[SwitcherX]

So, has anyone updated their OS yet?

I did a couploe fo days ago.  Putting it thru its paces.

[gonZo]

Yes, I have updizzled my syzzle. Nothing terribly flashy about Mountain Lion, but it adds some nice features and seems more smooth and solid than Lion.

[SwitcherX]

Yeah, it's pretty much a polished Lion.  They took some stuff and added some stuff but nothing major.

[Palomine]

I don't intend to glorify the trivial, nor state the obvious, but there's actually something sublime about the trackpad mouseclick on a six-year-old MacBookPro.

No doubt, Apple spent countless $ determining the precise quantity and quality of tactile feedback, etc... and undeniably, it was money well spent. Normally, I prefer and opt for the 'click sensitive' trackpad, but in this case, I choose to use the button, just because of how it feels.

[TheZookie007]

Picking up one of these soon. Replacing the HDD with a 1 TB SSD. Bumping up the RAM to 16 GB if I can get away with it. This baby is gonna be a screamer.

Next Mac purchase: one of these.

[TheZookie007]

Got my refurbished 13-inch MBP off of eBay. Reset the password of the already-existing account on it this way. Then wiped and repartitioned the hard disk and re-installed OS X Mountain Lion this way. Then set up my account on the now-good-as-new machine this way. Finally, I'm going to follow the steps here to make my clean machine whistle.

Now all I have to do is buy a keyboard skin, and a screen protector, and prep a bootable USB drive just in case I ever need it, and maybe pick up a snazzy laptop sleeve or two. Oh, and maybe Plasti-Dip it too (which is way cheaper than taking it to ColorWare).

Good times...good times.

[TheZookie007]

Digging through my stuff, I realize that I already have a spare keyboard skin, so I won't end up needing to buy one after all. Sweet. I got one of these leather pads for my other Mac, so I will probably get one for this one too.

I haven't upgraded to Yosemite yet, and shall try to put that off as long as I can in fact, since I think the new OS X is far too cartoony for my tastes. In case you want to switch back to an older, more professional--looking version of OS X, here's a few links that may help:


"How to downgrade from OS X Yosemite 10.10 to OS X Mavericks 10.9"
"How to downgrade from OS X Mavericks 10.9 to OS X Mountain Lion 10.8"
"How to downgrade from OS X Mavericks 10.9 to OS X Mountain Lion 10.8"
"How to downgrade from OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (or Mac OS X 10.7 Lion) to OS X Snow Leopard 10.7"

[TheZookie007]

Transitioning from Windows to the Mac and I miss the dedicated PageUp, PageDown, Home and End keys. So I'm always having to re-remind myself how to do those things on a Mac:

PageUp: hold down the Fn key and press the up arrow key

PageDn: hold down the Fn key and press the down arrow key; or press the spacebar

Home: hold down the Fn key and the Option key, and press the Up arrow key; or hold down the Command key and press the left arrow key

End: hold down the Fn key and the Option key, and press the Down arrow key; or hold down the Command key and press the right arrow key

Drives me crazy that the Mac couldn't just put those dedicated keys on the keyboard...

Also, on a Mac, the Delete key works the same way the Backspace key does on a Windows PC (i.e. it deletes the character to the left of the cursor). If you want to do a delete on a Mac the same way the Del key does on a Windows PC (i.e. delete the character to the right of the cursor), you have to hold down the Fn key and press the Delete key.

Finally, if you ever wanted to make a screenshot of the screen on a Mac, here's how:

WikiHow: "How to Take a Screenshot in Mac OS X"

 

[Palomine]

The Mac screencap method using the command-shift-3 and -4 keys has worked the exact same way since early 1984 (Day One of Macintosh)... I've mentioned it quite a few times, including in our thread about making screen caps in different OSes in the Computer Help forum.

Also, re: keyboards (another subject I've posted on extensively and I use them SO much and for SO long that I've had time to think about them in obsessive detail )... you do know that you can pretty much use any modern PC keyboard on a Mac, right? And visa-versa? And either kind will run on a PC and be recognized/work properly, including the actual/dedicated pg up/down/home/end/nav keys, by most major distros of Linux, right? There are some m1nor layout differences (Windows key vs Apple/command key, etc...) but they're easy enough to get used to fairly quickly. Really old PC keyboards (having PS2 connectors or the even-older ones with the big DIN connector) will usually not work on a Mac, even with the port adapters, though there are ways to get around this ...worth it IMO only for a nice IBM Model M keyboard for example).

