Newbie Here..

WurdLuvrGrl · 07-07-2003, 01:15 AM

Hi all:
I'm a newbie to this site, and (gulp) not yet a Mac user.. and that's why I write.
I have never owned a Mac, but consistant problems with my PC (including 3 crashes) led me to CompUsa yesterday where I stumbled upon the beautiful PowerMac G4... and now I have to have it.
I have spent the better part of this beautiful New England day inside getting the scoop on everything Mac. I'm even more convinced now that I want one!
Truth be told, about 6 months ago I was considering a purchase of the equally astounding PowerBook, so I did some minor skimming of the internet for reviews and such. I liked what I read, but was still unsure if I wanted to learn a new OS platform. But in my reading today I learned that the switch is not as difficult as I imagined. And my love for researching stuff makes using a Mac a challenge I look forward to. I can't wait to get started!
I got my first personal computer 3 years ago (which doesn't seem like much in this day & age) as a birthday gift. I dove into it head first and less than a year later I was considered a power user. I'd get calls from friends asking how to do this & that. Switching to a Mac will end all that glory, but I just know it'll be worth it.
Using Windows-based applications, I was able to design a couple of websites, manage our drywall business, investigate our genealogy, print cards & labels, etc. I was a little worried that finding Mac programs which could use/do the same types of stuff would be difficult, but I found some tonight.. so I'm all excited and can't wait to go pick up my new Mac later this week.
I hear there's a new G5 out, or coming out.. Very kewl. I read something about the G5 running quieter than the G4.. hmm.. is the G4 pretty loud?
I also hear that they're upgrading the Jaguar platform to something called the Panther later this year. What's with the big frisky cats? (lol)
So, anyhow, I'm writing to ask for your help in sorting out the various silly questions a newbie like me has... such as:
I've read a bit about something called Finder.. what is that? Is that like my pc's Search utility?
What is the factory installed browser like? Similar to IE? What other browsers are out there? Is it difficult to import my favorites?
How's the mail program? Is it pretty good, or should I consider using the one that Office:Mac has (I think it starts with an E)? Does the mail program have a newsreader like Outlook Express does or would I have to find one?
I use a cable modem but have only seen the 56k modem mentioned in the specs. Do I have to purchase/install a NIC or does a card come installed and I just overlooked it?
My pc has a Plug & Play program for when I hook up new gadgets.. will my Mac have a similar utility?
Is there a built-in program for burning DvD's?
What about a peer-to-peer program to download mp3's? I use WinMx now. What kinds of similar Mac programs are available?
Has anyone used any of the following programs..
Microsoft Office vX:Mac?
Reunion 8?
AppleWorks?
Norton SystemWorks 3?
BBEdit?
I read that Rage Software's Macintosh Explorer is similar to Windows Explorer (which I use quite a bit). Ever try it? What about Rage's WebDesign software..?
I used Norton Systemworks on this PC, before the last crash, and liked it. Are there big changes in the Mac version?
Do you know of a good stationary/card/label maker program that I could buy? I use PrintArtist now, but they don't have a Mac version available.

As I said, I'm super excited about getting my new Apple. I was hoping to get some feedback as to what problems I might expect during the switch from PC, and an idea about what types of programs I should definitely consider installing to improve my overall fun-level.
Is anyone out here a reformer?? Any and all info about your love/hate relationship with your Mac and/or Mac programs is greatly appreciated

Thanks all, and I look forward to be a part of the Mac world!!
~Brandie

ps. I found a good page with links to Mac sites and stuff at Dr. Mac's OsX Files site if anyone wishes to see what I've been up to all day

djn1 · 07-07-2003, 03:33 AM

Welcome to the Mac

Here's some answers to some of your questions:

The best place to browse Mac sofware is VersionTracker.

G4's are no louder than there PC equivalents.

The Finder is the Mac equivalent of the PC desktop; i.e. it's where you can access your files, open folders etc.

The factory installed browser is IE but Safari is better and importing your favourites shouldn't be a problem.

The mail programme is well received but, personally, I use Entourage (Microsoft Office) which has a built-in newsreader.

You may be able to use your existing cable modem - you'd need to give us more details.

Yes, Mac's do plug-and-play - often much better than PC's.

... and there are answers to your other questions but - for the moment - I've run out of time.

freimacosxheit · 07-07-2003, 04:58 AM

Do not worry about the switch as Mac is so user-friendly and software for audio-video applications are available with OS.

G5 won't be available for laptop. Hence Powerbook or iBook will be your choice.

I use Acquisition to download MP3 and all types of data in cyberspace.

Free or shareware software must have are:

Graphic Converter
Stuffit Lite
BBEdit Lite
RealOne Player (Basic)
Windows Media Player
Mozilla or Netscape browsesrs
- To be used as simple webpage designs
fetch (ftp client)

Free fax software will be available in the next OS upgrage Panther, which will comes with more than 100 new features.

Welcome on board and have fun with your Mac!!!!

JayBee · 07-07-2003, 07:44 AM

** WARNING - LONG RAMBLING POST AHEAD **

Yup - welcome to the Mac.

First things first - as with any operating system migration, the thing that will cause most headaches is the tendency to try and make the new OS as much like your old OS as possible. My first task on moving to OS X was to run a "plain vanilla" installation for about a month. I didn't put any 3rd party "improvemets" on my system, and as such I learned a shed load about the OS. Installing things like Fruit Menu will make your OS more "windows" like (Fruit Menu turns the Apple menu into a "start" menu of sorts), but that will kind of defeat the point.

