Over the last two weeks I have been overwhelmed by queries on how to perform simple tasks on a MacBook. It’s obvious many took advantage of the student discount. The decision to buy a Mac is going to change your digital life forever.
Here are tips to make things easier. First, change your operating system to Snow Leopard. The current version is OS X 10.6.2. Go to any Apple Premium Reseller and get the DVD for Rs 1,800.
Installation is easy. It takes barely 25
minutes and all your programs and files are intact. Also, many people will advise you to partition your MacBook and load Windows 7. Take my word for it: you do not need it. All the software is available for a Mac.
The current entry-level white MacBook, which has a maximum retail price of Rs 56,900, is worth every paise. If you buy from an Apple Premium Reseller (the shops are called Imagine whether you are in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai or Calcutta) you may get it at a lower price.
The configuration? It has 2GB memory, 250GB hard disk and an NVIDIA GeForce 9400 processor. It’s great for games.
The beauty of this new white MacBook is that it gives you a battery life of over seven hours. This means you can recharge it over 1,000 times, whereas other laptops allow only 300 charges. According to my calculations, the battery will last you five years. Not only that, the trackpad is also magical. Here’s how to use it:
One-finger click: The entire trackpad is the glass button, so you have lots of space to click
Right-click: Perform right-click functions by clicking a corner of your trackpad or by pressing two fingers anywhere
Scroll: Use two fingers to scroll up and down or across a page — perfect for long documents and large images
Pinch: Pinch to zoom in and out of photos, change font size on web pages, and more
Swipe: Swipe with three fingers to move forward and back in your web browser or move through your photos
Rotate: Rotate with two fingers to quickly make a photo or PDF horizontal or vertical.
Applications
Swipe down with four fingers to find open applications. Move four fingers to the top to see what is on your desktop. Move your fingers to the left or right to get the application switcher. Then with one finger choose the application you want.
Create PDFs easily
A PDF file is a great way to share documents with your friends and colleagues. In OS X all you have to do is open the print command and save them as .pdf documents. You will find this option in the lower left-hand corner. You can even choose to mail the PDF file or send it to the Web Receipts folder. You will find the web receipts under documents.
Dragging files
When you drag a file to a new location you expect it to be moved. However, if you press the Option key and drag, it will be copied. If you press Option+Command and drag it, an alias will be created. Aliases are created to make it easier to access a disk, application, file or folder. You can create an alias for it and place it in an easy-to-find location. For example, if you use Get Lyrical frequently, you can place an alias to it on your desktop instead of navigating to it each time you need it. When you double-click the alias, the original item opens.
To create an alias: Select the item and choose File > Make Alias. Select the item and press Command+L. You can create as many aliases as you need for a single item, and you can move the aliases to folders or to the desktop.
To create an alias and move it to a specific place: Press the Command and Option keys while you drag the item’s icon to another folder or to the desktop. Release the mouse button before releasing the Command and Option keys.
To find the original item for an alias: Select the alias, and choose File > Show Original or press Command+R. The items you see in the Finder window sidebar are aliases. For example, the Documents folder icon in the sidebar is an alias for the Documents folder located inside your home folder. When you click an item in the sidebar, the original opens. When you drag an item to the Places section of the sidebar, an alias to the item is automatically created and added to the list.
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