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What is the equivalent of right clicking?
Can you only have icons running along the bottom of the screen? On my iPad i have put the Singletrack icon on the home screen and just click on that. Can you do that on the mac?
If you have a web page full size do you have to reduce it then click on the red button to close it?
That's all for today no doubt i will be back!
2-finger clicking is eqivalent of right click.
Right clicking for what purpose ? Mac support a right click on files for example ? Check your mouse settings in system preferences
The dock can be vertical (I recall)
I manage all my bookmarks inside safari, either on toolbar or menu (great as they are shared via cloud to other devices along with history). As for a desktop icon i prefer to keep mine very clean but i believe you can drag bookmark to desktop. Also the topsites and history icons work very well. When in safari you can close tabs by hitting x (grey tab ased iPad really), have you played with swiping - single vs multiple finger for pages / desktop screens.
CTRL+click is the exact equivalent of a right mouse click if you're using the trackpad. This will bring up context menus and the like
Icons on the desktop can be a bad thing for finder performance as the OS treats them as windows ( 1 window per icon ). I believe you can drag the URL to the RH side of the dock by the trash to provide the quick link you require to STW.
Dock position is set in system preferences, dock pane. Magic Mouse can be set to right click in system preferences mouse pane.
If you want to close an application, you must use the quit option in the menu (or via right click on the dock)
Otherwise the app remains open just nothing on screen. What i tend to do is have multiple "screens" one for safari, one for mail, and a few more fore whatever i am working on. Now that fullscreen( enabled by clicking in the top right corner on the double arrow thing) you don't need to explicitly have multiple "screens". If you can't see the menu bar at the top of the screen move the mouse to the top and it usually appears. If the "wrong" menu is on the screen, you have clicked on a different application.
if you're browsing in full screen, just move the pointer to the top of the screen. In a moment the menu bar appears. If you have more than one tab open, you'll see all the tabs along the top of the screen and when you hover over the webpage name on the tab the "x" appears, letting you close that tab. CMD+T to open new tabs.
Swapping between a full safari or Chrome screen to other screens is easy too. CTRL+<left arrow>/<right arrow> or three-finger horizontal swipe left or right on the trackpad. Go to system prefs and check out the other gestures under 'trackpad'.
You can also move between running programs by using CMD+TAB or SHIFT+CMD+TAB.
If you're in full screen and want to swap programs, move to the bottom of the screen and the dock appears. Or three-finger upward swipe and you see all the running programs. Just click on the one you need.
+1 for mrmo's comment on the red button Vs quitting a program. This is inconsistently implemented though. CMD+Q to quit a program. You'll see the 'light' go out under it on the dock, or see the icon disappear from the dock when it properly quits. This off/disappear behaviour depends on whether the application is set to stay in the dock or not (CTRL+click or click & hold on the icon on the dock to see the options).
I would also suggest you have a play with functions (f3 and f4?) which allow you to see / switch between desktops and also launch programs - the launch pad can be customised and I find it quickest way to starting programs
I also find MacRumors site and forum very useful
Don't shout but what is the dock?!
cmd + w = close current window
cmd + m = minimise current window
cmd + q = quit current program
look up the track pad gestures in preferences
dock = that row of programs at the bottom (or left or right) of the screen
The icons along the bottom of the screen 🙂
I use two finger clicking on the track pad. The trackpad is so got there is hardly any need to use the keyboard.
I thought this was going to be like an iPad with a keyboard.
Assumed it would all be idiot proof shall have a proper play when I get more time.
I have managed to download my iTunes and photos from a hard drive. Surprised myself with that.
@zippy it's worth trying to find a few tutorial videos (apple and non-apple) there are quite a few features you otherwise wouldn't stumble accross especially coming from Windows. I've been using macs for a fair few years now and there is still stuff I'm finding. Quite a lot is configurable too.
Btw the GF likes to keep documents etc on desktop as per windows, I hear that slows the machine and I prefer a clean look anyway but you can set it up like that.
Suggest you get iCloud setup between MBP and iPad, useful for sharing contacts, documents (eg notes) etc also I prefer to manage iPad screen layout from iTunes.
More edit: if you have an external drive it's very easy to setup backups via TimeMachine
I think that thing about desktop items slowing the mac down is no longer true. Could be wrong though.
BTW I have mine set up so the mouse has a right click - it's an option in system prefs.
With the TrackPad in addition to the two finger clicking, a single finger click in the bottom right hand corner will bring up the context menu.
zippykona - Member
I thought this was going to be like an iPad with a keyboard.
Assumed it would all be idiot proof shall have a proper play when I get more time.
I have managed to download my iTunes and photos from a hard drive. Surprised myself with that.
iOS is designed to be pretty much idiot-proof, and not really hackable, unlike Android; the reason being, rather sensibly, to avoid users from totally messing stuff up through not having clue 1 about what they're doing.
A laptop running OS X is totally different, and while it's fairly intuitive getting started, there are many hidden features, and a vast amount of control at the user's fingertips, that does pay careful study to really get the best out of the OS and the machine.
MacBook Pro's are phenomenally powerful, people record entire albums using ProTools, and feature-length movies using FinalCut on them, and looked after it'll last you years. My PowerBook is ten years old, and looks like new, although, tbh, it's been sidelined since getting a Mac Mini and an iPad.
Getting a new battery, more RAM, and maybe a bigger SSD drive would see it running like new.
Lucky you, enjoy!
They take a bit of getting used to if all you've used is Windows. They're not trying to replicate windows and the iOS intuition is different, also the human interface in terms of the one button mouse or trackpad and simplified keyboard. Once you're used to it windows seems very clunky. My work computer is windows 7, and though it's much better than previous windows it still feels and looks very busy now I'm used to the simplicity of iOS.
Grum +1
The latest versions of the OS will automatically close an application after 5 minutes of inactivity with hall the windows closed. I haven't seen the news of the desktop windows not slowing the OS and it would be prudent to assume that the restriction is still in place. The windows keyboard shortcuts are similar to the windows ones, Microsoft copied this bit from Apple.
The other useful tools are cmd+shift+3 for full screen screenshot. Use 4 to select a section of screen to capture, drag the cursor to select the area required
You'll get used to OSX. You will hate going back to Windows.
I thought this was going to be like an iPad with a keyboard.
No, it's a computer, not a toy. For an iPad with a keyboard, buy an iPad and a keyboard.
cmd + space is the most useful combination going. Pulls up a search bar, type whatever you want into that and it'll appear.
I didn't hate using windows or indeed any other operating system after using a mac. It's just different, not bad. The only thing I miss at all (and only a little bit), is the trackpad gestures when I swap between OS's.
I still think there's absolutely nothing wrong with Windows or PC's despite having a macbook for a year. Mac's are hardly perfect.
I did click on the manual.
First off it looks really boring and secondly they are assuming I'm not a total ****wit.