Problems so far:
1.) For some reason, every time I restart the machine, I have to re-enter my wireless account info in order to access the internet. Half the time when I enter the information, it gives me an error message. For obvious reasons, this is annoying.
2.) There appears to be no backspace key. Only delete.
3.) When I installed Firefox, it does not put it in applications. I have a /dmg file on the desktop, I have what looks to be a disk drive with the firefox icon. If I click that, a firefox icon appears down at the bottom of my screen, and some window appears with the firefox symbol in color with a -> to a minature black and grey firefox symbol with a + sign and another -> to a grayed out folder icon. WTF any of that means is beyond me, but when I reboot and try to use finder, Firefox is no in the applications.
4.) When I insert an audio cd, iTunes pops up. However, it gives me no information about the cd (if it matters, it is Alice in Chains), no track info- just length. I can’t figure out how to put the tracks on my HD, I can not figure out how to get information about the tracks, etc.
5.) I can not get aol instant messenger to automatically load when I boot the machine. Is there some other device I should use that incorporates AOL IM?
6.) The camera looking at me all the time scares me. How do I disable it so I can scratch/pick at myself without errantly broadcasting it over the iNTERTRONS.
The monitor is nice, though. That sure is one dainty damned keyboard, isn’t it? They have a version for fat fingers?
*** Update ***
Umm. Apparently there is no default viewer for .wmv files, and the eleventy billion dollar application Final Cut can not view them, either. Apparently final cut refers to what I am going to do to my wrists.
Any suggestions on applications?
comrad mattski
best title evah!!!
McGee
That “delete” key on the upper right hand corner of the keyboard, next to the “=” key is the backspace key. (The forward delete (normal delete) key which is put with the page-up and page down is distinguished by what looks like an x inside a right-pointing pencil… “[ X >” … something like that. )
McGee
Ah, the joys of installing an Application on the Mac… You’re supposed to drag the Firefox icon out of that disk drive and into your Applications folder (or anywhere you want really), yourself.
Third Eye Open
Between iSuck and Vista…im thinking that Linux is in my future.
BTW– Anyone know how to painlessly get the damn bluetooth functions in Vista to work with an external dongle?
Dreggas
Ha Ha Sucker!
Fwiffo
Just thing about the iPremium you paid to get the iPrivilege of using that piece of iCrap.
Zifnab
UnkyT
OMG, this is hilarious! Obviously not for you, but this is second nature to some of us and will definitely take some getting used to for you.
There should be a check box that says something along the lines of ‘Save this information in my Keychain’. Select that.
Right click (you know, that button that some will tell you doesn’t exist) the aol icon at the bottom of your screen. One of the options that comes up is ‘Open at Login’. Select that.
P.S. – Most converts hate their macs for days or weeks. Soon you will be one of us though
Greg
You’re learning why people who need computers don’t buy Macs. Not that Wintel is God’s gift or anything, but still… Stick with XP though, Vista isn’t there, and might never arrive. There’s a reason some of us keep a partition in Linux just to be safe too…
Hank Linderman
I can help with a bunch of this – I teach this stuff in addition to my regular gig. Send an email if you are interested. Best….H
S
Dear commenters,
Lets come up with a valid price for what we should start charging John for each one of these “I need tech support” entries.
Alan
The Definitive Guide to Installing Downloaded Mac Apps
McGee
Actually, I was too glib in my comment in installing Firefox. Installing apps on Macs are pretty clever, although unintuitive if you’ve been using Windows/DOS/Linux/anything else really. Those .DMG files are disk images files… they’re sorta like .ZIP files. Most Mac apps from the internet are distributed like that. Double clicking the .DMG opens it and lets you see inside. Inside the file is usually a single icon which is the application itself. You want to copy that icon out from the DMG file and onto your computer. Many applications act weird if you try to run it from within the DMG file.
