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So, you finally made that big move from PC to Mac but you find yourself wondering, “Are Macs more complicated than PCs?” Macs while also made up of an operating system, a screen, and a keyboard are a completely different beast in comparison to its cousin the PC. It is one of the reasons that […]
So, you finally made that big move from PC to Mac but you find yourself wondering, “Are Macs more complicated than PCs?”
Macs while also made up of an operating system, a screen, and a keyboard are a completely different beast in comparison to its cousin the PC. It is one of the reasons that can hold up buyers when it comes to purchasing a new computer. Macs, are supposed to be more user friendly and have more built in shortcuts to streamline use but many new users find themselves initially saying, “I have no idea how to use this.”
If you have moved beyond contemplation and have actually purchased your first Mac, you should consider booking some time with the Genius bar because they can walk you through some of the basics and it is a great chance to ask questions that can be answered immediately. Here, we suggest a few useful tips courtesy of Syntax IT Support for first time Mac users.
When it comes to shutting down a PC it has been pretty simple, you just head to the Start Menu and choose ‘shut down, log off, or sleep’. Shutting down your computer on a Mac is just as simple. First click on the Apple icon in the top left corner of the screen. Then from the drop down menu you can choose to either put your Mac in sleep mode, restart or power down completely.
This may seem too simplistic and obvious to consider but right clicking is one of the most asked questions by new Mac users. Many people do not realise that Apple’s mouse and trackpads are free from buttons, even after playing with them in an Apple store.
Luckily there are a couple of ways to ‘right click most familiar with the “hold down the ctrl key while you click” but there is another way that is more streamlined. Instead go to System Preferences>Trackpad and enable Secondary Click. Now you can tap two fingers and the right click menu will appear.
Macs come with their own cloud system, similar to Dropbox, which allows you to store documents, pictures, music and more. If you are someone that is in constant fear of losing precious documents than iCloud is great because it allows you to store and have access to your documents from almost anywhere with internet. iCloud Drive is located in your Finder window by default, under favourites.
Getting your files on the cloud is as simple as dragging and dropping into the folder. You can also save directly into the folder from most of Apple’s own apps. All users get 5GB of space completely free with up to 1TB of space available for a monthly fee.
When purchasing a Mac many people do not know that they can receive and read the same SMS messages from their iPhone on their Mac. This goes for messages you receive from a non-Mac device; that is pretty cool.
To do this, make sure you have the latest version of iOS and that you’re signed into iMessage on your iPhone. You also need to be signed in with the same Apple ID on your iPhone and your Mac. Now take your iPhone and go to Settings > Messages > Send and Receive > You can Be Reached By and make sure your email address and phone number is selected. Go back to Messages and under Text Message Forwarding, select the device you wish to use.
After you’ve entered a security code, you should be able to send and receive SMS messages from your Messages app on your Mac.
Continuing in the theme of “things you can do on a phone from your Mac”, if you are signed into the same iCloud account across devices than you should be able to receive iPhone calls on your Mac. You will also need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network and be signed into FaceTime. Wi-Fi calling also needs to be turned off on your phone which, if you have it, can be found in Settings > Phone. Making a call is as easy as accepting one, just open your contacts folder and click their phone number.
