More Mac updates!

[oyceter]

This will probably bore most people, but I wanted to document the stuff I was doing in case I have to replicate it. Plus, maybe it'll interest other people considering switching over to Mac?

Right now, I really like my shiny new computer, though I'm still stumbling over some pretty basic stuff. I managed to nearly delete my video folder before realizing that the right side of the dock was for folders and the left side was for apps. I'm confused about why installed software shows up as drives on my desktop, and I'm still debating whether or not I should save my downloads to my desktop or elsewhere. Also, is it safe to delete .dmg files after installing the software?

I've discovered that my beloved F2 key doesn't work in MacExcel, but googling has revealed that ctrl+u does the same thing (still, it'll be hard to break the muscle memory). I'm having a really hard time figuring out the logic behind the tab key -- instead of going to the next text field or button in a webpage, it makes my cursor go to the URL bar! WTF, Mac?

I've yet to implement the home/end key hack, though I'll probably do that as soon as all my files are transferred over.

I think I've managed to transfer most of my important files over, though I'm still struggling with rebuilding my iTunes library. It's too bad I found this after I had copied over all the files! I tried doing "add to library," but it doesn't seem to be grabbing my playlists, which is driving me crazy. So I deleted the entire folder and am starting over again.

Quicktime's choking on most of my video files. Normally, this wouldn't bug me, only Front Row uses Quicktime to play videos. Must download codecs (components?) later tonight. Yes, I've already downloaded VLC.

Speaking of which, I love Front Row so far! It's exactly what I've been trying to get my PC to do for AGES, ever since I got used to my ex's XBox media center set up. It's still not on my TV, but I've got a remote and the screen's big enough to see from my couch, which is all I ask for. Why yes, I am incredibly lazy! My current favorite thing about Front Row is being able to watch movie previews online on it. On the other hand, my least favorite thing about Front Row is the aforementioned Quicktime. It doesn't look like it's possible to make it use VLC instead, alas, so I will be downloading insane amounts of codecs, because I refuse to convert all my media to .mov.

I'm still getting used to the mouse -- I enabled the right click, but while the Mighty Mouse looks awfully pretty, I hate it already. The scroll ball is too small, half the time I accidentally right click when I'm trying to left click, and etc. Have already ordered a Logitech keyboard and mouse replacement. Also, cmd+c and cmd+v only seem to work half the time -- it's probably me highlighting the wrong stuff. Also, shift+select doesn't highlight everything in between in folders, which is irritating.

Minor pet peeve -- the Firefox tabbrowser preferences extension completely messes up my browser, so I will have to live with the tabs on the top. On the other hand, the only reason I had them on the bottom in Windows was because the task bar is down there and I hate mousing.

And soon I will get a copy of vidding software and play around with it! Am also considering Quicksilver or Launchpad to do even more keyboard-based stuff!

All this setup probably sounds insane, but I am very particular about my computer. I feel this is very justified, given how much time I spend on it.

ETA: Never mind about the tab key! I just found this.

ETA2: Why is it when I highlight folders or things and press "delete," they don't move to trash? Is there another way I can do this without right-clicking?

Comments

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

A few answers:

1) There's a "documents" folder that's useful for downloads, or you can create a downloads folder and put it wherever you like.

2) .dmg files may be deleted after installation.

3) The two most essential codecs for fans to install are divx and xvid -- if you have those two, you can play damned near anything. I do recommend using VLC to play them; QT is behind the curve, sadly.

4) The mouse that ships with the Mac isn't a good fit for small hands. You'll be happy with your Logitech mouse, I suspect.

5) command + c and command + v should always work, so like the LOLcat says, UR DOING IT WRONG. (:

6) Tab will work on the web as you expect it to, but only if the browser window itself is active. Click in the browser window and then tab around as you would on Windows. Without activating the browser window, Tab will continue to highlight the location bar.

HTH!

[oyceter]

5) HEE! I suspect so. I think part of it's because the Mac is still on the floor as I try to move files over, so I'm probably keyboarding really poorly.

Zomg, thank you for the tips! The weird thing about the tab is it does that after I type something in a form and then try to post or something. But I think the link I found should fix that... we'll see.

Next up: Oyce stares at her new vidding software in complete bafflement!

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Hee! Well, my iMovie days are far behind me (I used iMovie 1.0!), but if I can remember anything, I'll be glad to help.

Just don't ask me about iPhoto. iHateit.

[oyceter]

I suspect I will be able to get my hands on Final Cut... at least, I am hoping.

I am so confused about all the iLife things I now have! Are any of them useful? I tinkered with iCal a little but haven't bothered with the rest.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

iTunes you know, of course. iMovie has its uses, particularly for newbie vidders. iDVD is actually quite helpful for DVD authoring, though it only accepts .mov and .dv files. P. swears by iCal, but I never use it.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Do you have Leopard (10.5) on your new Mac? If so, it should automatically have a Downloads folder. I've been using it to keep my desktop need; it should be accessible from your user directory.

Also, re: usability, the Dock is much more user friendly on the eyes when you put it on the left or right rather than on the bottom in 10.5. I was so glad when I realized this.

[oyceter]

I do! At least, I'm pretty sure I do...

Hrm, I will have to look for my downloads folder.

Ooo, good point re: dock on the left or right. I will try that out, though right now the bottom feels fairly intuitive because I'm so used to the Windows taskbar.

Psst, what bittorrent client do you use? I was sad to see utorrent doesn't seem to have a version for Mac. I'm using Transmission right now, but am not sold on anything yet.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I used to use Azureus, but I switched to Transmission when I went to 10.5. Azureus was crashing under 10.5; there might be a patch now. Azureus is resource heavy, so I'm not unhappy about switching.

