A note on drag'n'drop in the Finder - if you decide that you want to 'set down' the item you're dragging without having to manually drop it back to where you dragged it from, you can drop the file over the Menubar at the top of the screen (or press escape), and it zip across the screen to its previous location.
Er... Select a folder, and than type "cmd-i", the "info window" pops up. below "read and write" (or whatever there is actually) - and left from "Details" there is a little arrow. click onto that arrow...
... and voilá. no miracles there
Well, look at that!! I stand corrected. Wow, cool. Thanks so much!
May I tag my question on to this thread? I just got a new Power Mac yesterday so I'm a switcher too. Two things immediately struck me compared to Windows.
i) My mouse pointer doesn't seem to flow across the screen as smoothly as in Windows. I've got a bog-standard MS Optical Wheel Mouse but as you move the pointer you get the feeling it's ever-so-slightly snapping to buttons and things. Is this normal??
ii) The text seems really fuzzy on screen. I am using an LCD screen and I'm used to having a crisp display on Windows with pixels being very sharp. Now, I guess that because of Mac OS X's anti-aliasing features my text seems to be blurred. Is there any way I can turn this off to see if it makes an improvement?
1) No, no snapping to UI elements. Go to the Keyboard/Mouse panel in System Preferences (you'll find that in the Apple menu), and play with the mouse acceleration settings. I like mine quite a bit quicker than most folks, for instance.
2) You can't turn anti-aliasing *off*... but you can adjust it. The Appearance panel in System Prefs has a setting at the bottom for the degree of anti-aliasing. Select 'Medium - best for flat panel' to best match up to an LCD. No doubt it takes a bit of getting used to at times, but it really does make much text easier to read over long terms of viewing.
1. Apple uses a logarithmic acceleration curve for the pointer, not a linear one like Windows uses. It could take some getting used to, but there isn't any kind of "Gravity" or magnetic effect on the pointer and buttons, etc. Small, quick moves draw a bigger response, and large moves track at a more consistent pace. This means that you generally don't have to move your mouse around that much once you get used to it, you can just use your fingers to move the pointer around the screen.
To reduce this effect, faster acceleration Apple's System Preferences reduce the apparent difference. Third party mouse drivers will let you adjust this more than Apple's tracking options in the System Preferences too.
For long-time Mac users, Windows pointer movement is "herky-jerky," where they will often overshoot their targets and such when on a Windows computer.
2. Go into the System Preferences (either the light switch icon in the Dock or under the Apple menu in the top right), and look under the Appearance tab. Near the bottom is an option for font smoothing. For an LCD, it should be set to use sub-pixel smoothing -- it will be labelled. It's probably set up for CRT smoothing by default, which can make fonts on an LCD look blurry.
If you really hate the font smoothing, you can bump up the minimum font size to smooth or download a shareware application like Tinkertool at macupdate.com or versiontracker.com, which can turn off anti-alising system-wide. Doing that makes fonts look like creamed crap though -- the system renders fonts with the expectation that they will be smooth and spaces the characters accordingly.
I'm not a Duke boy, boy. I just live next door. I'm a Cornellian, and, judging from our responses, my highly selective and rigorous ed-u-ma-cation has made me more thoughtful than your cattle call university system has made you.
It should be appropriate that this should be my inagural (sp?) post on AI, as I have just received my first Mac! 15" Powerbook. I am very excited, as I have always worked on a PC before.
Now... are there any tips for a new switcher. Anything I should know... tips on care, hidden surprises, websites i HAVE to check out?
Ok here's a quick tip I haven't seen mentioned so far and that I like to use...
In the Finder's menu bar, click GO -> GO TO FOLDER...
In the text box type
/Volumes
This will take you directly to your hidden volumes folder that displays all the different network and external volumes (iPod, CD's, etc.). Now once you have the Finder window for this folder open, simply click and hold down on the little folder icon at the top of the window on the title bar. Wait until the little icon turns greyed out and drag this to your dock.
