cool things a mac can do

[nasha]

Hey all, I am a new switcher to MAC and I absolutely love it. I have worked on PC's my whole life and I know them inside and out basically. So I was wondering if there is anything cool, or a nice little feature that the macs can do that they don't tell you about. I hope you understand what I am looking for. Does anyone have cool things on there macs? Or make itunes play as your alarm clock? I have been using my ibook and i feel like I understand the basics but that I am missing out on some sweet features.. Thanks for the help

[iHaris]

You don't missing anything, everything on Mac is "some sweet features"

[Qion]

There's a million things that I would consider "cool" on a Mac. Most of these have Windows equivilents, but that's not the point. What makes a Mac "cool" is that it does all these things in style.

For instance, have you tried filling your iPhoto library with every digital image you have, importing a mix of pictures and video into iMovie, creating a movie, exporting that movie with one click to iDVD, creating a three-dimensional DVD menu with your movie on a link, and playing it on a consumer DVD player for your family?

Macs are all about expression, at least to me. They allow you to create whatever you want to create with ease.

[nixgeek]

I think the fact that it can recognize other filesystem than those made by the company that made the OS is a cool thing. I still can't understand why Windows doesn't come with the ability to interoperate with other filesystems, especially today. Linux, Mac OS X, and other free Unix variants (although OS X isn't free ) have this ability and have had it for some time now.

Also consider that there are now a LOT of open source developers coding for the Mac, so you'll find some really cool open source software out there that you might not find on Windows (even though there are developers working on free and open source software on Windows).

Plus, the fact that it's a Unix operating system allows you to run a ton of the already available UNIX applications provided you have the right software like X11 (which already comes with the OS X discs) if they require it.

And to be honest, it's just plain FUN using a Mac! While I do have fun on my Linux computers, I enjoy working and playing on my Mac more than anything. Sure, I use Windows, but I don't find it as fun....I get bored with it quick. I just have it for my wife and games (the latter I barely have much time for lately anyways and the former has her own laptop running Windows).

And while it might seem that the Macs are more expensive, you definitely get what you pay for which means you get a better return on investment than you would with a PC.

[Ashka]

Quick Show Off stuff:Quick keys.
control.option.command.8 repeat to put the screen back to normal.

If you are typing in a cocoa app and don't know how to spell the word you've started, hit option-escape or F5 and you get a pop-up list of words. Use the fn key too on iBooks etc.

Control.Command.D = dictionary definition of word under cursor

Select pictures in finder (Column view) control click (right click) slideshow ~ try the index sheet too.

Heaps more, have fun.

[nasha]

thanks for all of your info i appretiate it wow ashka those shortcuts and cool things you said about are wicked i tried them all out today and they are the kind of things i am looking for little shortcuts and cool features that mean i can have more fun on my mac and show off to my pc friends of all the cool things that a mac can do

if from now on if you are going to post here could you please do the kind of things that ashka has done because that is the kind of thing i am looking for

thanks a lot i appretiate it

[nixgeek]

Well, most of the other posts pretty much incluide a lot of cool things that Windows on PCs can't do that the Mac can. There are even things that other open source operating systems can't even come close to the cool things the Mac can do. Now, if you had asked more specifically about cool shortcuts, fine, but you just asked about all the cool things a Mac can do. And thus, we have provided.

[Ashka]

Hold down the shift key when using exposé or when minimising anything to the dock.

Type, Shift.Option.K. 

Command.Tab to cycle through open apps.

Command.Shift.4 then draw around anthing on screen,
Command.Shift.3 = capture screen. Both will leave pic on desktop.
(Grab in your Utilities has more options)

The Digital Color meter (Utilities) is great to find color profiles.

You can use Preview to view several picture files at once. Select files. Command.letter O. The thumbnails are in the drawer.
(If the files have been changed in Graphic converter they will open in that app instead).

Sending a large mail attachment. Command.Zero will bring up Mail's activity viewer.

Have fun Nasha and welcome to Mac.