I got my Apple in the Mail Today! - Questions for mac owners

[Fsiphskilm]

Gosh that was fas

[Gypsy]

Wow ... Volt has been converted. o.O

[shooraijin]

You'll be next, Gypsy. ^_^

1. I don't use Firefox. OldPhil?

2. You do NOT have to install applications in the Applications folder; you can run them from anywhere. That's just a convenient place to organize them. 2a. Make alias = analogous to a Windows shortcut. Duplicate = actually make a copy of the file.

3. Not all windows maximize. What do you mean, "all the way"?

4. You drag the folder to the trash! Easy ^^ (A very few non-standard applications do have uninstallers or will put preferences in weird places, but most are self-contained and will disappear when junked. Any log files or preferences you stored elsewhere, of course, are not destroyed.)

5. Waaaait, what version is this running? You should upgrade to minimum 10.2 if you're using OS X, but you might as well go for Panther. No, it is *not* free to go to 10.3 from 10.2. If you're planning to go to Panther, buy Panther. If you want Jaguar (cheaper, slightly more compatible and functional, although Panther is somewhat faster and has more features), buy Jaguar, but you will have to shell out the bucks to upgrade again later if you decide to do so.

If you are running OS 9, you might find the jump to OS X ... different.

6. None that I know of. Plenty of OS X skins for XP though ^^

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Not all windows maximize. What do you mean, "all the way"?

he means that with a pc, you press maxamize, and the explorer will cover the entire screen. There seems to be no automatic maximizing button for the mac.

[Fsiphskilm]

[quote="Gypsy"]Wow ..

[ZiP]

The only reason I got a MAC, was becuase it was a cube. and those are no longer being sold, it was about $800 bucks and it came with the 17inch apple cinima flat screen monitor, apple keyboard, apple mouse, apple speakers, and a 52x24x52x CD burner to match...

That and it's shiny!

[Mithrandir]

Well, in OS X, if you want to change the default Web application, you have to do so in the "safari" preferences. I know, it's a pain in the neck, and I've deridded apple mecilessly for it.

Safari -> Preferences -> Default Web App.

And Volt, I HIGHLY recommend putting your apps in the apps folder. You don't have to, but here's a tip. Those are NOT SINGLE FILES. The "application" looking icons in the application folder are acutally folders, which contain all the files needed to run. If you ever want to uninstall, you only have to move an app from there to the trash, and it deletes everything for you. There's no registry to get all cluttered up. OS X doesn't let applications change it's main system area. (A *really* nice feature).

Let us know if you have more questions.

PS: That "fancy" os x interface is really a GUI cover for BSD unix. It installs apache by default, too.

[Fsiphskilm]

Self contained app

[shooraijin]

No, because there are no .dll files to install.

[Fsiphskilm]

My Mac seems

[Mr. SmartyPants]

well, i DO know that computer parts that are for the PC dont work for the mac (i think) it has to be for mac, or mac & pc. I think, not definate

[Mithrandir]

Well, OS X defrags for you - and the filesystem isn't "lossy" like FAT (32). There isn't really a "registry" on the mac. Almost no applications install stuff outside of their folders. When you delete the folder, almost all the stuff goes away. I say almost, because some applications store user data. In order to make that possible, your user directory has some information from said applications. This allows you to copy your user folder onto a new computer, and the next time you launch application X, all your prefs will be there. Like any unix box, the best cure for "slugishness" is RAM. My primary development box at work is a 533 MHz PowerPC G4 and it screems. Then again, it's got 1.5 GB RAM. I've got an old linux install at home that's got 1.0 GB RAM and it screems too.

What are the specs on that box? It will help us help you.

[shooraijin]

This dual G4 has 2GB of RAM, and never swaps.