[codex57]

New Mac convert from PC/Windows. iMac intel core duo 20". I'm trying to learn how to use this operative system. Most of it's easy enough to figure out, but there's some stuff (like shortcuts) I can't quite figure out.

For example, if I wanna highlight all text somewhere, on a PC, I'd hit ctrl+a and it'd do it. How do I do it on a Mac?

Or, how come the "home" and "end" button on my keyboard don't do anything?

TIA

[Detrius]

As far as keyboard shortcuts are concerned, look in your menus. "Select All" is in the edit menu. On the right side of the menu is the keyboard command used to activate the menu item. The cloverleaf looking thing and the arrow should be obvious. The thing that looks like the front of a boat is the option key (alt), and if you ever see ^, that refers to the ctrl key.

A lot of these can be customized in the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane.


BTW, home and end do actually do something on my computer... You may just have issues with where the current focus is. Home and end don't work like page up and page down. They bring you to either the beginning or the end of the current view. As I type this, the keys do nothing, because the current view is this small text edit field. If I click out of the field, they take me to the top or bottom of the page. Yes, things are different on the Mac. Despite the fact that you aren't used to it yet, they will all make sense at some point.

[- - e r i k - -]

Home and end works fine here. In the web browser at least.

Replace most shortcuts from ctrl to ⌘ and you'll be fine. Better even, seeing how the ⌘-key is more ergonomically placed.

[Chuckit]

If you look in the menus, it tells the shortcut beside the command name. It uses kind of a shorthand to represent the keys. Here's a quick guide to what the symbols mean:

⌘ — the command key (also called the apple key)
⌥ — option
⇧ — shift
^ — control

So for example, beside Select All in the Edit menu, it says "⌘A", which means the keyboard shortcut is command-A. Likewise, the View Source command in Safari's View menu says "⌥⌘U", which means that shortcut is command-option-U.

And yeah, home and end go to the beginning and end of a document. If you want to go to the beginning or end of a line, that's apple-(right arrow) and apple-(left arrow). OS X actually has a pretty rich set of key commands for text editing. More than most people know.

[jbleisure]

When I switched 12 months ago I bought a copy of Pogue's 'The missing manual' ISBN 0-596-00615-2 That's the Panther edition, so you'll need the Tiger version obviously.

I found it very helpful as a new Mac user. Just lots of tips, shortcuts and highlights what you can do with OSX.

[TheIceMan]

Yes, "The Missing Manual" is your friend.

[eevyl]

There is something amazing up in the screen of every Mac OS X out there, it's called "Help" menu.

And, amazingly, in the case of new users, it (drums rolling) helps!

I suggest using the "Mac help" from the Help menu in the Finder.

[Big Mac]

The Number 1 Sign I have been working on a PC too often: Reaching to use the control key for keyboard shortcuts when I come back to my Mac instead of the command key - I start to do that after a startlingly short period of time on a PC.

[msuper69]

Two excellent newbie tutorials from Apple:

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/

[codex57]

OOooh, thanks a bunch guys! That helped a ton. Especially that explantion of what those characters mean. I couldn't figure otu what ^ was. I think my home and end buttons are busted or something. They don't work in the web browsers. Like if I try to use it when typing out this message, they don't do anything. On my PC, they go to the beginning or end of the text line I'm in.

I tried using the help built into the computer, but it was either not detailed enough or not dumbed down enough.

[cla]

Originally Posted by codex57

I tried using the help built into the computer, but it was either not detailed enough or not dumbed down enough.

Don't worry. You're a user, and a user can never be "dumb".
There's no way a person would associate ^ with the key labeled "ctrl" without prior knowledge.

Similarly, there's no way a sane person would associate a crossed-by-two-lines arrow pointing at your belly with "scroll down a page".

:>

[Angelo78]

Another vote for "The Missing Manual" series. I bought the Panther edition when I first received my Mac. It really help to figure certain things out. I still look back to it and see of there are different ways to do things. It's an easy book to read and follow. It's writing as if someone is talking to you, not like the typical users manual.

Angelo