You're probably using a "short" version of a keyboard where they squeeze some keys that would be separate into/onto other keys to save space, as is common with laptops (in fact, lots of low-profile desktop keyboards use the the same mechanicals that they do in laptop keyboards ...from various PC makers, including Apple). If I'm using a keyboard that has no actual/stand-alone numeric keypad, then I accept that it doesn't have those dedicated keys. So, if certain keys are AWOL on certain keyboards, that's just how they are (and a good reason to get a replacement keyboard if you feel that you need the missing keys). I dunno which Apple keyboard you're using atm (probably a 'short' one w/o a numeric keypad or the standalone navigation keys you miss) but I've got one from a Mac Mini... it's that really flat silver one with white keys (the keyboard body is actually made of aluminum, it's not silver-colored plastic) that you see on a zillion Macs since at least '05 or '06 (Model #A1243).

It's an Apple keyboard and it HAS dedicated Page Up, Page Down, Home and End keys right above the cursor arrow keys (pic attached), so the lack of those discreet keys is NOT a trait of Macs. I'm sure you can find an A1243 keyboard (or one like it) for about $25 on eBay, given how used keyboards depreciate even faster than system units. If $ is really tight, any old full-size PC keyboard that you fish out of a recycling bin will work too.

apple-a1243-keyboard-ogrady

[gonZo]

I always preferred Mac keyboards with the big Enter key in the lower-right corner, because I could let go of the mouse and blindly smack that thing to OK dialogs and stuff.

Pal says: yah, I love the double-height Enter key too for the exact same reason, but that's rare these days in OEM keyboards. I'm sure some curent aftermarket keyboards can still be found with that though. The original (and much-loved) IBM Model M (on the PC and XT, and still available from Unicomp) did not have the big Enter key, but the later keyboard for the IBM AT did. Having the top-right backspace/delete key be a bit bigger than a regular keycap is also handy (IMO).

Of course, there are guys who HATE the oversized Enter key too: http://everything2.com/title/Keyboards+with+a+big+L-shaped+%2522enter%2522+covering+the+place+Pipe+usually+is and http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/260982-why-do-keyboard-makers-do-this but my impression is that they're mostly programming/scripting types who use the Pipe (|) key, which often gets relocated when the Enter key is enbiggened since it's often located just above the Enter key.

[TheZookie007]

You're probably using a "short" version of a keyboard where they squeeze some keys that would be separate into/onto other keys to save space, as is common with laptops (in fact, lots of low-profile desktop keyboards use the the same mechanicals that they do in laptop keyboards ...from various PC makers, including Apple).

Yeah, I'm using the keyboard on the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

[Palomine]

Yeah, I'm using the keyboard on the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Very few laptops (if any) are going to have dedicated navigation keys. There are four in my possession atm: one Dell, one HP, one Toshiba and an old Macbook Pro. NONE of those four has dedicated nav keys. The lack of them isn't a Mac thing, it's a small keyboard thing, as are usually used in most laptops.

[TheZookie007]

My 15-inch Samsung Series 5 laptop not only has dedicated navigation keys, it also has a full numeric keypad.

On the other hand, my 17-inch MacBook Pro doesn't have those dedicated nav keys.

(Kanye shrug)

Pal replies: yah, some select laptops have dedicated numeric keypads, and they'll usually have the nav keys overlaid on that. But as with any keyboard having at attached/integrated numpad, it offsets the main part of the keyboard to the left by a couple/three inches or so. Not so much a big deal on a desktop, where you can simply move the keyboard to the right (relative to your monitor) but since the keyboard/display relationship is fixed on a laptop, also potentially a PITA.

[gonZo]

If your 17-inch MBP has an open USB port, this beauty Pal mentioned can be yours from the Apple store for 49 bucks.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB110LL/B/apple-keyboard-with-numeric-keypad-english-usa?fnode=56

[TheZookie007]

Yup, that's a nice-looking keyboard. Will wait until I can get it on clearance though since I am an avowed cheapster

Just came across this collection of hints and tips for newbie Mac owners:

reddit: "Apple Tips"