Starting Applications

Posted on January 31st, 2008 in Basic OS Functionality Tagged with:
by admin
There are many ways to start applications but I especially like doing it with shortcuts from the keyboard. In Windows, you can assign a specific shortcut to any application (one way is to right click on its icon and type the shortcut into the Shortcut key of the Shortcut Tab) but a more general way [...]

Apple Video Tutorials

Posted on January 30th, 2008 in Basic OS Functionality Tagged with: , ,
by admin
Apple has just launched a subsite call findouthow which hosts a number of video tutorials. The link I provided sends you to the section on the Mac OS. It contains 3 videos: Anatomy of a Mac - basic operations of the operating system Move to Mac - how to get data over from a Windows machine Windows on [...]

Selective Delete from the Trash

Posted on January 29th, 2008 in Basic OS Functionality Tagged with: , ,
by admin
Here is a feature in Windows that is missing from the Mac: the ability to selectively delete files from the Trash. If you open the Trash Can, on the far right side of the line with the word Trash, there is a button for Empty. Also under the Finder menu there are commands for Empty [...]

System Maintenance

Posted on January 28th, 2008 in Basic OS Functionality Tagged with:
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This entry is completely lifted from the Mac Attack podcast. As I reported yesterday, the Mac Attack is a great podcast for tips, tricks, and news on the Mac. Episode 85 from Jan. 10, 2008 was about maintaining your Mac and that’s an important thing for me (and you) to learn. The show notes from the [...]

Podcast: The Mac Attack (rating: 4/4)

Posted on January 27th, 2008 in Podcast Tagged with:
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The Mac Attack is my first source for information about the Mac. It is a one man operation with the host, Steve Stanger. He is very knowledgeable about the Mac and provides many tips and tricks about using the Mac. He also provides and comments on the news. There are sometimes guests and they provide [...]

The Dock versus the Task Bar

Posted on January 24th, 2008 in Basic OS Functionality Tagged with:
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The Dock which by default is along the bottom of the screen has much the same functionality as the Task Bar in Windows (which also starts along the bottom). Let’s work our way across the task bar in Windows and compare functionality. 1. the START button: Only Microsoft can come up with a button called start that [...]

Hiding the Dock

Posted on January 23rd, 2008 in Basic OS Functionality Tagged with:
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If you are like me you had the Windows task bar disappear when you didn’t need it so that you got more screen space. When you need it you put your mouse at the bottom of the screen and it will pop up. You can do pretty much the same thing on the Mac. Go to [...]

Mac Help - basic and switching help

Posted on January 23rd, 2008 in Basic OS Functionality Tagged with:
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Like all modern systems you don’t get much of a printed manual anymore. Like Windows, there is a Help command button in the Menu Bar, the last one on the right. For basic Mac OS help, start the Finder (first icon on the left of the Dock on the bottom of your screen) and click on [...]

Installing Applications

Posted on January 22nd, 2008 in Basic OS Functionality, Setup Tagged with: ,
by admin
Installing applications often seems to be a little different than in Windows XP. I read somewhere that it is simple: just drap the application into your Applications folder. However I tried that with a .dmg file and it just sat there, useless. First, the Applications folder, which is under your home directory (but there is also [...]

Website: Version Tracker

Posted on January 16th, 2008 in Website Tagged with: ,
by admin
Version Tracker is a great site that lists all sorts of Mac software and the latest version for each. It’s primary role (based on its name) is probably supposed to be the version tracking aspect but for a newbie like me it looks like a wonderful place to discover new Mac software. That is also [...]
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