Switching to a Mac

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Switching to a Mac

POSTED BY SHIV | FILED UNDER BLOGS
Switching to a mac isnt nearly as complicated as people think. In fact the chances that you'll find it easier than a PC are quite high.

Dock

Mac Switch #1 - Your start menu is now your Dock. The Dock is, by default located at the bottom of your screen and looks something like the image below. Move your mouse over the applications in your dock to see the name. Single-Left Click to Open. On a notebook, just click the button once.

My Computer --> Macintosh HD

Mac Switch #2 - Your "My Computer" folder is now called "Macintosh Hd and should be on your desktop.
Mac Switch #3 - Your Menubar is now always located at the top of your screen

Application System

Mac Switch #4 - IMPORTANT Your Mac now runs on an application system (which, by the way, is not the formal term for it) which means that even when you click the cross button on a window (which is to the top-left corner of your screen), the application will usually stay open which can make your computer slow. To quit an application correctly, click on the name of that application in the menubar and click "quit application name". This is shown in the image below.

System Preferences

Mac Switch #5 - All or most of your general preferences are now managed by an application called "System Preferences". Click on the apple sign on the top left corner of your screen and click on "System Preferences".

Spotlight Search

Mac Switch #6 - On the top left corner of your screen will be a search icon called "spotlight. Click on it to Search for items on your mac.

Shut Down

Mac Switch #7 - To Switch off your mac, click on the apple sign at the top left of your screen and click "Shut Down", "Restart", "Log Out", "Sleep".

Trash

Mac Switch #8 - Your Recycle Bin is now called the "Trash" and is to the extreme right of your Dock. To delete files, you can either right-click the file and click "Move to Trash" or you can simply drag it to the Trash icon in the Dock. Click on the trash icon to see what all is in it. Right-Click and then click empty to permenantly delete all the files in the trash.

Stacks

Mac Switch #9 - (Not in Tiger), the folders next to the trash are called stacks are quick and easy ways of using the folder. To add a stack to the Dock, Simply dragthe folder to the place immediately to the left of the trash.

Microsoft

Mac Switch #10 - Apple, does not, by default, come with the Microsoft Package (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc), but you can buy it for your mac. Mac also has software (paid again), which is their equivelant of word, powerpoint and excel called pages (word), keynote (powerpoint) and numbers (excel).
However, for writing and printing normal text, you may use TextEdit, which is pre-installed into every mac.

Wi-Fi (Airport)

Mac Switch #11 - Mac's Wi-Fi, as you may have noticed isnt in the start manu since there isnt a start menu. It, in fact, is in the menubar next to the date on the extreme right of the menubar and is called airport. It is a triangular / conical shaped series of black/grey arcs as shown below.
 
See Airport Setup for more.

Application Preferences

Mac Switch #12 - To see the application preferences, click on the name of the app on the top-left (menubar) and click preferences or press command-comma (,)

Safari

Mac Switch #13 - Your Web Browser (Internet Explorer, etc) is now, by default Safari, which is a greate web browser. However you can also download Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome for mac if you wish.4

Hard Drives and CD's

Mac Switch #14 - Your CD's and external Hard Drives (pendrives, etc) will no longer be called removable hard drive (G), etc. It will be called by its name (e.g - My_Disk) and will be located either on your Desktop, or in the sidebar of a Finder Window or both.

Dashboard

Mac Switch #15 - Your Dashboard is mac's "Gadgets" which are called "Widgets" and have been there in every mac since 2001. To activate your dashboard, click on the black circuar icon in the dock, usually next to Finder, or press f4 and in older macs, f12