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FSUSU · Apr 19, 2003, 11:23 PM

Hi everyone. I've been browsing through the MacNN forums over the past few weeks to soak in as much knowledge as possible, as I'll soon be purchasing the 17" PowerBook. This will be my first actual Mac purchase, and I'm still a little concerned about making the switch. I've got tons of questions, some of which are more OS-related, but I have a feeling you guys might be able to help me out.

- I've used a PC for years and years and years. That's many years. I'm an intermediate level user, but I'm clueless about networking. What's gonna be the easiest way for me to transfer files from my desktop PC to the PowerBook? I assume I'd hook up some cables and click some things... but other than that, I'm at a loss for where to begin. I don't have a wireless network setup yet, so that's out of the question for now (my PC won't support it). Can someone offer a detailed, step-by-step explanation of what I should do for transferring this data? I need info on what cables I might need, what settings I'll need to configure, etc. I don't really want to use Move2Mac or anything like that - I'd prefer to have some sort of drag-and-drop file access from my PC to the Mac.

- All of my PC email is archived in MS Outlook Express. Is there some way to export this data (the messages) into Mail or Entourage on the Mac? Aside from the actual "transferring" of the data, is there anything I should know about importing email on the Mac end? And what program on the Mac do you find is the best for email?

- I've grown really accustomed to my Alt-Tab multi-tasking and small utility programs I've installed on my PC. What small and simple utilities do you use on the Mac end to make your life easier? And is there any way to easily re-create my beloved Alt-Tab feature in Mac OS X? Or is something similar already built in? As I said, I'm learning here. :-) Also, are there other Mac web sites out there that provide software downloads, reviews, and tips and tricks that you can't live without?

I think that just about covers my major concerns... though I'm sure I'll have plenty of other questions once my ADC Student PowerBook order goes through and I sit in anticipation of its arrival. Thanks for the help!

djjava · Apr 19, 2003, 11:50 PM

Originally posted by FSUSU:
What's gonna be the easiest way for me to transfer files from my desktop PC to the PowerBook?

The method Assassyn posted in this thread http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=154672 should work nice. Connecting PCs and Macs via ethernet cable is nice and quick, but if you transfer data in the range in the GBs, you might experience problems. Use CD-Rs, or the method described by that thread.

Originally posted by FSUSU:
All of my PC email is archived in MS Outlook Express. Is there some way to export this data (the messages) into Mail or Entourage on the Mac?

A nice program by Little Machines called Outlook2Mac works great.... http://www.littlemachines.com/ once you convert your mailboxes, it is a as easy as dragging the output files right into Entourage. And it's only $10 and you can download it immediately.

these are answers i can pass on. good luck... congrats on switching.

AssassyN · Apr 19, 2003, 11:57 PM

Congrats on diving into the realm of the LightSide!!!

First, to transfer your music, movies, Word docs, photos, etc. onto your Mac from your PC, there's 2 ways you can do it. First, make sure you have a LAN setup w/ your Mac and your PC connected. From there, there's an internal way the Mac can connect to your PC's hard drive & place it's hard drive on the Mac's desktop for drag & drop, however, I've tried this and found it extremely unstable, and it eventually rendered my 17" PB unbootable after multiple hard resets from this process locking my machine up, so I wouldn't recommend it. However, there's a fast, free workaround, and here's the details on how I did it, and it worked wonderful, and I'm sure it can for you as well (btw, this is a direct copy of a post I made in the Networking forum):

--"Switching to Mac and have tons of mp3s, Word docs, and other vital files that you really need on your Mac?

Well of course you can buy Move2Mac, or any other file transfer software/special cables, but of course no one wants to pay anything when it can be done easier. Well, there's a nifty option of "Connect to Server" on Macs in which you can mount your PC's hard drive on your Mac's desktop when both computers are on the same LAN and drag files onto your Mac, but this presents a huge problem at times. This feature is still very unstable a large majority of the time, and it was consistantly freeze up both machine in the process of transferring files, and as a Mac newbie I had no other clue what to do when I myself tried this but to keep restarting both machines and trying again. Well about 15 tries later a hard reset did more than make me ill, it screwed a boot sector on my 17" PBs hard drive, rendering the machine completely unbootable, even after running Disk Utility numerous times, and even trying to "Archive & Install". I was left with no option but to completely reformat & reinstall OS X, rendering all my previous setting up the machine work useless.

