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Posted by JHromadka on 03-03-2001 07:13 PM:

Ok, I got one of the new PowerBook G4's (very nice!) and have been slowly getting the hang of things. I can sync with my VPR and Outlook Express, but I still haven't figured out how to import my old IE favorites into IE Mac. On my PC I exported them to an htm file and emailed it to me, then saved it on the Mac. For some reason, IE Mac has Import Favorites greyed out (disabled). I was able to import it into Netscape 4.7 Mac though.

Where can I find info on networking a Mac with PCs? I have a Win2K box and a 98 box sharing using NetBIOS and want to be able to access their files using my Mac. I don't care if it doesn't work the other way.

Any suggestions?

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Old Friend

Posted by lennonhead on 03-03-2001 08:20 PM:

Congratulations! Oh how I envy you now .

There are a few programs that allow you to share files between a Mac and PC. I haven't tried to do this so someone else can elaborate on which is the best solution.

1) A program called Dave lets you share files (and I believe convert them) between the two environments.

2) Virtual PC is a Windows emulator that runs on the Mac. You could network it with your PCs and copy files to your Mac. You would get the added advantage of being able to use PC programs on your Mac this way, but Dave might be easier for file sharing only.

3) You could set up cross platform server/client software (ie Hotline or some type of FTP software) to work over just your network. Set it up on one of the PC's as a server and run the client on your Mac. You could make your entire PC's Hard Drive accessible so all you need to do is navigate from within the client and select the file to transfer. This option is the least expensive (free), but you wouldn't be able to convert files (Dave) or run PC programs (VPC).

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Posted by Vertigo on 03-05-2001 02:21 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by lennonhead
Congratulations! Oh how I envy you now .

There are a few programs that allow you to share files between a Mac and PC. I haven't tried to do this so someone else can elaborate on which is the best solution.

1) A program called Dave lets you share files (and I believe convert them) between the two environments.

That is definetly the best solution hands down. Another is called 'PC Mac Lan' which is used on the Windows side (where DAVE is used on the Mac side).

quote:

2) Virtual PC is a Windows emulator that runs on the Mac. You could network it with your PCs and copy files to your Mac. You would get the added advantage of being able to use PC programs on your Mac this way, but Dave might be easier for file sharing only.

Way too much work (and money) for just file sharing. Have to boot up VirtualPC every time you would want to share files.

quote:

3) You could set up cross platform server/client software (ie Hotline or some type of FTP software) to work over just your network. Set it up on one of the PC's as a server and run the client on your Mac. You could make your entire PC's Hard Drive accessible so all you need to do is navigate from within the client and select the file to transfer. This option is the least expensive (free), but you wouldn't be able to convert files (Dave) or run PC programs (VPC).

Hotline/FTP is a hassle, IMO. And James didn't say anything about needing to run PC programs, So I would probably go with Dave.

Posted by lennonhead on 03-05-2001 02:44 AM:

As a free solution Hotline or FTP isn't a bad choice (I have used the clients for internet use). The PC side might be a pain to set up though, I'm not sure. If you can afford it looks like Dave is easier (going by Vertigo's suggestion).

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Posted by JHromadka on 03-05-2001 04:39 AM:

I think I'll give Dave a shot, at least until OS X is out (although I'm not installing it until DVD playback works). I'm using Interarchy right now as my FTP client, any others that are better (or free).

Here are a few basic Mac questions that I haven't figured out yet:

Is there a way to delete behind the cursor? The Delete key functions as backspace, but I haven't found a PC Delete equivilant.

Is there a Character Map equivilant that lets me insert various font characters? What about doing a screen print/dump to a JPG file?

BTW, I like the Palm Desktop much more on the Mac than the PC.

__________________
James Hromadka
Old Friend

Posted by dick-richardson on 03-05-2001 05:02 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by JHromadka
...Is there a way to delete behind the cursor? The Delete key functions as backspace, but I haven't found a PC Delete equivilant.

I'm fairly certain no.

quote:
Is there a Character Map equivilant that lets me insert various font characters? What about doing a screen print/dump to a JPG file?

Check under Key Caps in the Apple menu (upper left). It shows what characters appear when the option and/or shift key is pressed (as well as any other key). In regards to doing a screen shot/capture the only way I've seen to do it is through speakable items. You don't need to turn speakable items on (under the control panel in speech) if it's listed in the speakable items folder in your Apple menu.

quote:
BTW, I like the Palm Desktop much more on the Mac than the PC.

