any good places to learn how to use my iMac?

[NewJeffCT]

I really struggle to find how to do what should be simple tasks with my Mac - I've been using PCs for years, so I still am conditioned to right click when I try to copy & paste to bring up the little drop down menu...

First off, I don't have time to read a book.

Second, the Mac help on this computer seems almost useless.

I would try the mac forums, but I seemingly cannot use them because my browser won't allow me access to many sites that require passwords.

I can't even figure out how to copy/burn a JPG file to CD.

I'm tempted to find a local Mac guru here in my area & pay him or her for a few hours of their time.

[Elwood P Dowd]

1. Go to the Apple site.

Why not start with the people who made the computer? There is a ton of information available for new Mac users. Click on the support tab and start reading some of the forums or FAQ. You can also call Apple for phone support. If you purchased Apple Care, you have free phone support for three years I think. You do not need a password to read the stuff on the Apple site.

http://www.apple.com/

[Rob H.]

2. Is there an Apple store near you?

Most of them have a "Getting Started" workshop at least twice a month and it's free. They'll guide you through things as mundane as connecting your Mac to the internet all the way up to burning CDs and DVDs.

Do you have an iMac that came with Apple's Mighty Mouse? That mouse can be set up for right-clicking actions that mirror a PC's.

[NewJeffCT]

4. I should try an apple store

I was able to figure out how to burn my JPG files to a CD, which was easy once I figured it out. Just doesn't seem very intuititive to have it under "Share" instead of "Photos" or "Edit" or "File"

But, why no button to eject a CD or DVD that you put in there? If I try to apple help, i just get a spinning ball. it's been a frustrating hour trying to figure out just how to eject a CD...

[Elwood P Dowd]

5. Go to the menu

top left under file you will see eject. You can also eject the CD by dragging it's icon to the trash can located at the right side of the dock.

As for Apple help try this. Go to home>library>preferences. In there find the following and drag them to the trash....

com.apple.help.plst
com.apple.helpui.plst
com.apple.helpviewer.plst

Also, go to home>library>caches and drag com.apple.helpui.plst to the trash.

Click on "empty trash" under the finder on the menu (top left) and then restart your Mac.

Have you repaired permissions? Do you leave the Mac on all night in order for it to run the scripts? If not, you need to download something like MacJanitor.

Edit: Here are some places to visit.....

http://www.apple.com/support/tiger/

http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/

http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html

[NewJeffCT]

6. the eject button was grey

So, i thought I was doing something wrong. I ended up having to open up iTunes and ejecting the CD that way.

[Elwood P Dowd]

7. Just click on the CD icon once to highlight it

and the eject should turn black and work. Also, if you ever get stuck where nothing works, you can restart your Mac holding the mouse button down for a few seconds, and the CD will automatically eject. Did you ever get the help fixed?

[NewJeffCT]

8. haven't tried the "help" yet, but

When I put the CD into the CD drive, no CD showed up... that's a 50-50 proposition on that. I mean, a CD (or DVD) icon showing up on the desktop.

On another topic, we bought a "Reader Rabbit" CD for my daughter that supposedly can function on the Mac. Unfortunately, when it tried to call up the Classic Mac, it didn't seem to function. Worked fine on my 5 year old Dell PC, however.

[Richard Steele]

3. What browser are you using?

Your browser problem just strikes me as unusual;
I'd try a different one as a first step to web-based learning.

[TommyO]

9. right-clicking for menus

If you have a Mighty Mouse (shipping with current iMacs and PowerMacs), do the following so you can right-click for menus:

Open the Apple Menu and select System Preferences
Double-click on Keyboard & Mouse in the Hardware section
Select Mouse, you'll see the different buttons on the Mighty Mouse
Both the left and right buttons have "Primary Button" assigned to them by default
For the right button, select "Secondary Button" and you'll be able to right-click for menus.

I hope this helps a little bit.

[Adelante]

10. Maxfixit

I'm learning quite a lot visiting this forum and reading. They have a forum for newbies where you can get a lot of help. If you subscribe to the site, you also get access to various tutorials.

http://www.macfixit.com/

[alfredo]

11. Macnn has good forums too.

http://www.macnn.com/

MacAddict Magazine is a very good resource.

http://www.macaddict.com/

Mac update is very good for software.

http://www.macupdate.com/

[Elwood P Dowd]

12. Here are a couple more

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/

http://www.123macmini.com/

[alfredo]

13. Thanks for the links

Here's another good one. http://osx.hyperjeff.net/ He's a good guy.

I am a big fan of Desktop Manager. It gives you virtual desktops. Expose' is cool, but I rather use virtual desktops.
http://desktopmanager.berlios.de/

Mac Janitor
http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_hill/macjanitor.html

I like Shiira, a very fast web browser.

http://hmdt-web.net/shiira/en