ExAFO 0 #1 January 23, 2007 This Mac is incredible! I love the faster OS, the no BSOD, and the amazing graphics. Any recommended apps/tricks for the Mac newbie? ThxIllinois needs a CCW Law. NOW. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stumpy 284 #2 January 23, 2007 Google earth if you haven't already got it. Neo office if you don't wanna buy and don't need the microsoft version. skype Those are the main three i have put on my new one in the last week plus a bunch of widgets I like mine too Never try to eat more than you can lift Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #3 January 23, 2007 Get the Scarab of Ra game. I used to have a little Mac Plus back in '88 and I had that game on it. I miss it. And here it is almost 20 years later and they still don't have a Windows version of it. I miss some of those old games! Speed Racer -------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howardwhite 6 #4 January 23, 2007 I prefer Open Office for the free word processor etc. http://www.openoffice.org You will need to install X11 from your Mac install disks -- it's not automatic. Open Office site explains how. Firefox should be your browser of choice; great add-ons. Get the weather one, and AdBlocker to stamp out the annoying ads. Assuming you have high-speed access, Google Earth, of course, and get the set of DZ-specific locations elsewhere on dz.com; they're fun to look at. Welcome to the Mac world. HW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #5 January 23, 2007 Or to get the same functionality w/o having to bother with X11:http://www.neooffice.org/"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #6 January 23, 2007 Glancing through my directory of DMG's: AdbeRdr708_en_US.dmg (Adobe Reader) BitTorrent-4.4.1.dmg Firefox2.0.dmg FlightGear-0.9.9.dmg - (Flight Simulator) Flip4Mac WMV.mpkg.tar.gz (Enables Quicktime to play WMV files) GoogleEarthMac.dmg HandBrake-0.7.1.tar.gz (DVD ripper) MacGPSProUpdate.dmg (Display GPS maps with external GPS device) $$$ MplayerOSXB8r5.tar.gz (multimedia player) NeoOffice-2.0_Aqua_Beta_3-Intel.dmg (OpenOffice w/o X11) Opera_9.10_Setup.dmg Paralog.tar.gz (Skydiving log downloader) $$$ RealPlayer10GOLD.dmg Thunderbird 1.5.0.8.dmg iSquint1.5.dmg (convert multimedia files to MP4) istumbler-97.tgz (Wireless scanner) vlc-0.8.6-intel-2.dmg (multimedia player) "$$$" are the commercial ones. The rest are free. I trust you can find them via Google."There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
murrays 0 #7 January 24, 2007 Lots of good program suggestions....Here's a couple of little things you might find helpful.... 1 - Open a Finder window by clicking on the Finder icon (far left in the Dock) clicking on Macintosh HD and then dragging the Applications folder to a position to the right of the vertical divider of the Dock. This will allow you quick access to all your programs by either clicking and holding or right clicking on the folder in the Dock. 2 - Set up a downloads folder for your web browsers (I use Safari, Firefox, Camino and Omniweb) and do the same thing with it. 3 - If you have files you use constantly, create a folder to contain aliases for all of them and put it in the Dock as well. 4 - Drag the System Preferences icon from the Application folder to the Dock. 5 - Any other folders you use a lot...like Movies or Documents...drag it into the Dock (Right side) 6 - hold down the Control, option and command keys and press the number 8 key...then do it again to reverse the effect. 7 - Hold down the shift key and then minimize a window...do the same in reverse. 8 - Learn how to use Smart Folders in iTunes...and in Mail 9 - F11 clears all open windows to the side so that you can see your desktop. 10 - Go to Mac101 on the Apple website and check out the numerous tutorials. Enjoy!!!!-- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnny1488 1 #8 January 24, 2007 the control option apple 8 thing is cool. Had my PB for 3 years now and never saw that. Dont forget shift apple 3 and shift apple 4 for screen grabs. I set up expose in hot corners of the screen. I also have an app called side track to set up corners of my trackpad to be control and apple clicks. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymedic 0 #9 January 24, 2007 I set up my hot corners for expose and expose. just a flick of the wrist and I have either all of my stuff right there...or all of it pushed off the desk. Very nice. By the way murry that control,command, option thing is cool as hell. same as the shift minimize way cool. Have had my apples for two years now and didn't notice that. Marc otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
murrays 0 #10 January 24, 2007 Quotethe control option apple 8 thing is cool. Had my PB for 3 years now and never saw that. Dont forget shift apple 3 and shift apple 4 for screen grabs. Thanks for the screen grab reminder...there's also key combos that give you some more options...very handy if you do this a lot but I can never remember them. Here are the instructions I found on another website: Taking Screenshots on the Mac The Mac has a builtin screenshot capability. All you have to do is use these key combinations to take your screenshots and follow the directions above for Elements or Photoshop to open the screenshot in the program. These are for Panther as it is the only Mac OS I have experience with. Capture the entire screen: Command-Shift-3 The entire screen, dock and all, will be captured as a PNG file called