So after reinstalling, spending countless hours awake re-setting up everything and getting over my anger, I was still back to the drawing board presented with the same problem: I had 19.5gigs of mp3s on my PC that I really needed on my Mac, and no USB/FireWire External HD. So after racking my brain, I thought of something to try, and lo and behold it worked 98% seemlessly, was absolutely free, and never once caused my Mac any trouble! So what is this magical solution? Well, the thing you'd probably never think of, actually: Yahoo Messenger.

The latest versions of Yahoo Messenger for PC & Mac have something amazing built-in: when two users are logged on, and sending messages and files (the files is the key here) over the same LAN, it automatically defaults to sending those messages/files via the LAN rather than the internet. So this allows for speeds up to 100Mbps for File Transfers between the machines connected via Yahoo Messenger on the same LAN! So you log onto Y! Messenger on your PC using one username, and on your Mac using another messagename, message each other, request to send a file, make the Mac accept it, and BAM! Your file is instantly being transferred from the PC to the Mac at LAN speeds and it won't crash the machines like "Connect to Server" will! The only reason I said "98%" seemless above is that ONE single time out of 30 transfers my PC *ONLY* locked up and required a reboot, while the Mac just cancelled the transfer and awaited another one...BEAUTIFUL!!

However, the only limitation I've seen is that the files need to be under 900MB in size, as 900MB+ files will download but WON'T finalize and save onto the Mac's HD (I let it sit 6 hours hoping it would eventually save, but it won't, so just divide files up to chunks of 900MB and under). So I created about 25 or so .zip files using StuffIt for Windows with ~900MB of mp3s in each of them, and a couple hours later, I had all 19gigs of my music onto my Mac without crashing the Mac a single time!

So, in conclusion, Yahoo Messenger is the answer to all home networking transfers between PC's and Macs! Just have both machines on a LAN and Y! Messenger will send files at LAN speeds! WOOHOO!!

Hope this helps other switchers out, enjoy!

"--

As for transferring your email onto the Mac, here's how you can do it:

a.) Set up a POP3 account on my mail server and sent myself several e-mails, some with attachments some without.

b.) Set up Outlook Express in Windows XP to use that POP3 account and downloaded the mail.

c.) Copied the "Outlook Express" folder at "C

Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{string-of-numbers}\Microsoft" to my Mac.

d.) Used Emailchemy (program found here) to convert the mail to Apple Mail.app format (I used the Outlook Express Windows Wizard from the Wizards menu)

e.) Copied the resulting mailboxes to ~/Library/Mail/Mailboxes and re-launched Mail.app. (This step could be replaced by simply setting the output directory to ~/Library/Mail/Mailboxes instead of copying it there afterwards, I recommend doing this [close Mail.app first]).

Next, onto the keyboard shortcuts. I too grew very fond of the Alt+Tab key commands to make life easier, but OS X implements a very nice array of it's own easy to use & remember key commands just like the Alt+Tab feature on Windows, and a thorough list of those keyboard shortcuts/commands can be found here: Click HERE

And finally, Mac help sites:

OS X FAQ
Mac OS X Hints
Mac FixIt (good repairing-your-own-Mac help)
Excellerate Your Mac
MacCentral (greatest place for up-to-the-minute Mac news)
VersionTracker (WONDERFUL place for game patches, shareware, files, etc. for your Mac)
MacUpdate (same type of place as above link)
And of course these MacNN forums, and the forums over at
SpyMac

I hope that helps, and trust me, the 17" PB was the machine I switched on, and I'm hooked for life...it's the most amazing machine I've ever used. If you haven't read my review, please see it here: Click HERE

And if you have any further questions, feel free to post!

gator · 10:52 AM

Do I smell a Seminole in this forum? Go away! The Gators are going to beat you this year!

Anyways, welcome to MacNN and the Mac platform. I believe Assassyn covered most of the bases already, just a quick elaboration if you don't want to read through that link of 8 billion shortcuts, basically cmd(aka apple button)-Tab will switch Apps in order on the dock from whichever app you're currently in. Cmd-shift-Tab will cycle Apps in the reverse direction. Once you're in an app, for most apps cmd-tilde will cycle between windows within the application.

As for any other customizers, I think one of the most popular would be Launchbar:

http://obdev.at/products/launchbar/index.html

Basically, you hit cmd-space, a little search field comes up, and you type in the beginning of an app, file, or folder, and it's adaptive searching algorithm will quickly find a list that matches your search entry. It's a really nifty program, and at $20 not too bad a price.

There's all sorts of other customizers, such as dock replacements or add-ons, virtual desktop type apps, and other things. Seeing as you're a college student, in case you have some movies on your computer, use either VLC or Mplayer (search for them at Versiontracker) to play most of them.

