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how do i keep my mac sweet?...

H

harrishimo

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 9, 2009
31
0
im finally getting my mac sometime in the next week. ive strugggled with windows all my life and have built up a passionate hatred for it.

Im just wondering, does anyone have any tips about what i shouldnt do when i get it? you know, i dont want any harm to come to it whatsoever so is there anything i should know about not doing

thank ya :D
 
Welcome to MacRumors, and congrats on your new Mac.

Can you be more specific about the kind of info you're looking for? There are thousands of things you should NOT do with it.

Here are two:
Keep it away from water or other liquids that might spill over/into your Mac.
Mac computer + excess heat/fire = :(

Commonsense, right? We'll there are usually a few new threads for "I spilled X on my Mac" on these forums each week.

Some things you may want to consider doing:
Purchase AppleCare or another extended warranty.
Get yourself a carry case/shell if it's a portable.
Keep it in good condition by treating it with respect.
 
i do apologise.

im getting the 13" aluminium macbook with 250gig hard drive and 4gig memory!!!

im just curious if there are any programs are anything i should avoid
 
Morod said:
I would suggest you make a new user account so you are not running it day-to-day as an Admin.
Get the iStat Pro or Nano widget.
Have fun!
Congrats,
Morod
Click to expand...

I'll second iStat Pro and add in smcFanControl to monitor CPU temp right from the menu bar.

Since the OP asked if there were any software NOT to put on the machine, I can't think of anything that fouled things up so much that just removing it didn't fix things... I suppose you might want to stay away from the torrent version of iWork '09 and its built-in trojan. ;)
 
jzuena said:
(I'm not dating myself with this reference, am I?)
Click to expand...

I don't know. I'm not dating myself when I say I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, am I? ;)

Unless you're planning to abuse your computer, I see no reason to buy a ton of protection. Just be careful with it. And yeah, I do recommend AppleCare for a laptop.

That covers the hardware, anyway. Macs need no regular preventive maintenance aside from backups. I'd avoid installing any Microsoft products or StuffIt if you can help it, and if you're not planning to use any of the iLife programs, do a fresh install of OS X when you get the computer and deselect those components. They take up a lot of space for all those templates, and can be installed at a later date if you change your mind. They can't, however, be uninstalled.
 
Imo there are a couple of things that you SHOULD DO after booting your mac, here are a couple of them that come into mind:

DO'S:

:apple:do keep iwork it will come in handy in almost every situation you will come up with in the future.
:apple:(if youre a student)in ~User/Applications/Utilities folder there is a program called Grapher, make an Alias(shortcut) of it and put it in your desktop. You'd be amazed at the versatility of that program.
:apple:Get VLC player, its probably the best video player program out there. I haven't come across any troubles with it in my 3 year mac exodus.
:apple:Get iStat pro widget for your dashboard.
:apple:(if coder)definately get Xcode from Apple developer tools. I honestly haven't seen a better coding software bundle out there. It has EVERYTHING. Even coding windows applications are easier on this!
:apple:(if hardcore gamer/overclocker)!!!USE AT OWN RISK!!!! If you adjust this too high or too low you will most definately damage your precious computer!!!!!!! Well unlike the warning its not that scary really. get smcfancontrol Its a pretty lightweight program which helps you adjust your fan speed at the cost of sound, the faster fan leads to a cooler mac, the cooler mac leads to a noisier mac, the noisier mac leads to Suffering...

:apple: Use Audacity for audio editing
:apple: Use Tomato Torrent for torrents
:apple: Use UnrarX(unrar program) for administrating the large amounts of parted files and errors.
:apple: Use Teamspeex for teamspeak chat client at Online Games.
:apple: Use Amsn for a Msn client(chat+it does have webcam support. but buggy. PRO: it can record your webcam conversation, CON: its buggy.)
:apple: Use Skype for video conferencing and chat(currently only official free program supporting video chat+ good quality)
:apple: Use Apimac Secret folder to hide your porn.
:apple: Use Flip4Mac to play .WMV's and Perian for a similar reason.
:apple: Use Cyberduck for FTP client
:apple: Use Gimp for free image editing. However i like Photoshop(eventhough its pricey, it gets the job done.)
:apple: Use iTunes, unlike a big group out there, i actually DO like iTunes. It does everything i want it to do and manages ALL my media(take that haters)

DON'TS:

:mad: Don't get ANY download manager software, AFAIC they all mess up your downloads.(do tell me if theres one you like. I'm DYING to know)
:mad: Don't use your mac with crumbly food or spillable liquid near it. Seriously Crumbs suck!
:mad: If you must use VMWare for windows emulation. But if your mac doesn't have a video card dont use windows at all.



