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[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

i tried pathfinder....couldnt see myself really benefiting that much from it.

That's why I'm wondering what about it is worth it. I haven't used finder tons since I just got my mac but I haven't had any problems where I think I would benefit on spending $40 on something just to find stuff.

Edit: And I don't if you saw in the other thread I put what I think the id for my screen is since you were interested.

 

[Tobor]

It's super fucking cheap compared to MS Office though.

And worth every penny. + 1 iWork

 

[celebi23]

Okay, so I got my first ever mac this past week and so far, i'm loving it. It takes a bit of getting used to and i figured, gaf can give me, and other osx noobs a hand.

What are the essential, free (and possibly not so free) apps that i should get?

I bought Office for Mac using a discount we have at work but what about apple only stuff?

Here's what i'm using, feel free to tell me if there's better alternatives, P.S I don't want to run wine, Parallels or even boot camp, i don't want windows on this machine in any form.

Text Editor: Textmate
FTP: Filezilla for mac
IDE for PHP: nothing yet, any ideas?
Shell access: Nothing, i was using Bitvise tunnelier on windows, can't find an alternative yet
MP3: Using itunes
Chat: Adium
Browse: Cycling between firefox and safari
Backup: manually backing up to my external drive for now (i'm running that ntfs fod mac thing). Should I be using time capsule?
Torrent: utorrent
video: VLC (Wow it's way better than the windows port)

I have a few questions as well.

1) Is there a way to import all my pictures into iPhoto (i have like 20GB of pics from the past 12 years or so) without actually copying them onto my macbook and just loading them up into iphoto with all the iphoto features?

2) Same for itunes and my music.

3) Is there a way to make it so that pressing red on an app actually closes it, or better yet, adding a fourth icon for force close?

4) How do you force close an app if it isn't reponding?

Welcome to the Mac side Lost of good reading on Apple's support site

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/ <--- should help a lot

Tons of Mac-specific keyboard commands listed on both those sites. You're going to like it here. I guarantee it

 

[GG-Duo]

Hey, you know how on Windows, when there's a pop-up dialog box, and you can press "Tab" in order to cycle through all the buttons? Is there an equivalent on the Mac? There are times (when I am shutting down, for example) that I want this to be keyboard-driven.

 

[SnakeXs]

Hey, you know how on Windows, when there's a pop-up dialog box, and you can press "Tab" in order to cycle through all the buttons? Is there an equivalent on the Mac? There are times (when I am shutting down, for example) that I want this to be keyboard-driven.

Yes.

It's called tab.

The thing is Return is permanent buttons, and show up as blue colored buttons.

Tab shifts around another highlight, the blue outline, which you activate with space.

 

[Phobophile]

Hey, you know how on Windows, when there's a pop-up dialog box, and you can press "Tab" in order to cycle through all the buttons? Is there an equivalent on the Mac? There are times (when I am shutting down, for example) that I want this to be keyboard-driven.

Yeah you can press Tab. Return only works for when the dialog bubble is completely blue, but when it's outlined, you hit Space Bar.

I think you also need to go to System Preferences -> Keyboard and Mouse -> "All controls" under the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.

 

[StuBurns]

Quick question, can you change the name of the boot camp drive on the OSX desktop? Mine says 'Untitled' and it doesn't look like I can change it.

 

[Flek]

CMD + SHIFT + 4 = Custom-Size Screencap

and if you press space after CMD + SHIFT + 4 you get a little camera icon and can screenshot windows only.

Also for the fun > press CTRL+ALT+CMD+8

 

[Ashhong]

Quick question, can you change the name of the boot camp drive on the OSX desktop? Mine says 'Untitled' and it doesn't look like I can change it.

Yup. Go into Windows and change the drive name from C:\ to whatever.

 

[Hitokage]

Also for the fun > press CTRL+ALT+CMD+8

You mean Option.

 

[SnakeXs]

and if you press space after CMD + SHIFT + 4 you get a little camera icon and can screenshot windows only.

Also for the fun > press CTRL+ALT+CMD+8

Like the one 3 posts up.

 

[Phobophile]

You mean Option.

In his defense, Option does say ALT above it on the same key.

