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Jbroad572 · Aug 19, 2003, 12:42 PM

Well I have been with Windows for 10 years and have bought a 17" PB for college. I just wanted to know is there a way to change the colors of the windows in OSX, where is my word processor software is it better than Works? I have IE, Safari, and downloaded Camino. What is the better browser for Mac? Also, any other helpful tips or FYI's you can share with me please do. Thanks.

hunkhuang · Aug 19, 2003, 12:52 PM

Safari is the best and the fastest Browser so far yet, it still needs improvement. Some of the Java scripts couldn't read in Safari where else, I.E. supports lot.

But i still love Safari because it looks nice !!

zachs · Aug 19, 2003, 01:04 PM

Originally posted by Jbroad572:
Well I have been with Windows for 10 years and have bought a 17" PB for college. I just wanted to know is there a way to change the colors of the windows in OSX, where is my word processor software is it better than Works? I have IE, Safari, and downloaded Camino. What is the better browser for Mac? Also, any other helpful tips or FYI's you can share with me please do. Thanks.

1. There are two ways to change the colors of your windows. First, you can have a "Graphite"
look (similar to Windows XP's Silver look). To do this, open up System Preferences (in the Dock), and go to the General preference pane. There you can change various settings - including switching between the default Aqua look and the Graphite ("Silver") look.

Also, you can download & install themes. Download ThemeChanger, and head over to the GUI Customization forum for a ton of great themes.

2. On your 17" PowerBook, there should be a Microsoft Office X "Test Drive" in your Applications folder. Microsoft just announced new pricing for Office X, so check out the full version.

3. I personally use Safari, but I also have Camino. Both are fast (faster than IE), and Camino has a few more options. I'd give OmniWeb a try, too.

IE is probably the worst browser for Mac - not because of its compatibility, but because it's slow and crashes often.

As for other tips...

Use VersionTracker or MacUpdate to get the latest software updates.
Check out Sherlock - very useful channels, such as Movie showtimes, yellow pages, flight info, etc.
iTunes is excellent for managing your MP3s if you've got a lot of 'em.

And have fun!

Ratm · 02:42 PM

Welcome!

For divx files get the official Divx Pro code (the free version doesn't have the best playback quality, let the 15-day trial expire but you'll continue to have high quality divx playback with the decoder )

ResExcellence.com for inspiration
For all of your icon using needs
Desktop images (if you can donate please do, he/she is one of the best designers on the net)

I love this site
http://www.macosxhints.com/index.php
and this one
http://macfixit.com/

and the mother of all info sites on Mac news
http://www.macsurfer.com

lookmark · 04:46 PM

When you ask about color of windows, do you mean background color of windows, or the window widgets and window borders?

For the first, check out View Options (command-J) in icon view in the Finder.

For the second, there's Graphite in Sys Pref > Appearance (Apple-supported) and themes. Be aware though, themes are unsupported by Apple in OS X, so be careful. Backup your important files.

Safari, Camino, and Omniweb are the best browsers, hands down.

WP is a bit paltry on the Mac right now. Between AppleWorks (all-in-one but mediocre) and Word (full-featured but expensive) there's not so much that's .doc-compatible and inexpensively priced. Some like Mellel, others Nisus Writer. Personally, I find that the Apple-included TextEdit is surprisingly robust (make sure you turn on the ruler); it saves as RTF (readable by Word) and with a few free Services (esp. WordService) it does everything I need for writing. With Panther's addition of basic .doc functionality and styles, this will be even more true.

Enjoy the new Powerbook, and welcome!

p.s. This is also a great article highlighting Mac differences for switchers.

zachs · Aug 19, 2003, 06:51 PM

When Panther comes out, TextEdit will be able to read & write Word docs...so I'll just be using that full-time. It's free, comes with the OS, and is pretty full-featured (except numbered lists and tables...).

clarkgoble · Aug 19, 2003, 06:56 PM

I think it is generally expect that Appleworks will be coming out with a new kick-ass version by December.

cpac · Aug 19, 2003, 07:50 PM

Originally posted by zachs:
When Panther comes out, TextEdit will be able to read & write Word docs...so I'll just be using that full-time. It's free, comes with the OS, and is pretty full-featured (except numbered lists and tables...).

and except for footnotes and headers and footers and..........

(just not suitable for paper-writing)

MacNStein · Aug 19, 2003, 08:31 PM

Originally posted by cpac:
and except for footnotes and headers and footers and..........

(just not suitable for paper-writing)

So right. It's just not a true word processing app.

