So, when connected with an ethernet cord, should I turn airport on? Also, new to Mac

[DDar]

My family just bought an iMac for the house since our PC died. =) Anyways, I was just wondering whether I should keep airport on or off when I'm connected via an ethernet chord. I'm just wondering really, since when it is on I'm not really sure what connection I'm using exactly, but when it isn't I'm sure that my connection is wired (wired is always faster, right? ). So yeah... I was just wondering...

Also, I'm new to OS X. I mean, I've used it before but never really extensively. I haven't had any troubles with it so far (apart from the whole having to press cmd Q to properly quit an app instead of being able to just close it with the red button. <_<) and I was wondering if anyone had any useful tips, or neat tricks they could share. =)
Thanks!

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

a little tip I have would be command +tab, it works like alt + tab on windows. Consult the beginners' guide here at MacRumors for a good guide.

As for your Airport issue, unless you want your computer to act as a wireless router (for other wireless computers in your house) then you can turn your airport off. It's not doing anything for you.

 

[bootedbear]

When connected to the built-in Ethernet, the wired connection will take precedence over the wireless. So you can either leave the airport card turned on or off, it doesn't really matter. I just leave mine on.

Switcher tip #2743: Get used to the "green button" not meaning "maximize" -- it means "best fit". Wrap your mind around that and you'll experience less angst.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

keep it off, it saves power since you're using a wired (ethernet) connection. unless you need the airport as a wifi router, keep it off. it helps with overall life of the airport extreme card since for you, it just takes in power and doesn't do much.

 

[mkrishnan]

^^ It could also possibly reduce any radio-frequency interference with other wireless devices (cell phones, cordless landline telephones, bluetooth devices, etc) if you turn it off, so if you're not using it, I too recommend just turning it off....