Secondly, you'll be very surprised at the variety of software available for the Mac. You'll also be surprised at how "featureless" some of the software appears. This is a fundamental difference between OS X and Windows.

To illustrate, let's take Entourage and compare to the "built in" solutions provided by OS X.

Entourage is an excellent app, providING all the functionality of outlook (PIM, contact logging, news reading, mail handling etc). It's got a nicer interface too, with more "up front" so you don't have to trawl through a load of menus to get to an oft-used option.

This sort of "one stop shop" behaviour is very MicroSoft. MS specialises in producing monolithic software that does a lot of things pretty well.

OS X is a much more component-based workspace. Instead of having one app to do all this, OS X has Mail, iCal, Address Book, Stickies, iSync, Safari etc. Each app is designed to do ONE task, and do it very well - Mail can concentrate on sending, receiving and filing email because it doesn't have to worry about handling your addresses and calendar.

These apps work TOGETHER to produce an experience very much like Entourage, but if you never use your calendar software, you don't have to have it running and slowing things down. Entourage doesn't give you that option.

This introduces another OS X "foible" - it is perfectly usual for me to have 20 apps all open and running at one time during a typical workday. These apps work together pretty seamlessly, and most of the time I forget they're running.

So, the point (there IS one) is that a lot of your Windows apps won't have a "mac equivalent", but you will be able to pick up a number of smaller apps (from VersionTracker) that work together to give you the functionality you actually NEED without the bloat of the stuff that you never really use.

Anyway, on to some specific points:

Finder
As already said, Finder is the Mac equivalent of "Explorer" - it provides your way into the OS, gives you a desktop, GUI, and fun stuff like "column view" - a must if you're used to the "folders" panel in Explorer.

OS X's file system takes a little getting used to. It's a true "multi-user" system - even if you are the only User on the system, you're still "restricted" to saving all your files in your "home" folder. This isn't as restricted as it seems, and you should resist the urge to move everything to the top level of your harddisk. Keeping everything in your home folder makes backing up easier, and you don't have to worry about security etc if you add more users in future.

Browser
The factory installed browser is IE! Strange though it may seem, IE is actually just as "good" on OS X as it is on Windows - many argue that it's better. Mac and Windows IE have (well, had before MS announced it was no longer developing Mac IE) different development teams, so Mac IE handles a little differently to Windows.

The general concensus is that IE is not that great compared to some other browsers on the Mac. Its page rendering isn't that bad (IMHO), but it's pretty featureless when compared to others on the Mac.

My current browser is Safari, Apple's browser. It's buggy, but it's streamlined and I find its interface suitably clutter-free.

The Mozilla/Netscape beast is here too, but I'd recommend one of the "new breed" of mozilla based browsers over the bohemiath MZ/NS suites. Camino or Phoenix are excellent.

If you do a lot of news reading, I believe that MZ/NS has some capability. OS X doesn't have a built in news reader that I'm aware of.

Office
I may have slagged off Entourage, but Office:mac v.x is a great suite. There ARE alternatives (AppleWorks, OpenOffice), but Office is the industry standard, so if you're doing anything cross-platform, it's the weapon of choice.

One caveat. The files produced by Office on the Mac are completely compatible with Windows (a .doc is a .doc these days), but there have been reports of Mail having difficulty sending Office files to PCs. I haven't had this problem, but something to watch for.

Generally if you save something as a file that a PC can understand (.doc, .jpg, .pdf etc), then it WILL work on a PC. The days of converting things are pretty much over. Well, for the files I use

Cable Modem
It all depends on the modem. The G4 has a 56k modem, and a fast network port onboard. If the cable modem isn't OS X friendly, you could always network the PC and Mac together, shareing the PC's connection with the Mac.

I'd be liable to recommend ditching the modem (if you can afford it) and going with a router. This means that you buy a network hub for all your machines, and it's the HUB that connects to the internet. You then don't have to worry about the modem "not working" with any future OS upgrades.

Plug n play
Hahaha!

Sorry. Plug n play is done so terribly in Windows that you'll wonder why you ever thought it wasn't broken.

With Windows, you plug in the hardware, it auto-detects it, installs some software, fires up the installation program, has you install drivers from a CD, reboots, then you have to install the software to use with the peripheral...

With OS X (and new hardware), I've always plugged it in and ... nothing happened. Except that suddenly the device works. No rebooting (generally), and very often no driver installation. Recent examples : my scanner, my floppy drive, my trackball, my printer, my bluetooth adapter...

Some people had terrible experiences with older hardware, but at its worst I've never found OS X to be any WORSE than Windows plug n play. Most of the time, it's a lot less painful too

DVD burning
As long as you buy a DVD burner with your Mac, they'll throw in iLife which includes iDVD. I haven't used it, but it's supposed to be great.

Peer to peer
Another "think different" area. No KaZaa here, but we do have Acquisition, an excellent search app that lets you filter by bitrate, album, artist etc etc. If you've used iTunes (and you will - it's excellent), the interface is very similar.

Don't forget that if you're in the US, you can use iTunes to access the Music Store. Beware though, the addictive nature of this facility has led to it being renamed "iCrack" by those with a serious habit. It usually then gets renamed "iPoor", then "iHungry", finally to be named "iBankrupt"...

Office
See above. It's a top suite, with a fair amount of "Mac touch" and a lot of Photoshop-esque floating pallets. Handy

AppleWorks
Nice, but cut down compared to Office. What do you actually USE Office for? Chances are that AppleWorks does that too.

