Complete Mac newbie questions

I'm thinking of switching from PC to Mac cos I just can't resist those Apple products any longer but have a few questions.
1. I currently have a fairly decent WiFi setup in my house. Will I be able to connect up to an existing Linksys WiFi router with a Macbook or am I gonna need something else?
2. Can OSX10.5 see Windows XP across a network and vice versa?
Thanks! I'm sure I'll have somemore daft Qs later!!

1. MacBooks include built in Wireless
2. Yes
Message was edited by: FledMorphine

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Photoshop elements mac, newbie questions for webshop

Hello all,
My name is Jelle and i have photoshop elements for mac, which i mostly use to create banners, headers and backgrounds for my website www.dagelijkseluxe.nl.
Though this is my question, i think there are a lot of people like me, bumping in the same problems. Maybe it's an idea to have a webshop webinar someday (or i missed it) for some basic functions mostly used for websites. Like easy banner creation, background adjustments for sites and products, best product presentation, etc.
Even though i mostly use the guided editing, i sometimes venture off and try to use the full editor. Now, this must be too easy for most of you powerusers, but the background of the webshop is still a bit to dark to my liking. However i feel i have reached all i can do with the different sliders presented in the guided tour.
Is there an easy way to "mistify" the background or any photo for that matter?
I also save the files as PNG as per recommendation from the sitebuilder. what's the difference with interlaced and non interlaced saving.
Thank you in advance for your time!
Kind regards,
Jelle Dingemans

You could use:
Filter >> Blur >> Gaussian Blur
That should mystify or blur your image.
Interlaced is a better method for displaying mainly large images on monitors - but you get a slightly larger file. Small images tend to load very quickly so non-interlaced will keep the file size down.

PCS3 to PCS4 Mac Newbie Question/Help

Hello. I recently bought my first Mac (a MacBook) and I'm wanting to download Photoshop CS3 Extended, but now there's the new PCS4. On my old computer which is a Dell, I had PCS3 Extended and I have the serial number. My question is if I download the trial version of PCS4 Extended on my Mac, can I still use the same serial number to activate it or will I have to buy PCS4 Extended for Mac? I'm somewhat confused, but I appreciate any help.

No, you cannot use a Windows license on a Mac.
You need a new license for your Mac.
If you are not going to keep the Windows version, you can contact Customer Support and ask for a cross-grade. It involves a letter of destruction of the Windows version and paying a nominal fee (under $10) for the cost and shipping of the new media. Actually, since you're coming from CS3 you will be charged the Upgrade price ($200 or so).
If you want to keep on using a Windows version, then you must buy a new version for the Mac at full price.
Message was edited by: Ramón G Castañeda

ICal Updating Publish .mac Newbie Question

Got iCal published to .mac just fine - when I add in new data, shouldn't it update and publish the new updated data on .mac? What do I need to do? No updates seem to appear.

you cannot directly import the HTML from Dreamweaver to iWeb. secondly, iWeb does allow you to publish to a domain - but you will need a FTP program to upload them to your domain.
here are several great links that will get you started with iWeb:
The iWeb FAQ:
http://web.mac.com/varkgirl/iWeb/iWebFAQ/FAQ%20Home/FAQ%20Home.html
iWeb Inspector:
http://web.mac.com/will.englefield/iWeb/WillG4PB/SiteTab.html
iWeb Video Tutorials:
http://karreth.com/iweb/Home.html
Hosting To Your DOMAIN:
http://karreth.com/iweb/Host%20To%20Other%20Than%20.Mac.html
max

IChat msn .mac newbie question

hey people sorry if this has been asked before...
Can i talk with my msn friends if i sign up to ichat (how do i sign up?)
do i need a .mac account to use ichat and is .mac good?
thanks

Can i talk with my msn friends if i sign up to ichat (how do i sign up?)
No. You need an MSN account, not the .Mac or AIM accounts compatible with iChat.
do i need a .mac account to use ichat
No.
(25961)

Mac Newbie Question: Cannot save file?

I'm a new Mac user.
I'm running Snow Leopard on MacBook Pro machine.
I'm logged in under my administrator account.
When i try to save an edit i made to Apache's httpd.conf file using TextEdit.app, I get an error message simply saying that the file cannot be saved and that i do not have write permission to do so.
How does one use a text editor in Mac Os X to make such config edits and authenticate the action?
Thanks.

