Old Mac user switching to OS X - where to find beginner help?
 

I've been using Macs for over 15 years, but had resisted upgrading to OS X because I was using an older Mac computer. I now have the Dual 1G G4 which came with OS X.

After using various versions of the Mac OS over the years, this is the first time I've felt as if I don't have full control over everything. I love the look and feel of OS X, but don't like the loss of control.

Where can a beginner with OS X be broght up to speed on how to get around in OS X?

For example, I don't need mulitple user stuff on my Mac since no one else is ever allowed to touch my computer (and live to talk about it). So how do I get rid of all of those extra "user" folders that were installed on my hard drive? CAN I get rid of them? I want my photos in my OWN photos folder, not nested 10 folders deep set up by someone else. Can I do this?

I'm also looking for tips on how to navigate around in OS X. I'm doing pretty good, but I still feel it's different from any Mac OS I've ever used before. I'd like to know more about the "concepts" behind the navigation. I don't feel the booklet Apple shipped with my G4 offered enough info for me.

Is there a website I can go to that will help bridge the gap for old timer Mac users to OS X? I very much appreciate the help. :)

You've found it.


Seriously, speaking as a MacOS reactionary who likes the UI of MacOS 8/9 far better than that of X (and who misses some aspects of Systems 6 and 7, for that matter), I've found this site to be pretty decent at bringing me up to speed. (You may encounter some hostility when you ask how to disable or dismember some of the default MacOS X environment and/or how to make it a lot more like the MacOS you know and appreciate, but you'll usually get your questions answered nevertheless).

Re: Old Mac user switching to OS X - where to find beginner help?
 

The editor of the MacOS X Hints site has made a very nice guide to OS X:
http://www.macosxhints.com/osxguide.php

Not sure what you mean by "extra 'user' folders" - there should only be the one folder for whatever username you choose, plus a "shared" folder under the "/Users" folder.
You can put files wherever you want - you don't have to keep them in your home folder.

Thanks; I’ll check out the guide. :)

Perhaps "extra" wasn't the right word. What I'm referring to are the umpteen nested folders in which OS X created for my documents, and then it appears to be forcing me to use.

For example, using iPhoto, my pictures have been placed here:

MacHD -> Users -> Vicki -> Pictures -> iPhoto Library -> Albums -> file.

I just want to put it in my good ol' MacHD -> iPhotopics -> file.

That would be so much simpler and easier for me. Every app and every OS prior to X has always allowed ME to control where my stuff goes. Now X seems to think it knows better where I want things than I do.

But I'm suppose this is just my ignorance of knowing how to use OS X. Surely, there is an easy way around this. I'd like to delete the "Users" folder and all of the stuff buried inside of it and use my own filing system, if at all possible.

no, you'll need to leave the "MacHD -> Users -> Vicki" notion as it is, for the time being, anyhow. just think of Vicki or Home as the root or highest level folder you want to play around in with your personal data. this is a good thing. if you save all your data in the umbrella of your home dir, you effectively encapsulate all your data and backup is easier.

i suggest you let apps put their required files/libraries where they want, then use the alias mechanism to make your own filing system for your personal files.

iphoto is a poor example. it needs to create and maintain a library structure and trying to thwart it will lead to nothing but trouble.

but, you could create a pics folder in your home dir and load it up with image files; nothing is stopping you from filing your free or loosely associated files anywhere you want.

get a feel for how things work before remodeling the basement, and perhaps the remodeling project can be scrap'd altogether.

That's why I'm asking questions and not deleting folders. ;)

I've just begun reading the guide, and it's helping me to understand the concepts behind the file structures. But trying to convert my old stuff to this new file structure sounds like a nightmare (but maybe it won't be so bad as I learn more).

I'm actually switching from OS 8.1 to OS X. Quite a jump!! And I have approximately 40GB of apps and docs to deal with. I feel I have everthing in complete chaos when I'm in OS X. I've been using OS 9.2.2 for a couple of months now, but I'd love to actually learn how to use OS X. It's just more of a learning curve than I had expected given the number of years I've been on Macs.

Think differently, indeed. :)

I feel your pain Vicki - transitioning to X takes some getting used to.