BBEdit
There used to be a free version of BBEdit called BBEdit Lite. BareBones (The BB of BBEdit) Software recently announced that it was being discontinued. The old version is still about, and is still free and legal to distribute. Give that a go.

I'd recommend purchasing BBEdit if you're planning on doing coding (including web design) on a Mac. There's a joke in one of the offices I work in that you haven't finished installing OS X till you've got BBEdit on it...

I design websites for a living, and my usual design cycle is 30% Macromedia Fireworks, 10% Dreamweaver (for layout), 60% BBEdit for stitching it all together.

Rage
Haven't used Mac Explorer, but as I said, give OS X's Finder an honest workout before going the "where's this or that feature?" route. I spent a LOT of time in Explorer digging around, and it's got a lot of tools to make finding files faster. Finder lacks those tools, but it doesn't need them. These days I spend less time "Exploring" my files, and more time working on them

Norton
I've never found a use for Norton's stuff on the Mac. On my PC, "tuning" software was needed to get the damn thing running (it was an OLD box - P166 running Win2k... chug chug!), but I've never needed anything besides the built-in software to get OS X singing.

I'm also a .mac member, so my backup and virus checking needs are covered by Backup and Virex - both with .mac. I'd recommend the service. Wish it was still free, but I can't really complain as Backup has saved my arse a couple of times!

Label making
A quick search for "label" on Version Tracker

Hope this helps out. If you get stuck, come back to this forum. I visit here daily for tips and advice, and I've been with OS X since the public beta version.

That was supposed to be a glowing tribute to this forum, by the way, not a damning indictment of the OS

Best of luck!

bassi · 07-07-2003, 07:58 AM

I think most of your questions have been answered, just a couple of notes.

My recommendation; DO NOT use Norton Systemworks for the Mac, it's absolutely useless. They had a good track record with OS 9 (back in the day) but on OS X it can cause more problems and bork your system. Search for Diskwarrior by AlSoft.

Big plus. So far, there hasn't been a decent Mac OS X specific virus which could cause havoc on your 'puter. This could all change, there is Antivirus software, I use one by McAfee once a year. It always finds some virii in emails sent from PC users.

There are plenty of browsers out there, Safari is a good example. You also have Chimera, OmniWeb, Mozilla - google for the links. IE is a jack of all trades on the Mac, it renders sites better than the Windows equivalent, and handles most things. Don't delete it when you get your 'puter.

Ethernet card built-in on all Mac models.

DVD burning is built in and you should iDVD when you purchase a Mac with a DVD burner. I prefer Toast for burning data to DVD.

MS Office for X is not bad, it needs some fat cut off the bone but it does the job well.

You mention BBEdit, which is a fantastic program, love it. Very useful. If you're in the market for a good Mail alternative try Mailsmith by the makers of BBEdit. Very good application, solid and faster than Apple Mail, you can get spam filtering and reporting too, this does cost a few dollars.

For Newsreading I use NetNewsWire, there's a donationware lite version. Shrook is another program and you also have Amphetadesk.

edit:I wish I'd read Jaybee's post before I did this

yellow · 07-07-2003, 08:04 AM

Quote:


	Originally posted by JayBee Label making: A quick search for "label" on Version Tracker

Beware the Dymo label maker. It is a piece of C-R-A-P. The software interface looks like it was developed in the late 80s. It will work (usually), but don't expect it to be fancy. I just checked and they do have an OS X driver now (it's about time!).

As for the cable modem,
Cable modems don't care what is plugged into them. Their job is to send and receive data on their 2 interfaces. You should have no problem with your existing set up ditching the Wintel and introducint the Mac.

JayBee's advice on running the OS Vanilla for a month is very, very good advice. This way you will get a feel for what's built in, what you like, and what functionality you want to fix/change/add.

JayBee · 07-07-2003, 09:44 AM

Quote:


	Originally posted by yellow Cable modems don't care what is plugged into them. Their job is to send and receive data on their 2 interfaces. You should have no problem with your existing set up ditching the Wintel and introducint the Mac.

Ah, a beautiful example of theory vs. practice. I've had some HORRIBLE experiences with cable modems. In theory they shouldn't care, but a lot of vendors put half of the modem functionality in software. God knows why. This means that without the Windows "drivers", all you've got is half a modem in a box. Urgh.

Of course, it all depends on the model. The REAL advice (and for all my verbal diahorroea above, I managed to leave this implicit!) is to suck it and see. If it works, top. If not, try getting in touch with the manufacturer (pref via their website - they may have downloadable patches to make the hardware play nice). If it STILL doesn't work, contact your ISP - They may be able to help (doubtful but worth a shot).

Failing all THAT, it's time to saddle up some new hardware. Come back here for more advice

<edit>
Jeez, I put "diahorroea" and "suck it and see" in the same sentece. Sorry about that!
</edit>

Phil St. Romain · 07-07-2003, 03:35 PM

Great replies! We should keep this thread in mind for future newbies.

Hope you're finding this helpful, WurdLuvrGrl! Let us know how it's going.

WurdLuvrGrl · 07-08-2003, 12:37 AM

I feel so enlightened! Thanks all

Now, to answer a few of your questions..

