OSX Tiger Questions

[NaH2O]

I'm thrilled and overwhelmed at the same time. I hadn't realized how out of date my Mac was until I upgraded the software (GASP! I had 10.1.4). Now I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed, so if anyone has Tiger and can offer me some extra tidbits of info I would appreciate it - maybe things that aren't obvious or cool short cuts. I'm not very computer inclined, so I'm trying to figure out about widgets and RSS Feed. I have to read through the manual still, but since I'm able to get to the forum...I must not be doing too badly

Thanks in advance for any insight....even if it is just to tell me "Welcome to modern times!" I feel like I just upgraded from Windows 3.1 to XP :lol:

 

[mattseattle]

hey Nikki - I just bought a new G5 which has Tiger installed on it. Pretty impressive OS.

I'm still learning my way around it as well as I've always been a Windows/PC guy. As we learn things maybe we could share them!

Matt

 

[mattseattle]

Nikki,

What program are you using for email on your Mac? are there any other programs that you use often that I should be aware of?

I'm using Safari for my browser and so glad it has tabbed browsing.

 

[NaH2O]

Hey Matt - Whew! I don't feel so alone . I'm also using Safari. It transfered all of my Bookmarks from IE with the update...I thought that was cool. My home page is set to open with comcast, so I can get my email when I log on. I use the mail program, too, but that is our "community" email and not my personal email account.

Have you used the dashboard, yet? The widget thing is so impressive. I've downloaded a couple of widgets. They have one specific to Seattle traffic if you need to know what traffic is like out there. I set the weather on mine to show the 5 day forecast. Also, I frequently use the dictionary, thesaurus, & unit conversions.

I started reading today about the little pic that appears to the left of the url address, but have to figure out what it does again. I also read bit about the tabbed browsing...I haven't attempted it yet. Any tips on it?

There is a program called Taco I had downloaded before the software update, but I couldn't really use it because my system was old. It is a HTML program, and I want to start using it, but need to work with it a little more. I played with it a bit last night.

I bought a book to go with Tiger, so if you have specific questions, maybe we can figure it out. Of course, iTunes and the other media are awesome.

 

[mattseattle]

Hey Hey,

Well this is my first Mac so I'm getting used to the whole concept of having a Mac on top of the new Tiger OS. I'm really really impressed with it so far. My digital camera and my photo printer worked instantly when I plugged in the USB cable. I was amazed. When I used Windows I had to configure drivers and all sorts of things to get my camera to work. I also love iPhoto to organize and print my digital photos.

As far as Tabbed browsing in Safari - first off you have to enable it. Go to Preferences and Tabs and turn it on. When you go to the Tabs area it will show you the shortcuts you need to know in order to open windows in the Tabs and all. I'm impressed with the speed of Safari. It seems so much faster than IE.

oh yeah Dashboard - it's sweet. I've downloaded quite a few widgets for it. I have the Seattle traffic map as well as the iTunes widget. All sweet stuff.

have you used the Sherlock program in the Applications folder? it does combines alot of commonly used internet looks up into one application. Movies, phone #'s, maps/addresses, stockes, dictionary, flights, ebay, etc. into one application. It's probably one of my favorite applications.

I also just signed up for the .Mac stuff. Tiger really takes advantage of it all. Easy to publish photos to make a home page, back up personal files via iDisk and a few other great features.

As far as Email I switched to Eudora for the Mac OSX. Nice application.

Which book did you end up buying? I was looking at a few but wasn't sure which one to get. I'll probably go to the Apple store and use my 1 hour free tutoring session with them on learning Tiger. When you buy a computer from them you get a free session.

Matt

 

[mattseattle]

hey Nikki,

I found 2 things you may like...

www.macosxhints.com
and
http://www.mesadynamics.com/amnesty.htm

the 2nd link is for a program that allows you to place widgets on your desktop and keep them running all the time.

 

[MtnDewMan]

If you have access to an RSS reader or can set one up you can get a "New Posts" RSS feed from Reef Frontiers using the following URL:

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/external.php

I know different services use it ... I know my.yahoo.com can put up a content area that you can use the feed with. I am sure there are other places as well.

 

[NaH2O]

Matt - thanks for the links. I really liked iPhoto, and then installed Photoshop Elements and started using that. I saw in the Apple store a new version of Elements. I also get the free tutorial for Tiger because I purchased the software. If you do it, let me know what you thought, I may do it too.

