Top 10 Mac hints for the ex-Windoze user.

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DanTekGeek

MacTechGeek
hey all.
the only times i have really used macs have been in school, so i dont really have that much experiance at all with them. but, since im switching soon, i was wondering what the top 10 or so hints you would give a windows user. i have been using my pc every day for at least 5 hours a day for years, so needless to say, i have developed some usage habits. what are the main differences i should expect when working in mac, and what should i make sure to do/not do? :confused:
 
Well, this could be quite a good idea for a thread starter.

1. Maintenance: You don't need to defragment, or worry about viruses & adware, however it is useful to "Repair permissions" and "Update prebindings" from time to time. An easy way to do both of these is to run a program like Onyx or Cocktail to do all of your maintenance tasks automatically. You'll want to do this every few weeks.

2. Backup: You'll want to remember that like all computers, Macs are not immune to physical damage; if your computer gets damaged, stolen, or has a hard-drive failure you don't want to lose your data. I keep a 128mb flash key for backing up vital documents every day, while everything else gets backed up weekly. In this way, you'll never be left high and dry.

3. Finder: Some of the shortcut keys are a little different here to in Windows. Instead of Alt-Tab, we use Cmd-Tab to switch between apps, and Cmd-` to switch amongst the windows in an app. When you're holding Cmd and press Tab, you'll also be able to use Q to quit or H to hide the currently highlighted app. Get to know Expose, it lets you see ALL your windows tiled around at the same time, letting you click to switch to any of them.

4. Finding software: http://www.versiontracker.com/ is a good place to find most apps. There's also http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/
 
4*. Finding Software: http://www.macupdate.com is also a good place for Mac Software
5. Unix: You have a complete functional BSD system under the hood, learning to use it can be very useful. The Terminal is in Applications -> Utilities, likewise X11 is in Applications -> Utilities. Fink and Finkcommander are a package manager and GUI to install and maintain packages and software you can use (TeTeX, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Gnome, The gimp, KDE, Scribus, OpenOffice, etc.)
6. Interactive GUI: Learn that you can click on everything, right or left, and it will respond. the little document icons at the top of the application window can be dragged and dropped, you can put folders and files in the Dock to the right side of the bar, you can drag and drop file into the Terminal which will fill in the path, you can drag and drop files onto the icons in the Dock, you can rearrange the menulets in the title bar (where the clock is) by Cmd-dragging, you can put folder in the left navigation bar of Finder Windows etc. etc. The environment works with you not against you.
 
7. Learn how the Mac works: Sit down and play with the Macintosh. Get used to the feel of the windows and how they operate. Lose the Windows-way of doing things. Since applications can have multiple windows open at one time, lose the Windows-way of quitting an application by hitting the "X" button in the upper-right. Get used to the Macintosh way of things, and don't resist! Many people here have written saying stuff like, "How come this doesn't behave like my Windows machine?" and "How come when I close the window, the application is still running?!" Run out and get Mac OS X's Missing Manual by David Pogue:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._books_2/002-2470844-4652025?v=glance&s=books
 
1. Maintenance Addition/Correction: No need to update prebinding. 10.3.4 added faster non-prebound application starting and every other system or other update does update the prebinding anyway. I'd say: No maintenance needed, as every user of this board will hear to 'repair permissions' until it comes out of his/her ears, anyway, once he/she starts to post...
 
Maintenance - if you leave the machine on 24/7, it will automatically run maintenance routines, no need for Cocktail or other third party software for this.

As fryke says, you'll hear Repair Permissions anytime you post a problem. So, if you have a problem, Repair Permissions and restart and you may have corrected the problem. But not a fix all.
 
And also: If you have repaired permissions, restarted, the problem persists and you ask the community here, please DO mention that you HAVE repaired permissions in large, friendly letters. There's a 13% chance that the persons who answer your question will see them, regardless of the font you're using. ;-)

Aside from this 'issue': One tip for Windoze2Mac Converz is that closing a window does not necessarily close an application on a Mac. The reason for this is that usually, a window represents a document and not its application. Applications are quit via Apple-Q or "File-menu -> Quit" (replacing the F4 shortcut you might be used to).
 