I'm assuming that new computers are now shipping with Leopard. To check, go t the Apple menu in the top left, select "About this Mac", and the dialog box that opens will tell you.

[oyceter]

Hrm, nope, looks like I'm still on 10.4, though I have the disc for 10.5. Maybe I'll upgrade it later, but given how much I just went through to customize everything, I may wait. Unless it remembers all the changes I've made?

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Theoretically it should remember most of your changes. I guess it depends on when you want to deal with the hassle, especially if there are complications! Before you do, check out some articles on the pros and cons of the different install options: Upgrade vs Archive and Install vs Clean Install.

[oyceter]

Hrm, got it. Thanks for the heads up on the different options!

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Tomato Torrent (http://sarwat.net/bittorrent/) is free and apparently now supports Leopard. I'm using an older version myself and find it fairly reliable.

[oyceter]

Ooo thanks. I think I may stick with Transmission; I like being able to see how much has downloaded from the dock icon. But will keep it in mind.

Trash

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Command + delete = move to trash.

Re: Trash

[oyceter]

Ah! Duh. I should have guessed instead of repeatedly pressing the delete key in frustration.

Re: Trash

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

That's one they changed; OS 9 used to be just select + delete, and it took me a while to remember to include the command key.

You'll get used to it!

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

If 10.5 is the same as 10.3 in this regard (and I suspect it is), in Finder, to move something to Trash, hit Command + Delete. (I remember this tripped me up way back on OS 7.6.1...)

I'm particular about my setup, too. I think each time I've reinstalled the OS (grr...you probably don't have to worry about it, almost every time it turned out either to be logic board issues) I've spent a couple hours tweaking my setup to the way I like it.

Are you going to be getting iMovie or Final Cut (Express or Pro--if the latter, how I envy you keyframing!)?

[oyceter]

Gotcha! Gah, the command key keeps mucking with my brain.

I think I'm getting Final Cut, though I have to check with my friend who is actually getting it. ZOMG. Must figure out how to rip source! Maybe I will make a teeny, very stupid vid to start with.

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you should probably talk to laurashapiro about ripping source. I bet her methods are better than mine (which, depending on how cooperative the encoded files are, involving any of MacTheRipper, MPEGStreamClip, DiVa, and/or Snapz X Pro).

[oyceter]

I probably will, though after I play around and google and make a muck of things trying to figure it out myself.

[hederahelix.livejournal.com]

I've been using this mouse (http://ozdirect.com/product_info.php?products_id=31703&currency=USD&language=en) with my shiny new macbook pro.

Mice are almost always an issue for me, since I have small hands, am ambimoustrous with a preference for mousing left-handed, and have in the past had RSI with my right wrist (hence, the left-handed mousing now as well as keyboard shortcut abuse.)

It's a good size for my hands, and it has all the features I want.

[oyceter]

Oooo! Fellow left-hand mouser! I mouse right hand at home, but I switched to left hand at work as a way to try to preemptively avoid RSI. So now I think I'm developing it in both wrists, but hopefully at a slower pace...

[hederahelix.livejournal.com]

When I had a 9 to 5 office job that involved a lot of spreadsheet formatting, I began to develop RSI in my right wrist. (This was back in the days when people were just beginning to hear mainstream about RSI, and my old company was very good about this. Brought in an ergonomic consultant and everything. Switching to a trackpad instead of a mouse helped a lot, and even today, I generally prefer a good works-with-either-hand trackball to a mouse; however, most of the trackballs seem to be right handed, which sucketh mightily.)

Switching to mousing lefthanded wasn't much of a switch for me. In the dark ages before I had a computer, the first computer I ever used was a hallmate's Mac SE, and she was left handed.

The big advantage I found was that if I can switch back and forth, if one wrist flares up, I can rest it without having to stop work entirely. The weird thing is that my left wrist doesn't seem to ever have flared up.

Anyway, if someone at your workplace does ergonomic stuff, and they can come in and take a look at your set up, I'd strongly encourage you to take advantage of it. It gave me a lot of pointers that I was able to apply at home as well. At least, when I'm willing to sit at the desk instead of park on the futon in front of the television.

[oyceter]

Ooof, yeah... I make sure to get ergonomics looked at. I made work buy me a keyboard tray, and I have a bit of an insane set up at home. Like, I bought a fancy schmancy chair and a keyboard tray so everything worked the way I wanted it to. But it's worth it, given how much I do with the computer!

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

I don't know if newer PCs have caught up yet, but the big thing that had me geeked when mac shifted over to OSX? The ability to print straight PDFs. Probably not much to you, but as a indie-game designer and desktop publisher? Pure gold.

[oyceter]

Oh, what does that mean? Is that different from printing them from Acrobat?

Print to PDF

[(Anonymous)]

What it means is you don't need to buy Acrobat Pro to create a PDF. PDF is a natively supported filetype in the OS. You can "print" a PDF of anything from any program on the Mac with no additional software. You just choose Print > PDF > Save as PDF. Also when you get a PDF in an email you don't usually need to open Acrobat of Preview to view it, it's visible in the body of the email.

Re: Print to PDF

[oyceter]

Gotcha, thanks!

QuickTime Enhancements

[(Anonymous)]

There are two great free pieces of software that extend what quicktime can do on the mac.

1) Flip4Mac: Is a free download from Microsoft that allows QuickTime to play Windows Media files.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx

2) Perian: Is another must have freebie that allows QuickTime to play Xvid DIvx AVI and a bunch of other formats.

Hope those help!

Re: Perian

[(Anonymous)]

Perian is at: http://perian.org/

Re: Perian

[oyceter]

Awesome, thanks so much!

psst, do you mind signing your comments? I like getting to know my commenters ^_^.

Re: Who?

[fixatedesign.livejournal.com]

Happy to!

Re: Who?

[oyceter]

Thanks!