Personally, I prefer InDesign. It's extremely robust with incredible layout functionality. I write, as in published papers and books, and it's the best I've used so far. You'll wow the hell out of your professors with some of the kick-ass things you can do with it. The problem is, it's fairly pricey (about $700) but with their Edu program it's fairly reasonable ($199).

You can try it out for free for 30 days.

http://www.adobe.com/products/tryado...tml#product=31

Macpilot · Aug 19, 2003, 09:26 PM

Originally posted by zachs:
1

IE is probably the worst browser for Mac - not because of its compatibility, but because it's slow and crashes often.
)

Well, it may be the "worst" browser, but it is far more compatible than Safari or any Netscape browser. It is the only browser that allows me full functionality on my company site and many other sites that don't even work with Safari. There are several banking sites that won't work with Safari. Hell, ESPN is crap on Safari.

Apple has a way to go with Safari so people can use it without worrying "is X site going to work with Safari?"

The tabs and speed are great on Safari, but until they solve these issues, I must keep IE around.

In my experience, Safari has crashed more than IE. Camino has been the most stable.

RayX · Aug 19, 2003, 09:50 PM

Web browser suggestion:

Mozilla 1.4

Runs fine on any recent Mac.

Renders pages fast, has the most features, and is not 'cut down' like Camino and the like which use the Gecko rendering engine from Mozilla.

Personally I think Safari renders complex pages slower than Mozilla, and still has quite a few compatability problems with various sites that Mozilla has no problems with. I think you'll find a lot of sites that only work with IE, and not Safari and others, will work with Mozilla.

I've suggested Mozilla, so someone will post an "ew the icons looks ugly" post next.

I'll beat them to it by saying if you use the Pinstripe theme someone created, it's fine.

As you can see, very Aqua like:

The Mail application included with Mozilla is also half decent, if you've got something against OS X's Mail.app.

Spheric Harlot · Aug 19, 2003, 10:05 PM

Originally posted by Ratm:
Welcome!

For divx files get the official Divx Pro code (the free version doesn't have the best playback quality, let the 15-day trial expire but you'll continue to have high quality divx playback with the decoder )

Why not just use VLC or (personal preference) MPlayer OS X?

Both can be found on http://www.macupdate.com - which I prefer over the justly maligned bloated advertising pig that is versiontracker.

-s*

hunkhuang · Aug 20, 2003, 02:00 AM

well, i still keep my I.E. around because there are some pages that Safari doesn't read but i believe it will be the best browser in future.

"Camino , OmniWeb and Safari ARE the best" . I rather use Safari instead of downloading the other browsers... wasting the disk space ! hehehe....

suthercd · Aug 20, 2003, 04:44 AM

Safari has proven to be an excellent browser. I use Camino for a few sites where the java sandbox implementation does not work consistently in Safari. Omniweb has stunning graphics. I haven't tested their latest version 4.5, but reports have been positive.

The default word processing app is TextEdit. Tex_Edit is a powerful shareware word processing app. Look on Versiontracker.com for word processing apps. There are dozens.

The de facto text app is BBEdit. By far the most powerful and has many built-in capabilities for editing and viewing prohramming languages. There is a demo available, this is commercial software.

HTH
Craig

gorgonzola · Aug 20, 2003, 02:41 PM

IE is probably the worst browser for Mac - not because of its compatibility, but because it's slow and crashes often.

That and it's no longer under development, so you'll never get any new features or improvements of any kind. I'd recommend trying out Safari, Camino, Mozilla, and OmniWeb. I don't like all of them that much, but you might as well try out all the big ones to see which one you like best. Keep IE around, but no point using a dead browser.

As for whoever suggested InDesign, I think it's probably massive overkill for about 99.9% of people who write papers...I mean, I'm quite sure even if Word or something doesn't do what you need, TeX will offer as much control as InDesign, and given the $700 price tag (or even $200), I think it might be worth learning the few commands you need to adjust page layout. (Since TeX, of course, is free.) But you're the professional

I could be wrong.

In any case ... other helpful tips...hmmmm...oh yes. Get LaunchBar immediately. Best $20 you'll ever spend. Check out Adium and Proteus, take a look at NetNewsWire Lite, play around with iTunes, poke around at MacUpdate for neat new apps, play around with the DevTools if that's your kind of thing, check out Fink if Unix is your cup of tea, browse Mac OS X Hints for tons of great tips and howtos...I guess that's about it. Just enjoy the machine.

and welcome.