Switching to Apple, questions for you!

[guru_ck]

Hey Guys,

I'm making the jump to Apple once I get my iPhone credit and Leopard is released. Although I used a Mac for quite some time when I was little I am pretty accustomed to PCs now. I have some questions:

1) Does AppleCare cover anything that the standard warranty does not or does it just extend it from 1 to 3 years? Can I purchase the warranty at anytime within that 1 year period?

2) Is there anyway to make a window full screen like in Windows? I know OS X is smart and it sizes it according to the contents of the window but my eyes get distracted by surrounding objects.

3) How do you uninstall an application in OS X? You just drag the folder to the trash can? What about all the other files it leaves behind like the Preferences files? There isn't a Add/Remove Program is there?

More questions to come!

 

[siurpeeman]

1. applecare extends the warranty from one year to three. it doesn't include anything extra like accidental damage protection. and yes, you can get it any time within the first year, but it's recommended that you do it at least a week before the end of the first year. you don't want to cut things too close.

2. if you want a window to cover the whole screen, i think you need to do it manually by positioning a window at the top left and dragging the opposite corner to the bottom right.

3. when i want to delete an app, sometimes there's an uninstaller. if not, i drag the app to the trash and try to find related files in the preferences folder to delete with it. i think there might be third party programs that'll delete the extraneous files for you, but i'm not so sure.

 

[SDDave2007]

As a recent Mac convert myself...

1) extends to 3yrs including tech support, and yes anytime up to a year

2) it seems the "maximize" green buttons effect depends on the application, some go full screen, others seem to make the window just big enough for the current content [you can always drag it to full size]... personally I find this difficult to get used to.

3) Just drag it to the trash. Some programs do leave a file or folder in the Preferences directory. But hey, its a lot better than Registry Hell and 2,000 OCX/DLL files left behind isn't it?

 

[mduser63]

i think there might be third party programs that'll delete the extraneous files for you, but i'm not so sure.

Not particularly necessary since preference files are tiny, plain text, and won't harm your system in any way (unlike registry keys and DLLs in Windows), but AppZapper works well.

 

[emptyCup]

1. Covered.

2. You can use a program like megazoomer if you really want to do this, or drag the window yourself. However, this was something Window taught you to do because Drag and Drop really doesn't work well in Windows and you often need the space for the menus. Just like the people in my quiet suburban town who put bars on their windows, it marks you as a newcomer from someplace worse (and can I sell you virus protection to go with those bars?). Learn to use Drag and Drop and you will understand why windows in OSX work the way they do.

3. There are programs for this too. If you really need to get all the tiny pieces do a Spotlight search for the name of the program. Or look in Library / Preferences since that is where you will usually find an extra bit of a program.

Welcome and best wishes.

 

[AdeFowler]

2) Is there anyway to make a window full screen like in Windows? I know OS X is smart and it sizes it according to the contents of the window but my eyes get distracted by surrounding objects.

As others have said simply resize the window to fit the screen. Alternatively, press Command+Option+H to hide everything but your current application. This is how I work as I'm equally distracted by background clutter

 

[CalBoy]

As a recent Mac convert myself...

2) it seems the "maximize" green buttons effect depends on the application, some go full screen, others seem to make the window just big enough for the current content [you can always drag it to full size]... personally I find this difficult to get used to.

That's because it's not a "maximize" button. It serves as a restore button. Try this: Open an app like Safari or Firefox. Resize it by dragging the small grey triangle in the lower right-hand corner. Then, hit the +. You'll notice that the window will resize itself back to a prior size. One of the key reasons this is different in OS X is because a lot of people want the ability to toggle between sizes that aren't small-MAXIMUM like in Windows. It's a bit more customizable this way if you think about it.

 

[vtprinz]

2) Just came across this little freeware Safari add-on: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/internet_utilities/safaristretch.html

Basically just adds a small icon to the favorites bar, and quickly stretches the window to full screen when you click it, just like the maximize button on IE for Windows