Once you copy that file onto your computer, you can place it anywhere you want (though most people will dump it in Applications, because it’s the natural place).
Once you finish doing that, you can eject the new disk-drive that appeared on your machine saying “Firefox” (drag it to the trash), and then delete the DMG file you downloaded (drag it to the trash, too).
After you’ve done all of that, you might want to put a link to the app in the Dock as well (the thing at the bottom that holds the bouncing icons). Drag the icon of the application to the Dock (the larger left side of the dock), and the other apps will move out of the way to make room
Alan
iTunes Cheat Sheet
josephdietrich
Regarding #4: Make sure that under File > Preferences > Advanced, you have the “Automatically retrieve CD track names from Internet” checkbox checked. To import a cd, make sure you have the cd selected in the list on the left and then click on the “Import CD” button in the lower right hand corner of iTunes.
John Cole
If I am asking for help, I am too busy to blog about Cindy Sheehan? Reward enough?
No such thing.
Right click is the first thing I enabled. I do that, and no check mark appears nect to the “open at login.”
Additionally, CTRL-C and CTRL-V do not cut and paste. Any keystroke commands for that?
Billy K
This is true. It’ll be about a week or two, then it’ll just “click.”
In iTunes, under the “Advanced” pull-down menu, try “Get CD Track Names.” Also, go into Preferences (Apple-Comma…KIDDING! COMMAND COMMA!), select “Advanced,” then click “Importing,” then click “Automatically retrieve CD track names form internet.” Keep in mind you have to have internet access (I know – duh).
The camera only turns on in iChat (or Yahoo chat) when you specifically turn it on. There will be a tiny green light next to it when it’s on. Still, if you’re creeped out, put a stick note over it.
Anything else?
Billy K
John,
What you’re used to using the CTRL keys for is almost always going to be CMD now (command). Cmd-C and Cmd-V to cut and paste.
Get this, it’s free:
http://www.flip4mac.com/download.htm
It’ll allow you to watch WMV movies in Quicktime.
josephdietrich
Most things that you do with the CTRL key on a Windows box you will do with the Command key on the Apple. Command-C and Command-V for Copy and Paste are two examples of this.
John Cole
MCGEE- Fixed the firefox thing.
El Cruzado
1) There should be a “remember this network/password” checkbox somewhere in the process. Apple tends to change the UI for that almost as often as I change underwear so I’m not sure where it will be now. FWIW, the current Leopard beta doesn’t work there either.
Also if you have a particularly quirky wireless access point, sometimes macs don’t play nicely with them. Hope it’s not your case.
2) If you have the new wired keyboard you should have both in the expected positions. Maybe they have changed the stuff on them so they are not immediately recognizable as such. If you have the new wireless keyboard then you only have the backspace and can only forward-delete with a key combination, since it’s a laptop-sized one.
3) That’s because you didn’t actually installed Firefox. It came in its disk image and you opened it from there, since Firefox actually doesn’t need installation. Just drag the thing in the disk image to the applications folder (or really any other place you may like) and get rid of the disk image. Also many apps these days put an alias/shortcut/direct access/whatever to the applications folder in the disk image so you only have to drag within the folder to put the app in the right place.
4) Should work automatically when you insert a CD (it goes to Gracenote CDDB). If it doesn’t, select the CD in iTunes and you have an option in the Advanced menu to do it manually.
5) Use iChat. If you installed the official AIM client, destroy it and forget it ever existed. If you use other services other than AIM, use Adium (http://www.adiumx.com/)
6) If the little green LED next to the camera isn’t on, the intertrons are safe from you and your mug ;)
Hope that helps.
Jimmmmm
Maybe it’s because you’re an iDiot.
wasabi gasp
All that CTRL-V CTRL-C stuff is now Command(The thing people call Apple key)-V Command-C. This little change will surely make you want to kill puppies.
