New mac user here (I need basic help and ideas)

[HiDeHo]

Hi in august 2012 I recently got a refurbished 13" i5 october 2011 moddel Pro with 4gb ram click here

so far things have been going well. I love mac and how easy it is to use. Its been great. I got a free upgrade to Mountain Lion. I have come from Mainly Linux over the past 3 years so I like using multi desktops. I use between 3-5 desktops. running browser(chrome), messaging(adium), email(thunderbird), music(itunes), office(libreoffice). I notice at times i get slight hangups. with the curser loading wheel. I was told this was to do with the new multi desktop feature. My friend who has been using mac for a while said the first multi desktop idea in osx snow leopard ran much better than in lion, mountain lion.

Also as I understand that mac does not need much maintenance just like linux. is it really worth using memory, cache, temporary file cleaners or does mac do a good job of this itself.

I hear that when uninstalling an app sometimes not all files are removed. is there a way to remove application and all associated files. In linux sometimes a terminal command is needed to remove the app and user files.

Is there any app like idvd, now that is no longer available, to copy and create dvds with nice menues etc.

What app do i need if i want to tripple boot mac, windows, linux. at the moment i have vbox installed and run linux and windows there. would be nice to have full booting especially for gaming in windows.

any other tips and tricks for a new user that you might think is good for me to know or understand.

I thank you for taking the time to read and apply to this post. Happy Mac using all.

 

[GGJstudios]

is it really worth using memory, cache, temporary file cleaners or does mac handle this itself.

You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Some can even degrade, rather than improve system performance.

Some remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process. These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space.

Some of these apps delete caches, which can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt. Caches exist to improve performance, so deleting them isn't advisable in most cases.

Many of the tasks performed by these apps should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.

Five Mac maintenance myths​

What app do i need if i want to tripple boot mac, windows, linux. at the moment i have vbox installed and run linux and windows there. would be nice to have full booting especially for gaming in windows.

To run Windows apps on your Mac, you need to install Windows via Boot Camp or use Parallels or VMware Fusion.

If you don't have a Windows license, you can use CrossOver to run some applications. Not all Windows apps are compatible with CrossOver. Check their site for compatible apps.

For more information about running Windows on your Mac, check out the Windows, Linux & other on the Mac forum.
For triple-booting, search the forum and you'll find some threads on that topic, with recommendations.

any other tips and tricks for a new user that you might recommend

This may be useful:

Helpful Information for Any Mac User
Portables Fast Start: The New User's Guide to Apple Notebooks

 

[HiDeHo]

to GGJstudios

yes i understand most of what you are saying. but you failed to mention VirtualBOx (vbox). and VMware Player. these are free apps. vbox is great and i do use it on occasion.

 

[Krazy Bill]

I notice at times i get slight hangups. with the curser loading wheel. I was told this was to do with the new multi desktop feature.

I've never "beach-balled" when switching desktops. But then again, I have 8GB of RAM. This is what you really need with Mountain Lion IMO.

 

[HiDeHo]

I've never "beach-balled" when switching desktops. But then again, I have 8GB of RAM. This is what you really need with Mountain Lion IMO.

yes i did a test and noticed I often going into swap usage which is weird. With my setup of a
Macbook Pro 13": October 2011
processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core i5
Memory(ram): 4GB 1333 MHZ DDR3
HDD: 500gb

you would think that any os these days would run great with these specks. I guess allot of users don't really look into, or understand, what swap is. swap should only be used when the ram is being maxed out. which my computer never seems to be yet swap is used.

Note: my understanding of swap comes from using linux.

anyway maybe mac just does things differently. of i need to upgrade the ram.

when it comes to updating ram i guess i may need to start a forum post on this topic to get help

 

[yusukeaoki]

Just throw some 8GB DDR3 and a SSD than it would be blazing fast.

 

[Krazy Bill]

yes i did a test and noticed I often going into swap usage which is weird. With my setup of a

Macbook Pro 13": October 2011
processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core i5
Memory(ram): 4GB 1333 MHZ DDR3
HDD: 500gb

Your MBP has lots of life left in it.

I concur with yusik... yusku... yisuk..., the poster before me. If not the SSD at least the 8GB of RAM. It's very cheap these days and considered a no-brainer. And I assume you are looking at this in the Activity Monitor app (but your page outs are high):

 

[yusukeaoki]

Your MBP has lots of life left in it.

I concur with yusik... yusku... yisuk..., the poster before me. If not the SSD at least the 8GB of RAM. It's very cheap these days and considered a no-brainer. And I assume you are looking at this in the Activity Monitor app (but your page outs are high):

View attachment 404528

The 5400/7200rpm drives are pretty slow.
By putting a SSD in, it can turn a 4 year old computer to 1 year old computer.
Not by spec wise but speed wise obviously.

