Brand New Mac Convert... HELP!

[Lee McIntyre]

Hi all

I've literally just this second had my brand new Mac Book Pro delivered and I can't wait to get stuck in.

This is the first time I've used a Mac and I'm looking forward to having a play and learning as I go.

While I'm doing that I thought I'd post here and ask any existing Mac users for any cool tips that I really should know about?

Are there any programs you'd recommend I use, or any shortcuts that you discovered that will make my life easier?

If you have any tips and tricks in terms of how to get the most of this beast, increase my working productivity, or just have a more enjoyable user experience then I'd love to hear from you....

Thanks in advance as always!

Lee McIntyre

[Derek_The_Nomad]

I love having this setup:

1. Go to system preferences
2. Click on Expose and Spaces
3. Make sure spaces is enabled. Click on the Expose tab.
4. Put 'All Windows' in the top right corner
5. Put 'Desktop' in the bottom left

When you scroll your mouse to top right it will organize all the programs you're currently using on the screen so you can easily click it and go.

When you scroll to the bottom left it will take you to the desktop.

[Jim Stewart]

Lee, welcome to the world of Mac!

Mate, it might be easier to recommend stuff if you tell us what you are planning to use your MacBook for....

Otherwise you will end up with a mishmash of programs and utils and that will probably just drive you crazy...

[Mary Green]

Well for me the biggest thing was realizing i could control all of the software from the top file menu, with each software that is active the name next to the apple in the top left changes. Figuring that out was great.

Other than that I have used of the following links:

Best Mac Software.org - The Best Software for Mac OS X (OSX)
Pure Mac: Software for Macintosh

i love the following software:
adiumx for im
skitch for screenshots and fast sharing of them
bean for word editing
neo office or open office
firefox
burn

and the dashboard

i also like using the search on the top right as a calculator

Hope it Helps,
Mary

[Ronnie Nijmeh]

Welcome to the Mac world! It's greener here

I'd recommend using Apple iWork for any of your page layout, editing, presentation-creating needs. It's a breeze to use and it's super easy.

There's also Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac which blows Office for PC out of the water (at least in my humble opinion!).

For file synchronization and backup, I always recommend the free service: Dropbox - Home - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy.

Other than that, just click around and discover the neat little hidden gems (i.e. Photo Booth - record your IM videos in a breeze).

Best of luck!

Ronnie

[Noah Fleming]

Woohoo! Welcome to the club!
You'll be a very happy camper!

Mary has pointed a few nice apps.

VMWare if you want or need to run XP.

[Jill Carpenter]

screenflow
keynote

Be sure to get a backup drive for time machine.

For the software that comes with it I just noticed recently a 1 step DVD button in idvd. Very cool - plug in the camera and do NOT rewind. The program uses the rewind timecode to know how much to record, it sucks in your video and instantly prints it to a dvd. Literally a one click solution. You will need ample space on your drive depending on how long your video is.

I usually use other stuff, but once in a while I start playing with the built in apps and I'm amazed.

[Brian McElroy]

GOTTA get Screenflow Lee! It's sick for screen capture vids.

-Brian

[jbreezy]

Get NeoOffice

FireFox

Filezilla - FTP prog

[Eric Reed]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Nijmeh

Welcome to the Mac world! It's greener here

I'd recommend using Apple iWork for any of your page layout, editing, presentation-creating needs. It's a breeze to use and it's super easy.

There's also Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac which blows Office for PC out of the water (at least in my humble opinion!).

For file synchronization and backup, I always recommend the free service: Dropbox - Home - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy.

Other than that, just click around and discover the neat little hidden gems (i.e. Photo Booth - record your IM videos in a breeze).

Best of luck!

Ronnie

Welcome to the world of the Mac!

I agree, get any version (2004 -08) of Microsoft Office so you can access word file and use Excel and Power Point.

Also, get a separate hard drive and fire up Time Machine, you nenver know when you might need it.

FInally add or remove program you use the most to Dock bar for easy access and get ready to be amazed by the superior image and video quality.

Eric

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Pandora Jam - Listen to Radio of bands that you like... It plays similar artists and automatically dumps them into iTunes

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--Double Post-- my bad

[Lee McIntyre]

Thanks everyone for the tips. This has been a huge help.

And I have to say that I think I'm in love! It's early days but so far I'm liking what I'm seeing.

Cheers!

Lee McIntyre

[Steven Fullman]

Lee - long time no speak!

I'm so glad to see you becoming the successful marketer you deserve to be. You're one of the good guys, and you've stuck to your principles. Well done!

Anyway - no specific Mac tips from me, except to make a point of listening to the MacBreak Weekly podcast. Very entertaining (and informative)

Oh, and maybe a copy of Parallels/VMWare in case you need to step back into the world of Winblows from time to time.

All the best, Lee.

Steve