Posted on 04/22/2008 7:47:01 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084
The MAC was supposed to be better than a PC.
Does anybody out there know how to use this thing?
The mouse has a tiny little button for my index finger and two buttons on each side that do nothing but give me the date and time when I click it. WTF?
Calm down. The mouse actually has five buttons (Left, Right, Center under the scroll ball, and both side buttons) but most of them are deactivated as a default. There is a right click button... it just works as a left click button right now.
To change that, click on the Apple Icon on the menu bar and select "System Preferences..." (This is where a lot of system customization can take place... think of it as the Windows Control Panels) and then choose "Keyboard and Mouse" which is in the second row about the middle. Click on the Mouse tab and then set the Right hand mouse button to be a Right Click. I suggest you set the middle mouse button (pressing the scroll ball) to do nothing for now. This will make the right mouse button work more like what you expect from your Windows experiences.
Close the preference window.
Until you set this preference, you can simulate a Right Click by holding down CTRL and clicking.
Now, up in the right hand corner is an Icon of a hard drive probably named Macintosh HD. Double click on that to open a "Finder" window. This is equivalent to the Windows Explorer window. In the main window you will see icons for Applications, Library, System, and Users. In the tool bar you will see back and forward buttons, a view selector that includes Icon view, list view, a paned view that puts opened folders to the right of the parent folder, and finally a view that include cover flow and a list view. Play around with them and you'll get the idea what each can do.
To the left of the finder window is a side bar that has "Devices" at the top such as the hard drive, the optical drive, any external drives, networked drives, etc. Below that is "Places" where you can put anything you like. Primary there is a house icon with your user name - that is your home partition where you store ALL of your documents. It will also have Applications, Music, Pictures, Movies, Favorites, and Documents... all of which except Applications are shortcuts to folders in your home partition. The Applications icon is a shortcut to the Applications folder used by all users on your Mac.
Below that is an area for "Searches" which include folders for "All Images", "All Movies" and "All documents" that are smart folders that will show what they say... i.e. All images on your computer, etc. After you start using the search system and Spotlight, a history of all your searches will also be found here.
All windows are resized only using the lower right hand corner of the window. Windows are moved by click-dragging the top bar of the window.
The Green Resizing button in the upper left is NOT the same as the Windows full screen button... clicking it will toggle between the current setting and a view that allows complete view of the window content, rather than a full screen, and back. The Yellow button will minimize the window onto the right hand area of the Dock.
Most applications DO NOT QUIT when you close their last window. On a Mac you actually have to QUIT (Menu Bar/"Application Name"/Quit. There are some exceptions to this like iPhoto and the calculator that have only one window... on those closing the window will quit the application. It is OK not to quit applications and just leave them running. When not in use, dynamic memory handling keeps them from slowing down other running applications.
CDs, DVD, etc. placed in your optical drive will appear both on the desktop as an Icon that looks like a CD or DVD and in the Finder side bar in the Devices list. To remove the disk from the computer you can do one of the following:
Doing any of these will eject the CD/DVD disk IF the disk is not in use by an applications. If it is, it will not eject until you stop the application from using the CD/DVD.
In Safari, be sure to click on "Block Pop-Up Windows" under the Safari Menu on the menu bar.
That’s what I learned tonight.
I have to go to system preferences tomorrow. I’ll ask the instructor at the class about it on Friday.
Seems this is all customizable. If that is a word. I don’t know anymore.
I’m going to eat some cereal and I’m going to bed.
I really had some interesting things to say about tonight’s Socialist primary election in PA.
The world will never hear it because I’m too retarded to figure out this MAC. There will be riots tomorrow in the street.
I will bookmark this page once I figure out how to do that and take you all up on your offer of help.
82 posts and nobody can explain how to open a link in a new window without setting preferences. I guess that’s it...I have to set preferences tomorrow. Or Friday when my lesson is scheduled.
By the way. How do you open a link in a new window on the windows operating system?
If you haven't configured your mouse to have a Right Click (which allows you to RC select "Open Link in a New Window") then hold down the CTRL key while clicking on the Link and select "Open Link in a New Window".
Just click on the link with your opposite mouse button. One of the menu choices is Open Link in New Window. It is there for both Firefox and Safari.