 

[Ashhong]

dont forget CMD + Shift + 3 for full screencaps

 

[Flek]

Also

cmd + esc = front row

and holding down shift while clicking on a stack will open it in slow motion :lol

 

[SnakeXs]

and holding down shift while clicking on a stack will open it in slow motion :lol

Also works for Expose and the Dashboard.

 

[Killthee]

That's why I'm wondering what about it is worth it. I haven't used finder tons since I just got my mac but I haven't had any problems where I think I would benefit on spending $40 on something just to find stuff.

I guess its not for everybody, but for me it was totally worth it because I just really hate Finder. I found it to be very annoying with really simple things and it was kind of jarring going from Explorer to Finder for me. Little things that Finder does like using the dimensions of the last closed window as the dimensions for a new window, forcing a new window to open when viewing the contents of a package and having said window always open with really crappy dimensions, the coverflow portion of coverflow view expanding when expanding a window via the bottom right corner, coverflow being locked to list view, and having to use cmd + O to open anything when I have a perfectly good return key I can use instead are just some of the small Finder quirks that drive me insane and kept me from making the full switch from Vista to OS X.

Path Finder fixed all the issues I had with Finder, allowed me 30 days to trial the software, and added a bunch of new features that I love (Tabs/Tab Sets, Dual Pane View, Bookmark Bar, Dropstack, file size under icon in icon view, being able to jump to a specific subfolder by right clicking the enclosing folder, expanded contextual menu, turn on invisible files without terminal). If it wasn't for PF

Spoiler

and Leopard

I don't think I would have been able to have completed my switch to OS X.



For the OP: Quicklook Plugin List is a great site for QL plugins. BetterZip, Folder List, QLColorCode (to make code previewing easy), FLV (requires Perian), Adium Chat Log, and the MKV edit (requires Perian) are all awesome.

 

[Sean]

Hey, you know how on Windows, when there's a pop-up dialog box, and you can press "Tab" in order to cycle through all the buttons? Is there an equivalent on the Mac? There are times (when I am shutting down, for example) that I want this to be keyboard-driven.

It has to be manually enabled first. Here's how to do it (under Keyboard Shortcuts pane of the Keyboard & Mouse system preferences).

After that it should work just like Windows.

 

[GG-Duo]

Thanks guys.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

as a new MBP user (just before the upgrade with SD slot and better battery, oh woe is me), this thread is very useful.

Thanks.

 

[iamcool388]

What are the differences between Transmission and Azureus? I've deleted Vuze and gotten Transmission based on the many recommendations in this thread, but would still like to know more as to why you guys think its better than Vuze.

 

[SnakeXs]

What are the differences between Transmission and Azureus? I've deleted Vuze and gotten Transmission based on the many recommendations in this thread, but would still like to know more as to why you guys think its better than Vuze.

Transmission is much sleeker, simpler (dare I say more "Mac-like"), resource friendly app but still has tons of depth. Azerues is a larger, clunker UI with needless complications.

 

[Ashhong]

pretty much wat snake said. Transmission is a barebones, very simple torrent program that does everything that you should need a torrent program to do. its very nice.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I currently just use uTorrent (same as what I use on my XP desktop). I'll give Transmission a try.

 

[Alfarif]

Transmission is much sleeker, simpler (dare I say more "Mac-like"), resource friendly app but still has tons of depth. Azerues is a larger, clunker UI with needless complications.

Exactly. It handles everything you need, and it's so sleek and compact... I really couldn't ask for a better torrent app.

 

[Mar]

Cool thread. A new Mac user here myself.

As for the request on how to kill stuff:

Open Terminal
Type: sudo ps -ef (it will prompt for the root user password)
Scroll up and find the process ID (PID) of the process you want to kill
Type: sudo kill -9 xxxxx

Done.

 

[iamcool388]

Cool thread. A new Mac user here myself.

As for the request on how to kill stuff:

Open Terminal
Type: sudo ps -ef (it will prompt for the root user password)
Scroll up and find the process ID (PID) of the process you want to kill
Type: sudo kill -9 xxxxx

Done.

For a GUI solution, you can go to Activity Monitor (Application>Utilities>Activity Monitor) and quit a process from there.