As soon as you get your PB, be sure to add either (or both) of the following browsers to your Apps:

Camino, http://www.mozilla.org/projects/camino

Safari beta 2
http://www.apple.com/safari

They are infintely better than IE for most web browsing, and have better interfaces.

Big purchase there, so congrats and feel free to ask any more questions, we're always happy to help.

Edit: Oh yeah, one more link on the Mac News stuff, MacMinute is also an excellent resource for new release info and general Mac-related news.

Second Edit: Below post had the correct info on switching apps, so I updated to reflect it... me brain is dead right now

cambro · Apr 20, 2003, 10:09 AM

Regarding switching applications...

The above poster got it right, I think, but actually if you hold apple and push TAB (is this what you mean by T?), you will see open applications in the dock be highlighted sucessively as you push Tab. Releasing the Apple Key brings the selected App into the foreground.

It's a very, very nice feature because the application isn't switched until the app you need to go to is selected. So if you have like 20 apps open all at once you can get to the one you need without seeing them all. Also, if the dock is set to pop up (like mine is), it will do so on Apple-Tab.

Good luck...you may want to check this place out for more switching-related questions.

slffl · Apr 20, 2003, 10:11 AM

I use to use alt-tab all the time too. However, the mac feature is a little different. It basically just cycles through the open programs. Where as in windows it would reorder the programs from the last one used, so you could alt-tab between 2 programs very quickly. So far I havn't found a feature like this in mac yet.

ASIMO · Apr 20, 2003, 01:27 PM

Originally posted by slffl:
I use to use alt-tab all the time too. However, the mac feature is a little different. It basically just cycles through the open programs. Where as in windows it would reorder the programs from the last one used, so you could alt-tab between 2 programs very quickly. So far I havn't found a feature like this in mac yet.

As of 10.2, this feature became available (switching quickly between the last two apps used), though the Windows implementation is still a bit better since the items are displayed in the center of the screen, whereas they are on the dock in OS X. There exist lil' softwares that would do just that in OS X, but I am too lazy to find them for you. Typing is laborious as it is.

ymmit · Apr 20, 2003, 01:48 PM

for copying files over, just set your PC's network IP to a static IP address.

do the same on your mac: assign it a static IP. e.g. PC: 192.168.0.2 mac: 192.168.0.1

Once done, connect to server from mac:
smb://192.168.0.2

Enter workgroup, userid and password for PC, and you're in. copy away!

I'd recommend copying via ethernet cable rather than wireless. it's MUCH faster.

For mail, just use Mail's native import feature. i'm pretty confident it will work.

chrisutley · Apr 20, 2003, 01:56 PM

LiteSwitch X will let you switch programs just like you do in Windows, and even provides additional options. Very handy and it permits you do switch out of some things that wouldn't allow you to otherwise, like games that fill the screen and other odd stuff. https://www.proteron.com/

Somebody else already suggested LaunchBar, which I also use like crazy. It's the single greatest utility I've ever used on a Mac since 1987.

AssassyN · Apr 20, 2003, 08:18 PM

Originally posted by ymmit:
for copying files over, just set your PC's network IP to a static IP address.

do the same on your mac: assign it a static IP. e.g. PC: 192.168.0.2 mac: 192.168.0.1

Once done, connect to server from mac:
smb://192.168.0.2

Enter workgroup, userid and password for PC, and you're in. copy away!

Be extremely weary of this. I'd *highly recommend* using the Yahoo Messenger way instead, as the files are transferred at LAN speeds either way, and using the method described here, it consistently froze up my machines and rendered the machine unbootable after a while, so try it at your own risk.

chrisutley · Apr 20, 2003, 09:40 PM

OS X also has built-in FTP and HTTP servers which are installed by default. Very easy way to move stuff.

AND if you don't have enough choices already... You can get Remote Desktop Connection for free from Microsoft. This allows you to connect to your Windows box from your Mac and view the Windows desktop in a window. Just like PC Anywhere, but free and it works great. You can mount your Mac drive in Windows simply by checking the option before connecting. Go to My Computer and there is your Mac drive already mounted in Windows, where you can copy files to and from super easy.

I use RDC everyday since I have some Windows apps I need to run, and I can't stand using Virtual PC - too slow for my taste.

