Got my MAC, now time for questions...

Hello,

As some of you may know, I have now finally picked up my first ever MAC.

There is a few things I want to clear, this is my first MAC and I feel like a total noob as I even had to search for how to get to the Control Panel.

1. Is there a maximize windows button? I know the green dot but it does only go half screen until I press on the arrows on other side, but the the dock, clock and all the other stuff goes away..

2. This is actually the most important thing I need to find about... Now, since I'm short on storage at the moment, I bought it with 750GB HDD, I'm going to use my Crucial M4 from the ACER and turn the 750GB to external drive.. BUT, how do I install the OS again? I was seriously still waiting for the old school CD's, but yeah... No CD's. Any ideas? No illegal methods please.

3. Every application I open goes to my dock, and some go away but some don't.. Why?

4. As I know from my earlier iProducts, is it like that when I close Safari, it does not really close but just goes to background? While installing Office for MAC 2011 yesterday, I had to foreclose Safari from the upper menu thing. Was that a bug, or a feature?

So far, I'm loving this extent peace of machine. The most cool thing is that the spell check in for example Safari is still epic as the iPhone

Is there any other settings I should check for any any other applications which is recommended for newbies? I've started using it yesterday and basically went through every single setting I could to get a knowledge about it.

However, I'm open for inputs, looking forward to read your suggestions...

 

1. There might be, I use Cinch which lets me snap a window to the top of the screen and it makes it full screen - same as Windows 7. Cinch was 5 or 6 dollars on the App Store.

2. I followed the directions for the Lion Internet Recovery here for my SSD:
OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery

3. Apps pinned to your dock stay. To pin an app, drag it from the Launcher window down to your dock. To remove an app, right click the icon and uncheck Options->Keep in Dock

4. Clicking the X doesn't close applications like in Windows. If the red dot looks like a small black dot in it instead of an X then I believe it actually exits. To exit a program you'll need to use the menu. I'm sure there are other ways, but I am also new - 1 week - to OS X.

 

1. I'll check that out, thank you.

2. I'll read that as well.

3. I've figured that out, but then again, I have to do that on most of the applications that pins to the dock?

4. It shows X while the mouse is over it, but then again, I think it is right what you say, for some applications...


I'm also looking for a good sleeve and a small bag thing, if any suggestion? Price does not matter, I can buy online without actually seeing it.

 

3. If you're talking about the default ones, yes you have to go through them and remove the ones you don't want pinned the first time. After you remove them, they only appear when they run.

 

What about the news applications I run then? However, I think I'll be able to un-pin them. The recover without CD's or preinstall HDD were also pretty simple. I think I just have to read a bunch of 'How to use MAC' articles and watch a lot of 'New to MAC' videos on youtube.

 

All new apps only show up on the dock when they're running. When they aren't running they disappear from the dock.

Also any dock icon with a little glowing circle below it means that an instance of it is still running.

 

Ahh, I actually noticed that now! REP added!

Do you carry your MAC around with you a lot? Any good sleevs or bags?

 

I use Tucano's sleeve for my Mac. It can run around $30 (pre-tax), but I guess it is worth it when you can spend so much on your Mac. Similar sleeves from ebay feel so flimsy if you are price conscious.

TIP: Use Command + Q key to make sure you are completely out of a program. I use coconut battery and clicking the 'x' on the right corner closes it, but it doesn't completely close Activity Manager for example. I didn't take long to get around a Mac, but I guess it must be that I had some Mac exposure couple years ago with power pc's in my college lab.

 

Just checked out the Tucano's sleeve, looks very nice. I think I'll be picking one up.

Thanks!

 

Tucano's sleeve did indeed look nice. Now, I'll have to look if they can ship to Norway. Which I doubt. Worth a shot however.

 

It's actually $7. I had bought it but actually liked Window Magnet (only $0.99) a whole lot more. I found Cinch did some weird things when I tried to drag windows back from being snapped on one side of the screen. That wasn't the case with Window Magnet.

 

I'm actually trying to get used to it with fullscreen. However, I'm going to try to find a good sleeve in a local shop nearby tomorrow. I also need a second charger...