UnkyT
In this case open up System Preferences (The light switch in your dock -bottom of screen-), click Users, select your account, and then click the ‘Login Items’ tab. You can add and remove from this list using the + and – buttons at the bottom of the list.
You will find that most shortcuts that use CTRL on windows use Command on a mac. So Command + C and Command + V
Billy K
If you want AOL chat to open at startup, do this:
1. Open System Preferences
2. Click on “Accounts”
3. highlight your account (should already be done)
4. Click “Login Items” (it’s on a bar to the right)
5. Click the Plus Box and navigate to AOL Chat
Done. Close out of System Preferences.
However, check out Adium – it rolls AOL, Yahoo and MSN into one, VERY nice application. (Plus it does not have video support, so you don’t have to be paranoid)
http://www.adiumx.com
El Cruzado
Oh, about opening proprietary Windows Media files, you might want to look at http://www.flip4mac.com/
AFAIK, anything that quicktime can open, FCP can open, so with that you should be safe (you might need the paying version, not sure).
Chris
For viewing wmv files, there’s a free quicktime plugin you can install at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx
Billy K
Wow – remarkable consistency on the Login items, Flip4Mac and CTRL/CMD. We are truly a cult.
Alan
Regarding #1, your network needs to be designated a “preferred” network for the machine to automatically sign in.
You’ll need to configure your network under system preferences. Click on the blue Apple and select System Preferences, then Network. Configure the Airport and select Preferred networks from the dropdown.
Billy K
John,
As a Mac user you can’t be without this:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
It’s one of the first things I install on a new machine.
Also, check out these lists:
http://weblog.mrbill.net/essential-mac-software/
http://macspecialist.org/content/articles/essential_apps/
http://freelanceswitch.com/working/35-absolutely-essential-mac-apps/
Most are free or cheap.
P.S. you should really check out some forums for switchers. Everything that has you banging your head against a wall is the same exact things I see every switcher asking about. You can save yourself some brain damage.
UnkyT
Probably a little soon for mr. cole, but lets hear a woot woot for QuickSilver
whippoorwill
John,
I sense you are developing an acute case of obsessive computeritis. I once spent three days almost non-stop trying to beat the blue screen-of-death from Windows ME. I think it got tired of fucking with me and fixed itself, although I can’t prove that. Good luck and remove all baseball bats from the room.
wasabi gasp
Here’s a cheatsheet for Mac Keyboard Shortcuts.
UnkyT
Maybe the biggest help for your sanity john is if you stop expecting it to work like windows. Most things are going to work quite differently.
Billy K
I still don’t use it. I love what it does, but I can’t install it on my work box, which I use twice as much as my home computer. I’m afraid of getting so used to it, needing it there, and not having it at work (this is the case for lots of other extensions and apps I have at home).
And yes, it pisses me off to no end. I’ve taken to bringing my laptop to work just so I can access my iPod.
Billy K
It’s hard to explain, but think more like…if you didn’t have to go through 4 extra steps to do something. Just think about putting things where they belong. Where they should be – not where Windows trained you.
If all else fails, use The Force.
RSA
Like Billy K, I’m a fan of VCL for video files, though it crashes occasionally, and iSquint for the occasional video conversion for my iPod. I’ll also add Version Tracker to the list of sites that maintain pointers to commercial, shareware, and freeware applications.
Jay C
Yes: first: shut down all functions on your Mac; second: power down; third: apply several ounces of a good single-malt Scotch (internal use only). Repeat Step 3 as necessary.
This may not fix ALL your Mac bugs; but it will do wonders to clear YOUR “programming” glitches!
Cyrus
No list of the keyboard shortcuts for characters with accents? Damn. That’s been one annoying thing about using a Mac. When I want to write in French, or about something French, I have to go to the Insert: Symbol menu in Microsoft Word, but on a PC, I already know the numberpad shortcuts for the most common half-dozen or so. Sure, Macs have shortcuts too, but it’s just not the same.
