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BRMUG Meeting Notes July 2008 - FAQ -- Frequently Asked Questions How does the new iPhone 3G compare to the original iPhone? 3G network better than old edge GPS assist improves positioning Lower initial price ($199 8GB, $299 16GB) New one is "rounder." It feels better in your hand Battery life is currently a "problem" What is the App Store? The App Store is a part of the iTunes Store. It provides access to applications for iPod Touch, iPhone, iPhone 3G (currently over 250 applications). Many of these are free. What is MobileMe? What happened to .Mac? Basically, MobileMe is the replacement for .Mac. Even though it is new and having a few startup issues, MobileMe has lots of promise. MobileMe has 20 GB (40 GB for family) by default. Along with pretty much everything .Mac had, MobileMe really brings synchronization to the point a Mac user would expect. New items sync'd from a computer get automatically pushed to iPhones. (this might make syncing between a MacBook Air and another Mac a lot more feasible). It also provides a web frontend for mail, addressbook, calendar and gallery (photos) How do I share my screen (iChat)? This makes a great way to help someone with their Mac remotely. It is also a way to do remote collaboration on a document. Start chatting with someone in iChat (both folks need ot be using iChat). Click on the person you wish to share with and then click the buttom at the bottom of the list that looks like 2 screens. Presto. MacFixit Tutorial Where can I find some tutorials about using Mac OS X? Apple's Basic Mac OS X Tutorials Apple's Quick Tips OS X Help Where can I go for help? Macintouch special reports and reviews are good sources of info Mac OS X Hints - great site packed with tips and solutions to problems OS X Help OS X FAQ OS X Daily Virtualization?? Parallels? VMware?? What is it? What can I do with it?? Pros/cons? Wikipedia's take Parallels vs VMWare Fusion vs Crossover vs BootCamp Parallels Web Site Apple's Boot Camp VMWare Fusion Isaac - BootCamp has the drawback that it requires a reboot to change between OSes. Parallels seems to be the defacto answer for most folks. It provides the ability to run Windows with its applications side by side with Mac OS X and copy and paste between them. What software do I need? Where do I get it? BRMUG's suggestions Places to get software Mac Update Version Tracker Open Source Mac Why is my machine so slow? Why does the beachball think it owns my machine? The business answer is: You probably need more memory. Just buy some (Deal Ram). Maybe you need to quit some applications. THe more things you run, the more meory you utilize (try running Applications:Utilities:Activity Monitor -- then click on memory tab to see what applications are using all the memory) If you close the windows by clicking in the little box -- you are not closing the application. Over time this leaving all of these applications running can cause slowdowns Try disabling Dashboard (it can be a real memory hog) mac OS X Hints OS X Daily TechniPages Clean off your desktop (the more stuff on your desktop the more cpu needed to redraw the desktop under all of the windows) Stop and restart your browser. Most (all) browsers have significant memory leaks. Safari/FireFox should probably be restarted at least once a day. Clearing caches in browsers can make all the difference in the world Reboot once a month or so What are all these directories?? Applications, Library, System, Users - Documents, Pictures, Movies, etc. OS X Daily's explanation How do I get access to something when I used to right click on my pc? <ctrl> click is the same as right click Take a look at Help on your Mac and search for keyboard shortcuts Apple's Info What does that funny looking key do near the space bar? (Clover Leaf, CTRL, etc) Wikipedia's History of the Apple Command Key How do I navigate to the proper folder to save a document? (Home directory, etc) Apple's explanation Should I keep my computer sleeping or turn it off (over night or longer)? I tend to recommend sleep unless you will not use the computer for an extended period. I almost never shutdown/reboot my laptop. I think it is really what you are comfortable with. Here are some folks having that debate And some more How do I do screen capture: To capture the entire screen, press Command+Shift+3 To capture part of a screen, press Command+Shift+4 How do I reset the PRAM (battery backed up Parameter RAM)? Reboot your computer. As it reboots, hold down Command, Option, P and R. The PRAM stores date, time, video settings and some of the preferences. When you reset PRAM, you will have to reset the date and time. There are a few other preferences you will have to reset. If you are having unusual problems or weird video issues, try resetting PRAM. What keyboard shortcuts exist? A very complete list Apple's answer Dan Rodney's list At the Help Menu, search for shortcuts and follow the hits (great if the Internet is not avaialble) Where can I find out about good prices? The best deals? Deal Mac - deals on Mac related items Deal News - all kinds of deals Deal Ram - memory and flash ram (SD, compact flash, ...) Deal Ink - inkjet cartridges and toner cartridges Slickdeals - a few user reported deals each day Deals on the Web I am always accidentally hitting the "caps lock" key. How can I disable it? The answer is relatively easy. Go to System Preferences; select Keyboard & Mouse; Select Keyboard tab; click on Modifier Keys; set "caps lock" to "No Action" What's next? You tell us?