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Macs: PowerPC or Intel

Started by Jonathan, May 18, 2009, 11:58:57 AM

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Jonathan

#40
So I upgrade to 10.5.
Do I now I have to pay to upgrade to say 10.5.7? or are the 10.5.x updates free?

Also is there an equivelant to the Win+D keystroke to show the desktop?
And one other thing is there a way to see which files are taking up the most space on the HDD?
And another thing, to uninstall an program I just delete the file in the Applications folder? There's no equivelant of the Uninstall programs in Windows?
last one, how to change the computer name?
Jonathan

callagrafx

Quote from: Jonathan on September 23, 2009, 11:01:26 AM
So I upgrade to 10.5.
Do I now I have to pay to upgrade to say 10.5.7? or are the 10.5.x updates free?
Free...and automatic.  To force a check, click on the Apple symbol top left and select "Software Update".  It'll scan for any updated Apple software and ask you to install.

Quote from: Jonathan on September 23, 2009, 11:01:26 AM
Also is there an equivelant to the Win+D keystroke to show the desktop?
use Exposé which I believe is fn + F11 (toggle) The FN key is used on a laptop as the F1-F12 keys are mapped to hardware controls...in my case F11 reduces the volume. 

Quote from: Jonathan on September 23, 2009, 11:01:26 AM
And one other thing is there a way to see which files are taking up the most space on the HDD?
Generally when viewing the HDD, I have mine set to panes, but if you open a window you will see only the files show the sizes....to tell OS X to calculate folder sizes, click on View in the top menu bar and select "View Options".  Down the bottom you will see "Calculate all sizes"....turn this on

Quote from: Jonathan on September 23, 2009, 11:01:26 AM
And another thing, to uninstall an program I just delete the file in the Applications folder? There's no equivelant of the Uninstall programs in Windows?
That's pretty much it.  Some software installs preferences and support files in the various libraries dotted around so a full clean uninstall is a manual process :-(

Quote from: Jonathan on September 23, 2009, 11:01:26 AM
last one, how to change the computer name?
Jonathan
The HDD name or your User account name?  Generally the computer name can be changed in the System Preferences > Sharing panel
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it

Jonathan

Thanks, that's really helpful

I have now tryed to move some stuff to an external Hard Drive (USB), and it says I don't have permission, and I can't find out how to change the permission, there is no button to allow me in the Get Info window.

callagrafx

Try changing the permissions of the internal HDD to read/write and apply to all enclosing folders.  Also make sure that your user account has full read/write privileges...
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it

Jonathan

Well in the info panel of the external HHD it says the external HDD is read only. And anyway I don't know how to change permissions on any folder?

Thanks for the tip about the mouse. I put synergy on the ibook and can now use it with my desktop mouse.

Jonathan

callagrafx

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it

Jonathan

#46
Thanks I'll try it out, but I'm getting a bit irratated about the MacOS.

Theres no address bar so I can't copy and paste file locations.
No Up button to go up a directory
Closing all an applications windows (quite often only 1 window) doesn't close the application.
The zoom/maximise button doesn't work properly on web browsers on websites.
Being unable to access the Finder Menus without switching to Finder first.
And the right click thing (even though I'm using a mouse surely it should have been built into the laptop?)
Shutting Down, can be stopped by open applications, so you find that when you come back the next morning it still hasn't turned off.

I don't know if any of these can changed?

Also would it be alright if I sold the iBook,I'm thinking about it atm? Or do you want the RAM(I don't mind if you do at all)
So I could shell out a bit more for an Intel based Mac.


callagrafx

Quote from: Jonathan on September 25, 2009, 11:00:15 AM
Thanks I'll try it out, but I'm getting a bit irratated about the MacOS.

Theres no address bar so I can't copy and paste file locations.
No Up button to go up a directory
Closing all an applications windows (quite often only 1 window) doesn't close the application.
The zoom/maximise button doesn't work properly on web browsers on websites.
Being unable to access the Finder Menus without switching to Finder first.
And the right click thing (even though I'm using a mouse surely it should have been built into the laptop?)
Shutting Down, can be stopped by open applications, so you find that when you come back the next morning it still hasn't turned off.

