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So, you’ve decided to take the plunge and purchase a new Mac? Great! Apple designs their computers with the user in mind, making Macs great for an absolute newbie, to even the most advanced experts. Personally, I have a Mac Book Pro and from unboxing to every day use, there is never a hassle. Everything is nice, clean and easy; which is why I’m here to guide you through the process.
From experience, unboxing a new Mac can be heavenly. Pay attention to the details in the packaging, like the user guide. Please read the User Guide, especially if you haven’t owned a Mac before. It will really help you understand what’s going on. The rest is pretty self explanatory, but have fun! Take pictures, and show the world just how pretty your new Mac is! Hint: Don’t throw away the box like I did, it will come in handy in case something is wrong, or you need to pack it up again.
If you have a laptop, there’s not much hardware that you have to set up, but if you have a Magic Mouse, or Time Capsule, you should get those set up now. Refer to your manual, although Apple products behave very well with each other, so there shouldn’t be problems. If you’ve got an iMac, or a Mac Mini, or even a Mac Pro, set up your displays and keyboard/mouse. It’s best to arrange things how you want them to me, don’t just temporarily plug-in wires wherever. Don’t forget to clean your workspace!
When you pop in the set up CD, a ‘Setup Assistant’ will pop up, and guide you through getting things running. This is another one of those self-explanatory things, so I don’t go into much detail here. If you already own a Mac, it will also help you move things over to the new computer. Note: If you’re moving from a Windows to the Mac, I suggest investing in a Portable Harddrive, and keeping your important files on there, and then transferring the files once you’ve got things going. The good thing about getting a Portable Harddrive is that you can use Time Machine to back up your data.
If you have a Mac already, welcome home. There shouldn’t be anything you don’t already know. But, If you haven’t really interacted with a Mac before, things might looks a bit odd. Here are some things to keep in mind when using the OS:
There are tons of ways to make your Mac look exactly how you want it! To start off simple, you can change the desktop – click the ‘apple’ in the top left, and then on “System Preferences”. In the “Personal” bar, you’ll see the “Desktop and Screen Saver” – or even decide to design your own!
You can also change the appearance of things like scroll arrows, and highlight colors int he “Appearance” section.
In the “Dock” area, you can change it’s position, size, and magnification. There also ways to change the dock’s background and general appearance using a program called Candy Bar. Using this, you can also change the way your icons look. I’m using this for my Mac too! (See right)
No Mac is complete without a plethora of apps to play with. Here are some I recommend:
And here are some links to more useful apps!
Hopefully we were able to help you set up your brand new Mac! A brand new computer will bring a smile to anyone’s face, and now that your Mac is bling-ed up and ready for action, your smile should be bigger than ever.
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Nicole Dominguez is a self-taught teenage web designer, that founded SoDevious.Net, a resource for teenage bloggers and designers like herself. Check out her portfolio or follow her on Twitter, @sodevious.
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 01:07
The new mac book airs are out now – you should do a follow up on setting one of those up! This is old!
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 17:49
Great article!
I can also recommend to get iWork from Apple (http://www.apple.com/iwork) right away, if you need a document creating suite. There is also OpenOffice, which is free (http://www.openoffice.org).
Me and some friends have tried contribute to the Mac community to make a little step by step tutorials for complete newbies. We got the idea from friends and family who all asked the same questions when they got their new Mac.. hehe
Have a look at http://www.macbeginnerschool.com if you like.
Cheers!
Sunday, September 11th, 2011 04:04
Me too.
Should get my new iMac in about 5 days
Friday, June 4th, 2010 10:34
I switched to a mac a couple of months ago and didn’t have a clue what i was doing but have to admit i was so excited getting it.
Could have done with this advice then.
Friday, June 4th, 2010 07:08
I have a Mac Desktop but still love my Windows 7. Some of this tips unknown to me. Thanks for sharing.
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 18:54
Hey Nicole!
Great informative article, got a mac in addition to my pc a while back and this will come in handy when exploring further!
Thanks for sharing :)
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 23:17
Some great tips, did not know the click then space button trick to have a quick preview, sure that will come in handy. I switched over to a mac about 8 months ago, never looked back!
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 22:55
I have to agree. Unboxing and setting up your mac (e it your first or your hundreth) is a joy. I’ve unboxed and set up hundreds of Macs and the packaging, the feel is great every time! (http://macstarter.com)
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 16:05
This article was about 3 days late for me (: but still very helpful with the new apps! Thanks!
Sunday, February 20th, 2011 08:11
I bought a mac after using pc for 20 yrs. It is perfect and smooth. everything works great!
It took so many yrs for windows to fix bugs and errors. Mac was born to be easier and friendlier to the user!
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 14:40
This blog looks pretty good, very rich also, will often came to see.
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 13:57
No mention of Updating the mac’s to the latest software? That is the first thing you do, forget everything else
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 12:31
Thanks for the links to the useful apps. That would be really useful for me! Migrated just over two months ago, and loving it. :)
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Kent Tan
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 12:31
Thanks for the links to the useful apps. That would be really useful for me! Migrated just over two months ago, and loving it. :)
macstarter
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 22:55
I have to agree. Unboxing and setting up your mac (e it your first or your hundreth) is a joy. I’ve unboxed and set up hundreds of Macs and the packaging, the feel is great every time! (http://macstarter.com)
dan leatherman
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 16:05
This article was about 3 days late for me (: but still very helpful with the new apps! Thanks!
Dainis Graveris
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 16:16
got new mac? :) and what experiences?
thanos
Sunday, February 20th, 2011 08:11
I bought a mac after using pc for 20 yrs. It is perfect and smooth. everything works great!
It took so many yrs for windows to fix bugs and errors. Mac was born to be easier and friendlier to the user!
Nicole Dominguez
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 14:42
Kent, I’m glad that you’ve found this helpful :)
Ismail Patel
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 13:57
No mention of Updating the mac’s to the latest software? That is the first thing you do, forget everything else
hitfive
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 14:40
This blog looks pretty good, very rich also, will often came to see.
Aaron Moody
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 23:17
Some great tips, did not know the click then space button trick to have a quick preview, sure that will come in handy. I switched over to a mac about 8 months ago, never looked back!
Hilde
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 18:54
Hey Nicole!
Great informative article, got a mac in addition to my pc a while back and this will come in handy when exploring further!
Thanks for sharing :)
Dandy
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 01:07
The new mac book airs are out now – you should do a follow up on setting one of those up! This is old!
Remi A. Netteland
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 17:49
Great article!
I can also recommend to get iWork from Apple (http://www.apple.com/iwork) right away, if you need a document creating suite. There is also OpenOffice, which is free (http://www.openoffice.org).
Me and some friends have tried contribute to the Mac community to make a little step by step tutorials for complete newbies. We got the idea from friends and family who all asked the same questions when they got their new Mac.. hehe
Have a look at http://www.macbeginnerschool.com if you like.
Cheers!
Arafat Hossain Piyada
Friday, June 4th, 2010 07:08
I have a Mac Desktop but still love my Windows 7. Some of this tips unknown to me. Thanks for sharing.
Adie
Friday, June 4th, 2010 10:34
I switched to a mac a couple of months ago and didn’t have a clue what i was doing but have to admit i was so excited getting it.
Could have done with this advice then.
memo
Sunday, June 13th, 2010 13:30
Nice tutorial!
I am getting a new mac for the first time!
Tan
Sunday, September 11th, 2011 04:04
Me too.
Should get my new iMac in about 5 days