I plan on travelling an hour nothward into New Hampshire to an Apple Store to buy my Mac. NH is one of those few tax-free states, so I figure I'll save me a couple hundred bucks. While I'm there shooting the load, I'm planning to purchase some software. I was thinking I'd tinker with the new toy before I installed any of the software, just to get a feel for it, and now with your (collective) suggesting to tinker, I'll definitely go that route.

I'm not sure what kind of cable modem I have. I know I installed an Ethernet Card in this computer. I'm thinking I'll just call my cable guy tomorrow and ask him. I got his direct number (cute girls are lucky that way

], and he is the one that would come on back and reinstall or repair if something needed to be fix/upgraded.

Although the routing idea is a good one, I won't be keeping this computer. As a matter of fact, I plan to tear it's guts out and beat it all into submission with my big sledge hammer, then I'm gonna fire it up and roast the sucker. Others have suggested I give it away, sell it, or whatever, but this thing doesn't deserve that much attention. Besides, I have some issues I need to work out. Of course, I will not touch the monitor with the hammer. That would be a bad thing.

I was using MS Office here BC (Before the Crash) to aide in my administrative duties for our company. I also used various money management, tax, and legal programs. With my new Mac, I plan to install similar-functioning programs, but the spreadsheet and word processing utilities of Office is what I miss most, and I miss the program I used to write out the checks and envelopes.. I think that was Works.

Thanks for the Norton advice. I was thinking about the .Mac signup, and so I think I'll go with that instead.

The Mac I'm looking at has a DVD-R built in. I'm not sure when, why or how I'd use it, but it seems like a good thing to have.

I'm gonna spend the rest of this night checking out the links y'all have provided, as well as reading more into the pre-installed software that comes with Macs. I can't tell you how much all of your input means to me. I didn't think it was possible to be even more excited, but I truly am. I will be here quite often reading all of the previous posts in the various message boards.

It's great to have made everyone's aquaintance (sp?)... and I'm happy to have folks who will stop to answer my questions.

Thank you all!!
~Brandie

simX · 07-08-2003, 12:51 AM

Just a quick note about label-making: if you get the new Panther operating system (a.k.a. Mac OS X 10.3) when it comes out, the built-in Address Book application offers label making right out of the box. This should be a handy feature.

Of course, that doesn't help you right now, but I thought I'd mention it.

djn1 · 07-08-2003, 03:40 AM

Quote:


	Originally posted by WurdLuvrGrl Although the routing idea is a good one, I won't be keeping this computer. As a matter of fact, I plan to tear it's guts out and beat it all into submission with my big sledge hammer, then I'm gonna fire it up and roast the sucker. Others have suggested I give it away, sell it, or whatever, but this thing doesn't deserve that much attention. Besides, I have some issues I need to work out. Of course, I will not touch the monitor with the hammer. That would be a bad thing.

What you could do - after you get the hang of using OS X - is use your old machine as a server. OS X is based on UNIX (which you'll probably want to get familiar with at some point) so you could install a version of UNIX on the old PC and hook it up to your new Mac. Having said which, the sledge hammer option does sound like a good one

yellow · 07-08-2003, 07:58 AM

Quote:


	Originally posted by WurdLuvrGrl I was using MS Office here BC (Before the Crash) to aide in my administrative duties for our company. I also used various money management, tax, and legal programs. With my new Mac, I plan to install similar-functioning programs, but the spreadsheet and word processing utilities of Office is what I miss most, and I miss the program I used to write out the checks and envelopes.. I think that was Works.

Make 100% sure that what you had software-wise has a suitable replacement on the Mac side. You don't want to get caught having to use VirtualPC on your mac to get some of the software functionality back that you need for your job. You'll be just as frustrated as if you still had Crashy McWintel.
No need to worry about missing Office, Micro$oft offers Office X for Mac OS X.

Phil St. Romain · 07-08-2003, 09:54 AM

Office X is only $189.95 at http://academicsuperstore.com/ ThinkFree Office is also a good substitute at $50.00, not to mention Appleworks, which will come with your new Mac. And if you're really adventurous, Open Office does a decent job with MS Office files and it's free--check the X11 forum for how to proceed.

ebow · 07-09-2003, 12:55 PM

Quote:


	Originally posted by WurdLuvrGrl I'm not sure what kind of cable modem I have. I know I installed an Ethernet Card in this computer. I'm thinking I'll just call my cable guy tomorrow and ask him. I got his direct number (cute girls are lucky that way ], and he is the one that would come on back and reinstall or repair if something needed to be fix/upgraded.

If you have RCN, then the cablemodem will most likely work with your Mac. I live NW of Boston and just had RCN service set up yesterday. The modem plugs right in to my ethernet port and the same settings that worked with my old service (a router connecting to Comcast in Michigan) worked right away.

WurdLuvrGrl · 07-09-2003, 07:07 PM

Hi again:
I contacted my local cable company (Charter) last night and was informed that I do not have to do anything to make my Mac compatibe with my cable modem. The disk they gave me works on both PC & Mac. Just gotta be sure I have an ethernet card in my machine.

I got a few more seemingly basic newbie questions:

What are the red, yellow & green circle buttons on the top left corner of every Mac window? I can't find an answer for that. I have a feeling it's so obvious...

In every view of the Mac desktop, I see a bar across the bottom loaded with program shortcuts. Do shortcuts get sent to this bar after every install of a program (et. al.), or do they end up on the desktop in Windows fashion? Is the bar kind of like a quick launch toolbar? I love that the Mac desktop looks so sleek and clutter free!

