[techwriter]

Here is a message I received from a friend of mine. His questions are about OS X but I have no answer for him as I still predominantly use OS 9. I'm hoping you guys can offer some help to his questions. You can tell he's a frustrated guy by his language (which I cleaned up for ya).


Here are some things that I cannot figure out how to do on OSX, its just pretty much impossible. These things can also be figured out quite simply on a PC but for some reason cannot on a mac. drives me nutz.

-Use an internet image as my wallpaper

-Have a shortcut key on the keyboard to open up a new webpage from IE (for windows its ctrl+O, for mac I HAVE NO F****** CLUE)

-Make a copy of a cd. I didn't find anything in Itunes to accomplish this

-How to save a movie from the net onto the hard drive (with pc you right click and save as)

-How to change the location to where the files are stored when you download a file from the net (they all auto to the desktop)

-How to get back the hard drive icon onto the desktop (on one of my machines it just dissapeared!)

-There is no "run" command on the mac from the desktop. For example, I want to show a customer the specs of the machine using the system configuration program (Its in the drive under utilities i believe) but I cant, becuase the hard drive icon is gone. So I try and click on the apple logo, goto "about" but the button is missing from that as well??? WHAT THE?

-HOW TO DELETE A F****** FILE ON THE DESKTOP WITHOUT DRAGGING IT, it makes me really f****** wonder what the hell the "delete" key on the keyboard is really for, as it really does not work. I tried pairing it with the clover, and controll, and shift, and nothing. Why can't I just click the file and hit delete.

Haha, cmon help me out here guys. Thanks.

[MrNo]

LOL typical PC user questions

- open new web page > apple + n
- save a movie > control + click
- change locations of where the files are saved is located in the preferances of the browser he is using
- get the hard drive icon back go to Finder > Preferences and check the items you want to show on the desktop
- delete a file > apple + delete
- if you want to use internet picture as a wallpaper download it to the folder and then right click on the desktop (control click) chouse change desktop background click on collection and then chouse folder

[techwriter]

Thanks alot. I appreciate the help.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by MrNo:
- save a movie > control + click

Sometimes, this requires QuickTime Pro.

- change locations of where the files are saved is located in the preferances of the browser he is using

Not quite. If the browser follows the rules, it should honor the download location in the system prefs. Go to System Preferences, click Internet, click the Web tab.

Also:

-There is no "run" command on the mac from the desktop. For example, I want to show a customer the specs of the machine using the system configuration program (Its in the drive under utilities i believe) but I cant, becuase the hard drive icon is gone. So I try and click on the apple logo, goto "about" but the button is missing from that as well??? WHAT THE?

If you have the Finder set not to display the hard disk on the desktop, you can still get to your hard disk by typing Command (Apple) - N in the Finder.

[Xeo]

Wow, that was the simplest set of questions I've seen on this board in a long time. Seems he's very angry at the fact that all the commands aren't the exact same on Windows.

[zewm]

His aggression was totally uncalled for. As a PC user that has never used OSX (save for comp usa OFFLINE for 10 minutes), I could have
figured those out. He just didn't take the time to go through all
the menus and config options. I apologize for yet ANOTHER ignorant PC user. Geez, I can't wait to afford a mac Very Soon I hope.

edit: As for keyboard shortcuts, aren't they mostly shown next to
the corresponding menu items ?

[Gavin]

The missing disk on the desktop is interesting. I find a lot of mac novices don't notice the finder icon in the dock.

Even after you show it to them they just can't get the hang of it.

Talk about breaking the desktop metaphor; a schizophrenic face that leads you to your letter to gramma.

Nobody has trouble with the email or text edit icons.

Anyway, this guy needs to shell out $9.50 for a 2 button mouse. The last thing we need is some highschool boy going around telling people he can download porn easier on a PC!

[chris v]

Email your friend this link:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459

It contains most of the common system keyboard shortcuts.

Edit: The most glaringly obvious absence from that list is "Hold down 'option' at startup to boot into open firmware."

CV

[Diggory Laycock]

Originally posted by chris v:

Edit: The most glaringly obvious absence from that list is "Hold down 'option' at startup to boot into open firmware."

CV

Option put you in the "choose boot volume" screen. Option -of puts you into Open Firmware - not that people who don't know how to make a new window in Safari should be doing that

[SupahCoolX]

Originally posted by zewm:
edit: As for keyboard shortcuts, aren't they mostly shown next to
the corresponding menu items ?

Yes, just like Windows.
And tell him to use a browser other than Internet Explorer to greatly improve his web experience. www.apple.com/safari or www.mozilla.org/projects/camino/

[chris v]

Originally posted by Diggory Laycock:
Option put you in the "choose boot volume" screen. Option -of puts you into Open Firmware - not that people who don't know how to make a new window in Safari should be doing that

I stand corrected. I was having a "pre-coffee" moment. Those are both missing form the list. Sure would be nice if Apple could issue a COMPLETE list, with all the arrow key functions, and what not, like select a file or files, hit command+down arrow to open. There's a ton more.

CV