Every day, I see more and more Apple products popping up all over campus. From iPhones to iPods to MacBooks… it seems that Apple is catching fire all over the place. But surprisingly, many of these users have no idea what they’re doing! Practically once a week, someone in one of my classes well approach me after class, having observed me using my MacBook, and ask, “Hey… sorry to bother you… but I just got a Mac and I have NO idea how to use it!” This usually leads into a couple minutes of me giving my newfound friend basic pointers and cleaning up his or her desktop.
I realize that many readers of our blog are avid, Mac-obsessed users, but I decided to make this handy-dandy list of my top 10 tips for new Mac users.
1. Your new Mac is NOT a PC!
I realize this may appear to be an obvious statement, but indeed, it is not; many new users try to treat their Mac like a PC. For instance, Macs are designed for many applications to be viewed on the display at one time. Instead of dragging the window of your applications to full screen, leave them small and display many at the same time. At any given moment I have iChat on the left of my display, Safari in the middle, and the iTunes mini-sized player on the lower right. All in all, Mac displays are meant to be compartmentalized.
2. There’s more to your Mac than Photobooth, don’t be afraid to explore!
Click around, have fun, and see what you may find. Check out Exposé and Spaces under System Preferences and play around. There is very little you can mess up and if you do something you shouldn’t have, make an appointment online for your local Apple retailer and a Mac Genius can easily help you out (or even call up Apple Support).
3. Use Spotlight
In the upper, right-hand corner of every Mac is a little icon of a magnifying glass. When you click this, it takes you to Spotlight, Mac’s search engine. Many new users see the computer search as enemy, because Window’s search is so ineffective. But this is not the case for Mac! Spotlight produces accurate results within seconds and displays them in a convenient dropdown menu. I even have some friends who exclusively use Spotlight to open anything on their Mac.
4. Keep your desktop clean, and don’t put application icons on it
Your dock is there for a reason, leave your application icons on it!
5. When installing a new application, eject the installer once you’re done
Many times, when I get onto a new user’s Mac, it’s mostly cluttered with old .dmg files and installers not yet ejected.
6. Use ctrl + click for the traditional, Windows “right click” affect
Self explanatory enough?
7. Keep your files clearly organized in folders
This is true across the board, whether you are using Mac or PC. It’s very important to keep all your files organized. I have all my files for each of my classes neatly organized in folders titled with the name of the class within a folder titled “School.” If you simply through all of your documents into My Documents it’ll leave your head spinning when you begin looking for them in the future.
8. Explore iLife
iMovie, iPhoto, and GarageBand have a lot to offer and they are extremely user friendly. Just by opening the program you will open yourself up to a world of possibilities.
9. Add folders that you frequently use to your Dock
This is a nifty little shortcut. Drag and drop folders from their destination to the left of the trashcan. When you click on the folder the contents will fan out.
10. Don’t download AIM, just use iChat
Don’t download AOL’s Instant Messenger, silly! iChat is way cooler and won’t give you any problems like AIM may. If you don’t understand how to add your screen name, simply click iChat > Preferences > Account > click + button on lower left.
If you have any of your own personal tips, please share them with us in the Mactropolis OS X Tips and Tricks Forum
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: OS X Tips
