Newbie Questions

I have decades of experience with computers (both Windows and Unix), but
I'm a Mac newbie: today was Day 1. I'm basically on my own in this
endeavor -- it's just me, the Mac help files, Apple tech support, and the
Internet. The help files have not been much help, and tech support, which
has been hit or miss, stops working at 6PM Pacific time, unlike me. I'm
wandering around a landscape I don't understand, so I'm hoping people here
can help me out. If this is not the right newsgroup for this, please point
me to the right place.

FWIW, I have the low-end Mac mini with 512MB memory.

Questions:
- I've found the help to be really bad. I went to Finder>Help>Mac Help and
typed "view photos" into the search box in the upper left corner. I
got back the following topics: "Setting up a web site", "Using spotlight
to search for items," and "Folders for your personal items." What I was
hoping for was information on how to view photos using e.g., iPhoto. Am
I doing something wrong?
- The mini has a jack for audio out, but doesn't seem to have one for audio
in. Is that really correct?
- I downloaded Firefox, installed it and browsed the net with it. Now, a
couple of reboots later, I can't find it. It's not listed under
Applications, and though spotlight can find folders with Firefox in the
name, it doesn't seem to find an application I can run. How can I find a
program that I know is on my disk somewhere? [Some time goes by.] Okay,
maybe I didn't install it. I just found a file named Firefox 1.0.6.dmg
in my Download directory, and if I double-click on that, I see
Firefox.exe, and if I double-click on that, I run firefox. Do I have to
do something else to actually install the program?
- When the machine starts up, there are a number of apps in the dock, e.g.,
iChat, iPhoto, Safari, etc. How do I control what is listed there? I'd
like to get rid of some stuff I know I won't use (e.g., iDVD) and add,
say, Firefox....
- Using Clover-Tab to switch among applications seems to sometimes bring
the switched-to app's body window to the foreground and sometimes not.
(The menu bar at the top of the screen usually changes.) For example, it
seems to not do it if I have a Finder help window up, and it seems to
also not do it when none of my apps is the current app. (When none of
them is the current app, using Clover-W has no effect.)
- The Finder seems to always open a small window sort of in the middle of
the screen. I keep resizing and moving it, but the next time I open a
Finder window, it's back to its old size and shape. How can I make it
come up in the size/location where it was last time?
- How can I play a song with iTunes without bringing up an iTunes UI? For
example, I'd like to be able to double-click on an mp3 file and have it
start playing without changing the screen dispay in any way.
- The Finder seems to show my folder contents using icons by default. Each
time I visit a directory, I have to change the display mode to show what
Windows calls a detailed view, i.e., one line per file showing size,
type, last modification date, etc. How can I tell the Finder that this
is the default view I want to see?
- I have a bunch of .mpg files I'd like to play one after the other. I can
play each in QuickTime by double-clicking on it, but what I want is the
moral equivalent of a video playlist so that the clips will play one
after the other. I tried plopping them all into an iTunes list, but that
only got me audio. How can I drag a bunch of .mpg files somewhere such
that they'll play sequentially?

Thanks for any help you can offer,

Scott

.

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