A few newbie(-ish) questions

[yvanehtnioj]

I am a windows guy. Have been for a long time.

I am msft certified in c/c++/windev.

I am also a professional musician. I also make music videos and do a fair amount of graphics work.

I have recently been gifted a late-2011 MBP which I am upgrading. It'll be my first mac.

I have used macs for music (Logic Pro) and video (Final Cut Pro X), but have found it so hard to get my head around basic stuff.

The editing and recording is fine, but the backing up and file management is a mystery.

Can anyone point me to a good "getting to understand your mac" resource?

A good for instance was trying to back up Final Cut X projects. I must've tried 6 different ways to get the mac to see ANY location to move a project, and it never worked... in the end I just brute force moved folders of things I hope to never have to open again...

If I'm gonna be using a mac, I really need some basic concept help...

Any thoughts?

Willing to try and fail, but any help is appreciated!

 

[GoCubsGo]

Well first, you got yourself a nice gift there.
This site has a guides section that seems fairly useful.
http://guides.macrumors.com

Next, you should never have to use brute force to do anything on a Mac. To move a file you should be able to simply drag from one location in Finder (which is like explorer) to another location. You can also use the good old copy/paste function which is exactly like Windows.

You should invest in a second hard drive for Time Machine. Read about it. It will be useful and probably save you eventually. There are other back up applications that are great and they do a bit more than Time Machine (Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper) but Time Machine is easy and basic.

Finally, I sent this site to my parents ages ago, maybe it will help you.
http://myfirstmac.com

It seems elementary, but it is what it is.

 

[yvanehtnioj]

Well first, you got yourself a nice gift there.
This site has a guides section that seems fairly useful.
http://guides.macrumors.com

Next, you should never have to use brute force to do anything on a Mac. To move a file you should be able to simply drag from one location in Finder (which is like explorer) to another location. You can also use the good old copy/paste function which is exactly like Windows.

You should invest in a second hard drive for Time Machine. Read about it. It will be useful and probably save you eventually. There are other back up applications that are great and they do a bit more than Time Machine (Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper) but Time Machine is easy and basic.

Finally, I sent this site to my parents ages ago, maybe it will help you.
http://myfirstmac.com

It seems elementary, but it is what it is.

thanks!

Yeah the FCX thing was so annoying.. the little dialog box to choose the location to back up the project was basically empty... and a lot of people had/have the same issues... no idea the solution still...

Oh and hey, what key is this: ⌥

???

 

[Mr Rabbit]

Oh and hey, what key is this: ⌥

That is the option key, or "alt" if you are using a Windows keyboard.

 

[yvanehtnioj]

That is the option key, or "alt" if you are using a Windows keyboard.

ahhh!!

What the heck is that symbol about??

Sorry one more, what's the ^??

It's not right shift of ctrl+shift... or option...

Why oh why do they have shortcut symbols that aren't on the keys??

 

[Mr Rabbit]

ahhh!!

What the heck is that symbol about??

Imagine the top horizontal line is a train track, the diagonal line is an optional route to a new train track.

I've never been able to explain it well in text but thats the gist of it. It's supposed to depict two routes, with the diagonal line being the option between the two.

----------

Sorry one more, what's the ^??
It's not right shift of ctrl+shift... or option...

That is control

 

[yvanehtnioj]

Imagine the top horizontal line is a train track, the diagonal line is an optional route to a new train track.

I've never been able to explain it well in text but thats the gist of it. It's supposed to depict two routes, with the diagonal line being the option between the two.

----------



That is control

ah ok!! Thanks so much for that little memory device... it's not perfect, but I also won't forget it

 

[Mr Rabbit]

Something that may help as well is enabling the keyboard viewer when you run into similar questions about Mac symbols that are new to you...

System Preferences > Keyboard > "Show Keyboard & Character Viewer in menu bar" > Click on the icon in the menu bar and select "Show Keyboard Viewer"

That will bring up an on screen keyboard with the proper symbols on keys. It's dynamic too so as you press modifier keys (like option) on your keyboard you will see the other keys change to show their alternate options.

 

[satcomer]

Plus as a new User bookmark the Apple site Mac OS X: Keyboard Shortcuts.

Lastly to really blow you mind hold down the 'Option' key while clicking on the Finder icon for Wi-Fi and/or sound and you will get interesting results.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Plus as a new User bookmark the Apple site Mac OS X: Keyboard Shortcuts.

Lastly to really blow you mind hold down the 'Option' key while clicking on the Finder icon for Wi-Fi and/or sound and you will get interesting results.

This is a terrific thread; thanks for having started it, OP.

Meanwhile, some of us who are not so new have learned quite a lot from reading it, and thank you, too, satcomer, for having drawn my attention to this wonderfully useful link. As a result, and following your advice to the OP, I have bookmarked it and I have no doubt that I shall find it exceedingly useful.