Switching to a Mac for Dummies (ISBN - 0470466618)

411 Pages·2021·6.37 MB·English

Arnold Reinhold

Learn to:
• Choose the Mac that’s right for you

• Transfer your files from Windows®

• Connect your Mac to the Internet by
using a wireless network

• Get the most from Mac OS® X Snow
Leopard™ and create cool projects
with the iLife® suite

Switching to a Mac
®

2nd Edition

Making Everything Easier!™

Open the book and find:

• How a Mac can simplify your life

• Special advice for seniors and
parents of young kids

• Tips on keeping your Mac updated
and secure

• Ways to unleash your creativity
with photos, audio, and video

• How to configure your new Mac

• Help with switching specialized
software to your Mac

• Mac networking instructions

• How to get both WiFi and backup
capability by using Time Capsule®

Arnold Reinhold has more than three decades of experience in
the software industry. His first Apple product was a Mac 512. He has
coauthored numerous books, including Green IT For Dummies.

Personal Computers/Macintosh

$24.99 US / $29.99 CN / £17.99 UK

ISBN 978-0-470-46661-2

Go to Dummies.com®

for videos, step-by-step examples,
how-to articles, or to shop the store!

Switching is almost as easy
as using a Mac, and we’ll
guide you all the way!

So you’ve decided to join the more intuitive, less virus-
prone world of the Mac? Congratulations! This book tells
you what to expect, how to choose a Mac (if you haven’t
already), and how to make the switch a breeze. Discover all
the cool preloaded software, how to make your Mac talk to
your iPhone™ and iPod®, and how to work the Mac way.

• Meet the family — compare MacBooks and the Mac mini, iMac®,
and Mac Pro

• I’m a Mac, and you’re leaving a PC — see what’s alike and what’s
different, and learn to use Apple menus and the Finder

• Can I keep it? — find out what peripherals will still work with
your Mac

• Moving day — transfer your files, address book, and content
stored on other media

• Get connected — set up your Internet service and e-mail
application, and connect to your printer and other peripherals

• iLove all these apps — play, buy, and organize music with
iTunes®; edit, sort, and share photos with iPhoto®; make movies
with iMovie®; and more

• Safety first — learn what makes Macs safer and why strong
passwords are still important

• If you just can’t say goodbye — see how to run Windows® on
your Mac

Switching to a Mac
®

Reinhold

2nd Edition

spine=.816”

Start with FREE Cheat Sheets

Cheat Sheets include

• Checklists

• Charts

• Common Instructions

• And Other Good Stuff!

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To access the Cheat Sheet created specifically for this book, go to
www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/switchingtoamac

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by Arnold Reinhold

Switching to a Mac®

FOR
DUMmIES

‰

2ND EDITION

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Switching to a Mac® For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit-
ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written
permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the
Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone].
Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://
www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the
Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything
Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or
its affi liates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Mac
is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO
REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF
THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH-
OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE
CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES
CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE
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OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES
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MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS
WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND
WHEN IT IS READ.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care
Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009933381

ISBN: 978-0-470-46661-2

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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About the Author

Arnold Reinhold has more than three decades of experience in the soft-
ware industry. His fi rst Apple product was a Mac 512. Arnold helped found
Automatix, Inc., a pioneer in robotics and machine vision, and is coauthor of
The Internet For Dummies Quick Reference, E-Mail For Dummies, Green IT For
Dummies, and Mac mini Hacks & Mods For Dummies. He developed and main-
tains diceware.com, widely regarded as the “gold standard” in password
security, and mathinthemovies.com.

Arnold studied mathematics at City College of New York and MIT, and man-
agement at Harvard Business School. You can check out his home page at
arnoldreinhold.com.

Dedication

To Max and Grete, who put me here, and Josh, who keeps me going. B’’H.

Author’s Acknowledgments

Thanks to Barbara Model, Carol Baroudi, and Barbara Lapinskas for their
help and suggestions. And, thanks to the folks at Apple computer and their
loyal customers, who keep alive a dream that personal computers, cell-
phones, and music players are not just utilitarian machines but can be tools
that empower and inspire us.

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Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located
at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care
Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media
Development

Project Editor: Rebecca Huehls

Executive Editor: Bob Woerner

Copy Editor: Rebecca Whitney

Technical Editor: Dennis Cohen

Editorial Manager: Leah P. Cameron

Media Development Assistant Project
Manager: Jenny Swisher

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Lynsey Stanford

Layout and Graphics: Reuben W. Davis,
Andrea Hornberger, Christin Swinford,
Christine Williams

Proofreaders: John Greenough,
Jessica Kramer, Nancy L. Reinhardt

Indexer: Rebecca Salerno

Special Help: Virginia Sanders

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

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Contents at a Glance

Introduction ................................................................ 1

Part I: Informed Switching Starts Here .......................... 7

Chapter 1: Why Switch? Demystifying the Mac Mantra ................................................9
Chapter 2: Meet the Mac Family ....................................................................................23
Chapter 3: Deciding What to Buy ...................................................................................53

