How do I use my Mac....I'm dumb.

[SkyHog]

So I got a Mac. Yes, I sure did. But, there are a few things I still have not gotten yet, and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction?

The home key really should take me to the beginning of a line, and the end key should take me to the end of a line. Neither does. Is there a way to do that?

In both Linux and Windows, to get to the title bar in a browser, Alt-d does it, but I can't seem to find a keyboard shortcut to do it on my Mac. Is there one?

When I have something running that has full control over the screen, how do I switch back to the "desktop' or whatever its called on the Mac so that I can run something else? In Windows, with nothing else running, you can use "Windows-D" and on Linux "Ctrl-Alt-D" so I figure there's gotta be a way.

So - I'll say this. This Mac seems like a pretty solid piece of equipment. The graphics are actually better than people said, and it plays games nicely. Its not too bad to navigate around OSX (I figure because of my time in Linux it was a fairly easy switch), and once I got rid of that stupid ass "Mighty Mouse" things were much better. The keyboard is much easier to type on, and I don't typo much anymore (I type really, really, really fast, and usually typo every 3rd word somehow or another usually. Now I type just as fast and typo every 20th word or so).

I'm going to install XPlane here in a moment to see how it looks, but I'm guessing it will look/operate pretty good.

So my Mac Fears appear to have been mostly unfounded. Is this the point where I'm supposed to tell a bunch of PC users that they're losers and just don't get it, or do I have to wait for a few years to become a fanboy?

 

[jesse]

So I got a Mac. Yes, I sure did. But, there are a few things I still have not gotten yet, and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction?

Not sure my macbook doesn't have home/end keys.

In both Linux and Windows, to get to the title bar in a browser, Alt-d does it, but I can't seem to find a keyboard shortcut to do it on my Mac. Is there one?

Try command L (it works in Firefox. I don't use Safari). Ctrl L or wahtever also works in Windows.

When I have something running that has full control over the screen, how do I switch back to the "desktop' or whatever its called on the Mac so that I can run something else? In Windows, with nothing else running, you can use "Windows-D" and on Linux "Ctrl-Alt-D" so I figure there's gotta be a way.

This one always messed with and annoyed me. There isn't really a button that'll hide everything that well. Oddly enough you get used to having windows over windows and windows all over the place and start to like it (i think this is why..they are trying to force this on you). This way you can use the F9 and F10 keys to their advantage (i rarely do).

The best way is to hold ALT and COMMAND and then click the Finder in your dock. If you hold ALT and COMMAND and click on any application it'll hide every window not owned by that application.

You can also COMMAND TAB to the finder icon and then hit ALT COMMAND H.

So my Mac Fears appear to have been mostly unfounded.

I figured you'd come to that conclusion.

Is this the point where I'm supposed to tell a bunch of PC users that they're losers and just don't get it, or do I have to wait for a few years to become a fanboy?

I've found it is best to be a fanboy of nothing and simply understand the pro/con of every option...you look like an ass much less often that way.

 

[SkyHog]

Not sure my macbook doesn't have home/end keys.

So how do you get to the beginning/end of lines? Just hold the arrow key?

Try command L (it works in Firefox. I don't use Safari). Ctrl L or wahtever also works in Windows.

Command L did it. Yeehaw. I also use Firefox. Safari's a giant POS.

This one always messed with and annoyed me. There isn't really a button that'll hide everything that well. Oddly enough you get used to having windows over windows and windows all over the place and start to like it (i think this is why..they are trying to force this on you). This way you can use the F9 and F10 keys to their advantage (i rarely do).

F9 is track forward, and F10 is lower volume on my iMac...

The best way is to hold ALT and COMMAND and then click the Finder in your dock. If you hold ALT and COMMAND and click on any application it'll hide every window not owned by that application.

You can also COMMAND TAB to the finder icon and then hit ALT COMMAND H.

When a program has fullscreen, I can't click on the dock, as the dock is not viewable. This is mostly within games or movies. So I can't click on it. Command-TAB would not work either....

 

[Bob Noel]

>The home key really should take me to the beginning of a line, and the end
>key should take me to the end of a line. Neither does. Is there a way to do that?

(I'd say that "home" and "end" should take me to the begining and end of the doc)
Anyway, try command-home or control-home or option-home. In my experience,
the behavior tends to be application dependent and I don't remember what the
apple guidelines are.

