Member of the Month

PartyBullshiit
March, 2024

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Setting Up a New Mac

profile picture
B.Aussie
Posts: 5851 - Karma: 4,522
What programs are good to put onto a new mac?
Are their any programs that are pretty much a must get?
Any tricks to macs most people wouldn't know?
Anything that should be avoided doing?
Any must knows before starting?

Disclaimer, Searchbarred couldn't find anything that was a good guide.
Nov 7 2010 1:19AM
0 0
profile picture
PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
I hate to be that guy, but did you try Google? There are entire websites devoted to your very question... but I'd recommend that for a few days, just get comfy with the software already there, with the following:


Firefox for web browsing (far better than safari)

You'll need an office suite if you're a student, or really anyone who uses the programs therein. I like iWork, but Office may be more your thing.



For starters, that's all you'll need. As you discover that you don't have a program for something, you can find a piece of software you need to fill the void. Don't download software you won't use though, it's really a waste of your time and your hard drive space.
Nov 7 2010 1:32AM
0 0
profile picture
Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,398
chrome is faster then FF, and yes that is a fact
Nov 7 2010 1:34AM
0 0
profile picture
Shredneck
Posts: 2051 - Karma: -32
-Firefox, itunes, utorrent, Pages
-^^^^^
-command + click = right click
-spilling beverages on mac
-your about to spend alot of money for a glowing apple logo




notes: I quoted so i could remember what you asked, I have a mbp 17"
Nov 7 2010 1:34AM
0 0
profile picture
PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
I like your new icon.

And yes, it's faster, but depending on how powerfull her computer is (odds are, just fine) and how fast and internet connection she has, it may not make a difference... and I personally prefer firefox, despite being a titch slower.

Either one will trump Safari every time, and that's the important bit.
Nov 7 2010 1:39AM
0 0
profile picture
Deezy
Posts: 4580 - Karma: 1,004
Geektool its legit
does time and date and weather
Click for larger image

https://newschoolers.com/ns/forums/readthread/thread_id/563659/
theres a thread, pm me if u need help. its tricky to learn.
Nov 7 2010 1:44AM
0 0
profile picture
KatyPerry.
Posts: 1051 - Karma: 23
geektool, vuze, perian, iTunes, firefox, maybe skype? and office if you are a student.
Nov 7 2010 1:19AM
0 0
profile picture
Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,398
anyone else who says itunes should probably not recommend anything about computers ever again, it comes stock on all macs, same with all ilife apps, you guys really didn't know that?
Nov 7 2010 1:29AM
0 0
profile picture
KatyPerry.
Posts: 1051 - Karma: 23
haha how did nobody catch that earlier. apparently we all suck at computers
Nov 7 2010 1:38AM
0 0
profile picture
wynnyk
Posts: 1638 - Karma: 555
he was the first one to post after you...
Nov 7 2010 1:46AM
0 0
profile picture
Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,398
read the thread before you post
Nov 7 2010 1:58AM
0 0
profile picture
wynnyk
Posts: 1638 - Karma: 555
I did, she mentioned itunes in her post, and I assume she was talking about her post when wondering how nobody caught her mistake earlier.

Nov 7 2010 2:13AM
0 0
profile picture
PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
Here's one more really, really important thing:

Command + Option + Control + 8 = Gnarshmallow Night Skiing. (inverted colors)
Nov 7 2010 2:59AM
0 0
profile picture
scratchproteen
Posts: 5173 - Karma: 286
Um you can edit your dock size and magnification under system preferences....it bugs me for some reason when I go on a friends macbook and their doc is still the original set up.


do you have a lap top or desktop?

I never do command click for right click

on a lap top just put two fingers on the mouse pad and click for right click or two fingers on a mighty mouse (for desktop) and click for right click...

also you can drag two fingers on the mouse pad (for lap top) to scroll up and down.

if you are into ripping and copying dvds get "Mac the ripper" for ripping and Toast for burning.


Nov 7 2010 4:27AM
0 0
profile picture
gr4
Posts: 1499 - Karma: 945
change your trackpad settings. you can make it so you can tap it to click instead of clicking the button, double finger tap for right click, go to the corners for expose, show desktop ect.

learn to use expose and spaces. they are great for mulitasking.
make sure to quit applications when not using them.

Nov 7 2010 4:34AM
0 0
profile picture
chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,122
Web Browsers:
Safari/Chrome-Everyday web browsing, fast, pretty. Safari is prettier, Chrome is faster. I use safari.
Firefox-Way more features/add ons. Fast enough. I use firefox when I am doing schoolwork.