Is there a link out here where I can get a jump start on reading the manual/s that come with the Mac? I searched "Mac manual" on Google and got lots of links about the manual, but nothing that displays the actual text of the booklet/s.

~Brandie

nkuvu · 07-09-2003, 07:27 PM

If you buy a new Mac, you'll have an ethernet card.

The buttons are the Close, Minimize, and Maximize buttons, just like on Windows (but in a different position). And the Maximize button works a little differently. It tells the program to use only the space required -- so it usually won't completely hide your desktop.

The bar across the bottom is the Dock. You put the shortcuts to programs on the dock yourself. It's divided into two sections -- applications and documents (plus trash). The applications side works just like the task bar in Windows -- you can use it to switch applications, or close applications (from a contextual menu) and so on.

Phil St. Romain · 07-09-2003, 08:18 PM

WurdLuvrGrl, you should have gotten a manual with your Mac that describes the basics.

See also http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/ for links describing how to perform a number of basic tasks.

AKcrab · 07-09-2003, 08:22 PM

She doesn't actually own one yet.

WurdLuvrGrl · 07-09-2003, 08:33 PM

No, I don't own one yet [

], but I will have one here by Saturday.. and will, of course, keep you posted...

freimacosxheit · 07-09-2003, 10:21 PM

Get this book "Mac OS X in a Nutshell" before starting your Mac journey.

Post your questions if still have doubts after hands-on your new Mac.

Have fun and enjoy!!!!

07-07-2003, 01:15 AM	#1
WurdLuvrGrl Prospect Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Central Massachusetts, USA Posts: 17	Newbie Here.. Hi all: I'm a newbie to this site, and (gulp) not yet a Mac user.. and that's why I write. I have never owned a Mac, but consistant problems with my PC (including 3 crashes) led me to CompUsa yesterday where I stumbled upon the beautiful PowerMac G4... and now I have to have it. I have spent the better part of this beautiful New England day inside getting the scoop on everything Mac. I'm even more convinced now that I want one! Truth be told, about 6 months ago I was considering a purchase of the equally astounding PowerBook, so I did some minor skimming of the internet for reviews and such. I liked what I read, but was still unsure if I wanted to learn a new OS platform. But in my reading today I learned that the switch is not as difficult as I imagined. And my love for researching stuff makes using a Mac a challenge I look forward to. I can't wait to get started! I got my first personal computer 3 years ago (which doesn't seem like much in this day & age) as a birthday gift. I dove into it head first and less than a year later I was considered a power user. I'd get calls from friends asking how to do this & that. Switching to a Mac will end all that glory, but I just know it'll be worth it. Using Windows-based applications, I was able to design a couple of websites, manage our drywall business, investigate our genealogy, print cards & labels, etc. I was a little worried that finding Mac programs which could use/do the same types of stuff would be difficult, but I found some tonight.. so I'm all excited and can't wait to go pick up my new Mac later this week. I hear there's a new G5 out, or coming out.. Very kewl. I read something about the G5 running quieter than the G4.. hmm.. is the G4 pretty loud? I also hear that they're upgrading the Jaguar platform to something called the Panther later this year. What's with the big frisky cats? (lol) So, anyhow, I'm writing to ask for your help in sorting out the various silly questions a newbie like me has... such as: I've read a bit about something called Finder.. what is that? Is that like my pc's Search utility? What is the factory installed browser like? Similar to IE? What other browsers are out there? Is it difficult to import my favorites? How's the mail program? Is it pretty good, or should I consider using the one that Office:Mac has (I think it starts with an E)? Does the mail program have a newsreader like Outlook Express does or would I have to find one? I use a cable modem but have only seen the 56k modem mentioned in the specs. Do I have to purchase/install a NIC or does a card come installed and I just overlooked it? My pc has a Plug & Play program for when I hook up new gadgets.. will my Mac have a similar utility? Is there a built-in program for burning DvD's? What about a peer-to-peer program to download mp3's? I use WinMx now. What kinds of similar Mac programs are available? Has anyone used any of the following programs.. Microsoft Office vX:Mac? Reunion 8? AppleWorks? Norton SystemWorks 3? BBEdit? I read that Rage Software's Macintosh Explorer is similar to Windows Explorer (which I use quite a bit). Ever try it? What about Rage's WebDesign software..? I used Norton Systemworks on this PC, before the last crash, and liked it. Are there big changes in the Mac version? Do you know of a good stationary/card/label maker program that I could buy? I use PrintArtist now, but they don't have a Mac version available. As I said, I'm super excited about getting my new Apple. I was hoping to get some feedback as to what problems I might expect during the switch from PC, and an idea about what types of programs I should definitely consider installing to improve my overall fun-level. Is anyone out here a reformer?? Any and all info about your love/hate relationship with your Mac and/or Mac programs is greatly appreciated Thanks all, and I look forward to be a part of the Mac world!! ~Brandie ps. I found a good page with links to Mac sites and stuff at Dr. Mac's OsX Files site if anyone wishes to see what I've been up to all day __________________ Every great human achievement is preceded by extended periods of dedicated, concentrated effort. Last edited by WurdLuvrGrl; 07-07-2003 at 01:37 AM.