I'm currently looking for a 8GB singlestick 1600Mhz RAM.

Also updating firmware on my Crucial M4 which is going to be followed by installing the drive in to the MAC and reinstall the OS.

Another question, on my Windows based PC's, I only had to click in ALT + S to post a reply. Now it does not work, I've only get this "ß". Any ideas?

 

Check for Corsair Vengeance on Newegg. They're sold out at the moment and it's the only DDR3-1600 8 GB single stick available right now. I'd expect that to change in the near future.

http://m.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233264

You use the Command key in OS X for most functions that use Alt in Windows.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Were they talking about posting a reply in the forums on this site? If so, Command-S is going to make Safari (and Chrome, I can't speak for others) try to save the webpage. I tried control-S, option-S, and I also tried holding the function key along with those other two combinations, it would not bring up any reply option (I imagine you are talking about taking you down to the Quick Reply area?). Even fn-Command-S brings up the save webpage prompt in Safari.

 

I think command key is for the Ctrl key in windows. For alt, you might use option or perhaps an option-command + key. I had a good guide for Mac shortcuts, but I can't seem to find it in my bookmarks right now.

 

Command corresponds to the Windows key in Windows. Right now I am having a hard time understanding if they are working in OS X and trying to figure out Windows equivalent shortcut keys or if they are in Windows trying to figure out what to hit there. Since they were able to come up with the ß symbol, I am guessing they are in OS X since that doesn't happen to me under Windows when I use option-S.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm talking about this site and quick reply area.

I'm however loving this thing, I've got my SSD successfully installed last night, and got an amazing 9 hours and 14 minutes battery estimate time. Have been using my laptop since 11 AM today, it is 2:15 PM now, and I've still got 45% (2:20) remaining.

I've started without backlit, but since now it is a bit dark in here, I've got brightness and backlit (keyboard) at full.

 

UPDATE: Picked up the 'Tucano Work Out' and another 60W adapter to have it constantly in my bag. I've also looked on the external Magic Mouse but, why would anyone want something like that while the touchpad so amazing on this thing?

Tucano Work Out

Now, I'm looking for a single 8GB stick, with shipping to Norway!

Is there any other cool or must have gadgets?


EDIT: Just one more thing, with my Crucial M4 it takes about 7 seconds to boot. How good is that? I actually expected it to be less to be honest. I haven't done anything special, just installed the system.. Some say I have to activate TRIM?

 

7 seconds is just fine. In fact, most systems I have come across take around 10-12 seconds to fully boot. Any time that you will be able to shave off will only be extremely small and not worth the effort. You don't have to activate TRIM support either. In fact, if nothing has changed since OS X Lion came out, you don't want to activate TRIM. Apple only allows for TRIM support on SSDs that they install (such as custom MBP models and all 2010+ MBA's). Last time I checked, people who used the TRIM support "hack" actually encountered more issues. So I wouldn't worry about it especially since the controllers for most modern SSDs aren't requiring it anyway.

You will just have to keep trying all sorts of different key combinations for the quick reply to this website. I am sure there is an alternative but I am not about to go trying things out. Feel free to try things when you have spare time though.

As for the Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and wireless keyboard, not everyone uses their Mac notebooks in their lap or even within reach. I picked up the Magic Trackpad and wireless keyboard as, when I get home, I hook my MBA up to my HDTV so that I can sit back and use it in my comfy chair while it is hooked up to all sorts of other crap (mainly external hard drives and one external optical drive). That way I can use my MBA to watch digital video files, Hulu Plus in HD, surf the internet, and mess around in my iTunes library (which is stored on an external HDD, it wouldn't even fit on a 512GB SSD equipped MBA) all from the comfort of my Lay-Z-Boy. Even when I get to work, I use my MBA hooked up to a 25" monitor without relying on its built-in trackpad and keyboard. So there are reasons for those accessories.

Why are you looking for a single 8GB stick of RAM? Are you really going to run enough programs that it would bog down two 4GB sticks so that you would need 16GB of RAM? It will be an expensive venture with little to no payoff. Then again, maybe you want to spend $1000+ on RAM.

