Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Biggest newbie problem

Here, here!
Actually that's many of our problems.
Even veterans forget to search the forums for previous or similar threads. The FAQs point out that a person should search first, be we don't always do it.
 
Um....did I totally miss some white text somewhere?

Biggest problem is getting used to the dock/menu bar instead of the start menu/window based menu system thing.
 
Just learn the basics (FAQs are great), and then get your feet wet. It doesn't take long before your navigating like a pro.
 
nbs2 said:
Um....did I totally miss some white text somewhere?

Biggest problem is getting used to the dock/menu bar instead of the start menu/window based menu system thing.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing, the OP is asking about OS X, not this fourm.

Anyway, I have seen people stugle with the fact that closing the window doesn't actually exit the program.
 
As mentioned above, this is about new Mac users, not new MR members.

Personally, I have no problems using a new Mac and often find it to be faster and easier than using an old one. ;)

Honestly, though, most new Mac users are Windows users, and I think the biggest initial problem - after basic navigation - is one of finding replacements for the Windows apps they're used to.
 
jsw said:
Honestly, though, most new Mac users are Windows users, and I think the biggest initial problem - after basic navigation - is one of finding replacements for the Windows apps they're used to.
Click to expand...
I wonder though - for most users, isn't the problem getting used to different apps and not finding them? I'd imagine that most computer users (switchers included) focus mostly on Word, email and surfing the internet (and not in that order). Two out of three are provided full, one as a "test drive" - so they know it is out there. I guess a lot of them use web based email, so they really don't need to remember to use Mail and Word is Word is Word.

So, in the end, isn't the struggle more in terms of getting used to Safari instead of IE and not finding a replacement app? Although, if Firefox use continues to increase, Firefox will be Firefox will be Firefox, making that transition just as seamless (my mom has done that - it took me months to get her from IE to FF on her old PC and now she rarely touches Safari on her iMac).
 
Well, having given my parents my old iMac a few months ago, they didn't initially realize that Firefox worked on the Mac too (although Safari's better), that Mail was as easy as or easier than Outlook Express, that Word is basically Word (but they aren't the exactly the same on both platforms), that you can play Freecell on a Mac (this was far more important to them that it should have been), that iTunes worked the same, etc.

They've yet to replace their card-writing app, some of their scanning software, etc., but they've moved over pretty well (although they still use the PC as well).

So I guess it isn't that it's hard to find the apps, it's just not necessarily intuitive to them at first where to look for them (at least to people like my parents).

But, yeah, on further reflection, I agree with you guys above: menubar, dock, closing windows not closing apps... those are issues. So is window resizing ("why can't I resize it from anywhere?").
 
The biggest problems are actually very trivial compared to what they had to deal with in the Windows world. I used to have to support about 10 friends and relatives. Always having to assist with basic tasks such as getting a new camera or printer to work - or dealing with viruses and spyware, etc. One by one I've switched them all. It's a beautiful thing. Some have iMac's some have Mac Mini's and a couple have PowerBooks. After getting them up and running I have very rarely heard from any of them (for computer support anyways). I do have one friend that has a hard time remembering the steps involved with creating a playlist and burning it to CD from iTunes. That's about it :p
 
The two biggest issues that I had to learn (didn't take long though) was that closing applications didn't always shut them down (Command + Q) is what I use to exit a program.

The second was installing programs. When you download a file, it will be saved to your desktop (unless you change the default location). You then need to double click the file which will "unpackage" the file. For applications, you then "drop -n - drag" it into your Applications folder and then you can launch it. At that point, you can trash the original "wrappings" the file was downloaded with.

That may sound a little complicate, but once you do it a couple of times, it becomes second nature.
 
Making people realise that 'full screen' is a waste of space on their monitor and it's really much easier to work with windows which are the size you need.

I spent my first week on my Mac resizing most of them... and now my Windows at work are non-maximised too
 
for me the biggest mistake was going to the main Library when I needed more HDD space and randomly deleted program folders, and one specific folder that had a bunch of install pkg's. After that I tried to do some disk repairs and found out I couldnt and kept giving me errors. Ran to the mac store and to a Genius. He asked me "What happened to all the files in this folder?" I replied with a simple, "Oops." And so that began a great adventure of reformatting :)

Another tip is to never unplug a external HDD while it is downloading or doing some type of transfer. Basically I was on a rush and quickly disconnected everything while it was still downloading something. Later on the night I found my download was finally done which was to be downloaded to my external HDD. Sounds fine at the moment until I try to open it and gives me an error saying it could not be found. Unlike Windows where it can detect the drive it was to be downloaded to is missing it would immediately stop and tell you are an idiot for disconnecting it, Mac decided to continue to download it but not only that it made a phantom volume so to speak to finish off my download. Took me forever to find the folder where it downloaded it to which was hidden.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back