got any tips for an OS X newbie?

[Powerbook G5]

I have but that diagonal motion just doesn't seem to do it for me. One of my favorite screen savers so far has been Euphoria. It is really customizable and looks pretty awesome, it's almost like have a full screen high resolution lava lamp for your desktop.

 

[neoelectronaut]

Sounds interesting, can I get a URL for that?

 

[oldschool]

Something that always get asked is how to get stuff out of the menu bar. What you want to do is press the Command (apple) key and drag whatever you want out of the menu bar.

 

[Westside guy]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
If you want something really cool just for cool's sake, get Backlight 2 from Version Tracker, it allows you to toggle your screen saver off and on and between your screen savers on the fly as your desktop wallpaper. It's something that impresses everyone like crazy who sees it.

I used to do that on Linux - you can run Xscreensaver in the root window. It can peg the CPU though if you're running one of the Really Slick screensavers though, or something with lots of 3D rendering.

But it was cool running "Atlantis" as the background; sorta like having an aquarium in your Mac and still being able to do work on it!

 

[Powerbook G5]

I believe this is it http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15356

 

[Mav451]

heh i remember the matrix screen saver, about 3-4 years ago. My brother was only in high school then (running his 550 Athlon), and he was just showing it to me. All of a sudden, my dad pops up at the door and is like "OMG!! what is that? That's just like that movie".

Hahah it was great.

 

[neoelectronaut]

Originally posted by Mav451
heh i remember the matrix screen saver, about 3-4 years ago. My brother was only in high school then (running his 550 Athlon), and he was just showing it to me. All of a sudden, my dad pops up at the door and is like "OMG!! what is that? That's just like that movie".

Hahah it was great.

If it was 3 or 4 years ago, you're probably talking about the horrid flash-based one they had on the Matrix site for a while...it was choppy and low resolution. I didn't like that one at all..

But then, if that's not what you're talking about, just ignore the previous statement(s).

 

[Mav451]

nope not flash based...but .exe (kinda of dangerous on windows environment now that I think about it)...

alas, it was the Win98 days...and it was even funnier when the papers reported last summer that the 95/98 PCs out in the world were safe from the MSblast virus...and to think that my brother ran an ".exe" based screensaver--pretty nuts.

-yeah, not low resolution either. My brother had (at the time) an extremely new "space saving" CRT from ViewSonic (P series i think)--and it was a "massive" 19incher, so he was running 1280 x 1024, while i was stuck on my 15" @ 800 x 600 lol.

 

[Squire]

Tips? Have you considered a .Mac subscription? The online tutorials they offer are priceless.

And PowerBook G5, thanks for the Backlight tip. That is pretty cool. Now I just have to download that Matrix thing.

Squire

<edit: It's pretty cool. Thanks guys.>

 

[neoelectronaut]

Originally posted by Mav451
nope not flash based...but .exe (kinda of dangerous on windows environment now that I think about it)...

Even though it was packaged as a .exe, it most likely was still built in flash--at least if I'm talking about the same one it is.

 

[robins2001]

hi, i am also getting my first mac soon and have never really used osx properly, what is the folder structure like? anything like windows with a folder for applications (program files) and one where all the main os files are (windows) all located in the root drive?

 

[Powerbook G5]

I took a quick picture of my Finder window so you can see how it is arranged. It is kind of like Windows, I suppose, since you have your programs in "Applications" just like they are in "Program Files" in Windows, system files in "System" and "Library" like they are in "Windows" and "System 32" and so forth. The left hand side lists all the folders that are default as well as a few I added for quick navigation. The top left column shows all drives, much like "My Computer" does under Windows and the bottom shows all the primary folders I use often, such as Application, Documents, my Games, system Utilities, "Creations", which is where I store all of my avatars, pictures, desktops, icons, etc that I make in Photoshop or whatever. The top of the window shows the search bar, kind of like "Find" in Windows, but much better in my opinion, and then there is the "Get Info", "Burn to Disk", "Eject", and "Show Path" icons that I added to the toolbar through the "Customize" option. If you need any other screenshots or explanations, just shoot me a PM or email and I can show you just about anything you may be curious about so I don't clutter up this thread with too many pictures.

 

[mms]

"Applications" folder for programs, "System Folder" for the OS files.

 

[crazytom]

If you're new to OS X, I'd recommend playing, playing, playing.

You should also learn how to 'Repair permissions...' and do that about once a month.

There's some cool stuff on osxhints.com that you can weed through to see if anything floats your boat.

There's also a lot of useful information here.

Have fun!

 

[neoelectronaut]

What I love about OS X (And what you will love too) is the fact that it's SO easy to uninstall stuff:

Step 1: Drag to Trash

Step 2: Empty Trash

...and that's it! Other than preference files (which you can easily find by doing a search in the finder usually) the software is just GONE COMPLETELY. Nothing left over in your system folder or registry to clog up your system.

I'd have to say that the OS Wallpaper looks mighty nice in your finder window there PBG5....maybe I should do that.

 

[Powerbook G5]

I have custom wallpapers for each folder, too. I know that column view is more preferred by Mac users, but I love the creativity you can have with icon view since you can do custom wallpapers and icons along with placement, size, etc.

 

[hulugu]

Icons are sweet

Hey Powerbook, quick question:

where'd you find all the cool icons?

I was going to make this a PM, but I realized others might want the answer too.

Thanks.

 

[Powerbook G5]

I got most of my icons from http://www.xicons.com. A few others I got from various other places, but you can find just about anything you are looking for, along with instructions for changing your icons all at that one place.

 

[DaveTheGrey]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
I have custom wallpapers for each folder, too.

Hi ! How do u do this ?

Dave out.

 

[sahnert]

is this normal

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
If you want something really cool just for cool's sake, get Backlight 2 from Version Tracker, it allows you to toggle your screen saver off and on and between your screen savers on the fly as your desktop wallpaper. It's something that impresses everyone like crazy who sees it.

When I run this program it works alright, shows screensaver in background with everything else on top. But I can't click on any folders on the desktop. Only dock stuff and menu bar. Is this normal?

 

[DaveTheGrey]

very nice

Thanx Powerbook G5, Backlight 2 works great !!!

very impressive

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16015

Dave out.

 

[Squire]

Yeah, it is pretty cool. I have my Backlight setting on "Abstract" and the "Red Pill" Matrix thing for my screen saver. (Having the Matrix thing on my desktop was too trippy.) The only beef I have with it is that I can't always access the triangular Backlight icon.

Squire

 

[Powerbook G5]

I've never had those issues with backlight, but I guess anything is possible with different configs.

As far as using custom wallpapers in my folders, I just use Photoshop to scale them to the size of my windows and I go to "View Options" (Command+J) and there is an option there to set background pictures. I believe it only works in icon view mode, though.

 

[DaveTheGrey]

Thanx G5

Dave out.