 

Okay, I believe I've read that I had to "hack" something to get SSD to work.

I have tired some different combinations, but haven't been successful yet.

That is exactly what the seller said. But, I'm mostly on my sofa so the mouse won't work any good. I however have my HP connected to my TV.

I wanted to have single 8GB stick so I could early upgrade later. I'm quite sure I won't need above 4GB RAM in first place. I have always wondered how 2 stick does versus single stick of v1.35. I think I've just want to try it out.

I'm also going to wait for until I can find a good deal, I'm not in hurry for now.

Also, I'm able to find 1600Mhz, but any of you seen 1800Mhz 204 pin?

UPDATE: Just noticed that the bottom of my laptop does get very hot, I mean like uncomfortable. Is there any fan settings? How normal is this?

 

That's still a lot of money to spend just to "try things out" with the RAM. I guess if you have that much to throw around (sooner or later) then it isn't that big of an issue. Then again, if you had that kind of money to drop, you would have probably purchased the fully specced out 17" MBP including all of the various upgrades.

There is a free program called SMC fan control that will allow you to view your Mac's temperature and control the fans. I had it for a few weeks on my 13" MBP before uninstalling it. The temperature controls that Apple implements are fine though MBP's can become rather hot on the bottom.

This is due to a few things. First, the ventilation system is not as open as other notebooks. Air comes in and is blown out at the back hinge. Some hot air may escape through the keyboard (air is also drawn in from the keyboard) but it is a small amount compared to what is going out of the hinge. That isn't a whole lot of space for cooling especially compared to most other notebooks. Second, the MBP's form factor is rather small. Other manufacturers are fine with having thicker frames as it allows for more efficient cooling. Lastly, aluminum is a good conductor of heat, not an insulator. Aluminum does a good job of transferring heat from a higher to a lower state (i.e. inside your Mac [whichever model you picked out] to your legs) but doesn't really do anything when it comes to insulation. Plastic notebooks are better at this as plastic insulates heat rather nicely (i.e. it keeps it in). There are still some plastic notebooks that you can't actually use on your lap (mainly the gaming rigs) but, for the most part, they are fine on a lap.

I have used my MBA quite a bit on my lap but it is doesn't have the same hardware as a MBP and, when one of those is stressed (or even if the GPU is activated), they can become quite warm. Increasing the fan speed will help but there is only so much they can do before the aluminum acts as a conductor and spreads the heat to other surrounding surfaces.

 

The reason why I don't go for 17" is because I move a lot. Work - Home - Travle - Work - Home etc.

If it is normal, then I'm okay with it. Just to make sure there is no issue with the hardware. I'll later see what I can do with it.

What do you think about the battery life when it comes to 1 vs 2 stick?

I've tried this on my Acer did not really notice any increase. But then this is a whole different system and I can see that everything affects battery performance. Do you think a extra 10 minutes in a let's say 4 hour act will be trustworthy?

For now, I really don't think I need 8GB. But, near April I hope they go a little lower on the price.

By the way, why haven't you upgraded to 10.7.2?

 

CMD q closes almost everything, thats what i do.

 

Yes, it is normal for a MBP to heat up by quite a bit especially if you are using it on your lap. Not only will the aluminum conduct heat from your computer to your lap but before things get warm, it will be conducting body heat from you into the computer. All-in-all, the metal is having two heat sources on both sides. It should be fine for general web browsing and office productivity but I wouldn't do anything beyond that with a MBP in my lap. Even my older 13" (which I sold) would heat up rather quickly when I used it on my lap. My MBA is much more lap friendly as its processor consumes less power and has a lower thermal output.

You aren't going to see any difference in battery life whether you have one or two sticks of RAM. The extra small amount of voltage it takes to run two sticks of RAM vs. one is insignificant. You would see better battery life by decreasing the display backlight than by using one stick of RAM. I also wouldn't hold your breath for lower prices. Singular 8GB sticks of RAM (for notebooks anyway) are still rather new and it will take a lot longer for them to hit a consumer friendly price. Until then, they are there for extreme gamers and people who really will use 16GB (though, if you are doing things that require 16GB of RAM, you are probably on a desktop).

