A bunch of questions from a new MAC owner

Just got my new Macbook Pro 13 a few days ago, so far I love it but not used to the MAC OS so I have a few questions.

1. Is there a way to see the actual signal strength/transmission information for the Wifi connection other then the 4 little eclipses? Doesn't seem like I'm getting a full wireless-n signal but somewhere around wireless-g.

2. When I install a program or at least it has happened with AppCleaner and Firefox, it put an icon on the desktop, sort of like when I have a DVD in with the Eject, Get Info ... etc options, I managed to remove them by choosing the Eject option. Is this normal?

3. Do I really need a virus scanner, I've seen a 50/50 split on yes and no.

4. Any sort of optimizations I should do?

Thanks, that is it for now.

 

Congrats on your new baby and welcome to the Mac world. To see more info in regards to your wireless, hold down on the Option key and click your cursor on the wifi (eclipse) icon in the menu bar. The Option key will change a lot of the menus in the menu bar, you'll be surprised to see what more your Mac will offer to you. That white drive that appears on your desktop when you download new apps is meant to be ejected, however you must drag the application out of it and place it into the Applications folder before ejecting. It's a nice feature not found in Windows, the white drive allows you to run the application inside of the drive without installing first. If you decide you want it then drag it out of the drive and then eject the drive by dragging to the trash or hit Command+Delete after you highlight the icon.
I wouldn't waste the time with a Virus scanner, this isn't Windows.

 

I have to say, the ejecting trash can threw me for a loop, too, when I was first learning OS X.

OP, if you're coming from Windows, I can think of a small app that you might find convenient: Himmelbar. It basically puts a small icon in your menu bar that acts sort of like a Windows start button. I haven't used in a long while, but I remember finding it very handy for the first few weeks.

 

you mainly go by those bars on the top menubar.

You can however check what your actually connection data rate established at.
In Finder, go to Applications -> Utilities -> Network Utility
In that, you can select your Wireless card (Usually Airport (en1)), and see the Link Speed you are connected at. This wont tell your your signal strength, but it will tell you what was negotiated. If its a lot lower than it should be, you might have a weak signal.

A lot of applications will come in a .dmg file... which is a disk image file much like a .iso file. When you double click these files, it mounts them just like you inserted a disc. You can then use then, install the app out of them or whatever, then you can eject them in Finder, or on your desktop when you are done with them. Dragging a disk or disk image to the trash does an eject as well.

if you know how to use your computer, and be safe... no. If you want extra protections because you aren't a security expert... might be good to use something.

you can drag any folder you set up to the right side of the dock. Right click it and set it to open as a list... and that folder will work very much like a start menu.. you can fill it with subfolders and aliases.

 

Thanks for the info.

My Link Speed seems to be holding steady at 144Mbits/s shouldn't it be closer to 300?

 

This is the easiest, and best way IMO if you're wanting to retain some Windows feel. Dragging your Applications folder to create a stack is the next best thing to an actual start menu.

Also, learning to use Spotlight will save you time as well. Command-Space (or clicking on it int he upper right) will bring up the search box. In it you can search for anything on your Mac!

 

my 802.11n isn't having any problems going at 300 .... is your 802.11n on 2.4ghz or 5ghz? I've had more luck with better signals and faster speeds running it on 5ghz.

 

I get 300 if I switch to the 5Ghz signal, have a dual band router. Though 5ghz signal isnt as strong since it doesn't pass through walls. I guess I got to decide if I want distance or speed.

 

I just got my first Mac in 25 years last week, and the major thing that was holding me up was middle clicking. I was really struggling until I found a little app that lets you three-finger tap to middle click:
3-tap Middleclick on OSX for MacBook & Magic Mouse

Speaking of application stacks, will I run into any problems if I rearrange my applications folder into subfolders? I'm wanting to add individual stacks for different categories, but don't want the extra hassle of using aliases.

 

never needed a middle click, but thats interesting.

I don't think stacks works like that...

you can put Apps on the left side of the dock by themselves... or you can put folders or files on the right side of the dock by themselves. Stacks pretty much only work on folders, and you have different ways they are viewed when you see them.

I make sub folders of categories of Applications, then stick those folders as a stack... you can just move the apps to those folders if you want, or just add aliases to the folders.

I use aliases... you just right click on the app, hit create alias, name it what you want it named, then drag and drop it over on the folder.

EDIT: the reason I use aliases instead of moving the whole app, is so I can just use a short name and not have to have the whole app name seen... like instead of "Star Trek Online.app" in my games stack, i see "STO" with still the proper Icon.

 

This is true for Mac & PC. 802.11n channel bonding is only supported in 5GHz mode.