I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but in a nutshell, my advice is to abandon the old and embrace the new.

Yes, it is possible to alter/tailor OS X to behave more like the older Finder you're accustomed to. However, in the long run you may regret it. For better or worse, because of X's unix heritage, the file/directory structure is the way it is. Changes that you make now might cause big headaches the next time you upgrade (as in 10.1.5, iPhoto 1.1.1, etc.).

I recommend you get familiar with your home directory. Properly setup, it's not radically different from OS 9. I would shy away from tinkering with your root directory (especially System) until you are much more comfortable with X. You can even change Finder's prefs so a new window opens only your home. I also suggest getting acquainted with using favorites, as this will make navigation much easier.

Lastly, regarding multiple users, even though no one else is allowed to touch your computer - it still might not be a bad idea to create another account. On my machine I have two; one administrator, one guest. The advantage to this (beyond safeguarding your data from others) is that for day-to-day use, there's really no need to log on as an administrator. By primarily using the guest account, it would be much harder for you to accidentally alter OS X and risk making your computer unstable (think of it like OS X with training wheels). Only use the administrator account when you are installing new software or making system-wide changes.

I do feel for you - for the longest time I would catch myself going to the upper-right of my screen to change applications. Nevertheless, the more I get used to it, the more I never want to go back (now when on a pre-OS X mac I keep going to the bottom of the screen for the dock)!

you don't need to reorganize all of your old stuff. just drop it all wholesale in the documents folder or create some notable folder in your home dir and drop it in there, and leave it's structure intact. don't make it harder than it is.

i have 15 years of data on an off-world partition. i haven't reorg'd anything. it's still how i set it up years ago.

i've got aliases to my pertinent data dirs in the top level folders in my home dir to make it fairly seemless.

Indeed.

Before the official release of X last March, I was completely disinterested. All the same reasons you have, etc.

When OS X was released, I had just started a new job with a Mac shop. OS X was okay, but not for me, I thought.

10.1 hit in September, and I was _really_ interested at that point. The next month, I got a PowerBook G4 and, well, everything stopped. I stopped thinking the OS gave me "no control", etc., and let it almost instruct me as to how to use the system.

I was using a new OS, so I treated it like one, not like OS 9 or Windows. I'd used Linuxes and Unices before, though not to this extent, but I still had a good idea of how the OS worked at its fundamental levels.

But none of that mattered, really. I attacked it like a brand new system--which for all intents and purposes, it was--and let myself be open to new ways of doing what I'd been doing since my first Mac.

It's been about nine months, and I've never been more productive a computer user in my entire life.

Stuff is ORGANIZED, organized WELL, and my workflow has never been more streamlined. I laugh at Windows users with stuff everywhere they can't find without a find file utility.

This is with no FruitStupidAssMenu or whatever hacks. Straight OS X, to the bone. There's nothing I can't get to in a matter of seconds, period. I've gone with the redesigned flow Apple spent years on, and I couldn't be much happier.

Apps go in /Applications, utilities go in /Applications/Utlities, and anything that's specifically mine--documents, saved stuff, etc.--sits comfortable in my user folder. It's all in one area, sub-organized past that. If you don't want to crawl through /Users to get there, try one of these:

1. Check "New Finder window goes to Home" in Finder preferences;
2. Or put your home folder in the Dock (I do this, and it's quite nice).

Either way, clicking somewhere in the Dock (the Finder icon or the Home icon) will take you straight to /Users/yourhome, and suddenly, everything is transparent, organization-wise. You'll never know the difference, because it makes none, except for the fact that things are truly in one area now.

I could go on and on about minimalism, organization, etc., but I won't. The best advice I can give anyone about adapting to OS X is, well, not to.

If you attack it like it's OS 9, but with a new look, you're not going to like it much. If you really, really want OS 9, use that. If you're willing to be a slightly more adventurous computer user--and trust me, this will pay off in almost no time at all--fall into OS X without treating it like 9.

As for the multi-user thing, Unix is a multi-user OS at its core, so there's nothing you can do about that. However, if you're the only one there, and you're the admin, you shouldn't notice it at all most of the time. The only things you don't have access to are certain system areas, and if you don't understand the multi-user thing, there's nothing in those areas for you to alter, anyway.