Get a copy of [TextWrangler|http://www.barebones.com/products/TextWrangler>. It's free, and it'll take care of authenticating for you.

Mac newbie question about transferring files FROM iPod

I got an iPod 30G for xmas. I downloaded all my music from my computer to it. Then my hard drive crashed. But it doesn't seem like I can put the music back onto my new harddrive because it's some kind of "tunes" file instead of a data file. Admittedly, I don't know much about this stuff. But can someone tell me if it's possible to put the music back onto my computer from my iPod?
Thanks
Mac OS X (10.4.3) Ipod 30G

Ollie's iPod Extractor

Yet Another Hard Drive Question from a Mac Newbie

I apologize in advance for the length of this post -- as I state in the subject line, I am a complete Mac newbie.
I just took delivery yesterday on a new (early 2008) Mac Pro. I purchased and installed an additional 8GB RAM, and ordered it with a 500GB HD (Seagate, it looks like) and purchased two 750GB Hitachi HDs for bays 2 and 3. I will be doing a fair amount of photo editing, and also plan to partition the OS drive to run XP using bootcamp, but also plan to use VM Fusion.
I am thinking of partitioning the boot drive with 250GB for OS X and apps, 150 GB for XP and apps, and ~66 remaining possibly to be used as scratch memory for CS3, though it sounds like this may not be enough. The bay 2 Hitachi would be used for all my user data (photos, music, docs, etc.) bay 3 would be for backup initially, possibly using Time Machine? (other recommendations welcomed). As space becomes an issue in the future, I will invest in a fourth internal HD, and at least 2TB external HDs for backup.
Does this seem like a reasonable plan? If so, how do I go about formatting the drives and installing boot camp, Fusion, etc., and in what order? Also, how best do I organize my existing files from my current Windows machine as I copy them to the new user data HD, so they can be accessed as needed by both OS X and XP?
Thanks for your help.

I like the boot volume to never get beyond 50% used. Enough room for burning dual-layer DVDs can be 50GB for best results. And to force the system to use the first outer tracks.
I hope you are concurrently zeroing both drives. SoftRAID is my choice for driver for RAIDs and you can cancel safely at any time. There are also excellent tools for checking sectors and mapping out bad blocks.
I put Vista on its own 10K Raptor. I had it on the boot drive but I am always changing my mind, my drives and setup. Vista needs at least 40GB and that is with all my major documents and files on another drive which holds 150GB out of 450GB.
You set the preference for what drive to use as scratch in CS3 or other programs. And you want to disable Spotlight indexing on any scratch or editing partition. Scratch can be a drive, a volume, a stripped array. Any 'normal' partition though don't use the default (journaling) feature is all.
How large? I'd have to see and know how large files, work flow, and how long you work between projects. The nice thing, erase the scratch volume between projects but it is possible to use 300GB when you work on 1.5GB files and above.
One early Mac Pro owner wasn't able to work as they wanted until they had 10-12GB RAM, boot RAID0, and RAIDs for scratch and data (saving 2GB files and not having to wait forever, which even a minute can feel like forever).
Disk Utility: Partition. You can even partition 2+ drives, just make them the same, and first create 2 partitions (100GB on each?) and then stripe the first "Untitled 1" of each into 100GB x n array. Stripe or mirror the "Untitled 2" or leave those are two unique non-RAID volumes. Sounds harder than it is.
Scratch = temp space and designed to not be saved, to be erased as needed.
SoftRAID.com 3.6.6 makes it easy to create, delete, erase volumes and arrays as needed. Leopard has improved on non-RAID but not with RAIDs (for those that change their minds).

Total Newbie Question ... Sorry :-(

I know it's a windows thing, and I am now converted to Mac but I gotta know this because it's doing my head in. It's a complete stupid green gilled newbie question.
When installing new programs on a Mac can you create shortcuts to the programs on the Dock? I did what I THOUGHT it would be, i.e I made an Alias and stuck it in the dock, but on rebooting my Mac later on, in place of the shortcuts where 3 question marks which when clicked on did absolutely nothing???
Help?
A.L.I
Windows XP Pro Desktop, Macbook Pro, 60GB iPod Video Mac OS X (10.4.5) OS X

You aren't installing something from a dmg file are you? The dmg is a disk image – kind of a virtual CD. So when you double click the dmg and then get the little disk/hardrive/custom icon on your desktop that is the same as if you had mounted a CD. You then need to drag the application off of that "CD" into your application folder. Then it is truly installed.
You can then "eject" the icon your your desktop. This is what happens when you shutdown and without remounting the image your dock shortcut can't find the original.
Just a thought.

