Just got my first Mac. Now what?
 

Been a Windows user forever, and will continue using them. But, wifey just bought me a new 27" iMac for Christmas, and I have no clue what to do with it.

Any must have programs or apps? Any tips or tricks for brand new to Mac users? I'm a complete Mac newb.

Fire up the App Store and start searching, it's like a candy store.

As to every day use, try Transmit for FTP, http://panic.com/transmit/.
JollyFastVNC
iWork
Adium

Trade it in for a macbook pro?

Stick with Windows and get your work done.

Then go out side and live.

Congrats dude

ask your wife for the receipt and get a better "windows" machine.

You will soon realize it's still just a computer, just now you don't know how to do basic things that were once easy. I doubt if there's one thing you can do on a mac that you can't do on a PC.

...play Marathon?

Forget what you think you know about "computers" because you've just left the Microsoft zone. There's a lot of cool stuff in Mac land. Things are different from Winblows, often much better, but different. Of course the cool stuff is all exactly the cool stuff Apple decided you should have, in exactly the way Apple decided you should have it, so you can purchase Apple content from the Apple store. Then to see better content you can upgrade with Apple parts from the Apple site. A Mac is a dream, Steve Jobs' dream.

If you prefer Burger King and want to have it your way, as long you're learning a whole new system stick Linux on it and learn that. Then make it be whatever you want it to be.

Get an Intel i5 2500k processor, a good Z68 motherboard, 16GB RAM, and an AMD Radeon 6950 2GB videocard for about 1/2 the price of a Mac.

I don't have a problem with Macs or Apple in general, they're nice computers, I just can't stand the prices they charge.

congrats dude., install windows 7 on it.

I wonder how many posters in this thread have never used a Mac for a month or longer, and thus have no valid opinion in this matter?

I only ask, because a great number of replies in this thread sounded exactly like I did a year ago - before buying myself a 8GB i7 MacBook Pro with inheritance money after my father's passing this past spring ...

I can attest first hand that "ONCE YOU GO MAC - YOU NEVER GO BACK!!"

What to do now?

Well, based on personal experience, it goes like this...

1) Look at new mac, all shiny, and think 'Sweet!'
2) Try to do everyday stuff, and realise you 'cant' (Cause its not EXACTLY the same as windows)
3) Panic ! Use Bootcamp to install Win 7, and think... Well, it 'Looks nice'
4) Play about with os x and realize... Hey, this is actually pretty cool...
5) Discover mac apps, that do exactly the same things as windows programs - But just in a 'Different Way'
6) realize that stepping back - that 'Different way' often makes for less work than windows...
7) Realize that after about 4 months, you have not rebooted your mac once, nor even LOOKED at the win 7 you installed...
8) Relax, and fully understand the great decision that you made !

Enjoy your hassel free / virus free / constant update free, mac experience !

Get some thick black rim glasses, hit Starbucks, talk about what a visionary Steve Jobs was, and then wait in line for the next iPhone and iPad.

This is the part of your life that has been missing.

lucky dude :)

I really don't get why people care so much about what OS someone choses to use to the extent they have to come into this thread and try and make themselves look big and clever by insulting the OP.

Seriously, what does it matter?

It's almost like fervent racism. You all come across like west boro baptists.

Anyway, OP, this is a good place to start:

http://www.allmymacapps.net/

Also, if there is an apple store near you they will run a free series of classes for switchers, explaining the differences.

The first apps I install on a new machine are:

alfred - launcher

transmit - ftp

text expander - removes the need to keep typing the same things over and over

I noticed an immediate increase in penis size. Both length and girth.

.

and my loads got bigger and more magnificent :thumbsup

I'm really confused here. One of you claims to have the fifth highest IQ in the world and one of you is supposed to be an annoying, instigative idiot troll but I'm just not sure who is who and which is which. Oh well. Looks like it's going to be one of those days.

now put on skinny jeans and converse chucks.

control c, contro v?????

command c, command v

I went back, I hate being limited to doing things one way.

Just posting my experience in a playful way. Is it trolling to present both the good and the bad? Is being a fanboy now required? Mac does some cool stuff. I grew up on Macs. I learned programming on an Apple IIe and soon Mac was ten years ahead of DOS. They really do put a lot of effort into doing the best, figuring out the best way. As far as my experience, their corporate philosophy seems the opposite of Burger King's "have it your way", Apple's is "we hand you the best way."

They know they found the best way, their app store is the best, their proprietary parts are the best, etc. and they expect you to do it their way because their way is the best way. Millions of people love what that produces, the fine integration. A perfect example is itunes and Apple devices - they make it very easy to buy music from them, then load it using their software onto their devices. Contrast that with all of the other media devices, where you buy from any site using any web browser and just copy-paste to drive D, the media device. One is a tightly integrated closed system that works very well. The other is an open, ala carte system. Some people much prefer the integrated all-Apple system, others strongly prefer treating music files like any other files and copy-pasting them onto any device any time.