FSUSU · Apr 20, 2003, 10:02 PM

Wow... so you've given me tons of ideas and resources to take advantage of, but now I gotta wait for the PowerBook to arrive before I can start messing around! As far as setting up a LAN for my PC and Mac, what router/hub would you suggest? For the initial transferring of files, I'll probably want direct, wired connections to the hub... so I'd need it to support the cables for both the PC and PowerBook. In the future though, I'd want it to be able to support my desktop PC via a wired interface and the PowerBook wirelessly. Any suggestions? I've been looking at the NetGear M814 (http://www.netgear.com/products/details/MR814.asp?view=), but I'm totally open to advice anyone might have. Also, will setting up the LAN on the Mac end be pretty easy? I'm not sure what network settings would have to be configured on the Mac, if anything special.

On a completely different note, how long would you estimate it should take for my ADC Student Membership to be verified? I want to get my PowerBook order in as soon as possible, but I'd rather not deal with my order being cancelled and having to do it all over again. Thanks so much to everyone for your help, and I'm sure more questions will be on the way!

And yeah, gator, I wouldn't be surprised to see you guys kill us this year... but anything's possible...

AssassyN · 10:17 PM

Originally posted by FSUSU:
Wow... so you've given me tons of ideas and resources to take advantage of, but now I gotta wait for the PowerBook to arrive before I can start messing around! As far as setting up a LAN for my PC and Mac, what router/hub would you suggest? For the initial transferring of files, I'll probably want direct, wired connections to the hub... so I'd need it to support the cables for both the PC and PowerBook. In the future though, I'd want it to be able to support my desktop PC via a wired interface and the PowerBook wirelessly. Any suggestions? I've been looking at the NetGear M814 (http://www.netgear.com/products/details/MR814.asp?view=), but I'm totally open to advice anyone might have. Also, will setting up the LAN on the Mac end be pretty easy? I'm not sure what network settings would have to be configured on the Mac, if anything special.

On a completely different note, how long would you estimate it should take for my ADC Student Membership to be verified? I want to get my PowerBook order in as soon as possible, but I'd rather not deal with my order being cancelled and having to do it all over again. Thanks so much to everyone for your help, and I'm sure more questions will be on the way!

And yeah, gator, I wouldn't be surprised to see you guys kill us this year... but anything's possible...

Hehe, the waiting is the killer man!

But as for the router, I personally went w/ the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station w/o the modem because through my ADC Discount, it was only $149, so it made it within my price range, plus it adds to the whole Apple-scheme of my setup. But many users use that exact Netgear base you've shown and had no problems, so if you've already used up your ADC Discount, I'd say go for it. If not, I'd say get the AirPort Extreme Base Station as the included AirPort Admin software makes setting up your entire network (even w/ PC's, wired machines, etc.) a complete sinch. I was too worried about the difficulty of setting up my home network w/ my new Mac and my 2 wired PC's, but within 15 minutes my AirPort Extreme Base Station was sending internet signals to all 3 machines by using a single IP and routing the signals to all the machines, not even a hitch w/ my ISP. It was the simplest networking I've ever done, so don't fear it. Too, both the AirPort Extreme Base Station and that Netgear base you pointed out will support machines on the LAN both wired & wireless at the same time, just like mine is. BUT, for transferring massive amounts of data between the PC and the Mac, wired is the way to go as it offers MUCH faster transfers. The greatest thing is you can simply plug an ethernet cable into the Mac and into the router and it'll automatically sense it and revert to using the wire as it's faster. As soon as you unplug it, 2 seconds later it's back to using wireless, without touching a thing.

Also, about your ADC verification, after you've purchased the membership, don't wait for Apple to email you, go ahead and fax them your College Letter of Acceptance (original), your Driver's License, and a typed document that you do yourself w/ your full name, ADC Membership ID #, College Student ID #, mailing address, etc. That sheet will let Apple know exactly who you are and speed things up. You'll know you're verified by logging into your account at http://connect.apple.com and it'll have a date beside your Assests in which it was verified on that date. After sending in this fax, it took mine about 10 days to get verified.

Good luck, and feel free to post any further questions!

gator · Apr 21, 2003, 01:53 AM

On another note, while the MR814 should work just fine, you'd be limiting yourself to 802.11b speeds (11 Mbps)... I'd suggest getting a 802.11g router if you're getting an Airport Extreme card with your 17" PB, since you'd be able to take full advantage of the card that way. 802.11g routers are hovering around $120-$130 as far as I know, so if you can shell out an extra $80 (or $100 in the case of the Aiport Extreme base station; note I'm assuming that you'd get the MR814 at one of the places that sells it for $40-$50 after mail-in-rebate), that's something you want to consider.