SG200-08 Newbie Questions

I have recently purchased the SG200-08 Smart Switch, but I have a few "newbie questions" about it as I get started using it.
The on board firmware shows 1.0.1.0. Is that the latest firmware to the switch?
Do I need to enable IPv6 Auto Configuration and DCHPv6 in my switch settings to be ready for IPv6 as my ISP rolls it out down the road?
How do I go about changing the switch's username? I was able to easily change the password, but having issues getting the username to change.
Do I need to do anything about the LLDP-MED settings? What exactly is that?
How do I confugure the System Time Settings so the switch functions in my time zone (USA Central Time)?
Thanks a bunch for any assistance!

Hi Nathan,
My guess is that NAT is already on - you have one public IP address from your ISP. Your router will use NAT (network address translation) to allow multiple clients (and either dynamically assign them private IPs via dhcp or you set them statically) to connect to the internet using the one public IP. It also sounds like your RV042G is assigning both ipv6 and ipv4 addresses, and theres nothing wrong with that. Unless you have specific information re: ipv6 from your isp, however, I would suggest not worrying about it until you hear from them. Are your macs connected to the router via the SG200 switch? If so, it looks like its passing ipv6 just fine. UPnP is something completely different - thats with opening ports like you mentioned - its a way that your devices can communicate with the router to automatically enable the proper port forwarding for the device/application.
Regarding the username, create a new user account. I don't think you can edit the cisco user, but try deleting it after creating and testing a new user account..
I'm not familiar with the Polycom system, but I would leave the settings as default unless you are using true IP phones (rather than an ATA adapter). From a quick google of the polycom device, I don't think you will gain anything from LLDP/CDP as the handsets use regular cordless phone freqs. With my setup, we use cisco IP desk phones and cordless wifi phones, CDP makes life easy as the cisco access point, wifi phones, cisco switch, and cisco desk phones (connected via ethernet) see each other and know what they're dealing with automatically.
I don't see the SNTP setting for unicast / broadcast that you're looking at. For the switch to get the time from a sntp server, under administration -> time -> sntp settings, add a server, and then back on time-> system time, enable sntp server as the main clock source. What are you using as your sntp source? Do you have an internal sntp server? You don't need to enable dhcp on the sntp server.
May I also point you to the two manuals, I think they may be helpful: RV042G & SG200
Hope thats helpful.
Best,
David
Please rate any helpful posts.

Mac newbie printing problems

Hi,
As the subject line says, I'm a Mac newbie. I've been on a PC for about 10 years and just got my mac last Friday (how time flies!), so I'm obviously completely unfamiliar with Macs and how to mess with them.
In any case, I've kept my PC for a couple of programs that I'd like to use and need my printer for one of them. I have my printer connected to my iMac and I've networked the two computers to transfer files back and forth. So my question is this: How do I set up my computers so that I can print through my iMac from my PC? I don't want to have to rearrange the entire office just to use the printer.
Any help would be great.
Thank you!

Things to check -
1. Set your Mac to be in the same Workgroup as the PC. The PC's workgroup can be found by right clicking on My Computer, select tab Computer name.
On Tiger, you set the workgroup in the Utility Directory Access - I hope Kappy can tell you where to do that on Leopard.
2. Driver - once you can find the printer in the same workgroup, when you add the printer on the PC you will need to select a postscript driver - if the printer you're trying to use is postscript, fine, its driver will work. But if the printer is a typical inkjet, you need to select some other color postscript driver on the PC, because printer queues on Macs expect to receive postscript. The Apple Color LaserWriter xx driver included on my Windows XP works well.
Hope this helps.

MailServer Newbie Question..

