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How do you????? (New user questions)

T

Tuathal

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 25, 2010
4
0
Donegal Ireland
Hi folks..Im new to the forum & to Mac for that matter..My fabulous girlfriend bought me a 13" Macbook Air for Xmas..Have to say its simply fantastic.Extra ordinarily quick & trendy as ****...
I've never used a Mac PC before & only being used to windows i have a few "simple questions"..Only simple if you know the answers i suppose!!Any help or tips would be appreciated.

1)On windows i could refresh the page by pressing F5. Is there a short cut on my Mac for this?

2)When im online the page does not take up the complete screen-i can change the settings (1024x800) etc. but the quality isnt great when i do that..Is it the norm for them.

3)I synced my mobile phone to the laptop & copied my contacts..When i was finished-it had deleted all my contacts on my fone..I cannot find them on my laptop now-any idea if they are on it at all???

4)Any cool tips would be much appreciated.:)

5)Also-how can i set up a google translation bar & tab bar without downloading internet explorer or mozilla firefox??
 
It's ridiculous that Apple decides how big my application windows should be. The fact that some apps (like Pages) have a full page mode seems like an acknowledgement that it is sometimes preferable to have an app take up the work space so that the user can concentrate on the task.

Mike
 
1)On windows i could refresh the page by pressing F5. Is there a short cut on my Mac for this?

FN + F5

2)When im online the page does not take up the complete screen-i can change the settings (1024x800) etc. but the quality isnt great when i do that..Is it the norm for them.

There is a plug-in called RightZoom that will allow the page to take up the complete screen.

http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/make-the-os-x-maximize-button-work-like-windows/

3)I synced my mobile phone to the laptop & copied my contacts..When i was finished-it had deleted all my contacts on my fone..I cannot find them on my laptop now-any idea if they are on it at all???

Probably in the address book. Open your applications, and open the address book and see if your contacts are there.

4)Any cool tips would be much appreciated.:)

I believe there are a few great stickied threads for newly converted users. I think an MRGoogle search of this forum would yield some great results.


5)Also-how can i set up a google translation bar & tab bar without downloading internet explorer or mozilla firefox??

There should be an extension available for firefox? I am not sure of this...
 
Tuathal said:
2)When im online the page does not take up the complete screen-i can change the settings (1024x800) etc. but the quality isnt great when i do that..Is it the norm for them.
Click to expand...

Can't remember exactly - on my iPad, but I believe option + click or command + click on the green maximise blob in the window frame will do a fit-screen zoom.

Have fun, enjoy the ride.
 
to refresh the browser it's command + R (as someone else already said).

fn + F5 doesn't work (for my 13" MBA anyway)

EDIT: and to get the window to take the full screen, just click and drag the bottom right corner of the window to your desired size. it should open to that size every time after that.
 
Last edited:
I moved over from Windows to Mac in the last few years, and the resizing of windows was a pain for me, initially, as well. But if you work with it that way for a couple of weeks, it really makes more sense - rarely will a webpage actually have text that spans the entire width of your screen, and most that do will resize column width to fit into your browser.

But this means you can have an internet browser open on one side of your screen (especially since MBA is high-res) and something else open on the other side.

Some applications (Excel springs to mind) can have increased productivity when full-screen, but you just don't need it for most things.
 
poi said:
For full screen > Shift+Command and click green
Click to expand...

Aboo said:
1)On windows i could refresh the page by pressing F5. Is there a short cut on my Mac for this?

FN + F5
Click to expand...

Do you guys even own Macs? None of those commands are correct. Command+R is the only way to refresh the screen without remapping unless this is something unique only to the new Air.

There is no keyboard shortcut to go full screen on Safari. :p
 
If you have been using Windows 7, you might appreciate Hyperdock. It is a free, VERY stable beta, that gives Mac the Window Previews, and Window Snapping features. I have been using it for months...Want a full screened window, just grab the title bar and drag to the top of the screen.

Also, if you use alot of keyboard shortcuts, most of the keyboard shortcuts are the same, save for switching Ctrl with CMD(Ctrl+C becomes CMD+C for copy). There are tons of shortcuts though, so its something to google. Learning them has made me much faster.
 
Dalton63841 said:
If you have been using Windows 7, you might appreciate Hyperdock. It is a free, VERY stable beta, that gives Mac the Window Previews, and Window Snapping features. I have been using it for months...Want a full screened window, just grab the title bar and drag to the top of the screen.

Also, if you use alot of keyboard shortcuts, most of the keyboard shortcuts are the same, save for switching Ctrl with CMD(Ctrl+C becomes CMD+C for copy). There are tons of shortcuts though, so its something to google. Learning them has made me much faster.
Click to expand...

Cheers for all the help..Really appreciate it!I know its very basic to any1 thats used to Mac but im still new to the scene..

Have to say im delited with my Macair...They really are the business!!I cant fault them anyhow..Of course there are others who are just never happy..

Thanks again for your replies..Slan go foill(Gaelige for Bye for now) ;.)
 
If a page is X wide, why maximize the window? Depending on encoding it'll only stretch the content or have blank spaces to the sides. Seems nonsensical to me. :confused:

I've tried the fn+F5 on safari and it doesn't work for me. I've always used cmnd+r, so it doesn't really matter.

As far as your phone/contacts problems go, it help a lot if you'd give us more details.

What other tips do I have for a new MBA owner, hmm. Some of the multitouch gestures are useful, learn about them on the trackpad panel in System Preferences.

Some must have apps for me and maybe for you (get them from macupdate.com or google them)

Launchbar (not free but worth it for the keyboard shortcut junkie)
Prey (free anti-theft)
AppCleaner (free, uninstalls things completely)
KisMac (free, see the stats on wireless networks around you, helps make sure you are not on the same channel as your neighbor)
Handbreak (free, popular encoder)
VLC (duh)
Perian (adds codecs to Quicktime, flv, etc.)
flip4mac (wmv codec for Quicktime)
TinyGrab (Free/paid, when you take a screen cap, it uploads the pic and puts the URL in your clipboard)
HyperDock (free, adds windows-like dock previews and snap windows into place like win7)
NeoOffice (free, alternative OS X port for Open Office)
VirtualBox (free, alternative to VMWare and that other one)
 
Psychmike said:
It's ridiculous that Apple decides how big my application windows should be. The fact that some apps (like Pages) have a full page mode seems like an acknowledgement that it is sometimes preferable to have an app take up the work space so that the user can concentrate on the task.

Mike
Click to expand...

You mean the same way they decide which applications are best for you to use? I must not know anything about computers because apparently Flash is a bad thing...according to Apple.
 
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