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First thing to do when you pickup a new Macbook?

All good suggestions

But the FIRSt thing you should do is find the mag safe cover and put it in a safe spot when not in use

If a past thread is any indication, you do NOT want to lose this puppy
 
Spinit14 said:
Any other suggestions? Or things that I should know? I'm open to everything right now, I'm a beginner with this machine.
Click to expand...

Right click the toolbar in every app you use, and select "Customise Toolbar"..look at all the possibilities.

Open every Preference Pane in System Preferences, understand the options and select the ones you like.

Drag all the apps you don't use out of the dock, and move in the ones you do use

Drag your Apps and Home folders into the right side of the Dock.

Open the Preferences of every app you use and chose the options you like, especially Finder (for which you should also look at "view options")

I have lost count of the number of friends and relatives who have switched to Mac without doing the above and after five minutes of doing the above have said "Gosh wish I had done that before".
 
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Spinit14 said:
So last night I finally picked up my first macbook pro with retina display. Ended up going with the 13"/8gb/256gb. I have not purchased a carrying case yet, what are some of your favorites? I'm totally new to Mac coming from the PC world, what are some things I need to know or what are some programs I should download to start my experience off? I'm currently trying to sync my iPhone email with the macbook email, having problems with that. Thanks.
Click to expand...

After you have picked up your macbook, make sure you don't drop it.

This might sound cheeky, but if you look around the forum, you'll see that it's actually good advice. :)
 
bennynova said:
All good suggestions

But the FIRSt thing you should do is find the mag safe cover and put it in a safe spot when not in use

If a past thread is any indication, you do NOT want to lose this puppy
Click to expand...
Yes I think this should be put into a guide or sticky or something. solid advice ;)
 
Spinit14 said:
So last night I finally picked up my first macbook pro with retina display. Ended up going with the 13"/8gb/256gb. I have not purchased a carrying case yet, what are some of your favorites? I'm totally new to Mac coming from the PC world, what are some things I need to know or what are some programs I should download to start my experience off? I'm currently trying to sync my iPhone email with the macbook email, having problems with that. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Coming from the Windows world I highly recommend the book "Switching to the Mac - The Missing Manual" It provides a good translation from the way you did things in Windows to the way they are done on the Mac. It can resolve a lot of frustrations in learning some of the subtle differences.

Next thing to get is an external USB drive and set up Time Machine for backups. Browse through the messages and read the tales of woe of people that didn't have a backup or hadn't made one recently. Call me paranoid but I have backups going to 4 different devices/locations using 3 different backup programs. My data is valuable and irreplaceable.
 
MasterHowl said:
Welcome OP. You'll love OS X.
Click to expand...

Thanks MasterHowl

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Mike Boreham said:
Right click the toolbar in every app you use, and select "Customise Toolbar"..look at all the possibilities.

Open every Preference Pane in System Preferences, understand the options and select the ones you like.

Drag all the apps you don't use out of the dock, and move in the ones you do use

Drag your Apps and Home folders into the right side of the Dock.

Open the Preferences of every app you use and chose the options you like, especially Finder (for which you should also look at "view options")

I have lost count of the number of friends and relatives who have switched to Mac without doing the above and after five minutes of doing the above have said "Gosh wish I had done that before".
Click to expand...
Thanks Mike

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gtanner00 said:
Yes I think this should be put into a guide or sticky or something. solid advice ;)
Click to expand...

Explain what you mean by the magsafe cover?
 
Spinit14 said:
Thanks MasterHowl

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Thanks Mike

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Explain what you mean by the magsafe cover?
Click to expand...

its meant to be a joke. Someone was concerned recently that they had lost the plastic piece of packaging that came with the charger. it is only packaging and meant to be thrown away
 
TechGod said:
I never turn my laptop off. Its always in sleep mode. Just put the screen down nothing else needed.

If the laptop is in sleep mode, then no you cannot download things. However if you download an app called caffiene then you can force the laptop to never sleep.

Its a handle little app and you get a little mug in the status bar once installed and running, a full cup means its running and a empty cup means sleep mode is enabled.
Click to expand...


TechGod, I am confused..What about Power Nap feature enabled if the lid is closed? :apple:
 
Badrottie said:
TechGod, I am confused..What about Power Nap feature enabled if the lid is closed? :apple:
Click to expand...

Powernap is different.

