[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino not having used a PC in 5 years, i did not know that this was not possible on PCs...i move stuff around without thinking all the time. but while you can throw open files into the trash, you can't "empty trash" if the file is still open.

Files that are "locked" because they're open for reading and/or writing is one of those Windows annoyances you just kind of think is normal if all you use is Windows. I found the OS X approach quite a pleasant surprise.

Naturally, you can't empty that file from the trash if a file is still open by some application. That wouldn't make sense, since it would cause problems for the app, to have its data suddenly disappear. The key thing is that the file and its contents can be moved around all you want, transparently to applications.

Another pleasant side effect of this is that the "Recently Used" files menus of applications (often called MRU lists in Windows) can actually find and open files even if they've been moved on disk since the application was last used. In Windows, if the file has been moved, most apps just give you a "File Not Found" message (the Explorer has a different behavior, going off on a time-consuming directory search for something with the same name). Little things like this make file management and organization pleasant on Macs. A lot of this kind of stuff you don't realize if you're not paying attention, but it makes a real difference in terms of overall usability.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisenor Just wondering about the Intel switch...I remember before everyone was excited about Core Image and Quartz 2D and extreme for GPU text and stuff...what happened to all this?

That's all still there. The Intel 950 fully supports Quartz Extreme (it also fully supports Windows Vista Aero/Glass), and naturally all the better graphics chips in the other current Macs do too.

The reason you don't hear a lot of noise about Quartz Extreme is because it's already very old news. It's been in OS X since 2003, and basic Quartz has been there since the beginning. Vista is late to the party, as usual, but it's nice to see them delivering. A lot of apps use Core Image and Quartz Extreme: Final Cut Pro, Motion, Aperture, OmniDazzle, Dashboard, Imaginator, PhotoWorkshop, etc.

Core Data, another one of the really impressive technical features of Tiger, is also used widely.

 

[sisenor]

I know Quartz Extreme has been around for a while, but if you remember, when Tiger shipped there was a lot of talk about Quartz 2D and there was even a way to turn it on through the developer tools.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisenor I know Quartz Extreme has been around for a while, but if you remember, when Tiger shipped there was a lot of talk about Quartz 2D and there was even a way to turn it on through the developer tools.

You're confusing Quartz 2D (there since the beginning) and Quartz Extreme (the new thing). The option in the developer tools doesn't actually turn on Quartz Extreme -- that's always on. It turns on using Quartz Extreme to render certain 2D elements that used to be rendered with Quartz 2D. It doesn't make any difference to the user either way. Quartz Extreme is always available in the background on machines with powerful enough graphics hardware, and you don't have to turn on any special settings to get stuff like this:

http://f.steike.com/thumb-3d-fancy.jpg
and

http://f.steike.com/thumb-3d-slash.jpg

 

[sisenor]

whoa, how'd you do that?

 

[Wodgy]

Those pics are done with the window warping API from Quartz Extreme. It's not used in any mainstream apps that I'm aware of (yet) except as special effects, e.g. the water wave effect when you drop a new widget down on the dashboard, and the page flip effect in the Shiira web browser. Linear transformations of windows are used more often, e.g. the cube rotation effect a lot of VirtueDesktops users usually like for switching between virtual desktops -- this is the effect you've seen if you've watched any of the "fast OS switching" videos that have been floating around on the net of the new Macs going from OS X to Windows to Linux at the press of a key.

It's only a matter of time though before someone connects this up with the rotational motion sensor on the new Mac laptops, so if you pick up the laptop and tilt it, the windows will tilt the opposite direction to stay vertical

 

[RedLeader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino dude, you're taking things way too literally/seriously. yes, i love my macs. but i love coffee and i love motorcycles and grado headphones, too. it's a figure of speech for the most part, but what's wrong with liking something ardently? you probably wouldn't be on this site if you didn't like headphones to some extent...i mean, they're just a means to an end, right?