Admittedly, maybe the fact that I already know the number pad shortcuts for accented letters is a problem by itself.
Billy K
I can tell you how to do a an accént or añ ümlaut. Hit option-e, then e. Try option-e then any vowel for an accented vowel. Same thing for the enye (sp) or umlaut. Option-n, then n. Option-u, then u (or o or e, etc).
The Other Steve
I am so glad I use Vista. After the round of patches last month things just work and I don’t have to post on my blog asking “Help! How do I cut-n-paste!?”
I must admit, before that round of patches, Vista was rather annoying. Now it’s sweet.
RSA
Is this useful? I’ve never learned the shortcuts on the PC or Mac, and it’s a total pain to work through the mouse and window interface.
ninerdave
You can usually hit option- then hit the letter again to get the correct symbol.
Example option-e; e will give you: é
You can also switch your input method in the International System Pref.
wasabi gasp
Typing Accents & Special Characters for both Mac and Windows.
Tsulagi
For Step 3, check to make sure you’re using Glenlivet. After repeating Step 3 a few times, Step 4: Toss the Mac in the trash and go get a real PC.
Sounds like you’re having fun. I could say something I’m sure you’d love to hear like “I feel your pain,” but I don’t…lol
crack
Cyrus:
I know the numbered shortcut to ½. THat’s so I can send the IM ‘I ½ 2 p’.
ukko
One cool thing about the fact that they stuck all the windows like stuff under the command key is that they put Emacs like bindings under control. So CTRL-a moves to the front of the line, CTRL-e the end, CTRL-k kills the text and CTRL-y yanks it back in.
That little bit of heaven is what got me off of Solaris ;-)
Billy K
Bah! I wholeheartedly agree with step 3, but the others are rubbish. “Switching” isn’t automatic, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be very happy.
A “Real PC.” Feh. WTF does that mean?
Alan
Another cool thing about the Mac are the Mac Chicks. :)
Chris Johnson
It’s cute, Billy. It’s kinda retro :)
Jake
i’D love to help but iUse wiNdows so iDon’t know jack about iTunes on iMac.
Don’t tell hiM. Tunch iS about to send the fiRst batch of cliPs to uTube.
Punchy
John, the problem is easy to fix:
Step 1–Shut down computer
Step 2–Lace up steel-toes
Step 3–Kick the living fuck out of it
Step 4–Go to Best Buy
Step 5–Buy a damn PC
This is guarenteed to fix your Mac prob. Anything short of this, and you’ll remain in a fixed state of hell forever.
Punchy
Ok, after posting the above without reading the comments first, it’s clear my whole premise has been well-used on this thread way before me. My apologies.
Ryan S.
Best buy is like the WORST rip off of all time.
I know these people sell gaming PCs, but you can get a regular case and they stand by their products. I own 3 PCs from them one almost 10 years old and it still runs awesome even when running XP. ( yes I do own too mant PCs) Of and their prices and everything( except memory) kick arse
Tsulagi
J/K I’m sure the Mac is a wonderful box. For some.
Zifnab
Down the road, not across the tracks.
here4tehbeer
It gets easier, John. It really does.
I spend most of my life on a 17″ MacBook Pro (which also runs XP on Parallels). When I’m not coding or designing authoring or editing with FCP on the Mac, I’m editing and color timing on a PC-based Avid Nitris. Your brain just starts to adapt (and your fingers do as well).
I don’t know what Apple ships as a “mouse” these days, but the Mighty Mouse is the only way to go (wired or wireless version). Then you get back much of the old Right-Click contextual functionality you’re probably very used to (and in virtually every Mac application). Otherwise it’s “Control+Click” to get there.
Deep breaths. Deep breaths ;-)
And Jack Daniels *does* help…
Teak111
I’d love someone to tell me how to get my Vista LT to see the rest of my home network. Maybe a website that doesn’t cost me $48 for the info. You can run and enter the IP address of a networked computer, but it doesn’t remember this. There must be some trick.