So my first time i setup a Mail Server with Mac OS X Server.
Everything works like a charme. I can send and receive emails internally. That means
i can send and receive emails from mac to pc and vice versa. Now my question.
How do I setup the Server to catch my external eMail adresses and send it to my internal account.
And how do I setup to send throw my server to the rest of the world without getting banned and
blacklisted
I how someone can write a small tutorial for me or can post a link for this newbie question.
Thanx in advance..
mike
P.S.: Sorry for my bad English. But I am from Germany

how to configure the server to accept mail for my own domain ?
Any domain you want to receive mail for goes into the Local Host Aliases pane (in Advanced-> Hosting tab). However, you said that you can already send and receive internally so presumably you have it set up for a domain already? If this is not the same domain as you want to use, just change whatever settings you are using to your real domain. You can then test sending and receiving internally for your own domain but without changing your external (public) mail provider. When you are ready to change your outside mail server for your own one, get the public MX record changed so that all external mail starts getting directed to your own server.
how to get the public DNS record (MX Record)
If you have a 'real' domain then someone is hosting your DNS for that domain. THis is probably whoever you bought the domain from. You need to get them to change your MX record (or the IP address for the host name record which the MX points to - see my first post).
Is it really impossible to catch the external email-accounts with the server via pop.
my idea behind that is to synchronize the external email accounts with the email accounts on the server..
I have never really looked into getting a mail server to use a pop download from another external mail server - it may be possible by manual configuration but it never made sense to me. Why have two mail servers in a 'chain'? Basically, the public will see only one server responsible for your mail (via MX record) - you have to decide whether you want to leave this with your external provider or take the responsibility yourself.
Your configuration for the incoming mail seems to me like you would change the
external email server completely to my internal server.. right ??
Correct. Once the public MX record is changed then all other mail servers will send to your server and not your current provider. You can always revert back by changing the MX record back to your existing provider (as long as your account is still open).
-david
Message was edited by: David_x

Mac newbie returns to Windows

I was really looking forward to kicking Windows into touch. No more virus software, no disk defragging required. Simple Tiger operating system. Fast performance. Throw in a Mac Pro and I should have been full of joy.
The reality has been pure frustration. I found I had to dual boot to windows to make so many little jobs I do as routine work on the Mac Pro. Boy is Tiger lacking in so many areas. Mac Mail or Entourage are just so dated and frustrating to use. Office 2004 for Mac - well come on guys, does it really have to be that creaky? Compared to the Windows version, and the latest Office 2007, it is really so limited. Can't compress pictures in a document, for example so have to send larger folders with pictures in as a PDF.
The performance of Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Mac should have been stellar. Nope. Thrashed by CS2 running on my 4-year old IBM Thinkpad laptop; the programme did storm through work in its Windows version on the Mac, but you do not by a Mac to run Windows full time do you?
Much as I want to join your club it will need a few changes. Like simple, affordable personal finiance software that allows easy migration for MS Money. Or an email programme that allows you to list contacts by first or last names. Or a system that allows you to turn off certain toolbars and keep them turned off. Software that allows simple routeplanning to be made. The ability to run RAW picture conversions without locking up. Safari allowing personal data to be stored, so allowing access to multiple on-line bank finance mangement systems from one site. Support for keyboards that help those with RSI. Ditto with track balls. Or even a few more printer drivers; failure to work 2 out of three of my printers, the oldest of which is 2 years, is not encouraging.
I could go on. In fact I did - I spent over 50 hours just trying to make a working system of of a Mac and OS.X Tiger operating system. It just could not be done. I even tried doing it the Mac way for five solid days. It was like going back to an abacus.
All in all I am just so dissappointed. My 2 weeks with an Apple Mac has shown me the grass is not greener on the other side. Windows XP may stink - Vista is too dreadful to even consider - but the Tiger was so tame I won't be coming back.
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.10)
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.10)

