Mac geeks: can you help with this?

I’ve always been an admirer of Apple computers, but never switched due to far too many programs and files would have to redo.

Anyway, a friend got sick of Windows, so told him about the Mac Mini. He went to check it out and bought one right away. He already realizes how great and stabile it is, but has some problems (the Mac Excel version is not up to the Win one, for example).

One annoying problem: He often wants to compare the list of files in one folder with another. I do this too, and in Windows all you have to do is open Windows Explorer, click on a folder and it opens a window on the desktop. Then minimize that and open another folder, minimize that. Then just drag them side by side and enlarge, and it is very easy to compare. You can also do this with two different wordprocessing or other files.

He says that once he opens one folder and clicks on a second one, the first one disappears. There must be a workaround to this, no?

If there is a way to do this, appreciate a step-by-step explanaation. I probably won’t understand it, but can copy and send it to my friend.

Thanks.

I assume he is talking about the fact that, when you navigate between folders in MacOS, the new folder you select takes the place of the folder you were looking at before.

One way to get around this is to Cmd-double-click (meaning hold the Apple key and double-click) on the second folder he wants to open. It should appear in a different window.

You can set the Finder to do this permanently, by going to the Finder menu, selecting preferences, selecting the general tab, and selecting “Always open folders in a new window”.

Alternatively, he could click the finder icon in the dock to open up however many finder windows he wants, and navigate to the appropriate folders with the windows already open. Double-clicking the Macintosh HD icon will have the same effect.

I’m not entirely sure what your friend is doing (wrong), but I have no difficulty opening two Finder windows at the same time. (You don’t have to minimize anything, either).

a) Double-click folder 1. Window opens. For the purposes you’ve described, set it to list view if it isn’t already.

b) Double-click folder 2. Window opens. First window does NOT disappear, not under any circumstances I’m familiar with. Set this one also to list view. Resize folder windows as need be using the resize-widget.

Alternately, go to the Finder’s “Edit”(?) menu and click on “New Finder Window” (or just press Command-N). Arrange and view as desired.

(? because I’m at work right now and can’t check firsthand)

Thanks, guys, sounds logical to me. I’ll forward your info to my friend and hope that solves his problem. If he can do this and a couple other things, am sure he’ll give up on the PC all together!

I keep urging him to call tech support, the Apple store or a local users group, but he’s too shy I guess.

Klondike

This isn’t likely the case, but holding down option while opening a folder in a parent window will cause the parent window to close as the subfolder window opens.

My new PowerBook G4 came today. On my last road trip, I didn’t take my PC laptop because it’s old (133mHz) and still has Win95 on it. With an older version of Explorer, I can’t check my mail on it. Pretty useless, until I replace the OS – and then it will still be 133mHz. So I got a PowerBook that I can take with me.

  1. My friend told me that I should replace Tiger with Panther ‘If I actually wanted to do work’. I’llo be loading Final Cut Pro on this machine and using it for a mobile editor. Should I really replace Tiger with Panther?

  2. I’m unfamiliar with Macs. How do I open up multiple browser (Safari) windows?

  3. How do I make Safari full-width? I tried clicking ‘+’, but it only moves the window around the desktop.

Huh. I didn’t even know it was possible to degrade to Panther. I’ve never used Final Cut Pro, so I’m not sure what problems it has, if any, in Tiger.

Several ways. The most straightforward way is to go to File -> New Window. You can also press Cmd+N, or right-click on a link and choose “Open in new window.”

As far as I can determine, clicking ‘+’ only widens Safari enough to fully view the current page without horizontal scrolling. If you want it to fill the whole screen width, you have to drag the corner.

I figured out how to open a new browser accidentally.

As far as the sizing, maybe I wasn’t doing it right. As I said, clicking ‘+’ only moved the window around without changing dimensions. I went to the edge of the window expecting to see the pointer change to ->||<- so I could stretch it. Didn’t happen; just stayed an arrow. Maybe that’s only a PC thing?

I did manage to log on with the dial-up (last post was from the Mac), but I was unable to get it to log on with my mobile phone. The computer is configured to talk to my mobile, but it’s not connecting. I need to see about an external drive (for the editing to come), and I should look at batteries and an AirPort. Maybe I should take the computer and phone with me so that I can have the local Mac expert set up the Bluetooth connection?

If the window’s already sized to show the current page without horizontal scrolling, all the '+" button will do is move it around pointlessly. To resize it manually, you need to click and drag the little diagonal ridge-looking widget on the bottom right corner of the window.

Wouldn’t hurt. Bluetooth is a totally unknown world to me. Have you gone through the “Set up Bluetooth device…” assistant you can get to by clicking on the little angular B on the top bar near the right?

I’ll look for that next time I use it.

Yes, I used the assistant. Heh. Bluetooth is newer to me than it is to you! Heck, I’ve only just gotten a Mac!

Actually, I do have an iMac my friend gave to me. It’s loaded up with Panther, but I was never able to get it to connect to the Internet. My friend says I should eBay it, since the PowerBook is better, faster, and has more RAM and a bigger disc. But I thought it might be useful if and when I move back to L.A. I could take my PC and PowerBook with me, and leave the iMac up here in the house.

One neat thing about the iMac is that the windows minimise when you ‘whack’ a corner with the pointer. Also, the toolbar is on the right side of the screen and out of the way; and it disappears until you hit it with the pointer. I’ll have to see if Tiger does that.

I’m sure you can configure it to do so – the dock can be set on any side of the screen but the top. And how do you mean “whack” – you can double-click the title bar and have it minimize. Is that what you’re referring to, or is it something else?

Heh. I only bought my new iMac a few weeks ago (as soon as the new models came out), and I’m already utterly in love with it. And I’ve never gotten a Bluetooth device to work correctly, though I’ve never tried connecting one to my mac, either.

If the windows all minimize until you click one, then pop back, then that’s Expose in action. Damn handy; try attaching a multi-button mouse[sup]*[/sup] and using the Expose Preferences to map one of the buttons to invoke it. :cool:

[sup]*[/sup] Yes, Macs grok multi-button mice.

No reason it shouldn’t, that’s in the Dock Preferences.