From Windows to OS X

Discounts for Employer Sponsored AT&T Rate Plans Now Honored

In my previous post I outlined a chat conversation I had with an AT&T sales rep. At that time AT&T did not honor Employer Sponsored rate plan discounts. Well AT&T has now changed their tune.

To get your corporate discount you have to go to:

http://wireless.att.com/discounts

There you will enter your work email address and wireless number to be validated for the xx% discount you get from your employer. They say the discount will go into effect in 1 to 2 billing cycles. You’ll also notice your AT&T on-line account page will show the name of the Employer Sponsored plan name at the top.

Oh, and You’re Welcome!

Posted in iPhone | 1 Comment »

No Discounted AT&T Voice Plans for Employer Pricing with the iPhone

This is not the typical post here on thedigitalblue.com but I wanted to share this with anyone interested in getting an iPhone and service with AT&T that may work for a company that gets employer discounts with AT&T.

The following is the chat transcript of a conversation I had with an AT&T service rep:

Scott R.: I would like to port my existing number and purchase an Apple iPhone.

Mele E: Thank you for using AT&T Premier Support. Have a great day. This chat window will close shortly. If you need to copy any of the information provided to you, please do so now. If you require more assistance, please feel free to log back in and another agent will assist you.

Nice job AT&T!

Posted in iPhone | 2 Comments »

Login Items

Windows: Startup (and Run in the Registry)

OS X: Login Items

As I’m sure you know, if you want a certain program to start when you first logon to Windows, you can place a shortcut to the program in Startup folder in Start-> Programs. To make it easier, some programs do this for you (whether you like it or not). There is even a special key in the Windows Registry that will do the same. It’s called the Run key and is located in the HKEY_Current_User and KEY_Local_Machine keys of the registry.

So where can I place a startup item in OS X? In the Login Items of course. To do this, go to System Preferences and choose Accounts. Once you’re there, select your account and click on the Login Items tab.

Here you will find a list of items that have been added to start when you login to your account. You can add and remove items by clicking either the plus or minus buttons at the bottom of the list. Some applications will have a preference to set it to start at login (which adds it here). You can also add items by ‘CTRL’ clicking (or right mouse click for two button mice) on the open application in the Dock and choosing ‘Open at Login’.

Posted in Start Menu, User Profile | 1 Comment »

Home Folder

Windows: User Profile

OS X: Home Folder

In Windows, when you save a file to your desktop it’s saved in the following location C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\Desktop. As a matter of fact, there are multiple folders under your user folder such as My Documents, My Pictures, Application Data and so forth. In Windows, this folder is referred to as your User Profile. Your user profile or as it’s called in OS X, your Home Folder is located in the following location: /Users/UserName (as viewed via the Terminal) or in the graphic (GUI) form:

As you can see, your Home Folder contains some very useful folders such as Documents, Music and Pictures. Those folders are where applications such as iTunes and iPhoto store their data and you also have folders for Documents and the folder for the Desktop itself.

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System Profiler

Windows: Device Manager or System Information

OS X: System Profiler

The System Profiler is located in the Applications>Utilities folder. It can also be launched from the ‘More Info…’ button on the About This Mac window.

System Profiler lists information about your Mac such as hardware and software installed. It’s a cross between the Device Manager and System Information in Windows. With System Profiler, you can find information such as your computer serial number, processor speed, system memory and video memory. You will also find details about the hardware components installed such as model numbers and ROM revisions. This information can be useful in troubleshooting problems (what problems, this is a Mac) or be used by Apple Tech Support.

Software information including installed applications, fonts and startup items can be found here as well. Plus you can view the various logs that OS X creates. Which is also good for troubleshooting.

You can also save, print or copy and paste the detail information or send it to Apple Tech Support.

Posted in Device Manager, System Information | No Comments »

Menu Bar

Windows: Application Menu

OS X: Menu Bar

Unlike Windows where the application Menu is only visible when an application is open. In OS X, the Menu Bar is always present at the top of the Desktop window and will change depending on which application is active and in the foreground.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the Finder was the active application at the time. You will also notice some other icons on the right side. Those icons represent other applications or features of the OS, like Spotlight.

Posted in Desktop, Interface Objects | No Comments »

Close, Minimize and Expand

Windows: Minimize, Maximize and Close

OS X: Close, Minimize and Expand

Ok, so what’s up with the little red, yellow and green stop light looking buttons on the upper left of every window? Do they do the same thing as the Windows buttons? Well, not exactly… let me explain.

Let’s start out with the RED button. You would think the RED button would close and quit the application. Not true. The RED button does close the window but does not “Quit” the application. The application is still running. Now I have to say that this is true 99% of the time. There are “Applications” that do not adhere to this rule. System Preferences being one that does not. Also, keep in mind that if you have an application open, like Safari, and you have a few open site tabs. If you click the RED button, the Safari window will close, Safari will continue to run but you will loose your open web pages. If you have the Safari icon in the Dock, you should see a little triangle below the icon, this tells you which app is running.