Thank you for re-stating my point. Yes, I enjoy headphones and I like my DT990. However, I do not call myself a member of the cult of BeyerDynamic. When someone mentions anything related to headphones I do not go off on ridiculous rants on how Beyer makes all other companies look like crap and is the only thing that's any good. It's those people that frighten me.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedLeader Thank you for re-stating my point. Yes, I enjoy headphones and I like my DT990. However, I do not call myself a member of the cult of BeyerDynamic. When someone mentions anything related to headphones I do not go off on ridiculous rants on how Beyer makes all other companies look like crap and is the only thing that's any good. It's those people that frighten me.

some of us here have been very enthusiastic about our macs, but i don't recall anyone that has been vicious in attacking another OS or platform. the OP asked questions about his new computer, we've tried our best to answer him. i don't remember anyone stating that macs make all other computers look like crap...sure, there are crazy fanboys that do that kind of stuff, but i don't think anyone here has done that. if you don't like us talking about our macs, why are you reading this thread?

 

[downingp]

I just got my apple and am really liking it. I did have a couple of questions though. I can't seem to get the dvd drive to take any cd. It seems like I have to restart the computer for the drive to suck the cd in. Do I have to do anything special to have the drive take the cd?
Also, I have a .dmg file. Its the toast 7 program. I installed it, but I don't know where it put the program. Its not in applications.

 

[Jeff E]

Congrats on the ibook. Welcome to the light side.

Quote:

Originally Posted by downingp I have a .dmg file. Its the toast 7 program. I installed it, but I don't know where it put the program. Its not in applications.

It's a disk copy image file. Execute it and it will install a regular file on your disk. Read about it here.

Apple has a tutorial for switchers that might be worthwhile.

Enjoy your new machine.

 

[downingp]

Jeff,

I had already done what you said. I executed it, and installed it. Now when I click on the .dmg file the program pops up instead of the installer. I just can't seem to find the file to open the program besides using the .dmg

Any suggestions about the cd rom drive?

 

[Jeff E]

Quote:

Originally Posted by downingp I executed it, and installed it. Now when I click on the .dmg file the program pops up instead of the installer. I just can't seem to find the file to open the program besides using the .dmg

I would trash the .dmg file. Then I would use the finder to locate the installed program file.
Quote:

Any suggestions about the cd rom drive?

I use an older mac with a tray that slides out so I can't help you here. Have you searched on Apple's support?

 

[frozenice]

You're dvd drive should accept cd's fine . If they don't phone Apple - that's what customer service is for .

I like Omniweb for the web- it has some nice features like Workspace and drawers that the others don't .Not as fast or as polished as Safari or updated to new web standards as quickly.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by downingp I just got my apple and am really liking it. I did have a couple of questions though. I can't seem to get the dvd drive to take any cd. It seems like I have to restart the computer for the drive to suck the cd in. Do I have to do anything special to have the drive take the cd? Also, I have a .dmg file. Its the toast 7 program. I installed it, but I don't know where it put the program. Its not in applications.

when you double click on the .dmg file, it should mount a white disk image on your desktop. on that disk image is the Toast 7 folder/application. there are two basic ways to install software in OS X. one, just drag/drop the application into your Applications folder. most OS X applications are bundles and contain everything you need to run the application in the application itself. very easy. second, some applications will need to be installed using the OS X installer...these usually show up as .pkg files. double click and the intaller will help you through it.

for Toast 7, i believe it's a folder, so just drag the whole toast 7 folder into your Applications folder. now, go to Applications/Toast 7/Toast (this is the way most people talk about files/directories on the mac) and double click on your toast application and the rest should be easy.

lastly, once everything has been copied over from the disk image, you just "eject" the disk image...right click on it or drag it to the trash. the .dmg file can then be trashed or saved...i usually save most of my installed apps in case i need to reinstall or reformat the HD for any reason. good luck.

 

[downingp]

thanks for all your help and suggestions. I will give it a shot when I get home from work.

How do I erase all instances of toast? I figure maybe I can start from scratch and start a new intall.