SDM
Flip4Mac plays WMVs.
PaulW
Next best suggestion is to call a lawyer and sue iGreedheads for emotional damages.
Watts
The Mac is a perfectly fine computer, it simply isn’t Windows, and you need to expect a fair amount of “Oh, it doesn’t work that way over here” time to adjust. I suspect if more Mac people and more Windows people would get over the “obviously the way we do things is correct and the way the other guys do it is stupid” mindset, there’d be a lot less stupidity in the computing world. (I’m not referring to John’s frustration, but some of the “ha ha get a real computer” jokes I’m seeing in comments. Like actual examples of political correctness run amok versus examples of people bitching incessantly about it, I see many more people bashing Mac users for being zealots than I see Mac users actually be zealous.)
I think most of your questions are answered at this point. I’d personally not bother with the “official” Mac AIM client, and try iChat or Adium.
You might want to, if you haven’t, read:
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/
And perhaps particularly the “On Windows, I used to…” article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304720
RSA
It is. Just as a PC is perfect, for some. Most disagreements about computing platforms, at least the kind you read on the InterTubes, boil down to personal preference. Macs have well-known usability shortcomings, as do Windows machines. People are flexible, though, and very quickly become habituated to the idiosyncracies of a given environment; they then find it difficult to understand why another environment would arrange to have things done any differently.
By analogy, imagine someone working in a machine shop who comes in to work one day to find that all his equipment has been replaced with new machines and his stock has been moved around. “Where the fuck is it?! It used to be right here!” “Why can’t I do this?! It used to be easy!” But eventually he adapts, and works with about the same level of proficiency as before.
John Harrold
For what it’s worth, I switched from Linux to a Mac. I fought with a lot of the same issues — trying to do things the “Linux” way. You use an operating system for years and stuff gets ingrained in your head. I must admit that I’m more efficient on a Mac than I ever was on Linux or Windows before that. Give it some time though.
Faisal N. Jawdat
>> 1.) For some reason, every time I restart the machine, I have to re-enter my wireless account info in order to access the internet. Half the time when I enter the information, it gives me an error message. For obvious reasons, this is annoying.
You may need to configure this. Check the Apple menu -> Location -> Network Preferences…, then double-click the AirPort item and set the “By default, join:” menu to “Preferred networks”. Then add the default network. This should automatically connect every time you open (if the network is in range). If that doesn’t work then it may be a bug.
>> 2.) There appears to be no backspace key. Only delete.
Desktop keyboards have both. On a laptop hold down the fn key while hitting delete.
>> 6.) The camera looking at me all the time scares me. How do I disable it so I can scratch/pick at myself without errantly broadcasting it over the iNTERTRONS.
Duct tape.
>>Umm. Apparently there is no default viewer for .wmv files, and the eleventy billion dollar application Final Cut can not view them, either.
Grab the Windows Media Components for QuickTime:
http://www.flip4mac.com/download.htm
The Other Steve
I’m guessing this is what you are looking for:
Go to Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center
Enable ‘Network discovery’
That’ll be $48 please. If this doesn’t work for another $48 I can explain how to modify the hosts file.
The Other Steve
It’s more like working in a machine shop. And they take away your CNC machine and replaced it with a file.
That’s what it would be like going from Windows to Mac as a machinist. :-)
Rob
For playing of various video types in Quicktime, aside from the aforementioned Flip4Mac, you should install Perian (http://perian.org). It bills itself as the swiss-army knife for video, and it lives up to its billing. Basically it lets Quicktime use all kinds of video formats like divx/xvid/FLV you might find on that printernet thingy, which means you can load them into Final Cut Pro too.
ether
Retards.