As another Mac newbie I thought I'd share some of my frustrations with OSX, but also why I won’t be returning to windows anytime soon. I've built PC's for almost 7 years, so I know exactly how much flexibility you have in both building and operating a windows PC. I also know the exact definition of compatibility. Thousands of different manufacturers making parts for PCs is a nightmare, if you don’t believe me build a computer, I dare you. Over my years building computers I have pulled out more hair, lost more files, and nearly broke so many parts I prefer to not talk about it. So finally when it was time to upgrade I thought about a Mac. Problem was I wanted a computer that had some flexibility in terms of upgrading. I was absolutely blown away by the cost of powermacs. I could build a new PC, no exaggeration, for well less than half of what a powermac would cost me. Not to mention a powermac g5 was already a generation old. So I caved and bought a dell for dirt cheap, cheaper than even what I could build a PC for. Not only that I thought maybe vista is a savior so I got my new dell with windows vista. Lets just say my brand new computer (I bought the dell in February) ran drastically slower than the nearly 6 year old computer it was replacing. Not to mention I had to go buy a new wireless card, and most of my software didn’t work. Vista looks pretty, actually it looks just like OSX, but it runs terrible unless you have a top-of-the-line computer. Anyway to make a long story short someone on craig’s list was getting rid of their powermac and they needed a new windows PC so we traded. I also recently bought a powerbook g3 so I’m 100 percent Mac now. I’ve been using OSX for a few weeks now and I’ve read some articles on making the switch. I’ve found how incredibly easy OSX is to use and how intuitive many of the features are. There are a few downsides to using a Mac I certainly understand. One is the lack of software support. I regularly use Reference Manager and SPSS, two programs that are unfortunately not supported in OSX. However I normally use these programs at work, so for now I can go without them at home. I suppose there are two other complaints I have about Apple and Macs. I’ve found that first, Macs don’t like non-Apple parts. Buy a third-party anything and you’re in for a headache. Second, what was common knowledge on a PC means nothing on a Mac. Installing an airport card took me more than a day because I didn’t know what I was doing and my mind was still thinking windows. I’ve been frustrated more than a few times with my new Mac, but the problems have been entirely because of my naïve understanding of Macs and OSX. All in All though I completely understand that Macs aren’t for everyone, especially people who use a lot of professional software. For me though the choice is easy, I want a computer that is easy to use, does basic tasks, and for the love of all things holy doesn’t crash and lose my data. Everything after that I will learn to cope with. For these reasons I am sticking it out and learning the full feature set of OSX.

New Hard Drive: Mac Face/Question Mark on boot

I installed a new hard drive in my fathers iBook G4 1.33 GHz and installed Leopard. I instantly had problems after the installation was complete and the computer restarted. I got the Mac Face/Question Mark for a second and then it booted to the installation CD.
I used disk utilities to verify and repair the disk and permissions which both finished successfully. I tried to reboot with the same result: Mac Face/Question Mark for a second and then it booted to the installation CD. I decided to erase and reinstall Leopard. Installation complete - Restart - Mac Face/Question Mark. I decided to turn if off for the night.
I powered up in the morning with short-lived success, as I got the Leopard Welcome video. I set up the system and did some software updates, which eventually required a restart. Boom. Mac Face/Question Mark. I decided to hold the option key on my next restart to see if I could select the hard drive installation over the install CD. I was able to do so, and it booted fine to the hard drive. I continued my software updating, installed some more software like iLife '08, Firefox, Open Office, Stuffit Expander, etc. After all my installation and updating, the system operates great, except when I have to start up. I still have the Mac Face/Question Mark.
I have a theory that the hard drive jumper is set incorrectly, but I don't want to waste 45 mins. cracking the thing open to find out. Can anyone confirm? I'm open to all other theories, of course.

No jumper means Cable Select (CS). This would mean that the cable from the motherboard to the drive has a blue connector at the motherboard and a black connector on the end where the drive plugs in. The gray connector in the middle is the Slave position. Master/Slave relationship is determined by where on the cable the device is plugged in.
The CS cables and the setting was not used very often until around 2004 or 2005. Until that time all of the connectors on the cable were the same color and the Master/Slave setting was determined by the jumper on the drive.
It's very possible that you are trying to use a drive that's been setup for the newer systems as Cable Select, when actually you should force the drive to be a Master by installing a jumper on the proper pins.
Are there two deviced on the cable besides the motherboard, and are all of the connectors the same color? Or is the connector that plugs into the motherboard black? Then you are probably not looking at a CS buss.

Domain Name settings in Solaris - Newbie question

Sorry for a newbie question!
I am already pointing a domain name to web hosting for email account. Now, I need an application server to run ERP software and Oracle, and installing Solaris and Oracle need a domain name.
If I point my domain name to the server, how do I receive emails from web hosting???
Install an email server to the application server instead? What can I do if I want the same domain name?

Your questions are completely off-topic for the forum.
These SunOS forums are for questions on <i>"how do I install my OS"</i>
You particular question is in the <i>"how can I install Solaris while using the CD drive"</i> forum.
So, if you had a question on how to edit the /etc/inet/hosts file to establish a FQDN on the computer, then it might be appropriate for the forum.
Unfortunately, I don't have a clue on where to redirect you, except perhaps to the Sun Java Enterprise System suite of applications?

Complete Mac newbie questions

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