Macintosh / Apple tips

[Sergeant Pluck]

There is a terminal command you can do to change this default setting. I'm going to do it when I return to full wifi and have both my achenes together. I don't have a link but will do a google for it.

I see that the latest Lion update fixes that - unchecked by default now

[Jaded]

Yes. How they ever let Lion out like that I have no idea.

[redshift]

Dipping my toe into the world of Mac...

Final Cut Studio 2 - The installer claims not to work under Lion, as PowerPC code is no longer supported.  However, the installation can be done at the command line using

Code: [Select]

sudo installer -package /Volumes/Final\ Cut\ Studio/Installer/FinalCutStudio.mpkg/ -target /
I suspect that other packages which fail to install because of PowerPC code could be installed the same way.  There is the possibility of installing Rosetta, but that's been removed from Lion.  Various forum posts elsewhere say that Rosetta can be installed from the 'optional' components of earlier releases of OS X, but my install disks (10.5.5) don't appear to allow it.  This was the workaround which worked for me.

Considering I've been a MBP* owner for ooh, about 36 hours now, I seem to be making progress.  I'll see whether it sticks...





*Secondhand, 15" 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo MBP from 2008 with 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD and 250GB external 2.5" USB HDD and a few other goodies: Used, but not abused.

[jezzasnr]

Could anybody point an absolute beginner in the direction of an half decent guide for garage band?
Would just like to record some acoustic guitar covers with my daughter.

[AndyK]

Here: http://www.apple.com/support/garageband/

[ian]

Dipping my toe into the world of Mac...

Final Cut Studio 2 - The installer claims not to work under Lion, as PowerPC code is no longer supported.  However, the installation can be done at the command line using

Code: [Select]

sudo installer -package /Volumes/Final\ Cut\ Studio/Installer/FinalCutStudio.mpkg/ -target /
I suspect that other packages which fail to install because of PowerPC code could be installed the same way.  There is the possibility of installing Rosetta, but that's been removed from Lion.  Various forum posts elsewhere say that Rosetta can be installed from the 'optional' components of earlier releases of OS X, but my install disks (10.5.5) don't appear to allow it.  This was the workaround which worked for me.

Considering I've been a MBP* owner for ooh, about 36 hours now, I seem to be making progress.  I'll see whether it sticks...

Rosetta is not supported in Lion (10.7), Apple formally finished shovelling dirt into the grave of PPC code. I presume there's a sanity check when you try and install anything with PPC code which you can get around via the command line. I'm not familiar with Final Cut, but if the core application is PPC then it won't work – however, if it's anything like Photoshop, it may just be some of the plug-ins that are PPC. So your milage may vary.

Rosetta is available as an optional download in Snow Leopard (10.6) – it should just download if you attempt to do anything with PPC code. It should just be there in Leopard (10.5) – though if I recall, it was an optional part of the original install. Anyway, Rosetta simply won't work with anything higher than 10.7.

[Jaded]

On a machine of that spec I'd be inclined to stick with Snow Leopard.

[redshift]

FCP is universal code (I believe that means both sets of binaries are present), it's only the installer and some plugins that insist on PPC, so it runs just fine.  It's more that Final Cut X (the current version) is a steaming pile of poo, and the people I support are using the last version of Studio.  I'm more familiar with Avid, so this is new territory for me - I'm using it for familiarisation more than anything.  I won't be doing any serious editing because that's not what I do.

Jaded, the machine came with all the original disks, but had already been upped to Lion.  Any particular reason not to keep it?  it seems to run fine, but then, I'm no judge yet.

[AndyK]

On a machine of that spec I'd be inclined to stick with Snow Leopard.

I run Lion on a late 2006 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 17" iMac with no problems at all.

[Valiant]

It's more that Final Cut X (the current version) is a steaming pile of poo, and the people I support are using the last version of Studio.

+10

[Sergeant Pluck]

When I’m in Safari, when I go to any other app such as iPlayer, or even something like Software Update, the Safari window always minimises, so that I see  whatever else is already open (normally Mail) overlaid by the newly opened app. Thus, I need to unhide Safari in order to carry on what I was doing. Which is annoying.

How can I get Safari not to hide when I open another app?

OS X Lion

[Pickled Onion]

How are you opening the other application? The behaviour you describe is what happens if you option-click in the Dock, not sure why it would only happen with Safari tho.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Single normal click in the dock. I could understand it if it minimised all open apps in favour of the newly opened app, but only Safari is minimised.

So, when in Safari (full screen), click iPlayer in dock, Safari disappears leaving Mail (also full screen) and then iPlayer opens on top of that.

[Pickled Onion]

Single normal click in the dock. I could understand it if it minimised all open apps in favour of the newly opened app, but only Safari is minimised.

So, when in Safari (full screen), click iPlayer in dock, Safari disappears leaving Mail (also full screen) and then iPlayer opens on top of that.

Aha!

It's not minimising, it's on a different desktop. When you go full screen in Lion, it adds a new desktop for the application. Go to mission control - three finger swipe up - and you'll see the desktops. Three finger swipe left or right will get you to the desktop with Safari in it (or control+arrow)

[Pickled Onion]

Oh and here's a tip as per the thread title:

If you need to sign a document and email it back - no need to print and scan:
Open in preview
Click Pencil icon
Click Sig button
Sign a piece of paper and hold it up
Drag the signature to place on the pdf

[Sergeant Pluck]

If you spend your Mac owning time trying to recreate Windows things it will never be happy time.

Just occurred to me today that since getting my MBA and getting my stuff of my PC, I have never once felt any need to boot up my Windows machine. That's since March. I have also never installed any Windows software, Parallels or any of that.