OT....any MAC users out there?

[ldmarcot]

I just bought a Mac last night, and not real sure how to use it.
I was hoping someone could share pointers and the things they use most with the MAC.

 

[mom2att]

I just bought a Mac last night, and not real sure how to use it.
I was hoping someone could share pointers and the things they use most with the MAC.

Well for starters Macs are very intuitive so just playing around can give you a pretty good idea of what it does. Apple also does some excellent video tutorials that will walk you through the specifics.

My personal favs are i-photo and i-dvd. I-photo groups your pics by event, date, and even person. It's very easy to do things like crop, correct red-eye, etc., and if you use something like Shutterfly to print your pics you can upload directly from i-photo.

I-dvd makes it super easy to create slideshows with music, effects, and transitions using either still photos or video clips.

One thing that Macs don't come pre-loaded with is word-processing software, surprisingly enough. I have used Word for Mac for years, and actually prefer it to Pages, which is the official Mac WP software, bundled with Numbers (like Excel) and Keynote (like Powerpoint) in i-work. It's probably just because I'm used to Word that I prefer it . . . can't teach an old dog new tricks, you know!

Enjoy your Mac--we love ours!

 

[Best Aunt]

Well, first you have to understand the round buttons near the upper left of the screen.

You click on the red circle to exit out of a window, the way you click on the X in the upper right corner if you are using a PC.

You click on the yellow circle to shrink the window and make it sit on the "dock" on the bottom of your screen until you want to use it.

Then you have to understand the Finder, which works like Windows Explorer on a PC. The Finder icon is on the far left of the dock at the bottom of your screen. It looks like a person with a face which is blue on one side and grey on the other. If you want to find documents or move documents, click on the Finder.

 

[ldmarcot]

I am definitely going to try out the i-dvd! I have played around with the pictures today and was impressed. My only problem is once I make a change, and I don't like it, I can't figure out how to reverse it.
It did take me a while to figure out the red, yellow and green dots.
We purchased the apple iworks at the advise of the sales rep. It didn't look much different that microsoft, and everything converts, so figured we would give it a try. Haven't used it yet though.....may feel differently after my first attempt!
Thanks for the help!

 

[rs505]

I have been a mac user for 5 years and in that time, I have bought 5 macs. I just love them.

As for undoing photo edits, you have a few options. The first is to just go to the menu at the top, and click on edit, and keep clicking undo until you get back to the original photo.

The next option is to click on photo, and on the drop down menu at the bottom there is an option called revert to original. This is the most efficient.

Also, when editing pictures in the adjust pane, there is reset button at the bottom of the window. I have only used this when I'm editing the picture so I'm not sure if it works once you close the window.

One thing you should understand is that when using iPhoto, it does not destroy the original photo. It actually keeps it. This is good and bad. Good because you can always revert to the original photo. The bad is that it takes up more memory.

As for using the mac, I would suggest just using it, and you will get used to it. If you need some help, the Missing Manual series by David Pogue is awesome. He is a great writer for the N.Y. Times, and his Missing Manual series is very helpful. They sell a Missing Manual for various topics. They have one for Leopard and another for iLife. I just don't know if they are for the most recent versions. But I'd totally recommend them.

Also, the Apple support forums on their support page is good. Lastly, if you navigate around the Apple Support website, there are lots of videos on how to do things.

Good luck.

 

[Sandy321]

Dh has the macbook pro - and I play with it!!

he has something set up on F12 that's cool and I downloaded a Disney countdown counter that shows up on it --
http://www.topdownloads.net/mac/disney-trip-countdown-1-1_2_3944.html

Its where I keep stickys of hints - like hold down the shift key and the option key and 8 = °0°

http://www.google.com/mac/

 

[cassiez76]

welcome to the mac family! i'm 33 and have had apples/mac's since i was 10. i hate windows!

i love the text edit program. i dragged it into my dock so i don't have to search for it when i need to take a quick note.

you can drag program icon's into your dock so you don't have to search for them on the HD.

the other program i love is photo album. i'm always taking pictures of my son and dog when i can't get to the real camera fast enough. make sure you go into the pref's and check flip all pictures. it takes them backwards i not. the video will come flipped. i dunno why.

if you google disney icons, you can change program icons to disney things. to do that, just click on a program icon. hit apple i. a window will pop up. then go to the disney icon and do the same. if the disney icon picture shows up in the upper left corner of the box, click it and apple c. then highlight the icon to be changed in the upper left corner and do a apple v.

we use apple instead of the command key (on windows, i think it's that key).

enjoy your mac and if ya need help, just PM!

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

Macs are very user friendly. I have been using one for years and have converted my entire family to them. My dad, who barely used their PC before, uses the Mac all the time.

LOVE MY MACS