07-07-2003, 03:33 AM	#2
djn1 MVP Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: UK Posts: 1,212	some answers Welcome to the Mac Here's some answers to some of your questions: The best place to browse Mac sofware is VersionTracker. G4's are no louder than there PC equivalents. The Finder is the Mac equivalent of the PC desktop; i.e. it's where you can access your files, open folders etc. The factory installed browser is IE but Safari is better and importing your favourites shouldn't be a problem. The mail programme is well received but, personally, I use Entourage (Microsoft Office) which has a built-in newsreader. You may be able to use your existing cable modem - you'd need to give us more details. Yes, Mac's do plug-and-play - often much better than PC's. ... and there are answers to your other questions but - for the moment - I've run out of time. __________________ chromasia G4/800, OS 10.3.x, 1.25GB RAM, 2x80GB HD, 60GB firewire, Geforce4MX, Iiyama VMpro 455+413 Goldtouch keyboard, Cirque EasyCat trackpad, D-Link DSL-604+

07-07-2003, 07:44 AM	#4
JayBee Major Leaguer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Posts: 437	WARNING - LONG RAMBLING POST AHEAD Yup - welcome to the Mac. First things first - as with any operating system migration, the thing that will cause most headaches is the tendency to try and make the new OS as much like your old OS as possible. My first task on moving to OS X was to run a "plain vanilla" installation for about a month. I didn't put any 3rd party "improvemets" on my system, and as such I learned a shed load about the OS. Installing things like Fruit Menu will make your OS more "windows" like (Fruit Menu turns the Apple menu into a "start" menu of sorts), but that will kind of defeat the point. Secondly, you'll be very surprised at the variety of software available for the Mac. You'll also be surprised at how "featureless" some of the software appears. This is a fundamental difference between OS X and Windows. To illustrate, let's take Entourage and compare to the "built in" solutions provided by OS X. Entourage is an excellent app, providING all the functionality of outlook (PIM, contact logging, news reading, mail handling etc). It's got a nicer interface too, with more "up front" so you don't have to trawl through a load of menus to get to an oft-used option. This sort of "one stop shop" behaviour is very MicroSoft. MS specialises in producing monolithic software that does a lot of things pretty well. OS X is a much more component-based workspace. Instead of having one app to do all this, OS X has Mail, iCal, Address Book, Stickies, iSync, Safari etc. Each app is designed to do ONE task, and do it very well - Mail can concentrate on sending, receiving and filing email because it doesn't have to worry about handling your addresses and calendar. These apps work TOGETHER to produce an experience very much like Entourage, but if you never use your calendar software, you don't have to have it running and slowing things down. Entourage doesn't give you that option. This introduces another OS X "foible" - it is perfectly usual for me to have 20 apps all open and running at one time during a typical workday. These apps work together pretty seamlessly, and most of the time I forget they're running. So, the point (there IS one) is that a lot of your Windows apps won't have a "mac equivalent", but you will be able to pick up a number of smaller apps (from VersionTracker) that work together to give you the functionality you actually NEED without the bloat of the stuff that you never really use. Anyway, on to some specific points: Finder As already said, Finder is the Mac equivalent of "Explorer" - it provides your way into the OS, gives you a desktop, GUI, and fun stuff like "column view" - a must if you're used to the "folders" panel in Explorer. OS X's file system takes a little getting used to. It's a true "multi-user" system - even if you are the only User on the system, you're still "restricted" to saving all your files in your "home" folder. This isn't as restricted as it seems, and you should resist the urge to move everything to the top level of your harddisk. Keeping everything in your home folder makes backing up easier, and you don't have to worry about security etc if you add more users in future. Browser The factory installed browser is IE! Strange though it may seem, IE is actually just as "good" on OS X as it is on Windows - many argue that it's better. Mac and Windows IE have (well, had before MS announced it was no longer developing Mac IE) different development teams, so Mac IE handles a little differently to Windows. The general concensus is that IE is not that great compared to some other browsers on the Mac. Its page rendering isn't that bad (IMHO), but it's pretty featureless when compared to others on the Mac. My current browser is Safari, Apple's browser. It's buggy, but it's streamlined and I find its interface suitably clutter-free. The Mozilla/Netscape beast is here too, but I'd recommend one of the "new breed" of mozilla based browsers over the bohemiath MZ/NS suites. Camino or Phoenix are excellent. If you do a lot of news reading, I believe that MZ/NS has some capability. OS X doesn't have a built in news reader that I'm aware of. Office I may have slagged off Entourage, but Office:mac v.x is a great suite. There ARE alternatives (AppleWorks, OpenOffice), but Office is the industry standard, so if you're doing anything cross-platform, it's the weapon of choice. One caveat. The files produced by Office on the Mac are completely compatible with Windows (a .doc is a .doc these days), but there have been reports of Mail having difficulty sending Office files to PCs. I haven't had this problem, but something to watch for. Generally if you save something as a file that a PC can understand (.doc, .jpg, .pdf etc), then it WILL work on a PC. The days of converting things are pretty much over. Well, for the files I use Cable Modem It all depends on the modem. The G4 has a 56k modem, and a fast network port onboard. If the cable modem isn't OS X friendly, you could always network the PC and Mac together, shareing the PC's connection with the Mac. I'd be liable to recommend ditching the modem (if you can afford it) and going with a router. This means that you buy a network hub for all your machines, and it's the HUB that connects to the internet. You then don't have to worry about the modem "not working" with any future OS upgrades. Plug n play Hahaha! Sorry. Plug n play is done so terribly in Windows that you'll wonder why you ever thought it wasn't broken. With Windows, you plug in the hardware, it auto-detects it, installs some software, fires up the installation program, has you install drivers from a CD, reboots, then you have to install the software to use with the peripheral... With OS X (and new hardware), I've always plugged it in and ... nothing happened. Except that suddenly the device works. No rebooting (generally), and very often no driver installation. Recent examples : my scanner, my floppy drive, my trackball, my printer, my bluetooth adapter... Some people had terrible experiences with older hardware, but at its worst I've never found OS X to be any WORSE than Windows plug n play. Most of the time, it's a lot less painful too DVD burning As long as you buy a DVD burner with your Mac, they'll throw in iLife which includes iDVD. I haven't used it, but it's supposed to be great. Peer to peer Another "think different" area. No KaZaa here, but we do have Acquisition, an excellent search app that lets you filter by bitrate, album, artist etc etc. If you've used iTunes (and you will - it's excellent), the interface is very similar. Don't forget that if you're in the US, you can use iTunes to access the Music Store. Beware though, the addictive nature of this facility has led to it being renamed "iCrack" by those with a serious habit. It usually then gets renamed "iPoor", then "iHungry", finally to be named "iBankrupt"... Office See above. It's a top suite, with a fair amount of "Mac touch" and a lot of Photoshop-esque floating pallets. Handy AppleWorks Nice, but cut down compared to Office. What do you actually USE Office for? Chances are that AppleWorks does that too. BBEdit There used to be a free version of BBEdit called BBEdit Lite. BareBones (The BB of BBEdit) Software recently announced that it was being discontinued. The old version is still about, and is still free and legal to distribute. Give that a go. I'd recommend purchasing BBEdit if you're planning on doing coding (including web design) on a Mac. There's a joke in one of the offices I work in that you haven't finished installing OS X till you've got BBEdit on it... I design websites for a living, and my usual design cycle is 30% Macromedia Fireworks, 10% Dreamweaver (for layout), 60% BBEdit for stitching it all together. Rage Haven't used Mac Explorer, but as I said, give OS X's Finder an honest workout before going the "where's this or that feature?" route. I spent a LOT of time in Explorer digging around, and it's got a lot of tools to make finding files faster. Finder lacks those tools, but it doesn't need them. These days I spend less time "Exploring" my files, and more time working on them Norton I've never found a use for Norton's stuff on the Mac. On my PC, "tuning" software was needed to get the damn thing running (it was an OLD box - P166 running Win2k... chug chug!), but I've never needed anything besides the built-in software to get OS X singing. I'm also a .mac member, so my backup and virus checking needs are covered by Backup and Virex - both with .mac. I'd recommend the service. Wish it was still free, but I can't really complain as Backup has saved my arse a couple of times! Label making A quick search for "label" on Version Tracker Hope this helps out. If you get stuck, come back to this forum. I visit here daily for tips and advice, and I've been with OS X since the public beta version. That was supposed to be a glowing tribute to this forum, by the way, not a damning indictment of the OS Best of luck! __________________ JayBee -- It's all relative, you know