I don't know if any of these can changed?

Also would it be alright if I sold the iBook,I'm thinking about it atm? Or do you want the RAM(I don't mind if you do at all)
So I could shell out a bit more for an Intel based Mac.

OS X is unix based but pretty much fully GUI rather than command line.  There is a shell terminal but that's really for hardcore stuff and only if you're familiar with Unix language.

As for the other things, it's something that's probably a bit strange if you've been used to one way of working...I've used both Apple OS and Windows for so long now that it's easy for me to accept the differences.  It's easier to navigate with the Columns view (open the HDD, click on the 3rd icon in on the set of 4.  If you're using the trackpad, to right click hold down the CTRL key.   Only some apps will prevent a shutdown...if there is any unsaved work it'll freeze the shutdown process until saved.  However, the Mac is much better at power management and simply closing the lid will standby the machine and it'll go into full sleep mode.  I cannot remember the last time I shut the machine down, because the OS is that much more stable. 

And by all means sell the ibook for an intel one, with the RAM (it'll help the sale and I have no use for it).  An intel based Mac will give you access to faster processing, Snow Leopard and Bootcamp.  :thumbsup:
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it

Andreas

Well, my personal experience with MacOS is limited to a couple of hours, so I can't tell that much about the differences, or even decide which way is better, but it's surely another philosophy, and it takes some time to get acquainted with it. Don't give up now, though - it looks like a nifty piece of hardware, and the form factor is surely nice.

Did you test for how long the battery still runs? If it's still more than 2.5 or 3 hours, it would be a value that only the recent Windows-based notebook generation can achieve. And I'd say it's a nifty piece of hardware for travelling as well, or maybe you can use it at school now and then.

So just read through some tutorials (I'm sure there are a lot of articles specifically intended for Windows users who are using a Mac for the first time), and once you grasped the basices, there shouldn't be much difference to use MacOS rather than Windows. Of course there will be always some things that work more elegant in Windows, but there are other things which work nicer on a Mac. :)
Andreas

Jonathan

Yes the only problem with getting an intel based Mac means it will be a Mac Mini, so I loose the laptopness. The Battery is quite long indeed, much better than my Dad's Sony laptop (which lasts about 10 minutes on a full battery)

I can see why so many people like Mac more than Windows, but I don't understand why they do (if that makes any sense).

So is there no way to get an address bar?

Jonathan


callagrafx

#50
You have to remember that the disk structure is HFS+ rather than Windows NTFS or FAT32 and stores information completely differently.  There is no disk letter and folders can have up to 255 characters.  It's all presented in a visual format (always has been) whereas Windows file structures are a throwback to the old DOS days. 

The vast majority of Mac users have always been Mac users, if that makes sense.  The newcomers like yourself generally react the same way but after a little bit of time they "see the light" so to speak.  There is so much more to OS X than you can actually see....And the hardware itself is extremely reliable.  Battery consumption on laptops is not so much down to the hardware, but software.  I have a Macbook Pro (new model) which I use with Snow Leopard and XP (via bootcamp).  OS X gives me 3 hours and 52 minutes of normal operation, including video playback via Youtube, whereas if I'm in XP that's down to 2 hours 15 minutes doing pretty much the same activities.

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it

Jonathan

So I'm planning to sell it in order to get a Intel Mac or some kind.
But I bought MacOS Leopard seperatly then installed it.
Should I leave it installed and put the disc and ibook in the same auction. or leave it installed and sell the ibook and leopard seperatly (so the ibook would only have 10.3 discs) or downgrade (if possilbe) to 10.3 like i bought it, then sell the ibook and leopard seperatly.

Or make somesort of recovery disc for Leopard (if possible) and put it with the ibook, and sell the Leopard on its own?

I'm going to set a reserve so I don't make a loss, I'm going to need as much profit from it as possible to be able to afford an intel Mac, so which one would be best?

Jonathan