Now you have a quick access shortcut for all your mounted volumes. Control click or simply hold down on the folder in the dock and up will pop a list for you to go to.
Unix is the underlying OS technology in MacOS X. Specifically, Darwin, the core layer of MacOS X, is a conglomeration of three Unix variants: FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. Linux is another Unix variant you may have heard of.
It's the core guts of MacOS X, and can be a lot of fun to play with, but it's definitely for the geek, not the casual user.
What is UNIX? Is there any information about it. Is it programming? How can I use it?
Long history short..
Unix is basically the oldest, and most robust Operating System still in use. It's origins are back in the 50's with Bell Labs and MIT, and was originally called Multics, until AT&T hired Ken Thompson & Dennis Ritchie to write an Operating system loosely based on Multics called at that time (UNiplexed Information and Computing Service, UNICS) later called Unix. This OS was designed to run the DEC PDP-7 mainframe computers at that time but eventually became the dominant OS for computers, and to this day is the only OS robust and evolved enough for the largest and most powerful of supercomputers. There are now several variations of Unix... AT&T, HP-UX, Solaris (Sun), Apple OS X, and many more... OS X is by far the most popular (on an installation basis).
As an OS, it had preemptive multi-tasking, multi-processor (hundreds actually), Protected memory, etc.. well before Winblows and other OS's.
When Apple went to Unix, they basically saved the Mac... as OS 9 was a really poor OS, even compared to Winblows XP, basically on Par with Winblows 98.
The OS 9 Guy was great, but the underlying OS (the Kernel that works all the hardware and CPU) was very weak.
There are thousands of books on Unix the bookstores, and also books on OS X (no all) usually go into the unix commands.
Just be careful not to play with unix while your in "root" user mode, as you are basically the computer god then, and can delete very important files, where as if you just log in as a user, you can do a lot less harm (if any).
Go to you Applications Folder, and Utilities Folder, and find the app called "Terminal" launch it and type "ls -l" for example to get a listing of files in your user directory... try it. I configured my terminal to be translucent so I can run an app called "top" from the terminal and see everything going on in my Mac without getting in my way.
Unix is basically the oldest, and most robust Operating System still in use. It's origins are back in the 50's with Bell Labs and MIT, and was originally called Multics, until AT&T hired Ken Thompson & Dennis Ritchie to write an Operating system loosely based on Multics called at that time (UNiplexed Information and Computing Service, UNICS) later called Unix.
Er, close, but pragmatically off by a decade.
1959: John McCarthy proposes time-sharing in memo to Philip M. Morse, director of the MIT Computation Center.
...I configured my terminal to be translucent so I can run an app called "top" from the terminal and see everything going on in my Mac without getting in my way.
Have fun..
a nifty idea, really. do you know how to make the window floating?
WOW! Thanks so much for all of the tips and hisory. Some of the things to take getting used-to, but I like the MAC better, overall!
Two question:
-Is there any way to use the up and down arrows to scroll through a message in Mail. When I use the up and down arrows, even when the message is sleected in the "preview" panel it scrolls to the next message instead of in the selected message. I liked that in Outlook Express.
-Is there any way to get properties on an image while browsing the web. For example, in Internet Explorer for PC, you could right-click an image and select "Properties" to see the location of that image. I really like Safari, but neither it and certainly not Internet Explorer for Mac are as developed as IE6, I find. A toold like that is just great for me as a web-designer.
Comments
Originally posted by Vox Barbara
Er... Select a folder, and than type "cmd-i", the "info window" pops up. below "read and write" (or whatever there is actually) - and left from "Details" there is a little arrow. click onto that arrow...
