Couple of newbie basic "how to" questions

[Tumbleweed666]

And I am typing this on my shiny new iMac so glad I got the 24 inch

Anyway,
Q1; Is there a way of configuring the menu, or an add on, that will give me a 'move to' option on the right click? I"m envisaging something where I would right click on a file, select 'move to' and then be able to browse to where I want the file moved to. Or at any rate is there a better option than opening up two windows and using drag and drop?

Q2; For accessing infrequently used apps that I don't want on the dock is there an equivalent to windows 'start' where I can follow a 'tree' until I get to the desired app? At the moment, for example, to get to Disk Utility I am opening up a finder window, selecting apps, scrolling down to and opening up utilities, etc. Seems a bit long-winded Anything like a 'most recently used apps' tool I can have on the toolbar?

As an aside, funny moment today, my neighbour came round, went 'wow' when he saw the iMac, then looked under the desk and (I swear I am not making this up) said 'where's the computer?"

 

[flopticalcube]

Q2; For accessing infrequently used apps that I don't want on the dock is there an equivalent to windows 'start' where I can follow a 'tree' until I get to the desired app? At the moment, for example, to get to Disk Utility I am opening up a finder window, selecting apps, scrolling down to and opening up utilities, etc. Seems a bit long-winded Anything like a 'most recently used apps' tool I can have on the toolbar?

As an aside, funny moment today, my neighbour came round, went 'wow' when he saw the iMac, then looked under the desk and (I swear I am not making this up) said 'where's the computer?"

Type ⌘-space. Then type in the name of the app. Much faster.

 

[Makosuke]

Q1; Is there a way of configuring the menu, or an add on, that will give me a 'move to' option on the right click?

You can do "copy and paste" with files in the finder, which is 1/2 of what you're looking for. Select the file you want to move, hit copy (command-C or the menus), go to where you want to put it and hit paste. That, unfortunately, does leave a copy in the original location as well (which is the behavior you'd get if you're moving it to another volume anyway, but will require deleting the original if you did want to just move it).

I'm willing to bet there's a shareware app that adds this (ABetterFinderRename is one that might), but I don't know of any off the top of my head.

Q2; For accessing infrequently used apps that I don't want on the dock is there an equivalent to windows 'start' where I can follow a 'tree' until I get to the desired app?

If you want access to EVERYTHING, just drag your Applications folder to the Dock. Now click on it--bingo, you've got a popup with everything in there. If you want to be able to go to sub-folders without opening them, right click on the folder icon in the dock and select "View content as: List" from the menu. You also probably want to hit "Display as: Folder" while you're in there, to make the icon consistent.

Now clicking on the icon will pop up a standard hierarchical list; mouse over folders to have sub-folders branch out. (Interesting note: MacOS 10.6 will probably add the same sort of branching to the icon view.)

If you don't want ALL your apps (though this is what I do personally), you can create a new folder somewhere in your home folder, create aliases of all the apps you want semi-quick access to, and drag that into the dock; bingo, you're done.

The Applications folder in dock thing is something I do immediately in any Mac I set up; it should probably come that way by default, if you ask me.

Bonus tip: If, while the list is onscreen, you hit a letter on the keyboard, it will jump to that alphabetically as you type; hit return to select the item. The only hitch is that if you move the mouse it will pull the selection back to wherever the pointer is, and it won't open subfolders this way--you need to mouse over them. That's always a little annoying to me.

Note that there are also any number of app launcher utilities (Quicksilver seems to be a favorite) to experiment with, but this method is a good one to start out with to see if it's enough for you.

As an aside, funny moment today, my neighbour came round, went 'wow' when he saw the iMac, then looked under the desk and (I swear I am not making this up) said 'where's the computer?"

It's surprising how often I still get comments like that. Actually, the Mac mini seems even more likely to generate them, despite even being a physical machine with cords sticking out of it and going to the monitor, even odder since there are tiny thin-client PCs just as small in a lot of banks and other office settings as well.

 

[Makosuke]

Type ⌘-space. Then type in the name of the app. Much faster.

Ninja'd while I was typing. In my case this only works if I can remember the name of the app...

 

[flopticalcube]

Ninja'd while I was typing. In my case this only works if I can remember the name of the app...

Even part of a name will work.

 

[instaxgirl]

Another vote for Spotlight (⌘-space)

 

[miles01110]

Q1; Is there a way of configuring the menu, or an add on, that will give me a 'move to' option on the right click? I"m envisaging something where I would right click on a file, select 'move to' and then be able to browse to where I want the file moved to. Or at any rate is there a better option than opening up two windows and using drag and drop?

You can drag and hold a file over a folder and it will open after a second or two. You can keep holding over subdirectories and they will open is well. Once you get to where you want to put the file, release and only the folder you dropped the file into will remain open.

Q2; For accessing infrequently used apps that I don't want on the dock is there an equivalent to windows 'start' where I can follow a 'tree' until I get to the desired app? At the moment, for example, to get to Disk Utility I am opening up a finder window, selecting apps, scrolling down to and opening up utilities, etc. Seems a bit long-winded Anything like a 'most recently used apps' tool I can have on the toolbar?

In addition to spotlight and putting a folder on the doc, you could make a list of frequently used apps and put them in the Finder window's sidebar (just drag them there and the alias will appear).

 

[Tumbleweed666]

Thanks folks your replies much appreciated, will try these out before looking for add-ons, trying not to clutter my Mac with too much cr*p to start with so am keen to use the built ins if I can. Even the basic ⌘ SPACE which I wasn't aware of to get to Spotlight is really nifty as it finds things on the fly rather than having to start a long running search.