osx newbie questions

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kidxsai

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hey guys

im new to osx 10.3.2 so i have a few basic questions. when i was using os9 i had to use suitcase to manage my fonts but in osx they have fontbook? is fontbook all i need? i have alot of fonts and i dunt know if i should get suitcase x or if fontbook is good enough.

also is it ok to install alot of os9 applications? ive heard it isnt a good idea to have alot of classic software. only a few.

also if you have any tips or advice for a wannabe designer coming from classic to osx it would be much appreciated. =)
 
I dont believe there is a limit of applications before Classic turns ugly... however, Classic is still a horable environment to work in.. it's a totally emulated OS9. You should be presently suprised of how many replacement - better - apps for OSX there are. I suggest www.macupdate.com

Some people use www.versiontracker.com - to me, they are one in the same other thank it seems as if VT is alot slower. Good luck

kidxsai said:
hey guys

im new to osx 10.3.2 so i have a few basic questions. when i was using os9 i had to use suitcase to manage my fonts but in osx they have fontbook? is fontbook all i need? i have alot of fonts and i dunt know if i should get suitcase x or if fontbook is good enough.

also is it ok to install alot of os9 applications? ive heard it isnt a good idea to have alot of classic software. only a few.

also if you have any tips or advice for a wannabe designer coming from classic to osx it would be much appreciated. =)
Click to expand...
 
I would highly recommend avoiding FontBook for "a lot" of fonts. It is not currently robust enough for that. I would say anything beyond 100 fonts is way too much for FB.

I prefer SuitCase X1. It is currently the quickest Font Manager and runs quite well now. Other people have their preferences. There's a good Font Agent Pro following (which was just upgraded). I find FAP too slow. Almost nobody pays attention to Alsoft's Juggler any more. They were just way too late. Font Reserve is still popular. I used to use it, but it a few too many bugs for me. The Extensis font manager line is silly, what with both Font Reserve and Suitcase being sold by them. They are reportedly developing a new app that will replace both FR and SC. Any time would be fine with me.

I have used all of them at great length and still find SuitCase to be the best all around. None of them are perfect. I can quibble with each of them, but SC has the least complaints here.

I'm still hoping Font Book gets fast enough to wipe out SuitCase. It seems to me font management should be an OS level thing.
 
ill get suitcase as im more familiar with it. what are the best anti virus program for osx? ive read bad things bout norton on this board. sorry for all the questions.
 
No virus software is needed for OS X, yet. There are no viruses. Norton's Anti Virus will be okay for OS X, but Norton Utilities has caused major problems for a lot of people.
 
thx

another question. in os9 u were able to add alias and folders to the apple menu. in osx how do i do that? can i add items to the "go" menu or under the apple icon? also in user accounts folder i have the "home" folder and the shortname folder? arent they the same?o i need both? i only have one acct on this comp.
 
To get the same functionality as adding items to the Apple menu, you'd add them to the Dock. It's not quite the same, and it takes some adjustment of thinking, but it's the same idea.

As for this "home" folder you're talking about... where is this now? I don't have a "home" folder in either my user account folder or my users folder. Your user account's Home is mostly for multi-user setups, so if you only have the one account you can do whatever you like.
 
i'd have to disagree with arden on this point. if you're running os x, it's good to use your home folder for what it was built for. since os x is a multi user system, each user gets a home folder with some pre-created folders inside, such as Music, Pictures, Documents, Desktop, etc. if you keep all your stuff inside your home folder, if you have to back up all your user data, it's in one convenient place: /Users/username.
 
If you're used to using Suitcase, stay with it. It's good on Panther in version X1.x. FontBook is not ready to replace it for users with more than, say, 20 fonts.

About Classic: Try to replace everything you've got with software that is ready for OS X. You'll notice yourself that you'll find Classic awkward in some ways soon enough.

The Apple menu as you knew it is basically gone. The Dock is the place that replaces it, although many old-time OS 9 users aren't that happy with it. There's shareware that brings back the Apple menu as of old, but I'd urge you to try and adapt to what OS X has to offer. Gotta agree here with crash: Your 'user' folder is your home folder. Mac OS X _is_ a multi-user system. No way turning it into a single-user system - even if you're all alone with your Mac. ;-) Good advice from crash trying to _use_ the home folder as intended instead of trying to map old OS 9 knowledge onto the new system.
 
crash said:
i'd have to disagree with arden on this point. if you're running os x, it's good to use your home folder for what it was built for. since os x is a multi user system, each user gets a home folder with some pre-created folders inside, such as Music, Pictures, Documents, Desktop, etc. if you keep all your stuff inside your home folder, if you have to back up all your user data, it's in one convenient place: /Users/username.
Click to expand...
Funny... I store everything in /Documents. I think the only things of importance in my Home folder is my music collection (simply because I didn't bother to change what iTunes did) and my Konfabulator widgets (for the same reason).

Anyway, point is, while you have a home folder, you can use it as such if you like, or you can put stuff in your Documents folder at the root, or you can even put stuff into your System folder if you're really daring. The choice is up to you, since it's your computer.
 
another question? how do i set it up so that whenever i click on a folder it opens up in a new window. i cant seem that option.

also i keep getting blank text clippings on my desktop. what am i doing to cause this? happens alot when im using photoshop

thx
 
kidxsai said:
another question? how do i set it up so that whenever i click on a folder it opens up in a new window. i cant seem that option.
Click to expand...

Go into "Preferences" from the "Finder" menu (the Finder has to be the frontmost application -- do this by clicking on an empty space on the desktop or by clicking the Finder icon in the Dock). There should be a checkbox there that says "Always open folders in a new window." Just make sure this is checked.

also i keep getting blank text clippings on my desktop. what am i doing to cause this? happens alot when im using photoshop

thx
Click to expand...

It sounds like you're inadvertenty clicking and dragging stuff from a PhotoShop window over the Finder and releasing the mouse button... like you're "dragging" stuff from PhotoShop to the desktop. Do you click-and-drag text much in PhotoShop?
 
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