I never really got into the Sherlock program with the old software, but I may have to do some playing tonight. Also, I made a DVD with my old version of iMovie, and it was cake. The only complaints I had with my old software, was some things I couldn't see on websites or emails, but so far, those items I can see now using the new software.

I started thinking about the .Mac stuff - I haven't signed up. I want to make a webpage, and thought about using it since they have templates?

I bought the book "Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger" by Robin Williams. So far it has been helpful.

Chuck - thanks for the RSS feed info! I'll have to check and see how I can incorporate that onto my computer. I'm still a newbie with RSS...so I have to read some more.

 

[dpaynter]

To use the RSS feed from ReefFrontiers, just bookmark the link above in Safari.

Also check out Spotlight (the icon in the upper right hand corner). Type in a word or phrase and get all occurences of it in documents, email, photo labels, etc. It works almost instantly for me even on a 4 year old mac (Quicksilver, 867 G4).

 

[NaH2O]

Wow - Thanks!

I love Spotlight! I wondered what that icon did. It will make finding things on my computer so much easier....especially the PDF files I have. Cool!

 

[mattseattle]

yeah, Spotlight is amazing....it has indexed all my digital photos and i can quickly find any one based on any information stored in the .jpg header within a second or two. pretty sweet....it'd take my windows xp machine minutes to find one.

 

[mattseattle]

hey Nikki - what does your book say about "Smart Folders"?

 

[Boomer]

What is a Mac .....

 

[NaH2O]

LOL, Boomer....in my case it is for someone that can't figure out what the heck she is doing on a PC or a Mac :lol:

Matt - Here's what it says: (page 316, "Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, by Robin Williams")

Once you do a great search in the Finder via Spotlight, you might like to create a Smart Folder that automatically keeps track of every file that fits that search. This folder doesn't store the original files - the originals stay in their original folders, and the Smart Folder just keeps a list of everything.

For instance, you might want a Smart Folder that contains all the various presentations you've made so you don't have to go looking through numerous folders to find a particlar one. If so, make a Smart Folder that just stores presentation files.

Or you might have used the Labels feature on your Mac to color-code all the files that belong to a certain project. For instance, your newletter might include a document in the application pages, images from the last event, word processing files your authors have sent you, and a spread-sheet chart from AppleWorks. And you used the Labels to give them all a label color of green. Your Smart Folder can keep track of all the green-labeled files in one place for you, even though the files themselves are organized into their own particular folders. The Smart Folder updates automatically as new files are labled or old files are trashed.

The Labels thing is really cool, and I'm going to give it a whirl. Under Preferences in the Finder menu, you will find Labels. You can choose the color label you want, then apply them to files in the file menu. As you move your mouse over the file names, the color dot appears. I'm going to go thru my pictures and assign different labels for different things....Livestock, Equiptment, etc etc. I'll probably do the same with organizing my PDF files, and other documents I have to make my stuff easier to find.

 

[mattseattle]

thanks for the info - that helps. i was trying to determine how i would use smart folders but i think i could use it to keep track of various pdf's and digital images.

guess i should buy that book!

 

[dgasmd]

I used a PC for more than 15 years. I used to hear people talking about MAC and it was like the group of weirdos that felt they had gold nugets in their pants. I was going mental with my computer crashing all the time and decided to get a MAC. I got a G5 with dal processors and the 23" flat cinema display. Yes, I did sale one of my kidneys int he black market to pay for it, but I can tell you I have never looked back. I did feel like a retard the first month trying to figure out things. Heck, I even called customer support pretty upset because my computer was missing the button to open the CD driver. I wanted to shoot myself out of shame when they told me how to open it LOL...............

 

[NaH2O]

I wanted to shoot myself out of shame when they told me how to open it LOL...............

You know after they got off the phone from your phone call, and they were laughing...."lol - gotta love these PC guys - this one couldn't figure out how to open the CD driver" :lol:. Yeah - I was a dope at first, too (then again, I was a dope on a PC). Scarey, my 3-1/2 year old uses both the PC and Mac without skipping a beat.....I almost started asking her for help. I've been so much happier with my computer since upgrading to Tiger.....I didn't realize how out of date I was.