And try ESC to get out of fullscreen mode.

wrt to being an obnoxious mac fan, I suggest using the reformed smoker model.

 

[jesse]

So how do you get to the beginning/end of lines? Just hold the arrow key?

I hold ALT and then use the arrow keys.

F9 is track forward, and F10 is lower volume on my iMac...

You can change that. I have mine setup where the F keys behave like F keys until I hold Function on the keyboard.

 

[SkyHog]

I hold ALT and then use the arrow keys.

Alt doesn't do it but Command does. Sweet thanks.

You can change that. I have mine setup where the F keys behave like F keys until I hold Function on the keyboard.

I have no function key....weird.

 

[john smith]

The home key really should take me to the beginning of a line, and the end key should take me to the end of a line. Neither does. Is there a way to do that?

* The function [fn] key plus home take you to the beginning; fn+end take you to the end

When I have something running that has full control over the screen, how do I switch back to the "desktop' or whatever its called on the Mac so that I can run something else? In Windows, with nothing else running, you can use "Windows-D" and on Linux "Ctrl-Alt-D" so I figure there's gotta be a way.

* Open System Preferences and select Expose & Spaces. You can set the computer to open any application with whatever key combination you want. Search the Apple Knowledge Base for more information.

 

[SkyHog]

* The function [fn] key plus home take you to the beginning; fn+end take you to the end

This does not work, I'm trying it now (the fn key being above delete and left of home, right?)

When I have something running that has full control over the screen, how do I switch back to the "desktop' or whatever its called on the Mac so that I can run something else? In Windows, with nothing else running, you can use "Windows-D" and on Linux "Ctrl-Alt-D" so I figure there's gotta be a way.

* Open System Preferences and select Expose & Spaces. You can set the computer to open any application with whatever key combination you want. Search the Apple Knowledge Base for more information.

I don't think you understood the question. I don't want to run anything else, I want to minimize everything that is currently running and get back to the desktop.

 

[mikea]

Try [F9]. Then try [F9] while holding the shift key. It's called Expose. The Stever loves it.

You can change just about everthing - and get an explanation for it - is Sytem Preferences, inclding keyboard shortcuts. There is a keyboard shortcut for about everthing and the few things don't have one can still be set up with a pref entry.

 

[jason]

Command+left arrow will take you to the beginning of the line. Right arrow for the end.

EDIT: sorry. I didn't see that you figured this one out.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

<SNIP>
I've found it is best to be a fanboy of nothing and simply understand the pro/con of every option...you look like an ass much less often that way.

That is wise. So long as it gets the job done....

 

[jason]

Minimize all by cmd+tab to finder and then cmd+option+H (I think. I don't have it on front of me). Or it's something like cmd+option and click on finder in the dock.

 

[Bob Noel]

btw - which mac did you get?

 

[SkyHog]

btw - which mac did you get?

I got the 20inch 2.66ghz one. Not a bad machine so far.

So - OpenGL, takes full screen, without exiting fullscreen, how do I change tasks. that's the question at hand. Command-tab does not bring up Finder.

This happens in XPlane too.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

So I got a Mac. Yes, I sure did. But, there are a few things I still have not gotten yet, and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction?

I'll try!

The home key really should take me to the beginning of a line, and the end key should take me to the end of a line. Neither does. Is there a way to do that?

Command-left arrow and Command-right arrow, which I see you figured out. You can also hop words by using Option and the arrows. I use that frequently.

In both Linux and Windows, to get to the title bar in a browser, Alt-d does it, but I can't seem to find a keyboard shortcut to do it on my Mac. Is there one?

Command-L as in "Location."

When I have something running that has full control over the screen, how do I switch back to the "desktop' or whatever its called on the Mac so that I can run something else? In Windows, with nothing else running, you can use "Windows-D" and on Linux "Ctrl-Alt-D" so I figure there's gotta be a way.

Not sure I understand what you're saying here.

So - I'll say this. This Mac seems like a pretty solid piece of equipment.

I'm gonna have to print this post and frame it.

And I'm so happy for you, I won't make you "eat your words" at Gaston's.

I'm going to install XPlane here in a moment to see how it looks, but I'm guessing it will look/operate pretty good.