Picture1.PNG and placed on your desktop as soon as you press the key combination. If you have your sound turned up, you'll hear a camera shutter as the screen capture is made. This does not capture the cursor. Capture a region of the screen: Command+Shift+4 The cursor will change to a crosshair cursor. Click and drag to capture the area you want. If you have your sound turned up, you'll hear a camera shutter as the screen capture is made. A PNG file will be placed on your desktop. This does not capture the cursor. Capture a window or dialog box: Command+Shift+4+Spacebar The cursor turns into a camera and highlights each dialog box or menu as you roll over it. When the one you want to capture is highlighted, click. If you have your sound turned up, you'll hear a camera shutter as the screen capture is made. The cursor will not be captured. A PNG file will be placed on your desktop. Capture a region and send it straight to the clipboard To take a screenshot that goes straight to the clipboard so you can paste it into a document, use Command+Control+Shift+4 and you'll get the crosshair cursor. Drag to define the screenshot area, and you'll hear the camera shutter sound, but softer this time. You can then paste this at the insertion point into a text document in Word or TextEdit with Command+V, or use the methods above to paste into Elements or Photoshop. Murray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
murrays 0 #11 January 24, 2007 Here's a couple of other programs and ideas you may find handy... I use a program called Cocktail to run periodic maintenance routines. There are quite a few others available..Onyx being one that comes to mind. I also use a program called Overflow to reduce the amount of clutter in my Dock. This allows you to set up categories for different types of programs and keep aliases to them i.e. - I have Utilities, Video, Audio,Databases, Photo and Web categories. Photo to Movie is an incredible utility for creating "Ken Burns" type pan and zoom movies from still photos. It's a bit more expensive than I'd like but it really does a wonderful job...way better than what you can do in iMovie. It does a far better job of rendering to video. If you want to keep track of your DVDs, CDs, DVDpedia and CDpedia are put out by the same software house. For making backups....I think SuperDuper! is a wonderful piece of software. I use this with an external Firewire drive to backup my work iBook. It will allow you to create a bootable copy of your entire hard drive. I use this religiously for my work machine at this time of year as I am so busy getting the tax and accounting done for the group of companies I handle that I cannot afford to lose a day or two in the event that the hard drive in my iBook crashed or if it were lost or stolen. All I have to do is connect the Firewire drive to another Mac, go to system preferences - Startup Disk and select the System Folder on the external drive and restart and I am working on my iBook right where I left off at the time I did the backup. Depending on what you are using your Mac for...this could be a lifesaver. While we're on the topic of backups...be sure to backup your iPhoto library to DVD/CD from time to time. It is easy to do...just select Library in the left pane of iPhoto and then click on Share..Burn and follow the instructions that follow. Store the disk in a safety deposit box or your office or someplace. If you note the date you do the initial backup (Say January 15, 2007) you can then create a Smart Album and set the condition as: Date - After January 15, 2007 and it will accumulate all photos taken after the date of your backup. Then you can burn that to disk at a later date and you will have an incremental backup. You can also burn backups of all the Purchased Songs from the iTunes store in a similar manner. Wise thing to do from time to time if you buy music from iTunes.-- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpwally 0 #12 January 24, 2007 Well, which when did you get ?smile, be nice, enjoy life FB # - 1083 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ExAFO 0 #13 January 24, 2007 QuoteWell, which when did you get ? MacBook white 2GB RAM 120GB drive Ruffed LemurIllinois needs a CCW Law. NOW. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpwally 0 #14 January 24, 2007 Whats the diff between that a a Pro-book?anyone?smile, be nice, enjoy life FB # - 1083 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ExAFO 0 #15 January 24, 2007 QuoteWhats the diff between that a a Pro-book?anyone? Metal case Hi Speed Graphics card Lighted keyboard Ringtail Lemur includedIllinois needs a CCW Law. NOW. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
murrays 0 #16 January 24, 2007 Here's the link to the latest OS X Pro Tip. Apple puts these out every week and I often learn something useful.-- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #17 January 24, 2007 QuoteQuoteWhats the diff between that a a Pro-book?anyone? Metal case Hi Speed Graphics card Lighted keyboard Ringtail Lemur included WTF? I just bought a new MacBook in November and didn't get any Lemur at all!"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #18 January 25, 2007 A couple of good Mac sites to keep you busy for awhile. http://osx.iusethis.com/ http://macosx.com/forums/ http://www.freemacware.com/ http://www.keynotethemepark.com/index.html http://www.keynoteuser.com/index.php http://www.macworld.com/ http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