My dual shiny copper discs.


-/-
Mikey-San

art, vicki,

there is nothing magical about an admin user except it is in a group that can run the sudo command in the shell.

i repeat.

there is not one thing different about an admin user from any other non-root user except that it is enabled to run the sudo ( execute a command as another user ) command, and can become root (super user), in the shell.

i do not recommend you try and do your work in a "guest" account.

it is your machine. you are the administrator, like it or not. run as the admin, but learn what it means.

I'll be happy to learn the new file structure, and from the itty-bitty bit I've read so far in the guide, I'm already feeling better that as I learn HOW to use the new file structures, I'll once again feel I have control over it. I'm not about to try to make OS X into a previous version of the Mac OS. If I wanted that, I could just boot in 9.2.2. :)

I will probably do a little of both, reorganizing my old stuff and dropping it in my "home" as is. For now, I'm just trying to remain functional with the stuff I already have. I hear you about moving the mouse to the wrong corner! ;)

Not only am I jumping from 8.1 to X, but I have a lot of software and hardware issues to work on. I remained in the dark ages with my G3 which did not have USB, but did have SCSI and serial ports. My printer (serial printer only) can't be connected, I finally got a new scanner, my large 73GB Cheetah drive is still sitting in a box, I need to order more memory, and I've been upgrading software like mad. Don't laugh, but I was still using Word 5.1 and Excel 4.0! :D That should give some idea of the leap I'm making to OS X.

So back to the guide I go. I'll probably be up to speed in about... oh.. a YEAR from now. LOL! :D

take your time, vicki. make small changes and test test test.

get corroboration on any dicey questions or mythology or advice you suspect.

get a daily backup regimen going. strap on the cheetah!

post any questions you have here in the appropriate forum and someone will probably be able to help.

Thank you. You guys are wonderful! I wish I had found you a couple of months ago. :)

The Cheetah must remain in his box until I can get a SCSI card in the G4. I also need to get a serial card while I'm at it. But that's for another thread. :)

Nobody has mentioned the toolbar available in every finder window. I found as I was getting used to OS X, that I relied very heavily on the toolbar, especially the 'home' and 'favorites' shortcut.

Dropping your home folder into the dock is a great idea, as is dropping a copy of your actual computer (in my opinion). That gives you the ability to navigate your whole system from one click in the dock.

Throw out as many "preconceived notions" from OS 9 as you can. Things won't be exactly the same, but as your habits adjust, I think you'll begin to see the beauty in the new options provided.

Keep perusing the forum, and don't be afraid to ask questions. I really don't know what kind of 'hostility' Ahunter3 was referring to, as I've found this board to be more than friendly and helpful. Just don't ask "How can I make OS X look and act like OS 9." That will indeed bring on hostility. :D

Have fun with your brand new Unix toy!

Vicki,
This may run against the grain here a little, but I strongly urge you to check out a shareware called DeFaultFolderX (by St. Clair Software). This app simply allows YOU to select what folder gets displayed as your main folder to open every time you open a particular application. For example, instead of that nested folder search every single time you do a file save, your Pictures folder (or whatever you choose) is the top-level folder displayed, so that you can then directly go to the file in THAT folder, eliminating all the nested search routine. I never found the every-single-time-to-save nested searching anything but productivity slowdown. This suggestion isn't for making your OSX dumbed-down or more like any other previous OS, its for how to get work done faster with less key strokes. Maybe wait to install this so you get familiar with the OSX structure first, but after that it gets old quickly.

What about access privileges? A non-administrator account shouldn't be able to trash (or even open) directories they don't have privileges for.

I agree; long-term use of a guest account is an unnecessary precaution. But for the short run, I certainly don't see any harm in it - especially if Vicki is more eager to start using applications than learning a new file structure. Without knowing her skill level, I made this suggestion to help ensure she wouldn't get into trouble. (Perhaps the safety on a handgun is a better analogy than training wheels?)

Anyhow, it was just a suggestion. :)

As someone who decided to run multiple users from day one on OS X, I would say avoid it like the plague until you are comfortable with the OS.
One less thing to worry about until you have to, want to, or need to...
Be an admin, you still won't trash your system (very easily anyway).