Austin actually writes X-Plane on a Mac. However, it pretty much looks exactly the same no matter what platform you're on - I wish he'd use more of the built-in OS elements instead.

Not sure my macbook doesn't have home/end keys.

Mine either... But here is what Nick's keyboard looks like:

This one always messed with and annoyed me. There isn't really a button that'll hide everything that well. Oddly enough you get used to having windows over windows and windows all over the place and start to like it (i think this is why..they are trying to force this on you). This way you can use the F9 and F10 keys to their advantage (i rarely do).

It's called "Exposé." For example, here's what my screen looks like now:

Here's what it looks like if I hit F9 (all windows I have open are represented):

Here's what it looks like if I hit F10 (only the windows from my current application, Safari, are shown):

And finally, F11 (all windows moved to the edge of the screen, with the desktop showing):

The best way is to hold ALT and COMMAND and then click the Finder in your dock. If you hold ALT and COMMAND and click on any application it'll hide every window not owned by that application.

Wow, I didn't even know that one. And BTW, it's option, not alt. Alt is only there for people who can't let go of Windows. It's a fairly recent addition that might not stay.

I also use Firefox. Safari's a giant POS.

The main reason I use Safari for most things is that the text is WAY easier to look at IMHO. The tab features are a bit nicer too, IMHO. But for someone who's used to Firefox, there's no reason to switch. And I do have a couple of sites that don't work quite right with Safari - You'll notice in the screenshots above that I have FireFox running in the background with SkyVector loaded. Safari doesn't show the flight plan tracks in Skyvector for some reason.

F9 is track forward, and F10 is lower volume on my iMac...

OK, that's what the fn key is for: If you hold fn, those keys will function as F9 and F10. You can actually reverse this behavior (so that F9 and F10 would function as F9 and F10 by default, and fn-F9 and fn-F10 would be FF and lower volume, respectively) in the Keyboard control panel.

When a program has fullscreen, I can't click on the dock, as the dock is not viewable. This is mostly within games or movies. So I can't click on it. Command-TAB would not work either....

Still not quite sure what you mean here.

If you're watching a DVD on full screen, you can hit Esc, or you can move the mouse to the bottom of the screen and click the far right icon, just to the left of the time. I'm sure there's other ways too.

Games, can't help ya. They're probably all different. They should not ignore command-tab, but I'm sure some do.

* The function [fn] key plus home take you to the beginning; fn+end take you to the end

Hmm. It may be that turning on the "use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" would enable the home and end buttons then. Nick, give that a try. Or just keep using command-arrows.

I don't think you understood the question. I don't want to run anything else, I want to minimize everything that is currently running and get back to the desktop.[/QUOTE]

One function of Exposé is to hide all application windows (see the F11 picture and description above). That's what he meant.

BTW, you can call me any time if you want help with this stuff. I figure it's the least I can do for switchers that may have been influenced by my pro-Mac rantings.

 

[SkyHog]

OK, so I think I have most of my questions answered:

Command + arrows works for me for going to end/beginning of text lines
Command + L goes to the URL box in a browser
Expose/Spaces is really bizarre, but I'm figuring it out
The FN key is location where I am used to insert being, and that is how I missed it.
Some programs disable Command+Tab, and apparently most games that run fullscreen in OpenGL do as well. Seems weird to not be able to change to another program while it is running. Hmmm....

Control C and Control V do absolutely nothing, but Command C and Command V sure do. Command is approx. 1.5" too far to the right to be convenient. lol

As it was in Linux, Transmission is the greatest Bittorrent client ever written.

So my generic question of the evening:

What the hell happened to "Apple" and "Open Apple" keys? I seem to remember saying "Open Apple" quite a bit when I had an old Apple IIGS.

 

[SkyHog]

I'm gonna have to print this post and frame it.

And I'm so happy for you, I won't make you "eat your words" at Gaston's.

Hmmm......I don't think I need to eat my words. I still spent more on this iMac than I could have for a more powerful and stronger PC, which I think was the argument....I haven't drank the kool-aid yet. I have 12 more days to decide whether or not to return it.

 

[Bob Noel]

> What the hell happened to "Apple" and "Open Apple" keys?

On my keyboard, the "apple" key is also the command key.

