerer]

Hiya:

I purchased a Mac Mini yesterday and had some questions regarding it.

Like, what's a good image browser for Mac OS X that isn't iPhoto? I hate to say this because I may come off as being ignorant, but I just don't like the idea that you have to manually add photos to it. I just want to browse around my HD and have everything thumbnailed automatically. I thought this would be commenplace in any image browser. Right now I'm using ACDSee 7.0 on my Win XP machine, but want to find something for the Mac. Suggestions?

And second question, if you highlight more than one item in Mac OS, and press delete on the keyboard, should it delete those items? i.e. files on the desktop? Also, should "home" and "end" on the keyboard work in Mac OS like they do in Win XP?

Overall I like the OS, it's definately gorgeous. Setup was easier than could be imagined. I really like the idea of plugging in a cable modem and having it work I'm not used to that on Windows XP. Plus, the monitor calibration options on Mac OS X run circles around windows, which doesn't even have an option to calibrate your monitor. Aside from learning new tricks, I'm happy with Mac OS X.

Well, thanks in advance for any insight on the above.

- Jon K.

 

[Satcomer]

I purchased a Mac Mini yesterday and had some questions regarding it.

Welcome!

Like, what's a good image browser for Mac OS X that isn't iPhoto? I hate to say this because I may come off as being ignorant, but I just don't like the idea that you have to manually add photos to it. I just want to browse around my HD and have everything thumbnailed automatically. I thought this would be commenplace in any image browser. Right now I'm using ACDSee 7.0 on my Win XP machine, but want to find something for the Mac. Suggestions?

I would give iPhoto a second chance. Watch this OS X Mail demonstration movie. you will see how easy it is to select picture to go to iPhoto. Also, learn about smart folders inside of iPhoto. It is pretty powerful now.

And second question, if you highlight more than one item in Mac OS, and press delete on the keyboard, should it delete those items? i.e. files on the desktop? Also, should "home" and "end" on the keyboard work in Mac OS like they do in Win XP?

On an Apple Keyboard it is the Apple button+delete will throw multiple highlighted items away. You can see keyboard short cuts from the Menus (they are right next to the menu item). Plus in your System Preferences->Keyboard & Mouse there is a tab for Keyboard shortcuts. You can even add some if you want.

Overall I like the OS, it's definately gorgeous. Setup was easier than could be imagined. I really like the idea of plugging in a cable modem and having it work I'm not used to that on Windows XP. Plus, the monitor calibration options on Mac OS X run circles around windows, which doesn't even have an option to calibrate your monitor. Aside from learning new tricks, I'm happy with Mac OS X.

Well, thanks in advance for any insight on the above.

- Jon K.

Also, since you are learning a new system, i would suggest a good OS X learning book. I like David Pogue's Missing Manuel series. He is funny and very insightful. I learned a lot from his books.

 

[riccbhard]

Isn't there a way to have OS X show thumbnails like XP? I think I enabled this once or something... because mine does it with JPEGS, TIFS, BMPS, and the first frame of a GIF.

 

[MisterMe]

Hiya:

I purchased a Mac Mini yesterday and had some questions regarding it.

Like, what's a good image browser for Mac OS X that isn't iPhoto? I hate to say this because I may come off as being ignorant, but I just don't like the idea that you have to manually add photos to it. I just want to browse around my HD and have everything thumbnailed automatically. I thought this would be commenplace in any image browser. Right now I'm using ACDSee 7.0 on my Win XP machine, but want to find something for the Mac. Suggestions?

iPhoto is intended to handle photographs. It is not intended to be a general image viewer. Preview is the bundled MacOS X application that serves a your general image viewer. You may also use GraphicConverter, which is bundled with some Macs. The current version uses CoreImage. If you don't have it, download it. If you like ACDSee, you may check out the MacOS X version. You may also look into Photoshop Elements 3.0.

And second question, if you highlight more than one item in Mac OS, and press delete on the keyboard, should it delete those items? i.e. files on the desktop? Also, should "home" and "end" on the keyboard work in Mac OS like they do in Win XP?
....

- Jon K.

In MacOS and MacOS X, pressing [delete] will delete a filename at worst. To delete a file, you drag it to the Trash. The Trash is a special unified folder than holds items to be erased from all available mounted volumes. A common newbie mistake is to think items in the Trash have been deleted. They have not. Items in the Trash remain there until you explicitly empty the Trash. It has been this way since System 7.0.

 

[smithy]

Isn't there a way to have OS X show thumbnails like XP? I think I enabled this once or something... because mine does it with JPEGS, TIFS, BMPS, and the first frame of a GIF.

To show thumbnails like XP when in finder press command (or apple key) + J or go View > Show View Options. Then click show icon preview. However in xp if there is images in a folder it will show a preview of the images in that folder, OS X doesnt.

 

[JonKemerer]

Thanks for the info, I guess using Mac OS just takes some getting used to. I'm used to right-clicking for everything, seems it doesn't do much in Mac OS X, that or my Microsoft Optical Mouse is being stubborn

iPhoto and smart Folders are working alright for me, for 75,000+ images though it seems a little cumbersome. But, for now it'll work.

Well, thanks again for the help, I think this place is great. Mac fans here are 100% more friendlier than other Mac forums I've been to.

Thanks!,

- Jon K.

 

[HateEternal]

When you say right clicking doesn't do much, do you mean there aren't as many options on OS X or you don't get the context menu at all? Your Microsoft mouse should work just fine with right clicking and scrolling.

 

[Lt Major Burns]

home and end keys aren't there. i've not really worked out what those arrows do.

instead!
apple+left/right for home/end,
alt+left/right works same as ctrl+left/right in win

the contextual menu's in finder aren't as contextual as windows. never mind... individual apps are the same as windows (photoshop, for example. right menu is identical)

also when you set the image preview in the icon for thumbnails, you can increase the size of the icons all the way to 128x128. keep the icon view for thumbnails, then browse around using column view.

be careful with the trash - i know this sounds stupid, but the files aren't deleted until you empty. eg uninstallation requires, simply, trashing the program. however, the process is not complete until you empty the trash.

other'n that, welcome!

 

[Mikuro]

Quick question: Are you using Panther, or Tiger? If your Mac mini came pre-installed with Panther, you're eligible for a $10 upgrade to Tiger. See http://www.apple.com/macosx/uptodate/ for more info.

If you're using Tiger, you might be inbterested in using the Finder itself for your image thumbnailing. With Spotlight, you can easily create a Smart Folder that will contain every image on your entire disk. Then set the Smart Folder's view options to display thumbnails, and there ya go. I'm using this method quite a lot now that I've upgraded to Tiger.