Office Suites:
Office for mac-A must if you are a student. Word is powerful, excel can't be beat (on a mac) Powerpoint is good. Also the new one just came out so good time to get it.
iwork-Easy to use, not as powerful as office. A lot of people say keynote is better than powerpoint.
Open Office/Neo Office/Bean-Don't bother. They basically suck. More powerful than iwork, but if you need those features you should be getting office anyways.

PDF Reader:
preview-Good enough for basic reading, printing and annotating
Skim-Much better if you are annotating and editing a lot. If you annotate class notes, get it.

Video Editing:
imovie-Good for the most basic of editing, not what it used to be.
Final cut express-much better software, takes awhile to learn

These are some other programs I use. Most of them are free and I believe they are the best in their category (without paying a lot of money)

Papers-is great if you deal with lots of journal articles. Download and organize them all in one program and makes citing super easy. (not free)
Handbrake-DVD Ripping
Paintbrush-Basically MS Paint
Transmission/Vuze-Torrents
Trishear 3d-Trishear modeling
Simple DEM Viewer-D
The SkyX-Astronomy software, you can get the same thing free.
Avogadro-Molecule drawing

You will also probably want flip4mac,perian and maybe fetchart.

Google earth is really cool. Spore is the best game ever.

Wow that's probably the longest reply I ever made haha, took me like 10 minutes. I just basically went down my apps folder. PS I am pretty much computer illiterate believe it or not, I just use it a lot for school.
Nov 7 2010 4:37AM
0 0
profile picture
molsongolden
Posts: 1649 - Karma: 162
yeah set it so you can 2finger + click like everyone else said

i actually got rid of firefox and just use safari and it is quick and clean, I used to like firefox but I use safari on my PC at work now too.

i have cyberduck for ftp

adobe photoshop/dreamweaver/indesign/illustrator

microsoft office

utorrent

peerguardian

snood haha

and apple + shift + 3 takes a snapshot of your screen and saves it to your desktop,

you can quick crop things when you are viewing a picture in preview using file > grab > then selecting the portion of the picture that you want to crop
Nov 10 2010 12:34AM
0 0
profile picture
chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,122
Open Office is just really a bitch to use compared to office. Plus anything can easily convert to PDF, it is built into the mac itself. You can save to PDF from basically anything, even safari.
Nov 10 2010 1:18AM
0 0
profile picture
.skiperisher.
Posts: 323 - Karma: 83
that one is sweet. is there any other commands like this?
Nov 10 2010 1:36AM
0 0
profile picture
RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
threads
Nov 10 2010 2:33AM
0 0
profile picture
lahnabonny
Posts: 1260 - Karma: 35
Microsoft Word/Powerpoint/Excel ($)
Adobe Creative Suite ($)
Safari/Firefox/Chrome
Vuze
Autocad/Google Sketchup if you're into drafting
Paintbrush (like Paint for windows)
Oovoo or Skype
Taskmate - like a 'To Do' list reminder
Google Earth
Geektool

- just going by what's on my mac
Nov 10 2010 2:47AM
0 0
profile picture
lahnabonny
Posts: 1260 - Karma: 35
oh and go to apple.com and watch a tutorial video of the track pad, some cool things there to learn too
Nov 10 2010 2:49AM
0 0
profile picture
toominator
Posts: 4792 - Karma: 120
Honestly don't see what the big deal is about open office being hard to use. It's free and does everything you need to be able to do as a student.

I think the underlying issue with open source software is that people assume it's going to be substandard because it's free. Then, if they even get around to trying it, they put it in the 'too hard' bucket because it's different to what they're accoustomed to (usually microsoft office).

Use Open Office and spend the money you save on beer :)
Nov 10 2010 3:00AM
0 0
profile picture
lahnabonny
Posts: 1260 - Karma: 35
command + shift + 4 gives you a cursor and you can select what portion you want to take a screen shot of, that way you dont have to crop it later
Nov 10 2010 3:04AM
0 0
profile picture
Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,398
control-option-command-8 makes everything all negative
Nov 10 2010 3:14AM
0 0
profile picture
Yung_Gnarley
Posts: 9091 - Karma: 3,016
yeah get this.

it only costs one thousand nine-hundred dollars.

Nov 10 2010 4:36AM
0 0
profile picture
lahnabonny
Posts: 1260 - Karma: 35
yeah if you're a student you get it for 80% off. atleast i diddd
Nov 10 2010 4:47AM
0 0
profile picture
toominator
Posts: 4792 - Karma: 120
how much of it do you actually use? most people I know with the full CS probably only use about 30% of the suite.
Nov 10 2010 4:50AM
0 0
profile picture
lahnabonny
Posts: 1260 - Karma: 35
I got the Creative Suite 5 Design Premium - photoshop, illustrator, indesign, dreamweaver, and a couple more. I use the first 3 almost every day
Nov 10 2010 4:59AM
0 0
profile picture
SketchySwiss
Posts: 393 - Karma: 43
threads for later
Nov 10 2010 5:11AM
0 0
profile picture
ESAND
Posts: 1607 - Karma: 744
Really? The new 15¨ mac book pro is:

9hrs battery life
2.66ghz intel i7
4GB RAM
512mb Graphics
Double layer DVD burner

all for just 2 grand.

