PC Defector lost in Panther

TextEdit can read and write M$ Word files as well as rtf and plain text. You have that on your machine now. You may buy M$ Office v.X, which is compatible with just about every Office version since Office 97. For other possibilities, go to Versiontracker.com or MacUpdate.com. You are in a new culture. Learn how to navigate it.

If GarageBand and the rest of the iLife 04 suite have not been pre-installed you will qualify for the up-to-date program: http://www.apple.com/ilife/uptodate/

TextEdit is pretty good but if you are used to Word then you might be happier with MS Office.

Re: PC Defector lost in Panther

Originally posted by Zim Bargo
but couldn't find a word processing option anywhere!

Click to expand...

Macs come with textedit which is like wordpad on windows. Neither windows nor macs come with a word processor as standard. If a windows machine does then either works or office was installed - usually at extra cost. Mac Office X is available but it's expensive. Appleworks comes on the comsumer macs but not the pro macs like the powerbook. Open office is free and office 97 compatible

Until now I've always used windows, so I have no idea if I'm looking in the wrong place or what. Also I thought I had read somewhere that things like garage band came installed - am I wrong or is there a whole new area that I can't find with all this stuff in it?

Click to expand...

All applications are in a folder called 'Applications' you can find this using the finder (the smiley faced icon on the bottom left of the dock). Garageband may or maybe not installed - it depends on how long your powerbook has been in the warehouse. If it isn't you can get it along with the rest of the updates on a disc from Apple by filling out the form here

http://www.apple.com/uk/ilife/uptodate/

sadly it will cost you £15. Check in applications though...

Some basic tips

Welcome to the world of Mac, be careful you may become a macfanatic like so many before you!

Anyway, some basic tips that may prove helpful to you:
1. The "find" command works really great, much better than in windows, press "apple"-f keys, type in the name of the program or file you are looking for, and you may get lucky finding it (e.g. type "Garage band") to determine if it is on your mac.

2. Only a fraction of the programs are on the dock, but you place as many there as you want. You can just drag the icon of the program file (you find in the "applications" folder) to the dock, and the OS will create an alias ("shortcut" in windowese)

3. The applications folder is home to, well, all applications. Look there to see what you have.

4. You probably have "Apple Works" installed. Pretty good Office Suite of programs. I like to use it's drawing tools, I use MS Office for the rest.

5. Since OS X is built on UNIX, try and not move files around too much, there are apparently strict rules in terms of where things belong. Personally I don't know much about UNIX, was very adept at the old Mac OS, but have not found the need to know a lot about the OS in X, since I never really have any problems. It just works.

6. All of your files should be saved in your user folder (iTunes, iPhoto, places things there by default). To find this area, open the folder "users" (at the root level), find your log-in name as the title of one of the folders, open that folder and there are a bunch of folders already there, such as documents, etc. Check it out. Keep all of your files there, and back up is a cinch, just back up that folder, almost everything else on the drive, outside of this folder, is programs and OS that can be re-installed from the CDs.

Hope this helps...

[Edited for spelling]

Originally posted by Zim Bargo
Thanks Caveman, that was exactly the info I was looking for!

Click to expand...

Don't mention it.

Another tip is to open the finder then drag the folder for the Applications folder (the one on the right NOT the one in the left sidebar to over the right hand side of the dock (next to the trash). The trash icon should make way for it. DO NOT DROP IT ON THE TRASH!!!!. Once the folder is there it acts as a shortcut to the real folder. If you put the cursor over the shortcut and hold down the mouse button a menu with all your apps will appear - sort of like the windows start menu. This is handy for those less-used apps.

Oh and ctrl+click is the same as right click when you've only got a track pad or single button mouse.

'Mac OS X the missing manual'

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596006152/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/026-2565472-7901257

...is a very good book for learning all about mac os x but it's a shame you need to buy a book. Having said that microsoft aren't too hot on manuals either...

Re: Some basic tips

Originally posted by vitrector
4. You probably have "Apple Works" installed.

Click to expand...

Not on a PowerBook he doesn't

About that earlier comment about moving stuff around...

I wouldn't worry as long as you don't move stuff/rename within Librarys or System folders. As for everything else, I would suppose it'd be fine (though if you move Apple apps from the Application folder, they won't be recognised by software update). I for instance save all my non-Apple apps to my Home folder to save myself from having to backup multiple folders.

my powerbook came stock with apple works

Mac OS X Manual

After looking at several including the "Missing Manual", I purchased "Mac OS X Unleased" by J.Ray and W.Ray.

I have not regretted it. It took me from knowing nothing about Mac quickly back up the ladder to more of a power user status.

It not only covers all the standard iLife apps, but also gets into a LOT of optional stuff like setting up an Apache web server and running a MySQL database or creating a WebDAV server.

Fun Fun book.... and it is printed on better quality paper than many including the "Missing Manual" book.

My edition covers Jaguar....don't know if there is one for Panther yet.

Good luck... you won't regret going Mac!

I bought Mac OS X the Missing Manual a while back (I started Mac'ing in Feb of '02 with the 800 mHz FP iMac). I went through it pretty fast to get the basics down. I would encourage that for a week or two you don't "create" anything on your Mac. This way when you feel you've totally messed up everything you don't fear reinstalling... But once I got used to it I was homefree. I sold my FP iMac and got an iBook G4 (see .sig)... but now whenever anybody I know gets a Mac (and a surprising number of friends have for some reason) I just loan them my Mac OS X Missing Manual book... it's outdated a bit now of course but it gets them in gear for the most part... you might even be able to check one out at the... what's that called again? The library...

Originally posted by Zim Bargo
Thanks for the advice Robbie - what I'm having trouble with is knowing whether or not I have iLife with everything it includes. Should this be in the dock?

MisterMe - thanks for the reply but I think you've missed the point slightly. My question wasn't whether TextEdit could read Word files, or what else I could buy - but rather where I would find TextEdit! I'm well aware that Macs are a 'new culture' and learning how to navigate it is exactly what I was trying to do with this thread.

Still, I wouldn't have known it was called TextEdit if you hadn't of replied so cheers for that!

Click to expand...

Go to the hardrive icon on your desktop, click on it and a window should appear that has a tab on the side which shows several folders, one of these is marked Applications. Go into that folder and viola. iLife by the way is a suite of Applications, including iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD (if you got a Superdrive and can burn DVDs) and possibly Garage Band. If you are missing Garage Band, then see the above comments about getting it for 15.00. Text Edit lets you make and read .doc and .rtf files, and Preview allows you to view .PDFs, .JPGs, etc. Safari is a great browser, and IMHO much better than Explorer which is also included. If you want an Application in your dock simply grab the icon with your mouse to the dock. You can also sort things in the dock by moving icons around; very easy.
All your network settings, keyboard, mouse, display, desktop picture, screen savers, are under the System Preferences Application which is the little white switch plate in the dock. To delete something from the desktop just drag and drop in in the trash and the icon will change to show stuff in it, just click on it to empty it.
Stay away from File Vault and Font Book, both apps are immature, but show real promise. Mail is easy to set up and is pretty useful, as is address book. Sherlock is a great program to search for movies, driving directions, etc.
Go to Versiontracker and Apple.com (which is rediculously useful) and guide.apple.com, which will show you where to get commercial and shareware applications. I would suggest getting WMP 9 for those rare times when Quicktime and Flash won't get it done, and I really like a program called MacJournal.
You will learn the most by just playing around, click on menus and preferences to see what things do.
One of the above posters mentioned OSX: The missing manual, this might be a great solution for you. Written by David Pogue and updated to OSX.3 'Panther' I believe.