 

[HiDeHo]

https://www.macrumors.com/mac

Just throw some 8GB DDR3 and a SSD than it would be blazing fast.

right I hear that people can put 2 hdd inside there macbook pro but i cant see how there is no space. if i was to get a ssd as well, they are not cheap mind you, where can I put the old hdd. would like to max out my mbp and have a great kickass computer.

Atm i do have refit bootloader installed and a small partition with Linux Mint os on it for when i occasionally want to play.
(would also like to know if i can customeise the refit images so I can use the Linux mint logo instead fo the default linux one refit has but i guess that is another post i will need to make in the future)

what about the new combo sdd/hdd drives thats another one too.

 

[r0k]

right I hear that people can put 2 hdd inside there macbook pro but i cant see how there is no space. if i was to get a ssd as well, they are not cheap mind you, where can I put the old hdd. would like to max out my mbp and have a great kickass computer.

Atm i do have refit bootloader installed and a small partition with Linux Mint os on it for when i occasionally want to play.
(would also like to know if i can customeise the refit images so I can use the Linux mint logo instead fo the default linux one refit has but i guess that is another post i will need to make in the future)

what about the new combo sdd/hdd drives thats another one too.

people put in an ssd and take out their optical drive to put in a big hdd. i don't want to be bothered with all that. when i can afford the ssd i want, i'll get it rather than try to cobble something together.

i had a momentus xt in my macbook. i have not put one in my mbp. i gave it to my son who was hurting for hdd space. i lke the speed but it's still a spinning hdd so if you want to save money go for it,otherwise save up for ssd.

 

[yusukeaoki]

right I hear that people can put 2 hdd inside there macbook pro but i cant see how there is no space. if i was to get a ssd as well, they are not cheap mind you, where can I put the old hdd. would like to max out my mbp and have a great kickass computer.

Atm i do have refit bootloader installed and a small partition with Linux Mint os on it for when i occasionally want to play.
(would also like to know if i can customeise the refit images so I can use the Linux mint logo instead fo the default linux one refit has but i guess that is another post i will need to make in the future)

what about the new combo sdd/hdd drives thats another one too.

As a poster above me said, its called optibay.
I personally put the SSD in main bay just for the sake but you can put it in in either.
If you are minding about the money, get like a 128GB model cheap.
Crucial M4 is under 100USD so its pretty cheap.
Throw the HDD in optibay and use it for data storage.
What you would need is:
・SSD
・HDD (original or get bigger drives)
・Optibay enclosure (to put your drive in the enclosure)

There are many kinds of enclosure for it.
Some are the non-branded 15 dollar amazon cheap one.
I just went with the 100USD MCE model because they are trustworthy.
Its your call on which to get.

 

[HiDeHo]

As a poster above me said, its called optibay.
I personally put the SSD in main bay just for the sake but you can put it in in either.
If you are minding about the money, get like a 128GB model cheap.
Crucial M4 is under 100USD so its pretty cheap.
Throw the HDD in optibay and use it for data storage.
What you would need is:
・SSD
・HDD (original or get bigger drives)
・Optibay enclosure (to put your drive in the enclosure)

There are many kinds of enclosure for it.
Some are the non-branded 15 dollar amazon cheap one.
I just went with the 100USD MCE model because they are trustworthy.
Its your call on which to get.

thanks for the info. what i am wondering, when i do that, is if i could get a nice mac looking, or any other type, of slim line optical usb case. 1. making use of optical drive, 2. probably cheeper than buying a usb optical drive itself.

oh and you are the only one that mentioned the optibay. nice idea that.

 

[yusukeaoki]

thanks for the info. what i am wondering, when i do that, is if i could get a nice mac looking, or any other type, of slim line optical usb case. 1. making use of optical drive, 2. probably cheeper than buying a usb optical drive itself.

oh and you are the only one that mentioned the optibay. nice idea that.

If you dont mind cash, you can get one of those MBA/rMBP USB super drives from Apple.
Or you can go cheap and just get an enclosure.
I honestly dont use the super drive anymore so I went with the cheap route.

 

[HiDeHo]

If you dont mind cash, you can get one of those MBA/rMBP USB super drives from Apple.
Or you can go cheap and just get an enclosure.
I honestly dont use the super drive anymore so I went with the cheap route.

well why not get an enclosure. cheaper and would be the same superdrive in my macbook pro now.

 

[dusk007]

I would always go enclosure as you should keep the drive around anyway. If you need some warranty service you should put it back in so they won't complain about the unsanctioned mod.
You aren't allowed to remove the superdrive but there is also no seal you need to break and as such adding it back in and not breaking anything and nobody should be able to tell the different other than in dust build up but that is hard to prove.

 

[HiDeHo]

I would always go enclosure as you should keep the drive around anyway. If you need some warranty service you should put it back in so they won't complain about the unsanctioned mod.
You aren't allowed to remove the superdrive but there is also no seal you need to break and as such adding it back in and not breaking anything and nobody should be able to tell the different other than in dust build up but that is hard to prove.

that Is true but i am not under warrantee anymore. so all good here.