Definitely (except lack of out-of-the-box email support and refusal to honor private records on the visor)!

Say James, does this exonerate my part in the degradation of VC over the weekend?

__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Posted by sammich on 03-05-2001 08:21 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by JHromadka

Is there a way to delete behind the cursor? The Delete key functions as backspace, but I haven't found a PC Delete equivilant.

Is there a Character Map equivilant that lets me insert various font characters? What about doing a screen print/dump to a JPG file?

i dont think the MacOS natively sets the delete key as the 'erase before the cursor button'. someone tell me if i'm wrong. some applications support it, some dont.

there's three ways to screen capture.
apple-shift-3 will capture the entire screen. you'll hear a camera clicky should.
apple-shift-4 depends if your caps lock is down. if it's down your mouse pointer will change to a hairline trigger. you can click and drag a rectangular area which will be your screenshot. if it's up the mouse cursor will change to a target symbol, any window you click on will be the screenshot.

all screenshots are saved as PICT format files in the root directory of the system hard drive named 'picture x' (x being the number of the screenshot). you're going to have you use a separate program to covert to jpeg or whatever other format (jpegs aren't really the ideal format for screen captures). Try the picture viewer program that comes with the quicktime software. A good shareware solution is called Graphic Converter. It converts anything to anything.

Connectix just released a product called DoubleTalk that provides the same functionality as Dave. I haven't tried either but I thought i'd mention it.

A really good book to read if you're a Windows person going to Mac and vice versa is Crossing Platforms by Adam Engst & David Pogue from O'Reilly and Associates. It's more like a glossary of mac terms and windows terms and what they mean on both sides of OS land.

have fun.

Posted by Vertigo on 03-05-2001 08:25 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by JHromadka
I think I'll give Dave a shot, at least until OS X is out (although I'm not installing it until DVD playback works). I'm using Interarchy right now as my FTP client, any others that are better (or free).

Hotline might be O.K. but you would be stuck with the problem that one machine runs the server, so if you don't have the other client machine connected when you want to copy something from the server to the client, you have to walk over to the client machine and log in first.

Dave just flows together nicely. You can access PC machines from the chooser, or from Dave's 'Network Neighborhood' type browser. The Mac will appear as a regular PC on the network also.

quote:

Here are a few basic Mac questions that I haven't figured out yet:

Is there a way to delete behind the cursor? The Delete key functions as backspace, but I haven't found a PC Delete equivilant.

It's marked fairly well on my Keyboard. I assume you mean the key that deletes in front of the word (It's right by 'help' home / end). Or is there some weird key I havn't found on my Windows keyboard?

quote:

Is there a Character Map equivilant that lets me insert various font characters? What about doing a screen print/dump to a JPG file?

(What Dick Said about Key Caps)
You don't need anything as clunky as speech recognition to get a screen capture. Just press COMMAND-SHIFT-3 (The pic will appear on your start up drive).

Posted by Vertigo on 03-05-2001 08:31 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by sammich

i dont think the MacOS natively sets the delete key as the 'erase before the cursor button'. someone tell me if i'm wrong. some applications support it, some dont.

As far as I've noticed 100% of apps use the delete forward key on the Mac OS. (I own a G4/400, OS 9.1).
It's standard.

quote:

... snip ...

have fun.

You beat me to it! Heh, message boards need a 'collaboration' web browser plugin thingy. So people know when someone else is going to answer the question that they just took the time to type out..

Posted by lennonhead on 03-05-2001 03:25 PM:

I think the problem is the Powerbook keyboard. I don't think any Powerbook keyboards have a delete key like the one under the help button on a desktop.

BTW:
The screen capture option is one of the handiest things I have used. If I remember any other neat key combos I'll post them.

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Posted by dick-richardson on 03-05-2001 04:33 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Vertigo
It's marked fairly well on my Keyboard. I assume you mean the key that deletes in front of the word (It's right by 'help' home / end). Or is there some weird key I havn't found on my Windows keyboard?

He's on a laptop. He only has the keys below esc-F12 on your keyboard (with the addition of arrows keys, and other simple modifications).

quote:
(What Dick Said about Key Caps)
You don't need anything as clunky as speech recognition to get a screen capture. Just press COMMAND-SHIFT-3 (The pic will appear on your start up drive).

