Firefox on Macbook

Hi,

I just got a new macbook yesterday (on the last day of the university ipod deal!).

-I installed firefox last night and turned the computer on. This morning the program disappeared from my desktop. Why did this happen?

-What does "eject" on Finder do?

-Why is firefox not listed in the Applications folder?

I'm sorry if these are stupid questions. This is the first mac I've owned. I am planning to but Tiger "the Missing Manual" today. Is this book the most helpful guide?

Thanks,
-Francis

 

Its better to put applications in the dock than the desktop, that way it will for sure always be there.

Eject is when you have a CD/DVD or some image file loaded, and ejects it from the drive, this is the same for external drives.

You sure you properly installed firefox?

 

What you downloaded is a disk image. The extension is usually .dmg I believe, which is much like .iso with PCs. You know how you can rip a CD or a DVD to your computer and then burn it later, as many times as you want? What you rip is a disk image, and the universal extension on PCs is .iso, though different rippers also use their own extensions, like .nrg for Nero, for example.

Anyway, so you double-clicked the .dmg file and you got a popup with a FF icon, you clicked the icon, and that's how you ran FF. What actually happened is, when you double-clicked the .dmg file, you "mounted" the image (which is the same as "inserting" a CD), just like with PCs, there was an autorun that put up a popup and.... then, unlike a PC, you were allowed to run the program without actually installing it. So, since you didn't install the program, it's not there any more!

So, to install: double-click the .dmg file to mount it. (All images get unmounted when you restart. To unmount manually, you drag the icon to the trash bin, which then turns into an eject button, and release.) When you get the popup, instead of just double-clicking the FF icon, DRAG it the Applications folder. That will install it, and you can then delete the image after you unmount it.

The procedure is the same for installing just about anything. Once it's installed, it's a good idea to put it in the dock for easy access, which you can do by just dragging the icon there, I believe. (I used a Mac for a couple of months before, but I'm back on my good ol' PC now, so some of the details may be a little bit off =)

Malia

 

Thank you both! That was very helpful instructions/advice.