 

[Mar]

MPlayer OSX Extended (Best media player for the Mac)

Thanks so much for this. I've been wanting a good media player for my exhaustive por.... I mean, movie collection. This program is great.

 

[Roi]

I have a Mac for almost a year and I just found out that if you hit the spacebar in Finder you can see previews of everything...

 

[proposition]

My Mac OS X n00b tip is: try dragging and dropping anything onto anything if you think it will do something. E.g. drag and drop a file into an 'Open...' dialogue box, and it will probably work. Apple seem to have absolutely nailed a kind of 'intuitive drag and drop reaction' for a lot of stuff in OS X. It's not perfect, by any means of course, but it is still very nice.

 

[zou]

It has to be manually enabled first. Here's how to do it (under Keyboard Shortcuts pane of the Keyboard & Mouse system preferences).

After that it should work just like Windows.

OMG I love you good Sir.

 

[giga]

Which isn't always available for some retarded reason though.

Where?

 

[Particle Physicist]

That's why I'm wondering what about it is worth it. I haven't used finder tons since I just got my mac but I haven't had any problems where I think I would benefit on spending $40 on something just to find stuff.

Edit: And I don't if you saw in the other thread I put what I think the id for my screen is since you were interested.

I barely use the finder as is..

I put a few folder stack on my Dock for easy access: Documents, Applications

you can even change it so it shows a list instead of the icons (if you prefer).. just right click on the stack and select list.

by my main source of access to my programs is spotlight. Apple + Space Bar .. and then i start typing in the name of the program.. you dont even have to finish it.. once i see it is the top hit, i just press enter.. its all very fast.. no need to go through menus and crap.

 

[Tony Rocky Horror]

If you press CMD + Shift + 4 and then spacebar you can select entire windows. And get a complementary shadow too!

 

[replicashooter]

I am posting in here so I can find this thread at a later date when I too become an OSX noob.

 

[onesvenus]

How do you make the ~ symbol on an unibody macbook pro??

 

[xsarien]

Do not learn the hard way that folder copies don't merge the contents of the folders.

For example:

/User/Documents/Whatever has five files. A thumb drive you have handy contains a folder, also named Whatever. IT has three files. If you copy the folder icon from the external drive to /User/Documents/ the system will do a wholesale replace; both directories will now just have three files.

(That's as best an explanation I can muster at 6:45am.)

 

[RubxQub]

Hmmm...

Never bit at iWork, but does it save files that will be compatible with Office? I'd never be able to use it otherwise.

 

[iamcool388]

I downloaded Tweetie after reading about it in this thread, and I like it so far. A couple of questions:

1. Is there any way I can see a list of all my followers and who i'm following?
2. How do I send a Direct Message if I cant see any of them? Lets assume I havent seen a single tweet from them yet.

 

[RubxQub]

The thing that sucks about Tweetie (and maybe a question I have for everyone else) is that it can't run in the taskbar area up top like other programs can.

For instance: InsomniaX will open at startup and just exist as an icon in the top area versus opening up the application on the dock.

Tweetie appears to only work as an open application in the dock, not as a background app.

...

and as a general recommendation, I recommend getting InsomniaX to prevent your laptop from going to sleep whenever you close the lid.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

3) Is there a way to make it so that pressing red on an app actually closes it, or better yet, adding a fourth icon for force close?

Don't get hung up on this. If you use an application a lot, just leave it open and idle all the time. It's not Windows XP. It's not going to make your machine sluggish. You'll appreciate how you can instantly reopen your most used applications without having to wait for a reload.

Also, the red button only closes the window because OS X is window-based as opposed to Windows' application-based design. Cmd+W will always just close the current window, Cmd+Q will always close the entire application. Cmd+Tab will always cycle applications, Cmd+` (the key above tab) will always cycle between windows within that current application. (Or just use a mouse hot corner or your trackpad for Expose and just click on the window you want.)

Here's a tip I don't think I've seen: assume you're in Finder and have an MP3 and want to put it into iTunes, but iTunes isn't open. Start dragging that MP3 down to iTunes' dock icon, and while hovering over the iTunes icon, hit Spacebar. iTunes will now open while you still have the MP3 file being dragged. Then drop the MP3 file in when it's open.