Actually you don't even need to use speech recognition if you go Apple menu �>Speakable Items �>Take a screen picture/Take a window picture. The mac will just do it without your needing to say anything. I wasn�t aware of the command-shift-3 thing. Nice!

__________________
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Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Posted by homer on 03-05-2001 05:03 PM:

quote:

I'm using Interarchy right now as my FTP client, any others that are better (or free).

Get Transmit from Panic Software:

http://www.panic.com

It is shareware, though it works for free (it just bugs you to pay them).

They also make Audion...hands down the best MP3 application on any platform (yes, better than iTunes, IMHO)...well worth the shareware price.

Some other must-have free software:

Quicklaunch:

http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/t...10563&b=mac

An excellent application launcher. Get rid of the apple-menu forever! Drag and drop files onto it to open them in any application.

LiteSwitch:

http://www.proteron.com/liteswitch/

Adds the apple-tab application swticher like Windows has...a great productivity tool (it is also better than Apple's built-in app switcher functionality).

Also, to add to the screen shot info, if, when doing any type of screen shot you also have the caps-lock key down, it will save the screen shot in the clipboard, allowing you to paste it into any program...saves the trouble of first saving to the hard drive.

Some other MACOS-centric things that people miss:

Springloaded folders: click and hold your mouse button over a folder, it will turn into a spring, allowing you to pop-into your file structure.

Tabbed Windows: If you have a system window open, you can drag it to the bottom of the screen and it becomes a pop-up, tabbed folder.

Sherlock for web searching: Sort of useful. I find Google works more often than not.

IE5 for the Mac: Hands down, the best web browser for any platform.

Control-click in the finder brings up the contextual menu (ala Window's righ-click). Get a two button mouse for the mac to automate that.

Two-monitor support. Windows supports this now. I'm not sure if the Ti Powerbooks do, but you might want to try hooking up an external monitor and see if you can double your monitor real-estate.

We use PCMaclan to get our PC onto the Mac network. Works well.

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Posted by MPM on 03-05-2001 09:33 PM:

To save the screen capture to the clipboard...

quote:
Originally posted by sammich
<snip>...there's three ways to screen capture.

apple-shift-3 will capture the entire screen. you'll hear a camera clicky should.
apple-shift-4 depends if your caps lock is down. if it's down your mouse pointer will change to a hairline trigger. you can click and drag a rectangular area which will be your screenshot. if it's up the mouse cursor will change to a target symbol, any window you click on will be the screenshot.

all screenshots are saved as PICT format files in the root directory of the system hard drive named 'picture x' (x being the number of the screenshot). you're going to have you use a separate program to covert to jpeg or whatever other format (jpegs aren't really the ideal format for screen captures). Try the picture viewer program that comes with the quicktime software. A good shareware solution is called Graphic Converter. It converts anything to anything.
<snip>

Also if you hold down the "Option" key along with the other keys you will copy the screen/area/window capture to the Clipboard instead of saving it as a file. If you have the program you are pasting the capture into up and running, this is quite handy as it saves the step of opening up the capture file. Try the shareware GraphicConverter 4.0.4 by Lemke Software at http://www.lemkesoft.com/ for your PICT to JPEG conversions. It's likely the best bit of shareware available for the Mac.

Posted by homer on 03-05-2001 10:47 PM:

MPM:

You're right...the OPTION key is the modifier that sends the screen shot to the clipboard. I mistakenly refered to the caps-lock key as doing that. The caps-lock key actually turns the cursor into a bulls-eye, which will capture the open window (and only the open window) that you click in.

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Posted by JHromadka on 03-06-2001 02:05 PM:

Thanks for the tips! Any websites have some of these useful keyboard combos or other general Mac OS use?