8. Ask. Any time you are surrounded by a Windows world, ask around here or other places where mac fans are around a lot.
8,5. If you get a portable machine, and plan on keeping it for over a year, AppleCare may be worth it - so in case anything would go wrong after the warranties (hardware wise, or software, limited) have gone, you can get the repairs without hassle (and phone suppport if you need it).
8,75. Notice some mac users that you like, take down their iChat handles and ask when you want to know somehting if you think they might know .. ;)
 
9. Learn to use the Services function of Cocoa based applications... It will pay down the road! You can find Services menu on the top menu next to the Apple logo and into the Application menu. An example can be found on the following picture:
 

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get a 2+ button mouse. (or use sidetrack - more on this in a minute) coming from a Windows world, (at least for me) you right click everything. on a mac, you have to hold down the CTRL key and click teh one mouse button to 'right' click, or get your contectual menu, as it's more commonly known in the os x world.
if you get a notebook, download sidetrack. it's a replacement driver for your trackpad. allows you to tap the trackpad to simulate a right click (takes some getting used to, as you may bump it occasionally at first). also adds scrolling functionality and more. very cool, and free.

like others have said, just learn the environment. disks and 'volumes' as their known in unix are mounted to the desktop, you don't have to open a finder window (equivalent of Windows Explorer) to see the drives.
Similarly, get used to the System Preferences pane. You control almost everything from here. Learn where the different settings are. they aren't always under the main category you'd expect. (like startup items - apps you want to load/run during logon - are under accounts...)
i spent the first couple days tweaking my environment just how I wanted, and was in the sys prefs almost the entire time. knowing where to go is a major key.

there are lots of shortcuts under the apple menu.

learn the terms and how they map from windows to os x. for instance, in windows, you go to Tools\options to change the program's settings. in os x it's [app title]\preferences
getting to know the new terms is pretty useful at the very beginning. maybe that's a no brainer.

use cocktail or macjanitor to periodically clean out your system's cache files. although I leave my system running for days/weeks at a time, the system cache can take up a lot of HD space. (freed up almost 3 gigs by doing this, just a couple days ago)


take advantage of all the great open source and freeware apps out there for os x. when i started out, i went through all the screenshot threads to see what people had in their menu bar (over to the left, next to the clock). there are so many great little apps that increase your use of os x. (there are also a bunch of threads on this too)

ok, that got longer than I planned. hope it's helpful, and not useless rambling
 
Learn to use the Services function of Cocoa based applications...
Click to expand...
i switched to Mac OSX about 8 months ago and still have never used the Services function. Can you explain what's so special about it and why I would want to use it? Thanks.
 
j2603 said:
i switched to Mac OSX about 8 months ago and still have never used the Services function. Can you explain what's so special about it and why I would want to use it? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Well, I use this program called NetService and the site has a picture of it in action. It will give you an idea how Services work.
 
Satcomer

Nice app.

If you don't mind, I'm going to add this to our How To forum.
 
wow, this is great, i am used to selecting text on a web page and then dragging it (or copying it) on a desktop and then opening it with the text pad-- crazy... so much easier with the services functionality. thanks.
 
There is one more thing I would like to add to this (as a side warning). I also think a lot of old timers here will agree with me.

Please don't use a discontinued disk utility! It will do more harm than good to Mac OS X.
 
If anyone will study the Services menu for couple minutes, he/she will clearly see how much stuff can be done with couple clicks at the most ;) The great thing with Services is that it is dynamic! Some stuff change depending on what application you are using when you are accessing the menu and what you are currently doing with your app... The following pictures may help you even better!
 

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The bad thing about the Services is that some crucial ones are flawed. Apple's fault, I guess, that when I select three files in the Finder I can't _mail_ those but have to drag them...
 
You are absolutely correct! You have to do this one by one and personally I find it odd two but still Services are great and you can improve uppon the concept by installing other Services or even create whole new ones!!!

[JOKE] As the Services clearly show us, it is: Services > Mail > Send File and not File(s) [/JOKE] ;) :D
 
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