I appreciate the suggestion, but I'm mainly trying to obtain only the utilities I truly need to retain my same level of functionality on OS X as I had in 8.1/9.2.2. There are certain apps and utilities I ran in 8.1 or 9.2.2 that I want to replace with software written for OS X, such as a universal spell checker (I really miss spelltools). Otherwise, I want to hold off until I have a better understanding of OS X. I'd like to stick to he K.I.S.S. principle as much as possible right now.

an admin account can also be blocked from other users...
access to files and directories for non-root users is controlled soley by a permissions mask and a user id and group id assignment.

root has all access to every file on the system, not-root users have to be granted access thru the permissions/owner/group mask.

an admin account is nothing special, they just get added to group 80 (admin).

files (and directories, a dir is just another file of a special type) have a user, group, and everyone (world) field and each field has modes for read, write, and execute (rwx).

a non-admin user is usually in group staff (but you can create groups to further refine the security access), and if a file has any of rwx access for the user or group staff, that access is granted for that user/group.

if the world mode mask is rwx, everyone has all access.

now, there are accessable dirs to group admin, and other groups (staff) are blocked from them.

but, i maintain my point. nothing magical about admin account other than the entry in the /etc/sudoers file that grants them access to sudo to root.

there is root, and non-root. and file mode mask and user/group assignments are interesting to non-root users.

I'm feeling Vickie's pain, having recently moved from 8.6 to X.... Maybe the following will be helpful. And I do it without any finger wagging. ;)

If you assume that Home is the root and default to the home button when you are looking for documents, some of the multi-layered structure becomes transparent. You can use the favorites folders for application links you use all the time and folders you want quick access to (don't be fooled by the name into thinking that the folder is about internet favorites...).

The tool bar at the top of every finder window can be very handy. Note that you can customize it by dragging places you regularly go onto the bar. Similarly you can drag folders onto the "Favorites" button on the tool bar and it automatically creates a shortcut in the favorites window. You can do the same thing with the dock at the bottom, but the dock seems to work best for single items (as opposed to folders). Getting into a folder via the dock is a little bit awkward, I think, though it is doable.

I put documents I make in the documents folder under my user name (i.e. accessible in the documents folder that shows up in home). I use the all-users level documents folder (the one you get through the computer level) for documents that update applications and other things I download that I need once and don't need to back up. It does make the backup process a lot cleaner. I haven't figured out any reason to use the user level applications folder since I'm the only user. Ultimately I may decide to use it if there are applications that I want to back up.

My biggest gripe with OS X is that there is no tutorial. I would have saved myself a lot of grief if there were a basic walk through since so many things are in different locations. I can't tell you how many hours I spent trying to find things I'm used to using. There are still somethings I just can't make work - for example I was never able to successfully get my new iMac to see my old PowerPC mac clone via an ethernet connection.... Fortunately it was only important for moving files from the old machine to the new one.

I'm getting used to X. I can't say it's revolutionalized my life, but I'm starting to like it. :-)

Best,
Shawn

Yes! How right you are! THAT'S what was missing! And I'm very surprised to see Apple offer such poor documentation with OS X. This is the first OS they've put out that I've used that wasn't immediately intuitive, and, yet, I feel they offered me less documentation this time around in teaching me how to use it.

That said, the guide that was posted ^ up there ^ was exactly what I needed. If you haven't read it yet, please do so. It gave me enough of an understanding to begin putting all the pieces together so I could see the big picture. I believe I've actually made the switch to full time OS X now, and will only drop back to 9.2.2 when I absolutely must.

This thread was very timely as another forum in which I am a regular has several people who have either just jumped to OS X or who have just bought a Mac after being long time Windoze users (yea!!). It seems I'm only about 2 steps ahead of them, and they're turning to ME for help! :eek: If it hadn't been for this forum, I would have been completely lost. So all the info you guys are giving me is being passed down to others. We should have lots of happy OS X users real soon. :)

I'm also beginning to really like OS X. Nothing like having power and personality all rolled into one. This is one cool OS. :)