... and voilá. no miracles there
Well, look at that!! I stand corrected. Wow, cool. Thanks so much!
i) My mouse pointer doesn't seem to flow across the screen as smoothly as in Windows. I've got a bog-standard MS Optical Wheel Mouse but as you move the pointer you get the feeling it's ever-so-slightly snapping to buttons and things. Is this normal??
ii) The text seems really fuzzy on screen. I am using an LCD screen and I'm used to having a crisp display on Windows with pixels being very sharp. Now, I guess that because of Mac OS X's anti-aliasing features my text seems to be blurred. Is there any way I can turn this off to see if it makes an improvement?
Many thanks!
2) You can't turn anti-aliasing *off*... but you can adjust it. The Appearance panel in System Prefs has a setting at the bottom for the degree of anti-aliasing. Select 'Medium - best for flat panel' to best match up to an LCD. No doubt it takes a bit of getting used to at times, but it really does make much text easier to read over long terms of viewing.
To reduce this effect, faster acceleration Apple's System Preferences reduce the apparent difference. Third party mouse drivers will let you adjust this more than Apple's tracking options in the System Preferences too.
For long-time Mac users, Windows pointer movement is "herky-jerky," where they will often overshoot their targets and such when on a Windows computer.
2. Go into the System Preferences (either the light switch icon in the Dock or under the Apple menu in the top right), and look under the Appearance tab. Near the bottom is an option for font smoothing. For an LCD, it should be set to use sub-pixel smoothing -- it will be labelled. It's probably set up for CRT smoothing by default, which can make fonts on an LCD look blurry.
If you really hate the font smoothing, you can bump up the minimum font size to smooth or download a shareware application like Tinkertool at macupdate.com or versiontracker.com, which can turn off anti-alising system-wide. Doing that makes fonts look like creamed crap though -- the system renders fonts with the expectation that they will be smooth and spaces the characters accordingly.
Gotta type faster next time, BR.
Originally posted by nickhuober
Hello,
It should be appropriate that this should be my inagural (sp?) post on AI, as I have just received my first Mac! 15" Powerbook. I am very excited, as I have always worked on a PC before.
Now... are there any tips for a new switcher. Anything I should know... tips on care, hidden surprises, websites i HAVE to check out?
Thanks,
-Nick
1. Read this article: http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2232&p=1
2. Play, and Play and Play with it... it's amazing how much better than winblows OS X is.
3. Learn some unix (basics).. it can come in handy.
In the Finder's menu bar, click GO -> GO TO FOLDER...
In the text box type
/Volumes
This will take you directly to your hidden volumes folder that displays all the different network and external volumes (iPod, CD's, etc.). Now once you have the Finder window for this folder open, simply click and hold down on the little folder icon at the top of the window on the title bar. Wait until the little icon turns greyed out and drag this to your dock.
Now you have a quick access shortcut for all your mounted volumes. Control click or simply hold down on the folder in the dock and up will pop a list for you to go to.
Mike
When minimising or using Expose hold the shift key down
It make's everything happen in Slo-mo
Originally posted by UnixMac
3. Learn some unix (basics).. it can come in handy.
What is UNIX? Is there any information about it. Is it programming? How can I use it?
It's the core guts of MacOS X, and can be a lot of fun to play with, but it's definitely for the geek, not the casual user.
Originally posted by iShawn
What is UNIX? Is there any information about it. Is it programming? How can I use it?
Long history short..
Unix is basically the oldest, and most robust Operating System still in use. It's origins are back in the 50's with Bell Labs and MIT, and was originally called Multics, until AT&T hired Ken Thompson & Dennis Ritchie to write an Operating system loosely based on Multics called at that time (UNiplexed Information and Computing Service, UNICS) later called Unix. This OS was designed to run the DEC PDP-7 mainframe computers at that time but eventually became the dominant OS for computers, and to this day is the only OS robust and evolved enough for the largest and most powerful of supercomputers. There are now several variations of Unix... AT&T, HP-UX, Solaris (Sun), Apple OS X, and many more... OS X is by far the most popular (on an installation basis).