I enjoyed the Mac server that's in the other room. Very elegantly put together. It was a very nice system, until it had a problem. Since it's locked down tight, neither I nor the guys at the Mactech store could do anything about diagnosing the problem, so now it's spare parts.

Do you see it differently?

I agree, mac=aol

No, say you type your shipping address, or sig, or other standard email replies to models etc you set up snippets.

So, I type aadr and my shipping address in full, formatted properly comes up.

etc

It is one of The Best Things Ever.

That's an interesting comparison. In 2005 AOL had four times as many subscribers as their closest competitor. Obviously they were doing something right. You don't get to be #1 and stay #1 for many years by doing it all wrong. Same with Apple - obviously Apple is doing something right. At the same time, AOL, like Apple, tries to create a closed universe. Openness and compatibilty are not goals of AOL.

pretty sure outlook does that

All I can say is you left a very large world of things you can do on a computer, to the equivalent of living in a dome. But its a very slick looking dome, that looks cool.

in my opinion jobs made a decission at some point to have macs files incompatible with PC's files and this is my only grievance with mac... saw a lecture by the creator ceo of aol once... great guy with a great vision for sure

http://fora.tv/2010/06/14/Revolution...ion_vs_Inertia

Thats about how it went down for me. Actually it describes my expirence to a "T".




:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh


I do think that people do take this Mac thing way too serious. I like and use Mac products, but I really do think that Mac people can be a bit nuts. You can really see it 1st hand at the Mac store.


Mac people can be best described as a 10 year over zealous 12 stepper going to AA meetings 3 times a week and telling everyone who has one or two drinks a year that they too are alcoholics and need to come to AA to control their addictions. :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

like harley guys :2 cents: (btw have 22 clean)

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh


No disrespect...


Do you still go to meetings? Curious.

buy some sandles...and patchoulli

I personally like both. After using a Lenovo X41 and it's predecessor models as my primary laptop for years, I switched to a MacBook Air on a whim this past September.

sometimes...

Here is what I did. I bought a macbook pro to just to see what all the fuss was about. The screen broke and it sat. I went to best buy and got a bad ass laptop and was like wow, this is so much faster than a mac, and I can don't have to learn all that stupid crap to accomplish the same task.
Simple explanation: PC's are muscle cars. You build them, tinker with them, buy stuff to give them more horsepower etc. Something goes wrong you open up the hood and fix it.

Mac is like a Benz. The check engine light comes on and you are at the dealership getting it fixed all day and you dumped 400-600 bucks.

ds

Then Mac is definitely for you.:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh JK



Which one are you getting? D800 or D4?


Im going with the D4. Im putting down my deposit or a paid in full on the 4th and come the 6th, I will pay the D4 in full. I want the 1st batch. That will be my xmas.:thumbsup

I'm not sure why you're calling me a troll, in that case, as it seems you're familiar with both sides of the coin. I DID present it in a kind of playful, semi-sarcastic way, I suppose.

buy some headache pills

the d3 works great for what I need, I would like the d800, then eventually the d4x

:1orglaugh:thumbsup

I'm not giving up my Windows computers, and will still do the bulk of my work on Windows. My wife just figured I would like the iMac, so I'll see where I can fit it in. Just wanted to know what tips or tricks I should know for someone who has never even turned one on before.

You do realize that you can import CDs, you can buy music from Amazon or any other source, and it's just a simple menu option to import them to itunes?

that will make a great windows 7 machine.

couple odd things about a mac.. 1. apps don't open full screen. kinda strange but I suppose you'll get used to it... and 2. the file tree seems a bit peculiar at first... then 3. can't run more than one instance of an app. I can open vegas and run a render then open vegas again to look at the video I'm importaning to check stuff. forget about that with a mac... few other restrictive issue like that... things that don't make sense to a wintell guy but seems like great ideas to macaphiles... let us know what you think after you mess with the mac..

One thing that is unbelievable to me is that Win platform allows multiple instances of the same application to run simultaneously which I think is what you are saying here.
To me this a sign of a poorly written OS.

And in general the Win UI is total crap. I can't find one thing that I like better than OSX. I did however like Vista better than 7. Just certain features that I don't find in 7. But theres no going back.

I look forward to the day when I won't have to use Win at all.:thumbsup:thumbsup

I know some people get off on the wrong foot but if it broke and still under warranty then why not take it back and get it replaced?

As far not being able to work on it, again you could not be more wrong.
I have owned Macs since '92. I have never taken one to the shop or had a tech make a house call. I have replaced hard drives swapped out memory, upgraded processors, added DVD drives and replaced a battery on one occasion.
And no, I had very little tech background. Just followed instructions, not much to it really.

and the fucking nerve of windows allowing a APP to open full screen... what a bunch of dicks :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

My 27" iMac is the best purchase I ever made.

Get Transmit for FTP stuff, Burn for CD/DVD burning, Coda for coding