some macbook/os x questions

so my gf decided on the macbook...perfect timing too since tax free holiday is coming up. just a few questions before buying it

1) so is there still problems w/ them overheating or thats pretty much taken care of? by problem i mean it overheat to the extent where it shuts off. thought i read about that awhiles back.

2) do you get tax on the extended warranty? if so then we might just get that at the same time to avoid the tax, but if not, then its probably better off to wait for a bit before getting it.

3) anyone use OpenOffice for mac? need something free and OO is the only thing that comes to mind. and what this X11 i keep hearing about?

4) anything equivalent to winzip or winrar for os x?

 

First off, I never heard of Tax Free holiday, and I have no idea such a thing existed.

1.) Yeah, there seems to be less and less reports of Macbooks shutting down due to overheating, I've yet to see anything on this forum about it. One guy did mention here his got very hot up into the 90 C, but he exchanged it I believe.

2.) Yes the APP warranty is worth getting, and I'm assuming if you can get these other things tax free and whatnot, why not?. Are you planning on getting this at an Apple Store within your area?

3.) X11 is just a windows manager, has nothing to do with Office type things. I hear NeoOffice is apparently pretty nice as its a free alternative.

4.) Rar Expander works well for me, and very fast. However, i rarely use rars because of the lack of Mac related stuff online that uses the format.

 

maybe the tax free is only a georgia thing? <http://atlanta.about.com/cs/shopping/a/salestaxfree.htm>

yeah we are def. going to get the warranty. just wondering if you also get taxed on that b/c its not really an item. more like a service i guess so i just thought it wont be taxed. but anyone here that got it and got taxed on it?

yeah we are going to get it at an Apple Store since i dont know if i can still avail the tax free online. can you also get student discount w/ those warranty?

guess i'll take a look at NeoOffice. but for the X11, its something thats needed to run OpenOffice...alteast thats what it said on their website.

 

Yeah, far as I know I never heard of a Tax Free holiday here in Wisconsin.

Thats a smart idea getting the warranty, you'll be thankful for having it someday if something unfortunate happens. I doubt you'd get it tax free online, I don't think companies keep in touch with that kind of thing.

Yes, education discounts will apply for APP.

X11 is a windows manager, seeing how you stated OpenOffice is needs it to run, its probably because OpenOffice uses it to display it's Graphic User Interface information.

 

Stuffit Deluxe (or Stuffit Expander) is probably the closest equivalent to something like WinZip or WinRar. You might not need it though, OS X can zip and unzip and rar and unar, etc.

-Zadillo

 

No OS X doesn't have rar or unrar abilities. You need a third party application for that file format. However, I can't speak for the unix level, but the whole purpose of OS X is to not let users venture into that area.

 

X11 is a graphics subsystem used in Unix systems, such as Linux, Solaris and BSD (although there are implementations for Windows as well). OS X Acqua is not based on X11, so you need to install X11 if you plan to run applications that are based on it - such as OpenOffice. NeoOffice is a port of OpenOffice that uses Acqua instead of X11.

X11 is available from the Tiger Install DVD, it is not installed by default. One of its advantages is that it is network transparent; I can for example ssh into my Linux desktop and "forward" any application into my Macbook display (the application run in my linux machine, but it is displayed in the Macbook, kinda of like Apple Remote Desktop, but you can forward individual applications from different machines).

 

ok this X11 seems to be a little way over my head for now. maybe i will come back and ask more specific questions about it when i have had the chance to play around w/ it.

but thanks for the help w/ the other stuff.

im acutally kinda glad she decided to go w/ the macbooks. ive been wanting to dabble into the mac world for awhile but never really found a cheap ibook or powerbook just to play around w/. now i get that chance w/o having to spend money

 

Ahh, I guess so. I was thinking that BOMArchiveHelper (the Core Service introduced in 10.3 that allows OS X to handle a lot of compression and compression) included RAR and UNRAR, but I guess not: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOMArchiveHelper

Never mind...

Stuffit Expander at least still seems to handle some RAR files.

 

Just be happy Macs are 'cute' otherwise you'd probably wouldn't be here. So many girls I know say "omg they are are so cute!" I'm interested to see what the girls are gonna say when I head back to college in the fall.

 

ok finally got the macbook. ended up having to order it online instead of at the store b/c its $200 to up to 1Gig of ram vs only $90 online.

so now i have some more questions about it.

1) is there somewhere i can go that tells me all about the computer? like memory, HD, GPU. or maybe a program like everest for mac?

2) wifi. does it not tell you anything about the network you connect to? i noticed that it only tells you the name of the network and nothing else. i wanna know a little bit about like signal strength, secured or unsecured, and how fast you are connecting. also can you create "profiles" for the different network that you connect to (like school, home, etc)

3) i read about having different accounts. so is the admin account only to install programs and change settings? is there "program folders" for mac where all/most programs are installed?

4)dock. how to remove or add programs to the dock?

5) programs. what are the programs that came with the macbook that i can use to:
a)watch DVD
b)see my pictures (some sort of viewer only. dont want something like iTunes for songs)
c)open .pdf .txt and .doc files

6) is there some good site to learn about OS X. id like to be as comfortable and efficient at OS X as i am w/ windows.

 

1. Click the Apple and then click "About This Mac" and then click "More Info"
2. The little waves in the upper left, that's signal strength. Other than that there is a network section in the system prefs, but it does not tell you much.
3. For accounts I have 3. My every day account that is limited user, an admin account that I have for installing and changing setting, and another admin account that is never used, it is for diagnostic. In Macs alot of issues are account specific, so having a clean account helps narrow this down. For doing admin things like installing, you can do them in the limited account and just verify with the admin name and password when it asks. This way you don't have to log out log in. All programs can actually go anywhere, but put them in the Applications folder, you will need an Admin name and password for this.

4. To add a program find it in Finder under Applications and drag the icon to the dock. To remove, drag the icon from the dock to the desktop and it goes poof!

5.a. There is a built-in DVD player called I believe DVD player, that auto launches. Also, Front Row.
5.b. Preview
5.c. Preview although I am not sure it will open .doc files.

6. Any Mac forum is good. Especially, macnn.com and mac-forums.com. Also, take a look at macfixit.com. Best of all play around with OS X, you will find that it is easy to pick up.

 

2) You can create different profiles in the network prefs., they are called "locations" and are easily accessable through the Apple menu.
3) in fact, ideally you would do that under Windows (from 2000 and onwards) too. Problem is, a lot of software breaks down if you run them on a limited account on Windows, so few people do this. Also, even limited accounts have access to some places they shouldn't under Windows, so it is not as secure as in OS X.
4) Also, if you have a program that is already running, option-click (or right-click, or click with two fingers) and that will bring a context menu, choose keep in dock.

 

is there a way to look at pictures more efficiently in preview. say if i have a folder full of photos, i cant just click on one and use the left/right button to cycle to the other pics? i have to click on each one to look at it?

 

You can do the following: select all pictures (if all files in a folder are pics, then command-A will select all of them) and double click to open Preview. This way all the pics are acessible in a drawer under Preview.