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Whats the first thing I should do with my first iMac?

F

farmermac

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 23, 2009
779
11
Iowa
Im a lifelong pc/windows user that has decided to buy his first iMac. I placed my order yesterday for a 24" with upgraded 1tb hd and numeric keyboard. I am really excited about using OS X on a daily basis. I have used every version of windows since 3.1 and using a macbook for about 10 minutes convinced me I should ditch my 5yr old PC instead of building a new one.

Getting 2 iPhones and learning they run a stripped down version of OSX also helped!

So, while im patiently waiting for my iMac to be built and shipped (there is no apple store nearby so couldnt just pick one up and take it home), im killing myself with envy by reading everything I can.

Im looking for recommendations for things to try or do in Mac OS X when I first plug it in.

On a different note, any idea how long it usually takes to build & ship a mac once ordered? They quoted 1-3 days but the free ipod shipped same day as i ordered.
 
Do the following in order once setup and logged in:
- Hit Command + Spacebar
- Type Terminal and hit Enter
- Type say "hello! I'm a mac!" and hit Enter
- Hit Command + Alt + Control + 8
 
Hit the power button.

Was hard for me to find out the power button. I actually had to open the manual (shame shame!) and see where it's at!

I converted from Wintel 10 days ago, and absolutely loving my 24"!!:p
 
Download Handbrake & VLC Player and convert your DVD's...also should invest in an Apple TV.
 
Setup at least Two user accounts one for yourself and a general Admin Account.

Always a good thing to have handy just in case

oh should add.
Make sure you watch intro video and learn a few new words for welcome
 
Add an :apple: to the end of everything you type lol (option shift k)...just kidding...try out all the applications and really get to understand how everything works.
 
I'm going to agree with some others above and say the thing you really should do before anything else is turn on your new iMac.

Sambo110 said:
Why does everyone like Firefox so much? I hate it, and the UI takes up so much room compared to Safari. And it is slower.
Click to expand...

Way to thread hijack. The UI of Firefox is as you wish it to be with themes. I find it Firefox 3.5 to be far faster than Safari (was not the case up to 3.0) and of course the single reason why Firefox shall always rule: extensions.

It's not as bloated as Safari either. But hey, at the end of the day it all comes down to a personal choice. :)
 
I'm a new convert too - 1 month to be exact. Take your time moving around the OS and learn how to customize your dock. Really learn all the features. If you hit a speed bump, look it up on the Internet.

The next thing I did was buy an external hard drive for Time Machine. I purchased a G-Safe because I know I am going to have a lot of raw images to store. Since my internal HDD is 1 TB, I bought a 1.5 TB hard drive.

I also downloaded Shades to dim the display even lower. Working at night with a desk lamp on with the display slider all the way to the left was still too bright. Shades is a great (Free) program. I also downloaded Onyx. Go to the Apple siite and read about the most popular downloads.

Read about how to install applications before trying it out first. Even though it is easy, you want to do it right. Actually is so was easy, I thought it couldn't be right.

Once you are comfy with your way around. Do some reading online about "favorite Mac apps".

Have fun .... my only regret was not moving from Windows earlier.
 
Congrats

farmermac said:
Im looking for recommendations for things to try or do in Mac OS X when I first plug it in.
Click to expand...

System Prefs: Change your energy settings to fit your needs. Set a time for the mac wake in the AM if it suits you.

Set your expose settings, I prefer to have two 'desktops' versus the default 4...also, I like to set corners to 'hot keys' for example the 'show desktop' expose feature is set to activate when the mouse touches the lower right corner. It annoys the crap out of most people who use my computer but I use it A LOT.

Consider Monolingual, to trim away unused human languages- the only known (to me) risk is that you shouldn't run this when Office 2008 is installed, it screws up the languages and future updates to Office 2008 won't install. Still, monolingual will be (hopefully) unnecessary with Snow leopard, so it isn't that important(?)

I'd also clear out the dock, only add the application that you tend to use.

Add some folders that you are going to commonly access to the sidebar in a finder window.
 
other than things listed here. I found (not sure where) some nice dividers for the Dock. That way I can have all my Graphics programs separated from my Mail/Organizing apps separated by "iApps" etc.

I also dropped into the dock Folders I use frequently...like my Freelance folder (with folders for each company doing work for in there), the Downloads folder, and a folder for all my graphics/Fonts/etc. i purchase, create, etc.

Set your mouse to be used how you want...Right-click or no right click, etc.
 
Sambo110 said:
Why does everyone like Firefox so much? I hate it, and the UI takes up so much room compared to Safari. And it is slower.
Click to expand...

Exactly! I prefer about all browsers over Firefox. Safari, Chrome (betas), Camino, Opera, etc.

Back on topic.. get 1Password!!! If you do cam chats, CamTwist. Tweetie desktop if you use Twitter. VLC to play videos. Transmission. Cyber Duck. There's a few. :)
 
I got it this morning and i've been playing with it non stop. Also been grinning ear to ear :)

I cant believe iphoto doesnt have a search box by keyword. I was excited about the face recognition and iphotos integration into os x but i think picasa is actually a better browser unless im missing something
 
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