Blake
John, FWIW Microsoft Silverlight will play your WMV files in a browser Window, if you can find someone that’s programmed a page to let you point it at your local file. Disclaimer: I know this because I worked on the product, so yeah I’m not above a shameless plug for it. OTOH I know the quality of the file reader is quite good. Disclaimer #2: the usual, my opinions are my own, I don’t speak for Microsoft, yadda yadda. Disclaimer #3: if by chance you should come across some high-def WMV content, Silverlight won’t handle it, sorry. Multi-channel audio didn’t make the cut for the 1.0 release.
Joe Max
Problems so far:
1.) For some reason, every time I restart the machine, I have to re-enter my wireless account info in order to access the internet. Half the time when I enter the information, it gives me an error message. For obvious reasons, this is annoying.
You should be able to specify these things in the System Preferences (at the right side of the Dock) under “Network”. I’m not sure of the specifics, I don’t use WiFi… anyone?
2.) There appears to be no backspace key. Only delete.
That’s a legacy Apple convention, going all the way back to the Apple II keyboard. Just assume that the “Delete” key is really the “Backspace” key. Or print out a tiny sticker and cover it up *grin*
3.) When I installed Firefox, it does not put it in applications. I have a /dmg file on the desktop, I have what looks to be a disk drive with the firefox icon. If I click that, a firefox icon appears down at the bottom of my screen, and some window appears with the firefox symbol in color with a -> to a minature black and grey firefox symbol with a + sign and another -> to a grayed out folder icon. WTF any of that means is beyond me, but when I reboot and try to use finder, Firefox is no in the applications.
The greyed out folder icon is supposed to represent your Applications folder. You’re seeing Mac-speak for “drag me here!” You open the DMG file, and after it appears in the Finder, just drag the Firefox app icon to your Applications folder. You can open two Finder windows to make this easier, if you like, just drag and drop from one to the other. Many Mac apps are “installed” this way. In Mac OSX, there are “invisible” support files that travel along with an app whenever you drag and drop it – kind of an automatic “install”. Unless an app needs more complex installation with many support files in weird locations, this is the usual “installation” procedure.
4.) When I insert an audio cd, iTunes pops up. However, it gives me no information about the cd (if it matters, it is Alice in Chains), no track info- just length. I can’t figure out how to put the tracks on my HD, I can not figure out how to get information about the tracks, etc.
You need to set iTunes to get the track names from CCD. Go to the iTunes menu, choose Preferences, and in that window choose the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Import” button. Check the “Automatically retrieve CD track names from the Internet” box and iTunes will load the track names.
You can also go to the “On CD Insert” pulldown menu in the same window and choose “Ask to Import CD”. You will thereafter get a window asking if you want to import the CD tracks to your hard drive. You have other choices too. You can always import any sound file, be it from a CD or other file, by simply dragging it from the Finder window to your iTunes LIBRARY area in the upper left corner. You’ll see a little green circle with a “+” sign appear on the pointer as you do this, and just drop it there.
5.) I can not get aol instant messenger to automatically load when I boot the machine. Is there some other device I should use that incorporates AOL IM?
On your system drive there’s a folder called “Library” and inside that folder is a folder called “StartupItems”. You can create an alias (Finder Menu>File>Make Alias) for the AOL IM application then drag and drop the alias to the StartupItems folder, then it should launch when you boot up.
6.) The camera looking at me all the time scares me. How do I disable it so I can scratch/pick at myself without errantly broadcasting it over the iNTERTRONS.
Duct tape?
The monitor is nice, though. That sure is one dainty damned keyboard, isn’t it? They have a version for fat fingers?
Take your choice of 3rd party USB keyboards, they all will work. I use a Logitech.
Umm. Apparently there is no default viewer for .wmv files, and the eleventy billion dollar application Final Cut can not view them, either. Apparently final cut refers to what I am going to do to my wrists.
You need WMV Player from Flip4Mac.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx
The MS site gives you the free player, you can buy more features from inside the application itself.
Hope this helps!
“Once you go Mac, you’ll never go back!”