 

[john smith]

Hmmm......I don't think I need to eat my words. I still spent more on this iMac than I could have for a more powerful and stronger PC, which I think was the argument....I haven't drank the kool-aid yet. I have 12 more days to decide whether or not to return it.

Send the 20-inch back and get a 24-inch.

 

[jmaynard]

And BTW, it's option, not alt. Alt is only there for people who can't let go of Windows. It's a fairly recent addition that might not stay.

...if by "fairly recent" you mean "2002"...it's on the original keyboard I got with my 15-inch LCD iMac (the one with the panel on the stand sticking up out of the Hershey's Kiss-shaped base).

FWIW, I suggest you change the key mappings so that the function keys need a modifier to do the Expose and Spaces things; that's in System Preferences->Expose & Spaces. I don't know how to change the keyboard settings on that keyboard to do the other function-key stuff with a modifier (change brightness, eject, and so on), but that's probably under System Preferences->Keyboard.

 

[mikea]

Nick, You'll want to dump that keyboard (I hated it) and use any PC USB (or real Bluetooth - hard to find now) mouse to get a real left button. They work fine. Apple just can't ship them for risk of offending His Steveness.

You can switch tasks with Apple -Tab just like Alt-Tab on Windows* Use the arrow key to scroll forward and back and - press Q while it's highligted to kill the process!

I still start terminal and run top to see what's going on and will issue a kill when things are hanging.

* You'll find that most things you did on Windows with the Alt or Windows key work the same on a Mac with the Apple (CMD?) key. It's the other way around who stole what from who. Think about why Apple-C and Apple-V to copy paste is CMD-C and CMD-V on Windows. Guess who had it first.

 

[jmaynard]

Nick, You'll want to dump that keyboard (I hated it) and use any PC USB (or real Bluetooth - hard to find now) mouse to get a real left button. They work fine. Apple just can't ship them for risk of offending His Steveness.

I'm not a fan of the Apple Mighty Mouse, either. The one I got with my Mac Pro is still in the original wrapping. I destroyed my Microsoft cordless mouse the other day when it irritated me once too often, but it functioned as well as it would have on a Windows box before that (Microsoft even ships OS X drivers). I got a Logitech LX8 cordless laser mouse last night, and it's great: 5 buttons, scroll wheel, and quite configurable.

I rather like the new keyboard, myself...but not enough to actually spend money on one just yet.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

<SNIP>
* You'll find that most things you did on Windows with the Alt or Windows key work the same on a Mac with the Apple (CMD?) key. It's the other wayy around who stole what from who. Think about why Apple-C and Apple-V to copy paste is CMD-C and CMD-V on Windows. Guess who had it first.

Probably Palo Alto Research Corporation, a subsidiary of Xerox, had it first.

Xerox PARC did an awful lot of stuff that Apple (and others) profited from.

 

[SkyHog]

I gave the mighty mouse about an hours worth of use before I switched back to my real mouse. lol I like this keyboard though.

 

[mikea]

Probably Palo Alto Research Corporation, a subsidiary of Xerox, had it first.

Xerox PARC did an awful lot of stuff that Apple (and others) profited from.

Yeah, but I don't think PARC had windowing advanced enough to consider such things as shortcut keys.

They had Ethernet fully along, though. and laserprinting.

 

[SkyHog]

Ok - question for the Mac guys again:

The weird little "middle mouse button click" window thingie shows I'm in Salt Lake City, UT. How would I go about changing that to Albuquerque, NM?

 

[mikea]

Ok - question for the Mac guys again:

The weird little "middle mouse button click" window thingie shows I'm in Salt Lake City, UT. How would I go about changing that to Albuquerque, NM?

System Preferences - Date and Time

Try typing what you want to do in the search box in System Preferences. It's neat when it works. It didn't work just now.

 

[jesse]

Ok - question for the Mac guys again:

The weird little "middle mouse button click" window thingie shows I'm in Salt Lake City, UT. How would I go about changing that to Albuquerque, NM?

Are you talking about the Weather widget on the Dashboard? If so move your mouse over it and oyu'l see a little "i" on the bottom right hand corner. Click that and you can change the weather location.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Yeah, but I don't think PARC had windowing advanced enough to consider such things as shortcut keys.

They had Ethernet fully along, though. and laserprinting.