Next is the YELLOW button. Simple, this button will minimize the window to the Dock. You can then get it back by clicking its icon on the right side of the Dock.

Last is the GREEN button. When you click this button, the window will expand to fit the contents of the window. So lets take Safari as the example again. If you click the GREEN button while you have a web page open, the window will expand to fit the dimension set by the current web site.

Now, that’s not all there is to say about these buttons. You will also notice the buttons change when you place the mouse pointer over any one. It looks like this:

But that’s not all folks… there is more. This is probably one of the most useful features of these buttons. Say you’re working in iMovie… editing your next home movie and have not yet saved your changes. The RED button will display a black dot in the middle. This reminds you that your work is not saved. Nice, Right? This is how it looks:

If you click the RED button when there is un-saved work, you will be prompted to either save or discard your changes. Or you can cancel altogether.

Posted in Interface Objects | No Comments »

Software Update

Windows: Windows Update or Microsoft Update

OS X: Software Update

Software Update in OS X is similar to Windows Update or Microsoft Update (depending on which version you have installed) in that it provides an automatic means of checking for operating system critical updates along with some application updates on a scheduled basis.

Software Update not only checks for security related updates but also checks for Apple application updates as well. So any Apple application that is installed on your system will be included in the scheduled checks for updates.

Software Update can be configured to check for updates on a Daily, Weekly or Monthly basis. You can also launch Software Update manually by going to the Apple Menu and choosing Software Update or by going through System Preferences and selecting Software Update. From there you can click the ‘Check Now’ button. You can also view a log of Installed Updates from this preferences window.

Posted in Desktop, Windows Update | 2 Comments »

Apple Menu

The Apple Menu in OS X is really quite unique and to compare it to something in Windows is really rather hard. The Apple Menu gives you access to applications and settings that Windows has in multiple locations.

Lets start with the Windows Start Button. The Windows Start Button has ‘Shutdown’ and ‘Logoff’; the Apple Menu has ‘Log out’, ‘Shutdown…’, ‘Restart…’ and ‘Sleep’.

If you right click the Windows Taskbar and select Properties you will be presented with the ‘Taskbar and Start Menu Properties‘ window. From the Apple Menu you can change the settings of the Dock.

In Windows, to get to the Control Panel you could click the Start Button, Settings, Control Panel; in OS X, to get to the System Preferences you could click the Apple Menu and select ‘System Preferences…’.

I know I’ve missed a few but I think you get the picture…

Posted in Control Panel, End Process, End Task, Start Button, Taskbar, Windows Explorer, Windows Update | No Comments »

About This Mac

Windows: My Computer, Properties

OS X: About This Mac

To get to About This Mac, click on the Apple Menu icon which is located on the Menu Bar at the top of your screen and choose ‘About This Mac‘ from the menu list. The closest equivalent in Windows would be My Computer… Properties.

As you can see, some of the information listed are items such as the version of OS X, Processor type, amount of system memory and startup disk. There are also button links to Software Update and More Info… (which will launch System Profiler).

Tip: you can also click on the OS X version info to see other items such as the OS X build number and system serial number.

Posted in My Computer, My Computer Properties | No Comments »

The Desktop

Windows: Desktop

OS X: Desktop

The OS X Desktop is the same concept as the Windows Desktop. In OS X, the Desktop contains items such as the Menu Bar and Dock as well as an icon for the local hard drive (which by default is named Macintosh HD). Other icons can include files, folders and a host of other items such as web page links.

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The Dock

Windows: Taskbar

OS X: Dock

The closest object in Windows that can compare to the Dock in OS X would be the Windows Taskbar. By default, the Dock is located at the bottom of the Desktop and contains shortcuts to your often used applications. The dock also displays applications that are currently running as well as applications that are minimized. The Trash icon is also located on the Dock.

To add an application icon to the Dock, you simply drag the application icon from the Applications folder onto the Dock. A quick access icon that represents the application is then displayed. To remove an application icon you just drag the icon off and it disappears into a puff of smoke. Keep in mind that the Dock icon is only a representation of the actual application, nothing is moved or removed from your Mac.

The position of the Dock can be changed to either side of the Desktop and can also be resized and made to hide automatically when not in use. The settings to change the Dock are located in System Preferences or from the Apple Menu icon.

Posted in Desktop, Taskbar | 1 Comment »

System Preferences

Windows: Control Panel

OS X: System Preferences

When you need to change some of the system properties in Windows you would go to the Control Panel. To do this in OS X, you would go to System Preferences.

The System Preferences icon located on the Dock (as well as on the Apple Menu or in the Applications folder located in your user Home Folder) can be used to launch this application . As you can see, System Preferences contains the system settings icons for items such as Desktop & Screen Saver and Network settings along with a host of other settings.

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Finder

Windows: Windows Explorer

OS X: Finder

Windows has the Windows Explorer to view files and folders on the hard drive and other media. In OS X you have the Finder. You can get to the Finder in a number of ways. There is an icon located on the Dock that will launch Finder as well as double-clicking on the drive icon on the Desktop.

This is what the Finder looks like:

Posted in Windows Explorer | No Comments »