It checks for updates hourly or so, therefore it doesn't download anything per say but just forces the laptop to check for mails and such. It's hardly intensive on the battery.
 
carjakester said:
as i said its more so i can see how much memory certain programs are using, rather than cleaning my memory. I usually have 8-10gb free.
Click to expand...

Free memory is wasted memory. I think the benefit of such utilities is questionable. You can get the same info from the activity monitor. OS X has great memory management, I'd recommend you (or the OP) let the system manage the resources since it does a great job at it.
 
I recently purchased my first rMBP coming from a PC world. I found an excellent website that had videos to walk me through the setup and educate me into the world of Mac. It is pcclassesonline.com. Don't be fooled by the name it has many Mac classes.....and it is FREE. You need to join but they only send you emails when they have a new lesson.

I used it to set up my Airport Express and a backup system, migrate my pc data and feel comfortable with the commands. You will love your new world of Mac and the retina screen is amazing!
 
Great Thread....I too just made the leap "back" to Mac with a new MBP.....last Mac OS I was on was in 1994 when I purchased a Mac Performa !!!!
Cant remember what OS version it was back then, but I do know all my buddies were fumbling with Windows 3.1 at the time while I was "dragging n dropping" ;)

I've gone thru most of the stuff above....still have to set up Time Machine Back up...
Purchased an OEM Copy of MS Office for Home n Business to make things easier with all my MS Office files and Outlook.
 
TechGod said:
Powernap is different.

It checks for updates hourly or so, therefore it doesn't download anything per say but just forces the laptop to check for mails and such. It's hardly intensive on the battery.
Click to expand...

okay I thought PowerNap also download any updates from MAS? I could be wrong. Anyway thank you. :apple:
 
Apply Best Skin ever, and a keyboard cover

I am on my 2nd MBP, and within days of getting this thing I applied the BSE skin (new matt finish). The finish is fantastic and you can't tell its there. when I took the BSE skin off my 2010 MBP 13 to get it ready to sell, it looked brand new. No scratch, no dings! I was happy :). This time I also added a good quality keyboard cover. My older mac keyboard looks greasy and worn from the heavy usage, and I want to avoid doing that to this expensive laptop. I spend 12 hrs in front of this thing. Still have to clean the cover under running water, but so much better than leaving all that junk (eew!!) on the keyboard.

I got something of the big online retailer and absolutely love it. I got my 13 rMBP with 250GB/16GB RAM, added a Transcend Jet Drive 64GB. Love it! All of it!

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bennynova said:
All good suggestions

But the FIRSt thing you should do is find the mag safe cover and put it in a safe spot when not in use

If a past thread is any indication, you do NOT want to lose this puppy
Click to expand...

What is this thing??
 
the plastic cover that comes on your magsafe plug

a treasure to some
a piece of packing material to others


aroych2 said:
I am on my 2nd MBP, and within days of getting this thing I applied the BSE skin (new matt finish). The finish is fantastic and you can't tell its there. when I took the BSE skin off my 2010 MBP 13 to get it ready to sell, it looked brand new. No scratch, no dings! I was happy :). This time I also added a good quality keyboard cover. My older mac keyboard looks greasy and worn from the heavy usage, and I want to avoid doing that to this expensive laptop. I spend 12 hrs in front of this thing. Still have to clean the cover under running water, but so much better than leaving all that junk (eew!!) on the keyboard.

I got something of the big online retailer and absolutely love it. I got my 13 rMBP with 250GB/16GB RAM, added a Transcend Jet Drive 64GB. Love it! All of it!

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What is this thing??
Click to expand...
 
maflynn said:
Free memory is wasted memory. I think the benefit of such utilities is questionable. You can get the same info from the activity monitor. OS X has great memory management, I'd recommend you (or the OP) let the system manage the resources since it does a great job at it.
Click to expand...

Can activity monitor display memory in the status bar?
 
Don't want to make another useless thread but I got my first Mac laptop ever! rMNP 15" w/ the 750m !

Mac OS is really strange after years of windows XP and 7....takes some getting used to and a lot of things to learn...

Is there any point to getting a 3rd party app and running at max resolution? I plan on some light gaming once I get windows installed. I heard "retina" looks best at the default resolution since 4 pixels are working to make 1? Sounds strange...


I can partition off say 256gb to Windows at any time via Bootcamp assistant right?

Messed around in iphoto and imported 3 years of photos from my iphone! Is there anyway to put "photos" above "Events" in the sidebar? It's not letting my move things like in the finder....
 
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