Resources to learn how to use a Mac?

Off-Topic
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Hello all,

I’ve been using exlusively Windows for a million years. I have a touch of Linux experience too but nothing in the MAC world. My Daughter gave me an older mac but I have no idea where to find what kind it is, the OS etc. Further, I don’t know how to use the damn thing.

Not wanting to screw it up, I thought I’d ask first if anyone in this group can suggest a good quick tutorial?

The primary goal with this machine would be to use Xojo and create iOS apps and similar.

Suggestions??
Thanks,
Tim

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Menus on the Mac are always at the top of the screen. Never at the top of a window.

At the left of the MenuBar is an Apple menu (shown as an Apple with a bite out of it, the Apple logo). Clicking on this provides an “About this Mac” menu item. Choosing that will tell you what Mac you have, how much memory you have etc. Versions of the OS have a name you will find there.

Typically it is hard to damage macOS it typically won’t let you do things like deleting the system files.

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This, IMO, is a major feature. Because it means no matter how you mess with an app’s window, the main menu bar doesnt get any narrower. Once a week or so we have been volunteering at an office where I’ve had to make do with a single screeen running W-11. One task has regularly been to log onto a bank account, and transcribe entries from that into a spreadsheet. Fitting both windows on a screen in such a way that the menu bar items (or the ribbon, for the SS) don’t simply fall off because each window is too narrow to hold enough of them becomes tedious.

Menu bar top of screen: excellent piece of user-oriented UI.

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4

I was a DOS/Windows person for years too, but now I’m fully Mac (for work & personal use).

I think this is a good website for tips on special macOS features:

Plus there is this article:

The one thing I remember struggling with at first is when I downloaded an app from a website (not the App Store), and I didn’t know to place the apps in the /Applications folder manually. For quite a while I was running apps from the Downloads folder :crazy_face:

And there is no “uninstaller” on Mac. Basically you just manually delete the *.app file or buy an app like TrashMe 3.

Have fun!

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If you want to do something, there is a help menu where you can ask questions, and you can run a Google search that start with Apple (or macOS) followed by your question.

With help, you will get Apple manuals for that question.

Example:
Q: “Apple Getting œ from the keyboard”
A: Enter characters with an accent from the keyboard (Link)

6

Thanks everyone!

Does the MAC OS auto update/upgrade? If not, is there a method to do this and what is the cost?
Tim

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We need to know the model (and running OS version) to answer this question(s).

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OK, I;ll get that and respond in a little while.

Thank you!
Tim

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The latest few major versions of the OS get updates. For example version 14.x (Sonoma) and 15.x (Sequoia). Some of the more critical updates may be released for version 13.x (Ventura) but not as many. When macOS 16.x is released 14.x will shift to less updates etc.

You may be able to upgrade your computer to a later version (they’re all free) depending on what Mac you have. Again it is in the “About this Mac” box. It’s the big name at the top and the smaller line underneath. For example “Mac Book Pro (16-inch, 2021)”.

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This is what the mac says…

IMG_6729
IMG_6729640×480 80.5 KB

It says there are updates available. Any downside to doing these? Any concerns?

Thanks,
Tim

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You will find all needed information in this wikipedia document:

Catalina is 64 Bits, and you can update it to a far more recent version; but 4GB…

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Hi Emile,

I saw that too. At what point will that become a problem? I need to look at the Xojo mins, wondering if 4G is enough. Can it be upgraded or is that really not doable?

Lots to learn and consider!

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Huh, I also have an 11" MacBook Air from 2015, still kicking around here somewhere. Great little machine, but it’s been a while since I used it. At one point a few years ago I did have Xojo installed on it and it did work, though it was a bit slow.

Mine is 8Gb RAM, so with 4Gb it might be quite slow.

According to the everymac.com page on this model, you can upgrade to Monterey (12.x). Unfortunately the RAM in this particular model is not upgradeable.

Edited to add: I just fired up that old machine and it is running Monterey 12.7.6 and looks fine, though I must have removed Xojo at some point.

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Thank you!
Tim

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If you want to learn how to use macOS then the computer is fine. For making Xojo apps these days you need Big Sur.

For learning macOS there is no better resource than the Take Control books. See Mac Basics – Take Control Books .

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So this one is NG for even creating iOS/iPad apps??
Tim

17

That does seem like a good place to start.

Thank you Beatrix
Tim

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For iOS/iPad you MUST have the latest of everything (macOS, Xcode).

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MacBook Air from early 2015. So that machine can run macOS 12 Monterey.

Which theoretically will run Xojo.
https://documentation.xojo.com/resources/system_requirements_for_previous_releases/2025r1.html

In terms of OS updates it will not get much in the way of updates, so safety is something of an issue.

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It’s like worth updating to the latest OS that this machine can run. Which is macOS 12 Monterey. If you open the App Store you should be able to install Monterey. At least you will get the updates between 10.15.7 and 12.x which is a lot of updates.

Xojo should run on it, although with only 4GB of RAM is could be quite slow. I would perhaps keep it off the internet or at least away from anything important like banking or any other safety critical data.