[null and void]

[Senator Pardek]

Does anyone have any pointers that will help me overcome the usual unfamiliarity with a new system?

Buy some Judy Garland albums.

[cyborg]

mac all the way!

[UB355]

I made the opposite switch lately. The Mac OS is easier to use. Have fun. My wife could not make the switch as easy as I could. Peace in the family if you will.

[NativeNewYorker]

Get "the missing manuals" from O'Reilly.

http://tinyurl.com/7mz3m

[quidnunc]

FYI

[Calvin Locke]

If you go for a Mac Laptop, wait for the new, corrected, batteries.

[Flyer]

You're just trying to stir up trouble, aren't ya?

But seriously, no help from me. I just converted one of my PC's to Linux and I am all involved in learning that. Good luck!

[Yossarian]

Well, for one thing, I think the Apple store can help tranfer all your files and settings over from the old PC over to the new Mac. (They used to do this as a service to new switchers, I'm not familar if they still do it.)

Also, in Tiger (10.4) there is a very useful feature for new Mac users in the "System Preferences": a search field. Enter in the kind of thing you want to adjust (even in Microsoft terminology) and it will "spotlight" the tool you need to use.

[oolatec]

Lots of nice folks here:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/macdsl

Many switchers too.

[quidnunc]

If you do get a Mac, pay thje extra money for AppleCare.

That way you will have access to tech support to answer your questions.

[Poser]

I've got PC, Mac (Mini) and Linux (Fedora) computers. I prefer the PC. I prefer the WinXP user interface to OS X. I would put Linux 2nd and Mac 3rd.

They are all quite usable. You won't need much learning to use the Mac. The two problems I have with Mac are that the mouse control just doesn't feel right and all of those neat PC programs and games don't run on it.

Don't flame me about the mouse. I know how to change the mouse settings. There is no setting that I like.

[SerpentDove]

Mac!

You'll never regret it.

Hmmmm...3 tips, eh?

#1. Go get a book the size of a phonebook on OSX. The Mac Bible is good. Don't let it intimidate you, just refer to it when you want to learn a shortcut or find something out. The investment is well worth it. Handy tips are hightlighted with icons, and these tips will serve you well.

#2. Instead of dragging a file to the trash, highlight it and hit Command + Delete ("Apple + Delete")

#3. To maintain your hard drive and prevent problems, click on the icon for the application "Disk Utility," then highlight your hard drive icon. Then click on "Repair Disk Permissions" and let it do its thing. Do this every couple of months.

Congratulations!

SD

[savedbygrace]

First, delete your bookmark to that webpage. It's for an old OS. The latest Mac OS is Tiger, v10.4.

Second, after you install anything (operating system, application, upgrades, updates) Repair Permissions from Disk Utility. You'll find DU in the Utilities folder, which is inside the Applications folder on your boot/system drive. Also, Repair Permissions regularly, like once a week.

Third, if you don't leave the computer on 24/7, you need to manually run what are called "cron" routines. They clean out caches, logs, temp files, and junk files, which will keep your system running better. Use a freeware app called MacJanitor to do this.

Fourth, every application has its own menu item, to the immediate right of the blue apple. Here you will find the app's preferences.

Fifth, if you have a number of Finder windows open and you want to close them all, hold down the Option key and click on the Close button for one of them. (I don't have Tiger yet, but the Close button in the previous OS is the red button in the upper left of each window.

Sixth, Command-Q is the keyboard shortcut for Quit in all Apple applications.

[_Jim]

For a straight 'consumer' or 'user' of computing equipment, a Mac may make sense ... for anything else, the PC is the way to go.

What's the chip set used in a Mac?

Are there any 'open specs' that cover that such things that one could:

- design one's own PCI-like board to install in a Mac and write your own drivers or apps without spending a small fortune?

Dunno 'bout a Mac, but for a PC it's not too expensive or difficult.

[stands2reason]

Mine's a G5 dinosaur running OSX.

I've had it for 3 years and I've never had a problem with it other than ISP issues that were due to lousy ISPs. No viruses, nothing.

Explorer runs beautifully on it.

[stands2reason]

BTW, I can't tell you what's different about a PC because I never owned one.

But I'm able to customize my Explorer to my heart's content. Increase text size with a click, change fonts for easier reading, even customize my link colors.

One thing I can think of to do is check out Preferences under each program tab that you run.

Feel free to PM me if you have a specific question.

I don't know much, but I'll share what I do know.

[politicket]

What are the two or three most useful tips for a newbie on a Mac?

1. Register as a Democrat
2. Buy a case of granola bars
3. Sell your SUV and buy a moped

Just joshing with the mac-ites ;-)

[martin_fierro]

Here we go again.

[backhoe]

Crosslinked here to my general-interest browser, OS, malware and computer post:

Browser Wars, take two

And if you have a tale to tell about your experiences, let me know, and I'll link to it. I'm not particularly dogmatic about OS's-- I just want the bleeding thing to work as easily as possible.