I have upgraded to OS X 10.7.2. I have been running that for a while now, I think I upgraded the first day it was out.

 

The price of the ram, for 8GB modules is quite a bit less than $1000. I bought my pair for $170.

 

I used a CaseLogic neoprene sleeve for my iPad and was going to pick one up for my MBP eventually. It's $18usd on Amazon right now. Pretty cheap and the material is as thick to me as one of the $40-50 ones from the Apple Store (inCase i believe).
http://www.amazon.com/Caselogic-PAS-215-15-Inch-Macbook-Neoprene/dp/B00359EXWE/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1

1. I've been using Moom from the App Store ($5)
2. Not sure - I believe that you can boot it in to internet recovery mode and install from that when the new HD? Apple - OS X Lion Recovery - Introducing Lion Recovery

Here's a great list of apps on the ArsTechnia forum
Windows > Mac software recommendations? (software list included) - Ars Technica OpenForum

 

Which is a fair share cheaper than the last time I checked. Did something happen for them to decrease so much in price like this? The last time I checked, there was only one website offering a 16GB upgrade and it was really, really expensive.

 

I have no idea. I checked the price about once a month and they were gradually dropping. Once they hit sub $200 prices for a pair, they were in range for me. After I bought my MBP and kept having memory issues with my VMs is when I decided to finally make the purchase.

 

Ah okay, I see. I also see that you have fixed your signature

Isin't that a bit...cheap actually?

The sleeve looks cool actually, I did like the idea of second storage place.

I'm going too look up the apps. Thank you.

 

If you're looking only at so-called "Apple certified" RAM, then it's still going to be expensive. You can use pretty much any DDR3 in a MBP, and it will work.

 

I think he is talking about a few months ago, the drop in price was quite substantial, for example bought my mbp in september and searched for 16gb of ram (VMs), it was around 800 bucks, now you can find it for less than 200

 

Correct. I picked up my 13" MBP in early 2011 when the SB models launched. Back then, it was over $1000 (I think it was around $1200) to buy two 8GB stick of RAM. That wasn't right away either, it took manufacturers a bit of time to come out with that option. The last I checked was around August/September of last year and the prices were still hovering around $1000 depending on where you went.

So the prices have come down and are a lot more reasonable than they were. That is one of the reasons why I made my comments stating that I didn't think the effort was worth it. That is also why I never upgraded my MBP beyond 8GB. I spent $85 doing so and I wasn't about to spend almost the cost of my unit just to put 16GB of RAM in it (especially when I didn't need it, I really didn't need 8GB either but the upgrade costs were minimal).

So the prices have essentially decreased by more than $800 in less than a year. I came across one website selling them for approximately $170, essentially twice as much as what two 4GB sticks come in at. I would have easily purchased that now if I was still rocking two 2GB sticks (i.e. the default that comes with a MBP) even if I didn't need that much RAM. Anything below $200 really isn't all that bad. I waited for 120GB SSD prices (for a good model) to hit below $200 and then jumped on one.

 

Let's hope it continues to drop

 

Okay, I have another question here...

I don't know if I should start another thread about this, but let's try to figure it out here first...

It seems like I do have to use a Windows based PC to be able to check our database at work. Outlook and everything does work with OS X, no issue, but still the Outlook is very very simple, and since we have Outlook linked to our CRM application at work, I've only get one 'part' of the 'cake'.

I have used my last hour to research about parallel and bootcamp differences... I already know a bit about each as I used to run VM with XP too back in days.. For me Bootcamp isn't a option as I have to shut down the OS X and it would just be useless... So, a parallel software is what I've need. Do any of you actually use this sort of things?

 

Yup - Parallels or Fusion both work quite well.

 

Was actually going to buy parallels right away, but I think I'll try it out first...

Do you use any of these?

 

I used both, and liked parellels more.

however vmware fusion gives me less problems with linux distros.

 

I had serious troubles using Parallels (i am on a 120 gb SSD with 4 gbs of ram), but it seems that my Mac doesn't run its fans on full or become that sluggish, so I think it was the bad SSD that apple replaced on my unit last month.