Thats a lot of computer for the $$$.


Nov 10 2010 6:01AM
0 0
profile picture
Sean*Miller
Posts: 244 - Karma: 46
Iwork and google chrome are a must. Googgle chrome beats safari and mozilla
Nov 10 2010 7:31AM
0 0
profile picture
molsongolden
Posts: 1649 - Karma: 162
MIND = BLOWNNNNNNN

and not that i advocate piracy but free trials + crack = slightly cheaper CS5

Nov 10 2010 1:52PM
0 0
profile picture
Mezmerize19
Posts: 6475 - Karma: 18
Dont waste your money on Office. Use Google Documents
Nov 10 2010 2:00PM
0 0
profile picture
Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,398
or you can torrent it like 99.9999999999999% of other people
Nov 10 2010 2:03PM
0 0
profile picture
molsongolden
Posts: 1649 - Karma: 162
free office from skooolll
Nov 10 2010 2:46PM
0 0
profile picture
NickSki.
Posts: 2009 - Karma: 61
Before you do anything. Return the mac and get a refund then go buy a computer that runs windows and is double the speed for less than you spent.
Nov 10 2010 3:03PM
0 0
profile picture
molsongolden
Posts: 1649 - Karma: 162
All the PC's i've used might have faster processors but actually run slower because of all the random junk running on them. I haven't actually set up/owned my own PC in years so it is probably mostly user error but 40000000 svchost and other assorted processes are always bogging shit down.
Nov 10 2010 3:08PM
0 0
profile picture
Brenone
Posts: 4944 - Karma: 296
never knew that.
makes my background look sick.

Im going to do that to my friends MBP just to fuck with him.
Nov 10 2010 3:17PM
0 0
profile picture
Deezy
Posts: 4580 - Karma: 1,004
ADOBE CS5 Master Collection. when that is on your mac, it feels like you can do anything :D and it looks pro in ur dock :P

((if u actually want it, i can help pm me))
Nov 10 2010 3:23PM
0 0
profile picture
Mr.Luke
Posts: 2441 - Karma: 166
You should get...

iWork
iLife

Yeah, that's all I got.
But seriously, get them. They will make your computer way more awesome.
Nov 10 2010 3:26PM
0 0
profile picture
1337
Posts: 31038 - Karma: 29,003
I'm building a 2.66 quad core i3 with 8gb ram 1gb graphics and a dual burner for $900. Hackentoshes ftw
Nov 10 2010 3:28PM
0 0
profile picture
molsongolden
Posts: 1649 - Karma: 162
post a tutoriallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll and teach us your ways

plzzzz
Nov 10 2010 3:40PM
0 0
profile picture
Twinjibber77
Posts: 6239 - Karma: 2,356
Don't get piece of shit iWorks. Transmission is a must as well as most of the above stated programs.
Setting up spaces is always a win.
Let the haters hate.
Nov 10 2010 3:42PM
0 0
profile picture
skichicky3
Posts: 2593 - Karma: 64
my threads
Nov 10 2010 3:43PM
0 0
profile picture
NickSki.
Posts: 2009 - Karma: 61
AHAHAHAHHAHAHA. no. Please learn a little about computers before posting. The graphics card in macs are 4 year old pieces of shit. 4 gigs of ram is around 100 bucks. a i7 is around 150. Soooooo, 100(Ram)+150(i7)+80(Video Card) = 330$

Sure you would have to add in the other stuff like the battery DVD burner and other things so the computer is probably worth no more than 900$ so your paying 1100$ for a fucking glowing apple and a shiny aluminum case.

Nov 10 2010 3:54PM
0 0
profile picture
Twinjibber77
Posts: 6239 - Karma: 2,356
cool
Nov 10 2010 4:18PM
0 0
profile picture
NickSki.
Posts: 2009 - Karma: 61
very cool indeed
Nov 10 2010 4:21PM
0 0
profile picture
yojimbo
Posts: 3631 - Karma: 27
how did you do that? tell me now!!!!
Nov 10 2010 4:50PM
0 0
profile picture
alexat955
Posts: 2732 - Karma: 112
threads
Nov 10 2010 4:59PM
0 0
All times are Eastern (-4)