Part II: Making the Switch ......................................... 83

Chapter 4: The Big Day: Setting Up Your Mac .............................................................85
Chapter 5: Mac OS X for Windows Users ......................................................................97
Chapter 6: Moving Files from Your PC to the Mac ....................................................125
Chapter 7: Switching Applications ..............................................................................141

Part III: Connecting Hither and Yon .......................... 159

Chapter 8: Getting Your Mac Online ...........................................................................161
Chapter 9: Networking the Mac Way ...........................................................................183
Chapter 10: Staying Secure in a Connected World ....................................................201

Part IV: More Software, More Choices ....................... 221

Chapter 11: Easy Listening with iTunes ......................................................................223
Chapter 12: Picturing iPhoto ........................................................................................233
Chapter 13: Producing Movies and Music on Your Mac ...........................................245
Chapter 14: Building Your Space on the Web ............................................................257
Chapter 15: Enjoying Other OS X Goodies ..................................................................267
Chapter 16: Oops, It’s a PC: Running Windows on Your Mac ..................................277

Part V: Specialty Switching Scenarios ....................... 287

Chapter 17: Switching with the Whole Family in Mind .............................................289
Chapter 18: Switching Your Business to Macs ...........................................................311
Chapter 19: Desktop to Dashcode: OS X Advanced ..................................................317

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Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................... 329

Chapter 20: Ten Terrifi c Troubleshooting Tips .........................................................331
Chapter 21: Ten Ways Your Mac Can Help the Planet ..............................................343
Chapter 22: Ten Creative Uses for Your Old PC ........................................................349

Appendix: Mac Speak versus Windows Speak:
A Translation Glossary ............................................. 353

Index ...................................................................... 379

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Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................. 1

About This Book ..............................................................................................1
Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................2
How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................3
Typographic Conventions ..............................................................................4
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................4
Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................5

Part I: Informed Switching Starts Here .......................... 7

Chapter 1: Why Switch? Demystifying the Mac Mantra. . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Be Happy You Waited ...................................................................................10
Take Your Best Shot ......................................................................................10
“Macs are too expensive” ...................................................................11
“Switching is too hard” .......................................................................11
“I’ll be left with no software” ..............................................................12
“Macs are dying out” ...........................................................................12
“Macs are not expandable” .................................................................13
“Macs don’t comply with industry standards” ................................13
“I need Windows for work” .................................................................14
“Macs are a poor game platform” ......................................................14
“Vista, er . . . Windows 7 will kill Apple” ...........................................14
Considering All Aspects — Advantage Apple ............................................15
One neck to wring ................................................................................15
Apple is the industry thought leader ................................................16
Appearances matter ............................................................................16
Looking forward, not backward .........................................................17
Getting top-notch products ................................................................18
Innovating with the enemy .................................................................18
iPod and iPhone ...................................................................................18
Switching Sides Can Sting .............................................................................19

Chapter 2: Meet the Mac Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Checking Out Common Features .................................................................23
Connecting on the Go with Your Apple Laptop .........................................25
Getting just what you need with MacBook .......................................28
Traveling light with MacBook Air ......................................................31
Taking the high ground with MacBook Pro ......................................32

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Switching to a Mac For Dummies, 2nd Edition
viii

Furnishing Your Lair with Mac Desktops ...................................................33
Starting small — the Mac mini ...........................................................35
Getting it all in one box: The iMac .....................................................37
Maxing out with a Mac ........................................................................38
Getting the Right Graphics Processor ........................................................42
Adding On and Filling In ...............................................................................43
Apple displays ......................................................................................43
Time Capsule Wi-Fi base station and backup disk ..........................44
AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi base station ...................................................45
AirPort Express, a Wi-Fi relay .............................................................46
iPod and iPhone ...................................................................................47
Apple TV ...............................................................................................47
Support ..................................................................................................48
Application software offerings ...........................................................50
Server software solutions ...................................................................52

Chapter 3: Deciding What to Buy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Selecting a Conversion Strategy ..................................................................54
Taking it slow .......................................................................................54
Living on the go ....................................................................................55
Giving your PC the heave-ho ..............................................................56
Spending lots of dough........................................................................56
Gaming glow .........................................................................................57
Relaxing as a couch potat-oh .............................................................57
Following the KISS principle ...............................................................57
Figuring Out What’s on Your Windows Computer ....................................58
Navigating from PC to Mac Ports ................................................................60
Finding your way in the back of a Mac ..............................................61
Ports that require an adapter for Macs ............................................64
Stuff that won’t work ...........................................................................66
Using Your Old Equipment with a Mac .......................................................66
Displays and projectors ......................................................................66
Keyboard and mouse ..........................................................................68
Printers, scanners, and fax machines ...............................................70
External hard drives and fl ash drives ...............................................70
Internal drives ......................................................................................71
Networking devices .............................................................................71
Digital cameras and camcorders .......................................................72
PC cards ................................................................................................72
Portable music players and cellphones ............................................73
Miscellany .............................................................................................73
Getting Ready to Buy ....................................................................................74
Choosing options for your new Mac .................................................74
Selecting other accessories ................................................................75
Shopping for Your New Mac ........................................................................80
Shopping at your local computer store ............................................80
Visiting the Apple Store ......................................................................80
Buying your Mac online ......................................................................81

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