I installed parallel tools on a slow internet connection, where somehow the files weren't correctly downloaded like the windows 8 installation files and my internet wasn't working on my Vaio. If your connection doesn't bog down, then Parallels is really good to go.

You might escape with 4 gigs with an SSD (cache is faster on SSD), but I had to upgrade my ram on my older 500 gb hard disk as Mac would just crawl with 4 gigs.

 

My vote for Parallels 7 too. It provides a really smooth experience that doesn't consume too many resources and I have yet to encounter Windows problems because of it. Not only that but their Windows trackpad drivers are really nice providing even more functionality than Apple's bootcamp trackpad drivers. Even now on my 13" MBA (with a "slower" processor and 4GB of RAM), things run fine. My Windows usage is mainly limited to MATLAB but I am running macros with thousands of lines of code (with each macro referring to another one, similar to having a bunch of non-solvable differential equations that flow once some input parameters are given). I am also reading in Excel files with over 5,000 data points each.

Again, nothing too stressful but it runs just fine. I would say the experience is a little slower than if I was using bootcamp but it is more than acceptable. Just know that running Windows on top of OS X essentially kills the battery life so you would want to be plugged into your AC adapter.

 

Thanks for the replies guys..

I was going to ask about the battery life kornchild2002, but seems like I got my answer. I'll be running Windows 7 and it would maybe be like 2 hours a week in total.

From my understanding, it installs drivers etc. on its own, right?

 

Either of the two will work fine. There is really no substantive difference between the two. I use Fusion and quite like it. I have used parallels and did not like it as much, but that was probably more just personal preference.

 

The parallels seems really nice to me actually. I think I'll stick to that.

But now, I've got another problem...

I use my OS in English, that is because English is a wonderful language and I just love it.

But, I live in Norway, and I've also write a lot of Norwegian. My Mac always try to correct the Norwegian words into english.

My Language & Texts looks like this:
In Language tab, I have English and Norwegian. English is on top of Norwegian. In Text tab, I have selected Spelling: Automatic by Language. I have also dragged Norwegian to just behind English.

However, my Mac still tries to correct the Norwegian words and sentences to English. Rather funny to read actually.

I did a search on this, and downloaded dictionary files. Before that, it were not available at all in Text tab. Any ideas?

 

I get about 3.5 hours on a single charge when running Windows 7 under Parallels 7. The battery life didn't change from my 13" MBP to my 13" MBA. So you should be fine with your weekly Windows 7 requirements. Parallels 7 installs its own set of drivers (called Parallels tools) that allow you to use the trackpad, keyboard, webcam, wi-fi, GPU/IPG, etc. It is a little funky as, by default, USB storage devices are often seen as "network" drives but things work quite nicely. It essentially allows you to have access to all of your hardware (even printers) under Windows. The optical drive can be a little finicky at time though.

 

Thank you for the information. Much appreciated.

I'll not use USB drives or DVD/CD ROM so I think I'll be fine actually...

Do you have any idea about the spelling issue?

 

It actually asks me if I put in a USB or a dvd that where do I want to use it (Windows or OS X),

 

Right. To me, it's a little wonky at first but it still does the job. My only issue comes from USB devices that are already plugged in before I start Parallels and Windows 7. Then I have to manually do something for Windows to read them. However, plugging them in while Parallels and Windows are running will cause that dialog box to appear.

I have no idea what is going on with the language issues. I have my Mac set to only one language and have only ever used that single language on all of my computing platforms.

 

I see kornchild, thank you for your replies.

 

Few more questions:

1. How can I move a file? I'm tired of copy-delete...

2. Is there any possibility to enable the two finger back and forth swipe while browsing in Finder?

3. How can I get all my files arranged by Name, rather than I have to do it manually with every single annoying folder?

 

1. Drag and drop - As far as I know there is no cut and pasting of files... which blows.

2. I'd like to know too! Would make sense.

3. They are by default - or do you mean folders on top then files by name? If that is what you meant then:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/apple-mac-os-x/208068-make-finder-sort-type-folders-top.html

 

Cmd x cuts the file