Going from Windows to Tiger...

[TrumanApple]

I am going to be a new switcher in a month or so, but i had a few questions about different things i do in windows and how to do them in OS X. Here are a list of things i do in windows, please tell me how i can do them in os x and exactly how necessary they are in OS X.

First Degragmenting the hard drive
Disk cleanup
Ad-aware
reformatting the hard drive
the task manager in windows
how to close a non responsive program...


and if you know of any other things like this please list them too i cant think of any more at the moment but there are more...

[russed]

First Degragmenting the hard drive

You dont need to do this - it does it automatically.

Disk cleanup

as in clear the cookies etc? you can do that from the preferences within the browser that you use (by default it is safari). other than that cant think of anything else to do! oh maybe reparing the permissions every now and again. to do this do applications > utilities > disk utility > repair permissions

Ad-aware

Nope, dont need to do this!

reformatting the hard drive

with your disk that will come with your new apple - bang it in the drive and hold down the c key while its starting up and then follow the on screen instructions!

the task manager in windows

this is called activity monitor. to get to it go applications > utilities > activity monitor

how to close a non responsive program...

hold down the apple key, alt (called option) and the excape key. alternativly click and hold on the icon for that programme in the dock and then select force quit.

[Applespider]

Have a read through Apple's Mac Basics (http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/) on their site; it's quite amusingly written in places. And there's a useful troubleshooting section which has the answers to some of the things that you're asking. Of the things you list, the only one I do regularly is looking at the Task Manager (Activity Monitor).

That page has a section for switchers (http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/) that explains some of the differences between common things on Windows and on the Mac.

[Maxiseller]

In terms of some of the above, there is a great little program which I use - it's very useful, and you may want to download:

OnyX - it basically allows you to run all the maintenance programs manually and cleans up any rubbish you may have littered accross your Hard Drive.

You will find generic variables in switching to the platform, but the transition will be well worth it

[snickelfritz]

In terms of some of the above, there is a great little program which I use - it's very useful, and you may want to download:

OnyX - it basically allows you to run all the maintenance programs manually and cleans up any rubbish you may have littered accross your Hard Drive.

You will find generic variables in switching to the platform, but the transition will be well worth it

Last time I checked, Onyx was not yet updated for Tiger. (and there is a warning to this effect on the download page) Nice free-ware maintenance app though.
The main thing to be aware of in OSX is that permissions should be repaired prior to and after software installations and updates. This is an extremely simple and quick procedure in Tiger; nothing at all like defragging an NTFS volume in WinXP, or running Scandisk in Win9x.

Defragging, indexing and other disk maintenance routines run automatically or "on the fly" in OSX.
Ideally, you should never shutdown your Mac; this allows these routines to run while you're away; just set one of the screen corners to activate the screensaver; you can then just "toss" your mouse into that corner when you finish a session. (I've found the upper-right corner to work nicely for this function)
The "sleep" mode is also quite reliable and wakes very quickly with no glitches, but your machine will be virtually shut-down in this mode, so maintenance routines won't run.