There really is no such thing as a stupid Mac user (well nearly anyway). But there ARE some things that seem to stump people again and again. Often they are little things as the big things get annoying enough to get fixed pretty quick. These little things though. I see them again and again, so here's a quick run down of the top 10 things people seem to find it easiest to get wrong on their Macs. (you blithering idiots!)
Number One - Closing an application window does not quit the application.
Unlike windows, closing a mac application window does not quit the application. The app will continue to run with no open windows, using up RAM and system resources. Often people will have dozens of apps running before their Mac grinds to a halt. Have a look in the dock. every application icon with a small glowing dot under it is running. To quit an application choose quit from the main menu. Remember your Mac does not have infinite memory so keep only the applications you need up and running.
Number Two - running applications from a disk image.
OK, so you don't have to be stupid to do this (but it helps obviously). The main culprits here seen to be Firefox and Skype, probably because they are common downloads. Once your application download is finished your Mac will automatically open the downloaded file. This is normally a special type of file called a disk image. It looks like a removable drive on your desktop, but it's not really. It's just a pretend disk that contains either the application installer or the application file, which is where the problems start. When you download an application on the Mac the it is not always installed via an installer, many application need no more than dragging into the applications folder. When an application is like this the open disk image will often show some cryptic pictogram indicating you should drag the application icon into your applications folder (or the alias to it often provided), most people just open the app. The result of this is that every time they run the application the disk image is mounted on the desktop, causing much moaning. To avoid this just make sure you drag your application from the disk image into the right place.
Number Three - shotgun filing.
See those folders in your home folder. Documents, Music, Pictures Movies. See those files you have randomly strewn across your Mac, and all over the desktop, some are documents, some are music, some are pict… do you see what Apple did there? Why not spend a happy hour filing things away.
Number Four - Confusing the google search bar with the url bar.
Need to get to google. Why are you typing www.google.com into the google search bar. The first hit returned (from www.google.com) will be www.google.com. If you type www.google.com into the url bar (where you type url's - www.google.com is a url) you will get to google in one go. Similarly if you type any web address into the url bar you will go straight there. Search when you don't know the url. If you do, use the url bar. It's the large white panel to the immediate left of the search bar.
Number Five -Confusing single and double clicks.
Double click a file to open it. Double click a folder to open that. Single click on a dock icon to launch the application. Single click on a hyperlink to activate it. That's it. easy one.
Number Six - Looking for MicroSoft Word
By which people actually mean MicroSoft Office. It's not there. Mac's don't come with Word, or Office preinstalled. Mind you, neither do PC's. Sadly Office is an application that you have to go out and buy. If you don't want to spring for it, (£90ish) you can go for Apples version, iWork at £69, or Neo Office for free.
Number Seven - Never emptying the trash.
In real life if you keep stuffing things into the bin, it will eventually overflow. Then once a week some men in a smelly truck come round and take all your rubbish away. Sadly there is no smelly truck for your Mac. If you drag things to the trash, that's where they stay until you empty it. If your trash icon looks like there's some paper in it then you have files. Deleting the trash will remove the files and free up the disk space you are trying to save by trashing your file. The mail app and iPhoto also have trash folders. These need emptying too otherwise your old files will just hang around.
Number Eight - Not backing up.
Actually this should be number one. And two. And three but hey that's boring. You know you should back up. BUt you don't do you. Even though Apple build TimeMachine right into the OS. Now, if you really don't back up stop reading this list. Go out and buy an external hard drive. Back up, then move onto point nine. Actually just skip ahead t point ten because point nine is BACK UP YOUR MAC.
Number Nine - Where's my xxxxx application gone?
Ooooh the number of times I et this phone call. "Safari's disappeared, where's it gone?" It's all too easy to accidentally brush over an application icon in the dock and remove it. And to miss the small puff of smoke and whoosh noise as it vanishes. Luckily the actual application is still there in your application folder and you can happily drag it back to the dock.
Number Ten - Orphan applications outside the Applications folder.
The Applications folder is one of the more important ones on your Mac. Apple even give it a special logo (a big A so don't get too excited). However the fact remains, the applications folder is where ALL your applications should go. It's where installers install them and it's where updaters look for them to update. Really. Don't put Safari on your desktop. Don't move iPhoto to the downloads folder (yes I have found it there before). They're applications, they have a home.