You can also do this if the application is already open. If you have Photoshop open and want to open a JPG inside of it, just drag the JPG onto the Photoshop dock icon, and it'll open in it.

You can also drag things between windows in Expose. Start dragging something, open Expose (I find it's easiest to do this with a hot corner or with the keyboard button that opens Expose), and drop the file in another window while in Expose.

 

[LCfiner]

A little program that I got for free with macheist that i think is cool is called "Fresh".

It shows you a big row of images of recently accessed files and folders. and you can manually add items to this row of images. so, if you find you're always using the same 5 images or documents, you can have one click access to the them by invoking the program.

It ALSO adds a great tagging utility ( which is also given away separately as "tagit" if you don't want Fresh) that you can use to drag multiple files over and add tags for spotlight searching.

one of the failures of OS X is the lack of built in bulk tagging. this little utility can use a screen edge as a drop zone. you can drag in multiple files and then add as many tags as you want for those files

very handy.

 

[Kabuki Quantum Lover]

And now for my favorite little trick for people new to OS X, and something I use literally all the time:

When buying something online or paying a bill, select Print, then hit the PDF drop down and choose "Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder". The first time you do it, the folder will be created in your Documents folder.

:O

I did not know this! I've been using screen captures for years... Years! (well, 2 years)

 

[aparisi2274]

The thing that sucks about Tweetie (and maybe a question I have for everyone else) is that it can't run in the taskbar area up top like other programs can.

For instance: InsomniaX will open at startup and just exist as an icon in the top area versus opening up the application on the dock.

Tweetie appears to only work as an open application in the dock, not as a background app.

...

and as a general recommendation, I recommend getting InsomniaX to prevent your laptop from going to sleep whenever you close the lid.

When I run Tweetie on my mac, it puts the icon up top on the "taskbar" and everytime a tweet comes over it turns blue so I know there are new tweets.

I didnt do anything special to get it to run on the taskbar, I just installed the program like normal.

 

[RubxQub]

When I run Tweetie on my mac, it puts the icon up top on the "taskbar" and everytime a tweet comes over it turns blue so I know there are new tweets.

I didnt do anything special to get it to run on the taskbar, I just installed the program like normal.

I have it up there as well, but it's also always in the dock as a launched application.

Looking to just have it in the taskbar area (wtf is that area really called?)

 

[aparisi2274]

I have it up there as well, but it's also always in the dock as a launched application.

Looking to just have it in the taskbar area (wtf is that area really called?)

If you do not have it in the dock by default (like I do), how do you launch the app? Do you have it on the desktop somewhere? or do you just go into the applications folder on the Mac HD and launch it from there? If you have it on the dock by default, have you tried to remove it from the dock and then just launch it from the applications folder?

 

[RubxQub]

If you do not have it in the dock by default (like I do), how do you launch the app? Do you have it on the desktop somewhere? or do you just go into the applications folder on the Mac HD and launch it from there? If you have it on the dock by default, have you tried to remove it from the dock and then just launch it from the applications folder?

I have it set to launch at startup, so I'm hoping that I can have it launch at startup without having it show up in the dock.

Twitterific did this and I was hoping that Tweetie would as well.

 

[koam]

I know the usb is meant for printer only, but is there some kind of hack or anything for the airport express so it can share an external hard drive?

 

[infiniteloop]

I know the usb is meant for printer only, but is there some kind of hack or anything for the airport express so share an external hard drive?

Not for the Express, no.

 

[The Main Event]

If you're using Safari, drag your mouse over a word and hit "ctrl+cmd+d" to open a bubble with Dictionary.

Select file and hit spacebar to preview pretty much any files without loading a program. VERY useful for me for photos/videos and iWork files.

If your dock is cluttered, and have a lot of files on your HD Quicksilver is a must (instead of using Spotlight). Great couple of tutorials here.

Delicious Library 2 ($40) for managing your movie/music/videogames collection.

Handbrake to rip off from a DVD with H.264 or MPEG-4.

 

[koam]

Not for the Express, no.

Ugh, I don't want to spend an extra $80 just for the hdd support, that's a bit ridiculous.

Are there any cheap non-apple wireless N routers that can share hdd and don't suck / lose signal?