Apple Mac Lovers

[dagger55]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

learn alot here:

http://www.apple.com/pro/tips/long_name_fix.html?sr=hotnews.rss

[thejake]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

really good mac specific website...

https://www.tuaw.com

check the specific tags mac 101 and ask tuaw.

lots of good info for newbs there.

as far as maximizing and minimizing OSX doesnt work like that. i think its a design decision. the plus supposedly makes the window as big as it needs to be.

[thejake]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

http://www.tuaw.com/category/ask-tuaw/

http://www.tuaw.com/category/mac-101/

[thejake]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

and here's a good one to start with...it tells you what not to do.

http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/16/mac-101-things-not-to-do-on-your-mac/

[Heelfan71]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

I plugged in an external usb hard drive. Now where do I go to find it and view the files on it ???

[Bruins]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

I plugged in an external usb hard drive. Now where do I go to find it and view the files on it ???

There should be an icon on your desktop, under Hard Drive. Double click on it and it should open up. Also, when you're done, don't just unplug it. Remember to eject it properly (I usually drag it to the trash when I'm ejecting something).

[Heelfan71]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

thanks, I see something below that that looks like a HD but it says "fire fox" on it and has the fire fox logo on it ? I just installed fire fox too. But when I click on this and drag it to the trash it says "the disk firefox is in use and can not be ejected". Man I am lost.

[dbeth]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

Installing programs on a Mac is usually a snap. For your FireFox dilemma, it should have downloaded to a little drive-looking icon, and inside it is a FireFox icon. Drag that icon (what seems like the program), to your "Applications" folder. There....it's installed. Now drag the original FireFox "drive" to the trash and you're done.

Many Mac programs use a "virtual drive" as their installation. Many people mistake this to run the program from, and that's why you're getting the message you are. You probably have FireFox running because you double-clicked it in the drive icon. Quit Firefox, install using the dragging method, and you should be able to eject the drive.

Enjoy customizing your Dock. Put all your often-used programs there, click once on them, and off you go. That's one of the reasons (amongst many others) that when you look at a Mac user's desktop and a PC users desktop, the Mac's is less cluttered....at least I think so.

Massive Mac fan here.....started with the original iMac for me in 1999. Welcome to the club!!!

[Heelfan71]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

yeah, that was the problem with firefox. Still, my USB isn't showing up. Know what the jumper setting should be ?

[Silverstring]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

thanks, I see something below that that looks like a HD but it says "fire fox" on it and has the fire fox logo on it ? I just installed fire fox too. But when I click on this and drag it to the trash it says "the disk firefox is in use and can not be ejected". Man I am lost.

That is a mounted "disk image". When you click on .dmg files(which is how the vast, vast majority of OS X applications are installed) it mounts these virtual disks. Unlike windows, you usually don't go through an installer, you simply drag and drop the application's icon, into the Applications folder(blue folder with an "A" made from a pencil, paintbrush, and ruler). Although this is easy, the one thing that can make it confusing is that you can actually run an application from a mounted disk image, without ever actually installing it. If you're using firefox and attempt to eject this disk, this is the error it will give you. Again, fix it by dragging the firefox icon in the disk image to your applications folder. If you look closely, that is what the window graphic in the disk image instructs you to do anyway. I think the installation process for all programs is made MUCH easier if you simply put the applications folder in your dock, preventing you from having to make multiple clicks. To do this, click the smiley mac icon at the extreme left of the dock, which will open up a finder window. What will be selected by default is your home folder on the side bar on the left. Click the "Macintosh HD" icon in the very same sidebar, which should show you the "Applications" folder(among others) in the main window. Click and drag that Applications folder to the dock, and you're done. If you look at your dock, you will see icons for all the mac programs on the left, Trash on the extreme right. If you look close, there's a fait divifing line betwen the application icons and the trash section. Remember that, to this left of this line. you can add or remove any application icon. The right of the line, however, is reserved only for folders, files, and the trash. Because of these restrictions, that Application folder can only be put to the right of that divider. Make sense?

Now, to make things easier on myself, I have put both the applications folder and the documents folder on my dock to keep my desktop clean. This gives me one-click access to the contents of both.

[Silverstring]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

Installing programs on a Mac is usually a snap. For your FireFox dilemma, it should have downloaded to a little drive-looking icon, and inside it is a FireFox icon. Drag that icon (what seems like the program), to your "Applications" folder. There....it's installed. Now drag the original FireFox "drive" to the trash and you're done.

Many Mac programs use a "virtual drive" as their installation. Many people mistake this to run the program from, and that's why you're getting the message you are. You probably have FireFox running because you double-clicked it in the drive icon. Quit Firefox, install using the dragging method, and you should be able to eject the drive.

Enjoy customizing your Dock. Put all your often-used programs there, click once on them, and off you go. That's one of the reasons (amongst many others) that when you look at a Mac user's desktop and a PC users desktop, the Mac's is less cluttered....at least I think so.

Massive Mac fan here.....started with the original iMac for me in 1999. Welcome to the club!!!

Must have replied as I was typing!

[Silverstring]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers



Here's a screenshot of my desktop, so you see what I mean.

[Heelfan71]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

It won't let me drag the Application Icon to the tool bar at the bottom. I can drag it to the desktop though. Trying to re-install firefox and thunerbird now and the ".DMG" files are on my desktop. I double click on them and nothing happens..........no icon shows up to drag into the application folder. It says "failed to mount image, operation timed out" or something similar.

[Silverstring]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

It won't let me drag the Application Icon to the tool bar at the bottom. I can drag it to the desktop though. Trying to re-install firefox and thunerbird now and the ".DMG" files are on my desktop. I double click on them and nothing happens..........no icon shows up to drag into the application folder. It says "failed to mount image, operation timed out" or something similar.

Let me be more clear. To do the initial install you WON'T be able to drag the application icon to the dock directly(yes, you can drag it to the desktop, but get out of that cluttered windows mindset!). FIrst you must drage the application icon to the applications FOLDER. Once inside the applications folder, THEN you can drag it to any position on the dock to the left of the divider.

It wont re-mount the image if you still have the previous virtual disks mounted. Eject those and try again.

[Heelfan71]

Re: Apple Mac Lovers

cant get windows clutter out of my mind. Okay, the applications folder is to the right of the red line, right next to my trash can. Is that right?