Actually, the old computers did have shortcut keys. CTRL+C was a "favorite" of mine as it was a fast way to stop a rogue program on a PDP-8

The "windows" back then weren't graphically intense- pretty much text screen overlays, but they were windows. We called them screens. Some programmers writing for Commodore PETS got the idea of displaying data entry screens on top of the main program when input was needed for a program- we would call them dialogs today.

 

[SkyHog]

Are you talking about the Weather widget on the Dashboard? If so move your mouse over it and oyu'l see a little "i" on the bottom right hand corner. Click that and you can change the weather location.

edit:

Dur, nevermind

 

[gprellwitz]

Actually, the old computers did have shortcut keys. CTRL+C was a "favorite" of mine as it was a fast way to stop a rogue program on a PDP-8

The "windows" back then weren't graphically intense- pretty much text screen overlays, but they were windows. We called them screens. Some programmers writing for Commodore PETS got the idea of displaying data entry screens on top of the main program when input was needed for a program- we would call them dialogs today.

How about Ctrl-S/Ctrl-Q while scrolling. (That's when you could 'cat' a file and almost read it as fast as the characters appeared on screen!) And Echo a Ctrl-G when done so the terminal would beep at you. Wait, those things still work!

 

[mikea]

How about Ctrl-S/Ctrl-Q while scrolling. (That's when you could 'cat' a file and almost read it as fast as the characters appeared on screen!) And Echo a Ctrl-G when done so the terminal would beep at you. Wait, those things still work!

Ctrl-S and Ctrl-Q are XON and XOFF and I once had to type those myself to on every line. On my typewriter. Then I got an upgrade that knew how to do XON/XOFF itself. I don't remember how I got the upgrade. Musta been firmware. Wait. It might have been a whole motherboard replacement by the factory. Wow.

I wonder why I never ran away screaming. I must have been having fun as it was. Now I remember. Just getting that communication working was cool enough at the time.

I want my life back. I figure I'm owed about 3 years by now. Microsoft alone owes me 2 years of that just in waiting for boots and reboots.

 

[tyndall]

Another good widget for the Dashboard is the Aviation Weather Widget.

 

[gibbons]

And it's SO intuitive and easy to use....

 

[Areeda]

Actually, the old computers did have shortcut keys. CTRL+C was a "favorite" of mine as it was a fast way to stop a rogue program on a PDP-8

Sheesh Jack you must be old.

Wasn't it CTRL+A on the PDP-8 with a good 4 or 8K core memory. Yes you youngsters it is K. I remember because I was always hitting it by getting my fat fingers between the keys.

Joe

 

[Areeda]

I'm in the same situation as Nick. I have to replace a 6 or 7 year old Dell laptop.

So I'm looking at a 15" MacBook Pro vs a Dell Inspiron 1525. I tried to configure comparable systems.
I have to say everything about the Mac looks a little better.

Processor is 2.4 GHz vs 2.0, both have 4GB ram
Hard drive is 7200 RPM vs 5400 both are 320 GB
Display is 1440x900 vs 1280x800
Wireless is 802.11n vs 802.11g
OS X 10.5 vs Vista Home Premium


But the Mac is $3,202 the Dell $1,139. If my wife orders it through Caltech it comes down to $2,909 and I still have to buy VMWare and Vista to run Jeppesen software.

What am I missing. Is there another Mac laptop I should be looking at?

Joe

 

[jesse]

Uhm..You should be able to get a Macbook Pro for like $1999...How are you getting up to $3,000? My $1999 base model works perfectly for everything I do.

You pay more than a PC. That is just how it is. You're also getting a different product with a different OS.

 

[jason]

And it's SO intuitive and easy to use....

Honestly, I expect anybody new to any platform to ask these kinds of questions. If you had just now picked up a Windows box who in the hell would think, "ah, yes, I'm sure you hit ALT+F4 to quit the application."

 

[SkyHog]

I am still confused about the Home and End keys....if they don't go to the beginning/end of a line of text....

What the hell do they do? lol

 

[mikea]

Uhm..You should be able to get a Macbook Pro for like $1999...How are you getting up to $3,000? My $1999 base model works perfectly for everything I do.

You pay more than a PC. That is just how it is. You're also getting a different product with a different OS.

You also get $1000 worth of useful software on the Mac.