My First mac

If we are talking about useless but impressive features, my favorite is holding down the shift key while using expose/minimize

 

Ch ch ch ch check out this thread.

 

there are a ton - you can look up in Mac Help, from Finder.

aside from cut/copy/paste (cmd-x, cmd-c, cmd-v) here are some of the more useful ones:

Exposé F9, F10, F11 (and/or hot corners)
Dashboard F12 (and/or hot corners)

Screen shots (complete with shutter sound)
(they will put a PNG file on desktop):
cmd-shift-3 does full screen shot (complete with shutter sound)
cmd-shift-4 gives you cursor, to select portion of screen you want to capture
cmd-shift-4, followed by "space" will give you a "camera" cursor. place it over the window you want to capture and it will capture ONLY that window. This is nicer than dragging cursor around it and doesn't need trimming after.

cmd-tab brings up application switcher

in Finder:
cmd-shift-A opens Application folder
cmd-shift-U opens Utilities Folder
cmd-shift-H opens your Home folder

many, many more shortcuts for getting around in Finder, best to consult help

 

If you are trying to close an app in the dock, you can click and hold and that brings up the same menu as if you ctrl+click or right click. This is nice if you are too lazy to hit control or reach to the right button.

 

Did you know that you can connect a FireWire cable between your cable box (standard or high-def) and use iRecord to record shows on your Mac, then use VLC to watch them?

Nice bit for just the cost of a FireWire cable.... esp. for high-def content.