Swordmaker! A good and more helpful post than my late night blathering stuff.
Eric, please know that Swordmaker is the main guy who keeps us up to date on all sorts of stuff related to Macs. Many of us use Macs to earn our daily bread, but he keeps us up-to-date on the latest articles, up-dates, etc.
Ask him to put you on his “ping” list. He is the best FR resource for all things Mac.
I am decently skilled at using certain types of software, usually related to construction, architecture, managing sub-contractor billing/vs/work completed, etc.
Other than that, I am into knitting, quilting, counted thread embroidery, recipes, etc.
The one thing I absolutely adore about Macs? Once you understand the basics of how Mac software works, the commands are all the same, or pretty much the same. It helps so much if you have a lot of interests, for those who write for the Mac always use the same basic structure/commands.
P.S. You can also play World of Warcraft on a newer Mac! It can’t get better than that!
If you're talking about the third bar at the top of Safari, it's the Bookmarks Bar where you can put your most frequently visited sites. The first one on mine is FreeRepublic. To put a site on there, simply highlight the address in the URL window above it and drag it to the Bookmarks Bar. To get rid of one that's already on there, drag it off and let go. It will poof and be gone.
LOL... I fried two corded hockey pucks dropping them on the floor when I fell asleep with the little buggers in my hand. I got a multi button Logitech with a usb cable long enough to tether to the lamp on my desk. It still bangs on the desk but it doesn't seem to hurt it like hitting the floor...
Since your computer is a new computer, Eric, your menu Apple is Black, not Blue... other wise, do what Unknown said.
Cmd-click the link and it will open in a new tab, or ctrl-click the link and take your pick from the pop-up menu.
Thanks, Swordmaker. Right after I clicked on the post button, I remembered I was on my older machine.
LOVE my Mac had it for 2 mo. now, will never go back. Fork the money over and got to the one to one classes at your apple store. They will teach you everything. Join the mac yahoo group, they help me with every dumb question, use the apple forum on craigslist, again really helpful. Do you always freak out like this??
Oh I figured it out. On the windows operating system you right click with the mouse and select open in a new windows. With what everyone is saying, it seems like you do the exact same thing on the MAC.
ha ha ha ha ha.
Hmmm, tubebender.
I haven’t yet fallen asleep with a mouse, but have been known to do so with two overly-protective Belgian Malinois, who insist on making me a Malinois sandwich of sorts. Poor husband gets the short shrift then, and usually heads for the couch.
I am struggling to figure out Eric’s problem, because I usually just “mouse around” till I figure out how to do what he seems to be stuck on. My best guess is that he is doing the usual “over-thinking”, looking for a complicated answer, rather than the one staring him in the face.
But, he really didn’t give enough info. I got lost trying to figure out why he was confused about “right-clicking” on his screen name, and then expecting his home page to come up.
That made no sense to me, but I am not the brightest bulb in the box, particularly at this time of night. Maybe I ought to go to bed?
And let others decipher what he was expecting/trying to do.
At times it seems he is referring to links on Fr although he was posting wasn’t he...
The Mac has some features I like but overall I would never buy one and if my employer decided to switch over to PC there would not be one word of complaint from most in our department. Only the die hard Mac users would complain.
Eric,
I suggest beginning by not trying to “left click” or “right click” anything. Ignore those buttons at the side of your Mighty Mouse for now.
Use your forefinger to simply click around the area of the little ball.
Move your cursor over a menu item or a folder or icon.
If you press down before releasing, you’ll often get a sub-menu of thing you can move the cursor to, release, and hear the “click.”
Folders, links, and icons can be opened by simply double clicking them.
System Preferences can be opened from the Apple icon on the menu bar (at the top of your screen) or from the little, square “mechanical wheels” icon in your dock.
From there, you can click on the Keyboard and Mouse icon to see how they are set and reconfigure them for “left” and “right” clicking if you wish.
Try these exercises with your mouse:
1. Simply press on an icon or menu item to see if a sub-menu appears.
2. Click on it once to see if it opens.
3. Click on it twice—rapidly— to see if that opens it.
Remember, ignore the buttons on the sides of the mouse. Don’t think “left” or “right” click. Just “click” the mouse with your finger near the little track ballon the things you want to click on.
Things should go better!
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