New User

[atiffarooq]

Hi all. I'm a new user and I've ordered my first ever Mac yesterday. I went for the White Macbook 2.0GHz with 1GB of Ram after I saw it. Really like the look and whole feel of it. Anyway, I'm going to be using the OS for the first time, having been a Windows (95, 98, ME, 2000, XP) user all my life. I've played around with the system for about 20 minutes at the Apple Store in the Birmingham Bullring (UK) and seemed to get used to it pretty quickly. Anyway, I should have the system delivered by the end of this coming week, or the beginning of the following week and in the remaining time I would like to try and get a headstart so I can hit the floor running with the OS. For this is there any book or Internet site that anyone can recommend that will give me as much information as possible and keeping me entertained for the wait (which I know will probably feel like forever!). Something that will teach me about the OS, from a beginners guide to advanced.

Look forward to any responses and really appreciate any help that anyone can provide.

 

[lonepilgrim]

Hi all. I'm a new user and I've ordered my first ever Mac yesterday. I went for the White Macbook 2.0GHz with 1GB of Ram after I saw it. Really like the look and whole feel of it. Anyway, I'm going to be using the OS for the first time, having been a Windows (95, 98, ME, 2000, XP) user all my life. I've played around with the system for about 20 minutes at the Apple Store in the Birmingham Bullring (UK) and seemed to get used to it pretty quickly. Anyway, I should have the system delivered by the end of this coming week, or the beginning of the following week and in the remaining time I would like to try and get a headstart so I can hit the floor running with the OS. For this is there any book or Internet site that anyone can recommend that will give me as much information as possible and keeping me entertained for the wait (which I know will probably feel like forever!). Something that will teach me about the OS, from a beginners guide to advanced.

Look forward to any responses and really appreciate any help that anyone can provide.

Congratulations on the new MacBook! I'd definitely recommend David Pogue's (either) 'Switching to the Mac' or 'Mac OS X: The Missing Manual'. The former is really a pared-down version of the latter. Both are written very accessibly and you'd probably be best off getting the latter, as it's a good reference book after you've mastered the basics.

 

[portent]

Apple has a pair of excellent tutorials called Switch 101 (for Windows users) and Mac 101 (for beginners).

 

[SmurfBoxMasta]

IF ya really want da bottom-line basics, get some of the "Macs/Mac OS X for Dummies) books, they explain things in extremely straightforward ways that anyone can understand.......and 4 sure read da Switcher 101 that was recommended earlier

 

[gallagb]

imo:

osx is designed to be easy enough to 'figure out' on your own
so i encourage you to continue just playing with it to figure it out-

obviously there are little 'tricks' here & there
but- us friendly mac-rumor folks won't hesitate to help ya out w/ those if we need to

congrats on the switch though!
that's super exciting

 

[atiffarooq]

Apple has a pair of excellent tutorials called Switch 101 (for Windows users) and Mac 101 (for beginners).

Thanks for this. I have looked at both and they seem like what I am after (especially the Switch 101 course). Can't wait to get my Macbook now!

 

[lord patton]

keyboard shortcuts are life-savers:

http://guides.macrumors.com/Keyboard_shortcuts

I especially like cmd+tab for switching between open apps, and cmd+` for switching between open windows within a single app (this ` is not an apostrophe, it's, err, I don't know, but it's on the same key as the tildle ~)

btw, icydk, "cmd" stands for the command key, the one with the picture of the apple on it

welcome aboard

 

[2nyRiggz]

Adium for your messenger needs.....versiontracker.com for all the other cool apps you want.


Bless

 

[motulist]

Mac Rumors' Mac Beginners guide.

http://guides.macrumors.com/Mac_Beginner's_Guide