07-07-2003, 07:58 AM	#5
bassi Major Leaguer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Paris, France Posts: 498	Re: Newbie Here.. I think most of your questions have been answered, just a couple of notes. My recommendation; DO NOT use Norton Systemworks for the Mac, it's absolutely useless. They had a good track record with OS 9 (back in the day) but on OS X it can cause more problems and bork your system. Search for Diskwarrior by AlSoft. Big plus. So far, there hasn't been a decent Mac OS X specific virus which could cause havoc on your 'puter. This could all change, there is Antivirus software, I use one by McAfee once a year. It always finds some virii in emails sent from PC users. There are plenty of browsers out there, Safari is a good example. You also have Chimera, OmniWeb, Mozilla - google for the links. IE is a jack of all trades on the Mac, it renders sites better than the Windows equivalent, and handles most things. Don't delete it when you get your 'puter. Ethernet card built-in on all Mac models. DVD burning is built in and you should iDVD when you purchase a Mac with a DVD burner. I prefer Toast for burning data to DVD. MS Office for X is not bad, it needs some fat cut off the bone but it does the job well. You mention BBEdit, which is a fantastic program, love it. Very useful. If you're in the market for a good Mail alternative try Mailsmith by the makers of BBEdit. Very good application, solid and faster than Apple Mail, you can get spam filtering and reporting too, this does cost a few dollars. For Newsreading I use NetNewsWire, there's a donationware lite version. Shrook is another program and you also have Amphetadesk. edit:I wish I'd read Jaybee's post before I did this