As an OS, it had preemptive multi-tasking, multi-processor (hundreds actually), Protected memory, etc.. well before Winblows and other OS's.
When Apple went to Unix, they basically saved the Mac... as OS 9 was a really poor OS, even compared to Winblows XP, basically on Par with Winblows 98.
The OS 9 Guy was great, but the underlying OS (the Kernel that works all the hardware and CPU) was very weak.
There are thousands of books on Unix the bookstores, and also books on OS X (no all) usually go into the unix commands.
Just be careful not to play with unix while your in "root" user mode, as you are basically the computer god then, and can delete very important files, where as if you just log in as a user, you can do a lot less harm (if any).
Go to you Applications Folder, and Utilities Folder, and find the app called "Terminal" launch it and type "ls -l" for example to get a listing of files in your user directory... try it. I configured my terminal to be translucent so I can run an app called "top" from the terminal and see everything going on in my Mac without getting in my way.
Have fun..
Originally posted by UnixMac
Long history short..
Unix is basically the oldest, and most robust Operating System still in use. It's origins are back in the 50's with Bell Labs and MIT, and was originally called Multics, until AT&T hired Ken Thompson & Dennis Ritchie to write an Operating system loosely based on Multics called at that time (UNiplexed Information and Computing Service, UNICS) later called Unix.
Er, close, but pragmatically off by a decade.
1959: John McCarthy proposes time-sharing in memo to Philip M. Morse, director of the MIT Computation Center.
1965: Multics milestone 1 completed (essentially 1.0)
1969: Multics runs for first time for public use. (MIT)
Sep 1969: AT&T/Bell Labs starts Unics project.
Nov 3, 1971: Unix V1 ships
Unix got it's start just before 1970. Multics was conceived as an abstract idea just before 1960, but didn't get off the ground for a few years.
Sources:
http://www.levenez.com/unix/
http://www.multicians.org/chrono.html
Originally posted by Kickaha
Er, close, but pragmatically off by a decade.
Sources:
http://www.levenez.com/unix/
http://www.multicians.org/chrono.html
Thank you for the links.
Originally posted by Kickaha
Er, close, but pragmatically off by a decade.
1959: John McCarthy proposes time-sharing in memo to Philip M. Morse, director of the MIT Computation Center.
1965: Multics milestone 1 completed (essentially 1.0)
1969: Multics runs for first time for public use. (MIT)
Sep 1969: AT&T/Bell Labs starts Unics project.
Nov 3, 1971: Unix V1 ships
Unix got it's start just before 1970. Multics was conceived as an abstract idea just before 1960, but didn't get off the ground for a few years.
Sources:
http://www.levenez.com/unix/
http://www.multicians.org/chrono.html
Sorry, went off memory rather than fact!
Originally posted by UnixMac
Long history short..
...I configured my terminal to be translucent so I can run an app called "top" from the terminal and see everything going on in my Mac without getting in my way.
Have fun..
a nifty idea, really. do you know how to make the window floating?
Two question:
-Is there any way to use the up and down arrows to scroll through a message in Mail. When I use the up and down arrows, even when the message is sleected in the "preview" panel it scrolls to the next message instead of in the selected message. I liked that in Outlook Express.
-Is there any way to get properties on an image while browsing the web. For example, in Internet Explorer for PC, you could right-click an image and select "Properties" to see the location of that image. I really like Safari, but neither it and certainly not Internet Explorer for Mac are as developed as IE6, I find. A toold like that is just great for me as a web-designer.
Thanks!
Bummer.
Originally posted by Kickaha
You mean the URL of the image? Right-click 'Open Image In New Window' is about as close as I've seen...
Bummer.
or drag the image onto the tabbar, though the image will be loaded in a new tab. Granted ...er... a bit dirty
EDIT:
Therefore it would be nice, if, say, dragging or moving an image a wee bit shows the URL. Like dragging a link.