This is all i can think of right now.
 
I think that's quite beyond the OP's question. There are plenty of lists of useful Mac apps out there.

Syonidism said:
:apple:Get VLC player, its probably the best video player program out there. I haven't come across any troubles with it in my 3 year mac exodus.
Click to expand...

Why use VLC and Perian? I have both on hand, but I rarely need VLC, only when I need to play .mkv files, really.

Syonidism said:
:apple: Use Tomato Torrent for torrents
Click to expand...

Ew, no. Transmission is much more slick/functional.

Syonidism said:
:apple: Use Amsn for a Msn client(chat+it does have webcam support. but buggy. PRO: it can record your webcam conversation, CON: its buggy.)
Click to expand...

Again, no. Adium is great for MSN, actually has a usable interface, supports a bazillion different protocols, and never crashes. The same can't be said for Amsn. Adium can't do video chat, but why would you want to use MSN's video chat anyway? It's awful!

Syonidism said:
:apple: Use Cyberduck for FTP client
Click to expand...

Or Coda if you can afford it ($100). If I didn't already have a Mac, Coda alone would justify the purchase.

Syonidism said:
:mad: Don't get ANY download manager software, AFAIC they all mess up your downloads.(do tell me if theres one you like. I'm DYING to know)
Click to expand...

I quite like Speed Download.

Syonidism said:
:mad: Don't use your mac with crumbly food or spillable liquid near it. Seriously Crumbs suck!
Click to expand...

Crumbs won't kill the computer, just pop the key caps off and wipe out the dust and detritus every few months. The same can't be said for beverages.

All in all, not a bad list, but it doesn't justify the massive font size. There's nothing particularly important in there.

Get Quicksilver. A Mac isn't a Mac without Quicksilver.
 
all these tips are awesome, thanks

2 more questions though:

1.what is this quiksilver?
2. a friend of mine is thinkin of downloading photoshop (without paying), would this in any way do anything bad to the machine, or if somebody who worked in an apple shop saw it could they do anything? not me though

:D
 
Don't down load excessive amounts of 3rd party applications, they slow down and can really mess up your computer.
 
Spilling a soda in the keyboard will ensure that it is and remains sweet for the rest of it's short, short functional life. I'm not sure but it also might make a really cool ant farm.:D
 
harrishimo said:
all these tips are awesome, thanks

2 more questions though:

1.what is this quiksilver?
2. a friend of mine is thinkin of downloading photoshop (without paying), would this in any way do anything bad to the machine, or if somebody who worked in an apple shop saw it could they do anything? not me though

:D
Click to expand...

Downloading software and not paying is bad, TISK TISK. No harm to you unless you get a trojan, and yes they are out there. The apple store would not do anything, but it is illegal and should not be discussed here.
 
harrishimo said:
1.what is this quiksilver?
Click to expand...

Quicksilver. It's an application launcher at its core, but is also extensible and has almost 100 available plugins. My top uses:

- Launching applications.
- Controlling iTunes.
- Working with Terminal.
- Built-in calculator.
- Controlling sleep/shutdown/restart/logout actions.
- Opening files with nonstandard applications.
- Dictionary.
...

It has adaptive input that remembers your commands, allows you to configure keyboard shortcuts to any action, and even has a plugin that allows you to define custom gestural input.

It's basically Spotlight, except far more useful.
 
harrishimo said:
2. a friend of mine is thinkin of downloading photoshop (without paying), would this in any way do anything bad to the machine, or if somebody who worked in an apple shop saw it could they do anything? not me though

:D
Click to expand...

Of the handful of trojans out there for Mac, the three I know of are floating around in torrents of iWork, Adobe collections, and from a QuickTime "plugin" from random pron site.
 
As its a notebook don't forget to calibrate the battery as soon as you get it, first thing, or you'll be back here complaining about your battery dying after 6 months.
 
so how do i calibrate the battery, is that just the initial charge???

sorry for being a complete noob here btw :D
 
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