I finally made the change to a MBP from a Thinkpad. Now I'm lost.

Question

Ok. So after 20 years of using a PC, I've converted to a MAC. I just purchased a top of the line MBP. I am trying to setup the Desktop like a PC (i.e. HDD, DVD, Networking, My Docs, etc....)but I can't figure it out. The only thing I got so far is a headache. Can someone please explain to me how I would put these icons on my Desktop? Also. I think I deleted a folder accidentally on the task bar. It was the download folder. I still have the Application and the Documents folder.
Can you also tell me how to scroll properly? It seems I have 3 options on my mouse pad (left click, middle click, and right click. On a PC, you would hold the left click down with your left hand and scroll with your right hand -- using a swiping down motion.
How do I stop the screen from zoming in and out all the time? It seems every time I move my single finger anywhere on the mouse pad, it either zooms or zooms out.
Thank you for your help.
Signed Frustrated Newbee

Answer 1

I am trying to setup the Desktop like a PC (i.e. HDD, DVD, Networking, My Docs, etc....)
Unfortunately, the Mac is not really like a PC. Before you become too frustrated trying to make your Mac into a PC, let me explain how you get to these things on a Mac.
The HDD is obviously the Macintosh HD icon on your desktop. Double click that to get to the root level of your drive. This is like double-clicking on your C drive on a PC. Except everything is organized much better on a Mac. By opening that HD icon, you'll see your Applications, System, Library, and Users. The Applications folder is where your apps live. On a Mac, many of the applications are contained within a single "file", and those files are located in the Applications folder. You can drag any application's icon to the Dock (task bar) where it will stay for one-click access to that app.
The System folder is where all the OS components are located. There are very few reasons why any user should ever have to look in here so I won't bother to explain it. Library is where things such as preferences and settings are stored in files. You shouldn't have to look within the Library folder very often at all either. Think of the Library basically as where the system goes to find preferences and settings that you've already set. The Users folder is where all your data will primarily be stored. Each user of the computer has their own folder within the Users folder. Within that folder (Home folder, with a house for the currently active user), named for the short name of the account, all your documents, photos, music, movies, etc. are stored within their respective folders. This is also where you'll find the Downloads folder that you mistakenly removed from the Dock. You can just drag it back into the same location to recreate that shortcut. Dock icons are simply shortcuts to folders, files, and apps, not the actual files themselves.
Can you also tell me how to scroll properly?
Very simple. Click System Preferences in your Dock. That is where all your preferences are set and stored, unlike the confusing mess of "Control Panels" in Windows. Click Trackpad, and you will see settings for the trackpad. You can set the speed of various aspects of the trackpad, as well as set which gestures you'd like to use with the computer.
I suggest you try to forget about the clunky "left click down with your left and and scroll with your right hand" PC way of scrolling. In that trackpad area of System Preferences, just make sure that you click the "Scroll" box under two finger gestures. Then, in a scrollable window (such as a web browser) just place two fingers on the trackpad and move them up or down to scroll. There are great videos in the trackpad preferences area that will show you all the gestures and how to use them. Similarly, you can shut off the screen zooming here. I suggest you go through all the System Preference tabs to set things to your liking.
If you need clarification or have further questions, just ask!
--Travis