Re: Newbie with 10's of questions

In article <DrJamesSidbury-580F08.22091228102005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
*** Sidbury <DrJamesSidbury@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> OK, I got my Powerbook G4 17" on Tuesday morning and have been trying to
> learn it for the past several days. I'm an experienced Windows user so
> the transition has been in some ways difficult but in some ways easy.

Welcome aboard!

> 1) First does it cause problems with the system to continually install
> and uninstall applications? I've been downloading software to try out
> (such as MT-NewsWatcher that I'm using now) to try to pick the ones that
> I like and discard the others. I know that Windows tends to deteriorate
> over time with lots of installs and uninstalls.

You can install and uninstall software as often as you'd like and the
system shouldn't care.

> 2) Can someone recommend a good relatively technical book on Tiger (and
> the Powerbook G4 for that matter)? As a matter of personal pride and or
> idiosyncracies I refuse to buy any book with the word "dummies" or
> "idiots" in the title. If it were a college text book that would be
> ideal since I could probably convince one of the book reps for my
> college to give me an evaluation copy :)

It depends on what you mean by a technical book. Are you looking for
in-depth system tips and tricks? Are you trying to learn how to use the
command line? Do you want to do some programming? There are good books
for all three of those categories and more.

> 3) One of the areas where I think the Windows interface is superior to
> the mac is that I can resize a window by grabbing on any boundary of the
> window and dragging. At least the way my mac is configured originally I
> can only resize by grabbing the lower right corner and dragging. Can
> this behavior be modified and if so how? Alternatively, can you
> convince me that I don't want to change the default way?

This is the only behavior the system supports. It does take a little
bit of getting used to, but Mac applications are typically good at
remembering window positions between launches so I find that I rarely
have to resize windows.

> 4) How do I install and uninstall apps? It appears that the standard
> way seems to be to download a file and double click the disk image and
> then move the contents to the Applications folder and to uninstall just
> drag the folder or app to the trash? I know some programs have
> installers but for those who don't am I missing something?

You're not missing anything. Most software can be drag-installed. It
doesn't even have to go in the Applications folder.

> 5) I just installed a Microsoft Bluetooth mouse (which I don't recommend
> because there doesn't appear to be an on/off switch so to preserve
> battery power you must remove the battery) and periodically all my
> windows will shrink to a much smaller size and move around the screen.
> What's going on? If it makes any difference I've changed the mouse
> behavior so that I can perform a click by tapping the pad and set up the
> mouse to run using the intellemouse software.

You're probably toggling the system's Exposé feature, which is a
terrific way to switch between windows or find your desktop. See
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/expose/> for details.

> 6) What are some good Web sites that I should be reading to learn
> whatever I need to learn to become comfortable with the "mac way of
> doing stuff"?

You might find Mac OS X Hints (<http://www.macosxhints.com/>) useful if
you're looking for technical details. There are lots of other sites,
though.

> 7) How should I treat the battery? On my Gateway notebook I have
> typically plugged in the battery charger whenever it's convenient to do
> so and the battery (which has a one year warranty) has died two and a
> half times in three years. I did calibrate my battery on Tuesday night
> but I'd like to know if anyone has experience and would recommend using
> the powerbook on battery power only until the power goes down relatively
> low and then recharging.

One of the reasons why batteries only come with a one-year warranty is
that under heavy use they sometimes won't last much more than a year.
My PowerBook batteries tend to last two or three years and I treat them
in the way you're describing -- I plug in the AC adapter whenever I'm
close to it.

> 8) I've already ungraded my memory to 1.5gb (at 85 dollars for a 1 gig
> stick it seems foolish not to). I plan to teach myself Final Cut
> Studio. Will I need to upgrade to 2 relatively soon?

1.5 GB should be enough. More memory is always better, but I think
you'll be fine with 1.5 GB for now.

> 9) What do you recommend for a reasonably priced carrying case? I'd
> prefer light weight but with the ability to carry a bunch of stuff. I'm
> undecided about wheels, but would probably prefer nylon or some kind of
> cloth instead of leather (or imitation).

If you have an Apple retail store nearby, I'd suggest wandering by
there. They usually have a variety of cases to choose from.

> 10) I will be essentially the only person who uses my notebook (except
> for the occasional time when someone uses it to check webmail or
> browse). Is there some particular way that I should organize my
> applications and other data files?

However you like. :) It's generally good to keep the applications that
come with the operating system in the Applications folder, but the
system doesn't really care about how you scatter your other files
around. In general I'd suggest making sure that documents are somewhere
inside your home directory, but you don't have to use the Documents
folder if you don't want to.

Hope this helps,
Eric

--
Eric Albert ejalbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://outofcheese.org/
.

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