The JimDandy

As a recent convert to a Mac (after many ‘fails’ on Vista and XP) I had the usual “Why doesn’t ctrl-C work?” questions. Having no Apple guru’s close by, I decided that many users like me needed a short quick start to OS X.

Keyboard Guide

There are a lot of keyboard shortcut guides out there. You first need to know the following below.

• ‘command’ key, it’s sometimes called the  apple key. You cut ( – x), copy ( – c), and paste ( – p) with this as well as the usual open ( – o), close ( – w), new ( – n) and quit ( – q).
• ‘control’, the key you used to use.
• ‘option’, also know as ‘alt’.
• ‘cap locks’
• ’shift’

Before you check out any keyboard guide, read this first. This Apple guide is pretty much all the keyboard shortcut you’ll ever need.

! note: If you’re using X11 based software on OS X, the keyboard shortcut (for the X11 software) may revert back to Unix ctrl-c and ctrl-v etc.

Software Guide

Now that you got your Mac, you need to load it up with software. Before you head to the Apple store or torrent sites, check for an open source version of what you need. Chances are that it’s better than what you’re after. Below are three excellent starting point for open source software for OS X.

• http://www.opensourcemac.org/ – has a good list of software you’re most likely to use.
• Apple.com UNIX & Open Source – also all open source software for OS X.
• http://www.apple.com/opensource/ – this is more for software developers. It’s best to search here first before you head to SourceForge or Google.

If you can’t find the software you need from the link above, try here.

Backup Guide

Use Time Machine which is already installed on OS X. Get an external hard drive, preferable one not LAN based as they’ll be too slow. Once you have your hard drive, make it your backup drive. The instructions are here.

My advise is to leave it on automatic and regularly connect your Mac to your backup hard drive. Always do this as you’ll never know when your Mac may break or get stolen. (Hey, you never know)

That’s it for this short quick start. If there is anything you can add or wish to know, please feel free to add a comment. Thanks!