07-08-2003, 12:37 AM	#9
WurdLuvrGrl Prospect Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Central Massachusetts, USA Posts: 17	Wow! I feel so enlightened! Thanks all Now, to answer a few of your questions.. I plan on travelling an hour nothward into New Hampshire to an Apple Store to buy my Mac. NH is one of those few tax-free states, so I figure I'll save me a couple hundred bucks. While I'm there shooting the load, I'm planning to purchase some software. I was thinking I'd tinker with the new toy before I installed any of the software, just to get a feel for it, and now with your (collective) suggesting to tinker, I'll definitely go that route. I'm not sure what kind of cable modem I have. I know I installed an Ethernet Card in this computer. I'm thinking I'll just call my cable guy tomorrow and ask him. I got his direct number (cute girls are lucky that way ], and he is the one that would come on back and reinstall or repair if something needed to be fix/upgraded. Although the routing idea is a good one, I won't be keeping this computer. As a matter of fact, I plan to tear it's guts out and beat it all into submission with my big sledge hammer, then I'm gonna fire it up and roast the sucker. Others have suggested I give it away, sell it, or whatever, but this thing doesn't deserve that much attention. Besides, I have some issues I need to work out. Of course, I will not touch the monitor with the hammer. That would be a bad thing. I was using MS Office here BC (Before the Crash) to aide in my administrative duties for our company. I also used various money management, tax, and legal programs. With my new Mac, I plan to install similar-functioning programs, but the spreadsheet and word processing utilities of Office is what I miss most, and I miss the program I used to write out the checks and envelopes.. I think that was Works. Thanks for the Norton advice. I was thinking about the .Mac signup, and so I think I'll go with that instead. The Mac I'm looking at has a DVD-R built in. I'm not sure when, why or how I'd use it, but it seems like a good thing to have. I'm gonna spend the rest of this night checking out the links y'all have provided, as well as reading more into the pre-installed software that comes with Macs. I can't tell you how much all of your input means to me. I didn't think it was possible to be even more excited, but I truly am. I will be here quite often reading all of the previous posts in the various message boards. It's great to have made everyone's aquaintance (sp?)... and I'm happy to have folks who will stop to answer my questions. Thank you all!! ~Brandie __________________ Every great human achievement is preceded by extended periods of dedicated, concentrated effort.

07-07-2003, 04:58 AM	#3
freimacosxheit Triple-A Player Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 176	Do not worry about the switch as Mac is so user-friendly and software for audio-video applications are available with OS. G5 won't be available for laptop. Hence Powerbook or iBook will be your choice. I use Acquisition to download MP3 and all types of data in cyberspace. Free or shareware software must have are: Graphic Converter Stuffit Lite BBEdit Lite RealOne Player (Basic) Windows Media Player Mozilla or Netscape browsesrs - To be used as simple webpage designs fetch (ftp client) Free fax software will be available in the next OS upgrage Panther, which will comes with more than 100 new features. Welcome on board and have fun with your Mac!!!!

07-07-2003, 03:35 PM	#8
Phil St. Romain Site Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,350	Great replies! We should keep this thread in mind for future newbies. Hope you're finding this helpful, WurdLuvrGrl! Let us know how it's going.

07-08-2003, 12:51 AM	#10
simX Triple-A Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 227	Just a quick note about label-making: if you get the new Panther operating system (a.k.a. Mac OS X 10.3) when it comes out, the built-in Address Book application offers label making right out of the box. This should be a handy feature. Of course, that doesn't help you right now, but I thought I'd mention it. __________________ -- simX

07-08-2003, 09:54 AM	#13
Phil St. Romain Site Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,350	Re: Re: Wow! Office X is only $189.95 at http://academicsuperstore.com/ ThinkFree Office is also a good substitute at $50.00, not to mention Appleworks, which will come with your new Mac. And if you're really adventurous, Open Office does a decent job with MS Office files and it's free--check the X11 forum for how to proceed.

07-09-2003, 07:07 PM	#15
WurdLuvrGrl Prospect Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Central Massachusetts, USA Posts: 17	Closer to (Mac) Heaven Hi again: I contacted my local cable company (Charter) last night and was informed that I do not have to do anything to make my Mac compatibe with my cable modem. The disk they gave me works on both PC & Mac. Just gotta be sure I have an ethernet card in my machine. I got a few more seemingly basic newbie questions: What are the red, yellow & green circle buttons on the top left corner of every Mac window? I can't find an answer for that. I have a feeling it's so obvious... In every view of the Mac desktop, I see a bar across the bottom loaded with program shortcuts. Do shortcuts get sent to this bar after every install of a program (et. al.), or do they end up on the desktop in Windows fashion? Is the bar kind of like a quick launch toolbar? I love that the Mac desktop looks so sleek and clutter free! Is there a link out here where I can get a jump start on reading the manual/s that come with the Mac? I searched "Mac manual" on Google and got lots of links about the manual, but nothing that displays the actual text of the booklet/s. ~Brandie __________________ Every great human achievement is preceded by extended periods of dedicated, concentrated effort.

07-09-2003, 07:27 PM	#16
nkuvu MVP Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Tucson, Arizona Posts: 1,236	If you buy a new Mac, you'll have an ethernet card. The buttons are the Close, Minimize, and Maximize buttons, just like on Windows (but in a different position). And the Maximize button works a little differently. It tells the program to use only the space required -- so it usually won't completely hide your desktop. The bar across the bottom is the Dock. You put the shortcuts to programs on the dock yourself. It's divided into two sections -- applications and documents (plus trash). The applications side works just like the task bar in Windows -- you can use it to switch applications, or close applications (from a contextual menu) and so on.

07-09-2003, 08:18 PM	#17
Phil St. Romain Site Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,350	WurdLuvrGrl, you should have gotten a manual with your Mac that describes the basics. See also http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/ for links describing how to perform a number of basic tasks.

07-09-2003, 08:22 PM	#18
AKcrab MVP Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Wasilla, AK Posts: 1,043	She doesn't actually own one yet.

07-09-2003, 08:33 PM	#19
WurdLuvrGrl Prospect Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Central Massachusetts, USA Posts: 17	No, I don't own one yet [ ], but I will have one here by Saturday.. and will, of course, keep you posted... __________________ Every great human achievement is preceded by extended periods of dedicated, concentrated effort.

07-09-2003, 10:21 PM	#20
freimacosxheit Triple-A Player Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 176	Get this book "Mac OS X in a Nutshell" before starting your Mac journey. Post your questions if still have doubts after hands-on your new Mac. Have fun and enjoy!!!!