New to mac ?'s

[scooterguitar]

Do I need to run a defrag or any cleanup like on a PC's accessories?

I updated the new software updates, do I also go to the MacOS X software link or is that just to explain things?
I ask because when I got my ne wmacbook yesterday the apple video viewer worked fine when watching tutoerials online, now it is acting up today.

 

[ingenious]

Do I need to run a defrag or any cleanup like on a PC's accessories?

I updated the new software updates, do I also go to the MacOS X software link or is that just to explain things?
I ask because when I got my ne wmacbook yesterday the apple video viewer worked fine when watching tutoerials online, now it is acting up today.

No, no defrag or cleanup. It's not really necessary; your computer cleans itself up for the most part.

As for the Mac OS X Software link, it's just a software directory that lists a lot of the software available for OS X.

Are you talking QuickTime or DVD Player? If it's QT, then it might just be your internet connection or the site.

 

[kuwisdelu]

Do I need to run a defrag or any cleanup like on a PC's accessories?

I updated the new software updates, do I also go to the MacOS X software link or is that just to explain things?
I ask because when I got my ne wmacbook yesterday the apple video viewer worked fine when watching tutoerials online, now it is acting up today.

No need to defrag or cleanup anything. OS X defragments itself on-the-fly, so manually defragmenting a Mac can seriously screw it up. Don't try. It's fine if left to itself. OS X also runs maintenance scripts from time to time automatically, but if you want to run them manually, you can do so from the Terminal (if you want to use the command line) or download a program called OnyX, which will tell the computer to run its maintenance scripts whenever you want.

One thing that will help is to repair permissions after a big update or installing a large application. Go to Applications->Utilities->Disk Utility and do "Repair Permissions" after software updates and such.

I believe the "OS X Software..." link you're referring to is just a link to the Apple software downloads site. Those are just extra programs you can get, none of which you necessarily need. You don't have to bother with it if you don't want to, as it's not part of the updates. "Software Update..." is all you need.

Hmm...I assume you mean Quicktime is acting up? Without more information, I can only assume it's your internet connection or the site, too. Perhaps you can describe further what you mean?

 

[ingenious]

One thing that will help is to repair permissions after a big update or installing a large application. Go to Applications->Utilities->Disk Utility and do "Repair Permissions" after software updates and such.

I used to believe this, too, but recently it's been shown that you should not repair permissions after an update. It doesn't speed things up and can actually hurt the system if overused.

 

[kuwisdelu]

I used to believe this, too, but recently it's been shown that you should not repair permissions after an update. It doesn't speed things up and can actually hurt the system if overused.

Hmm that's interesting. Can you provide a source for that information? I'm not sure how it could hurt the system, considering it doesn't even do anything unless if finds something wrong.

 

[ingenious]

Hmm that's interesting. Can you provide a source for that information? I'm not sure how it could hurt the system, considering it doesn't even do anything unless if finds something wrong.

I do agree with you in the second point, but you should search the forums. This was widely discussed around the time Tiger came out. Repairing Permissions then declined in popularity, but now, with Leopard, people seem to be suggesting it again.

Basically, they were saying that since OS X had become so much more advanced since its inception, permissions weren't much of an issue anymore, and that Apple was considering adding a "Rebuild Desktop" function in that rebuilt everything that over-repairing permissions could hurt.
I don't understand, personally, what that could be, but still.

Anyway, do a search. I'm pretty sure you'll get a better answer that says the same thing.