__________________
James Hromadka
Old Friend

Posted by homer on 03-06-2001 02:40 PM:

Can't think of a site off-hand, but you should know these:

apple-option-escape = force quit an application
apple-option-power=force restart (may not work on PBs)
apple-power=debugging mode (you can SOMETIMES get out of a crash by hitting that and then typing GFINDER)

on start-up:
hold down C = Start from CDRom
Hold down SHIFT = start with extensions off
There are a few other useful start up commands

in the OS:

Select an icon:
apple-y = eject disk
apple-delete = send to trash
apple-I = get info

Select folder(s):
apple --> = open folder
apple --> = close folder
apple-option arrows = open/close ALL folders

Other things:

option-click desktop = hides forground app
apple-click on window title = file directory
double-click title bar = minimize window
apple-click-drag on background window = allows you to move background windows without activating them
F-Keys = can be set as app launchers

In IE5:
apple-b = hide chrome
apple-~ = switch among open windows

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Posted by lennonhead on 03-06-2001 03:37 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by homer

apple-option-power=force restart (may not work on PBs)

Doesn't work on newer machines that lack a power button on keyboard either.

quote:

apple-y = eject disk

also can use apple-e

quote:

double-click title bar = minimize window

only works if you have this option enabled in the appearance control panel.

Another one is-
apple-tab = switches between programs

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Posted by homer on 03-06-2001 04:31 PM:

quote:

apple-y = eject disk
------------------------------------------------------------------------
also can use apple-e

NEVER use apple-e, which is the EJECT disk command.

This is an OLD feature back when the Macs had one floppy drive and miniscule hard drives. You used it to copy one disk to another.

I have no idea why Apple still keeps this command in the OS. What happens when you choose this command is that it ejects your disk, but the OS still considers it mounted. Therefore, unless you put the disk back in and then PROPERLY remove it by dragging it to the trash (Apple-y) it will FOREVER ask you to "please insert the disk that you ejected". VERY ANNOYING.

Granted, throwing the disk in the trash isn't a logical interface command, either.

And lennonhead, you are right. You can't force quit at all on the new Macs. I really wish that they would have kept the power-buttons on the keyboards...that was one of the unique niceties that made a mac a mac.

quote:

Another one is-
apple-tab = switches between programs

Lennonhead: If you like that feature, go download the free extension Liteswitch. It allows you to switch between programs using the apple-tab command but uses an actual interface, making it a LOT better than the Mac's default apple-tab function.

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Posted by mattp on 03-06-2001 04:52 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by homer

NEVER use apple-e, which is the EJECT disk command.

This is an OLD feature back when the Macs had one floppy drive and miniscule hard drives. You used it to copy one disk to another.

I have no idea why Apple still keeps this command in the OS. What happens when you choose this command is that it ejects your disk, but the OS still considers it mounted. Therefore, unless you put the disk back in and then PROPERLY remove it by dragging it to the trash (Apple-y) it will FOREVER ask you to "please insert the disk that you ejected". VERY ANNOYING.

This only happens on the older versions of the OS with OS 9 command-e and command-y are essentially the same thing so you don't have to worry about using it if you have OS 9.

Matt

Posted by sammich on 03-06-2001 07:33 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by mattp

This only happens on the older versions of the OS with OS 9 command-e and command-y are essentially the same thing so you don't have to worry about using it if you have OS 9.

Matt

here's the subtle difference:

command-y (File->Put Away) means 'unmount volume from desktop'

volume meaning any type of storage, servers, disks, hard drives. if it's a removable disk it'll eject it too. i guess you would use 'put away' to disconnect from a mounted server or hot swap/disconnect scsi hard drives (though i dont recommend this for the kids at home) or..eject a disk.

dragging any volume to the trash can does the same thing as command-y

command-e (special-> eject disk) just means 'unmount and eject disk'. it only works on removable drives. it wont work on hard disks or server volumes. before MacOS 8 it used to just eject the disk and not unmount it from the desktop which, like you just read above opened a whole can o' worms. i rarely use the eject disk command when put-away does what eject does and more.

i really think the MacOS needs a 'volume' menu that lists all volumes mounted and where you can just eject/unmount them with a submenu. VirtualPC has this and it's mighty handy. I'm sick and tired of wanting to eject a CD and since the eject button is disabled on the mac i have to hunt all over my messy desktop to find the damn icon. Maybe i'm not the first one to think of this and someone wants to clue me in to a shareware solution that will do this for me. I know os 10 will have some of this functionality i suggested but it should be a system wide menu hot dammit!

anyways regarding keyboard shortcuts:
the MacOS online help lists most if not all keyboard shortcuts. Bring up the Mac Help window, click on shortcuts and tips, and then click on keyboard shortcuts. voila!

-sam

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