A Windows User's Roadmap to the Apple Macintosh User Interface: Part 3

by Lee Hudspeth
(This article appears in The Naked PC #6.14, August 11, 2003)

** 02. A Windows User's Roadmap to the Apple Macintosh User
       Interface: Part 3 (by Lee Hudspeth)

I am continuing to gather notes, observations, and workarounds 
for Windows folks who make the transition, part-time or full-
time, to the Macintosh. To see my previous articles in this 
series, go here.
Part 1:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/614/tr.cgi?lee1
Part 2:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/614/tr.cgi?lee2

Getting Help--
Turning on the Mac's "show balloons" feature can be very helpful 
to anyone new to the Mac's user interface. When on, virtually 
anything you point the mouse to yields a balloon with a helpful 
description of its name and what it is and/or what it can do. To 
activate the feature select Help, Show Balloons. To turn it off 
select Help, Hide Balloons.

Installing software--
This process is more cumbersome on a Mac than on a Windows PC. 
For example, say you want to install the latest version of 
Microsoft Internet Explorer on a Mac (v5.1.7 if you're running 
Mac OS 8.1 to 9.x, v5.2.3 if you use Mac OS X). After downloading 
the installation file you have to (1) expand the file, (2) 
double-click a resulting .SMI file, (3) double-click a file that 
is created on the desktop, and (4) drag a folder. For a Windows 
user performing a similar upgrade, after downloading the 
installation file you'd either have to unzip it or if it's an 
installer's EXE file you would simply run the file which 
automatically starts the installer and from that point forward 
the installer would handle any other file and folder operations. 
So let's say the Windows user does have to manually initiate an 
unzip, that's still three additional manual steps for the Mac 
versus Windows.

Microsoft's Mac resources--
Microsoft's Mactopia portal page is the place to go if you need 
information about Microsoft products for the Mac:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/614/tr.cgi?lee3

By the way, the place to go for free Internet Explorer downloads 
for the Mac is right here:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/614/tr.cgi?lee4

Expanding (decompressing) files--
One of the requirements for the aforementioned Internet Explorer 
install is Aladdin Systems StuffIt Expander version 5.5 or later. 
You'll need it for other installs too. Here's where to go to get 
the free version of StuffIt Expander. Note that Expander, on its 
own, is always free. You can opt to get the compression tools 
too--they come in a bundle called StuffIt Standard Edition--but 
that'll cost you $49.99 (there is a free 15-day trial option).
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/614/tr.cgi?lee5

Getting file/folder/object information--
To get information about a file or other object on the screen, 
select it, Ctrl+click it, you'll see a pop-up menu, choose 
General Information. The resulting dialog box provides the 
desired information.

Viewing a file's version value--
In Windows this is a two-step process: right-click the file, 
choose Properties, and click the Version tab; however, you can't 
get this version data to persist for all files in a Windows 
Explorer view. On a Mac it can persist: in a Finder window select 
View, As List, View, Options, check the "Version" check box in 
the "Show Columns" section (other column values are listed here 
too).

I'm continuing to gather reader tips on this topic so I welcome 
your email.

(c) 2003, Lee Hudspeth
You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
mailto:LeeHudspeth@TheNakedPC.com

You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
leehudspeth@TheNakedPC.com

To go to Lee's main page and see a list of links to his other articles and supplemental pages, click here.

To go to The Naked PC's articles index page, click here.

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