Mac to Windows ?'s - brand new iMac owner, Help please...

Question

I am proud brand new 24” iMac owner (early Christmas present to myself), the first time I ever used a Mac was when I turned mine on right out of the box 2 days ago. I will be using my iMac mainly for basic Music/Pictures/Videos stuff like browse the web, downloading and to maintain my iphone and ipods.
I am having some trouble organizing all of my media about 300gb worth, I am so used to Windows and how I had everything set up and organized that my iMac feels out of control. Any suggestions on organization ideas/strategies would be very appreciated.
If someone would be so kind to please help me along with these Windows to Mac questions…..
I will gladly appreciate any and all feedback!
Thanks in advance
1.) Internet Security –
Q - I frequently download torrents and use Limwire. What is recommended for a Mac and are there any free anti-virus programs that work good?
True or False? – I have read that since there are no viruses made for Mac that this is not needed , unless you often share with a Windows computer or something along those lines….
2.) Windows Defrag/Disk Cleanup –
Q - Is this necessary for a Mac, if so does Mac have a similar process to cleanup unused space on the hard drive?
A – I have read that it is not necessary for a Mac, but some users still prefer to do disk cleanup (Any recommended disk cleanup programs? Preferably free).
3.) Installing programs on a Mac –
Q - Can I mess this up, or is it self explanatory like Windows?
A – I think I have figured this out. I have successfully installed MS Office, Adobe Premium CS3, etc… BUT in Applications in the finder, once the download is complete can I have just the App there or should I leave the whole folder and its downloaded contents? What I mean is if I were to delete the other misc downloaded files inside the folder would the program still run correctly?
Im not sure how to make myself clear on this, so if its way too confusing I can live with a few extra folders….
4.) Additional Programs –
Q - Are there any “must have” programs that do not come standard on an iMac?
FYI – I have brand new MS office, full Adobe Premium CS3, Toast, and Transmission torrent dloader (I think that’s what it is called)
5.) iTunes –
Q - Is it possible to import your iTunes library from Windows to a Mac?
- I think I am actually going to re-do my whole library manually, BUT can I somehow get all my playlists from my Windows laptop to my iMac?
6.) Folder Icons -
Q - On Windows you can change the basic blank folder or icon to a different icon or picture (thumbnail view), is this customizable on a Mac also?
- So far its looking like it is not possible… The only customization I can seem to do is to “label” with a color. I would really like to be able to customize that basic blue folder, any suggestions?
7.) Application Task Manager (Ctrl/Alt/Del) -
Q - Does Mac have a similar option if not, how can I view all current applications running on my iMac?
Thanks again, its such a relief to have a community like this

Answer 1

1. ClamXAV is the only free anti-virus software for the Mac.
2. OS X defrags all files under 20 MBs on the fly. Unless you have a lot of very large files that undergo frequent changes, there's little need to defragment the drive. For disk repair and other maintenance see my FAQ at the end of this post.
3. Programs are installed on a Mac much the same as on Windows. Some use installers while some you can just drag from the download file to the Applications folder.
4. There are thousands of programs. What's one person's must have is another's must not. Mac software can be found for download at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
5. Yes. See Macworld - How to transfer iTunes libraries between PC and Mac.
6. Yes. You can download sets of replacement icons from many different sites. Or you can copy an image onto the clipboard (COMMAND-C) then select the folder you wish to change, press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. You will see the icon in the top left corner. Click on the image to select it then press COMMAND-V to paste the image in the clipboard. You now have a new folder icon. You can do this for files as well. CAVEAT: Not a good idea to change any OS X system folders. Although you can the next time you upgrade the OS the custom icons will likely disappear. You will then have to redo them. There are certain utilities that can change system icons as well.
7. Yes. There are two different ones. The Application Switcher - press COMMAND-TAB to cycle through running applications. The Task Manager - press COMMAND-OPTION-ESC. The Task Manager can only be used to force quit running applications. If you want to view running applications then use the Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder.
Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.1 or higher are Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. Versions 1.5.1 or later are Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts had been significantly reduced in Tiger and Leopard.
OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Donationware)
6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (Commercial)
The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
2. Toast
3. Impression
4. arRSync
Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com.