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[hirokazu]

Get Windows Media Player, or VLC. They both play AVIs pretty damn well. I also suggest you change the default program to open AVI files when you get either one of them. It should help to keep Quicktime from opening it from now on.

Also, I installed Vista on Boot Camp. Man, that's fuckin' awesome. I'm tempted to never own a PC again. =O

Uh, Windows Media Player? On Mac!?

Didn't they stop maintaining that years ago? Like back in the days of WMP9, PowerPC and all that? Not to mention what a piece of shit it was. >_>

Also, it only existed to play WMV and WMA files in OS X, why would you recommend it for AVI?

QuickTime + Perian handles almost all AVI files fine, or switch to VLC either for the files QT can't handle, or for all videos, depends on what you prefer.

 

[Jet Grind Radio!]

Iunno. It works for me. At least I think it works for AVIs. I could be giving it credit when VLC player is the one that's actually doing it. :lol

 

[Dragona Akehi]

Uh, Windows Media Player? On Mac!?

Didn't they stop maintaining that years ago? Like back in the days of WMP9, PowerPC and all that? Not to mention what a piece of shit it was. >_>

Also, it only existed to play WMV and WMA files in OS X, why would you recommend it for AVI?

QuickTime + Perian handles almost all AVI files fine, or switch to VLC either for the files QT can't handle, or for all videos, depends on what you prefer.

You might want Flip4Mac. It's free now.

 

[panda21]

ok i have a question - is there any easy way of getting an audio thru from one of the inputs (like the line in) straight to the output?

i can do it in ableton live but it seems like something you ought to be able to do without using any programs.

i need it because i usually have my ps3 plugged into my laptops line in, and then my laptop i use for all my music playing/media plugged into my stereo/heaphones. it means i can do ghetto custom soundtrack as well, but its a bit irritating having to run live and start monitoring the audio every time..

surely theres something built into the OS that can do this? i've checked all the audio options and i cant find anything

 

[giga]

You might want Flip4Mac. It's free now.

Note: Flip4Mac bundles Silverlight now thanks to some partnership of some sort with MSFT.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Note: Flip4Mac bundles Silverlight now thanks to some partnership of some sort with MSFT.

Microsoft partnering with Microsoft? (I thought Flip4Mac was run by MS?)

 

[giga]

Microsoft partnering with Microsoft? (I thought Flip4Mac was run by MS?)

Telestream

 

[GodfatherX]

ok so i want to clean up my dock a little bit, namely i'd like to make all the iLife apps a stack, and i'd like to do the same with the Office apps

how do i go about this?

 

[LCfiner]

ok so i want to clean up my dock a little bit, namely i'd like to make all the iLife apps a stack, and i'd like to do the same with the Office apps

how do i go about this?

make a folder for the ilife apps and put them in there. drag the folder to the right side of the dock (where you put folders and files).


make a folder for the office apps (I think the installer makes one by default) drag folder to dock.

 

[mrkgoo]

ok so i want to clean up my dock a little bit, namely i'd like to make all the iLife apps a stack, and i'd like to do the same with the Office apps

how do i go about this?

Teh best way, really, is just to only have apps that you really use often, or like, in the dock. Relegate everything else to spotlight.

Even in folders, running an app will have it pop up in the dock.

I just keep a few apps handy. Not necessarily my most used or favourite (for example, I like to keep the calendar app there so I can see the date, and for some reason I like the Microsoft office icons).

 

[wazoo]

ok i have a question - is there any easy way of getting an audio thru from one of the inputs (like the line in) straight to the output?

with this, you can do pretty much everything in term of routing audio

http://www.cycling74.com/downloads/soundflower

 

[6.8]

make a folder for the ilife apps and put them in there. drag the folder to the right side of the dock (where you put folders and files).


make a folder for the office apps (I think the installer makes one by default) drag folder to dock.

I would do a folder of aliases instead as some apps don't play nice when they're in subfolders. Hit command-L on when selecting the App to make an alias. Put all the aliases in a folder and put that folder in the dock.

 

[GodfatherX]

thanks ill go the alias/sub folder route

whats the normal icon size for the desktop? it seemed a lot bigger today, checked and it was at 104x104 i changed it to 82x82

 

[LCfiner]

I would do a folder of aliases instead as some apps don't play nice when they're in subfolders. Hit command-L on when selecting the App to make an alias. Put all the aliases in a folder and put that folder in the dock.

good tip. I’ve had no issues with ilife/ iwork apps doing funky things but aliases are probably safer, yes.

 

[mrkgoo]

thanks ill go the alias/sub folder route

whats the normal icon size for the desktop? it seemed a lot bigger today, checked and it was at 104x104 i changed it to 82x82

Do you have the same hangups as me? I tend to want to keep as default as possible - I actually hate too many options, but do prefer to keep things tidy. Comes form being a bit indecisive.

I like to keep things at default sizes, nearly to a fault.
I think the default icon size is 48x48.

 

[Salty]

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask this in, or if I'm allowed to ask it, but...

I have the Director's Series DVD of Chris Cunningham, a lot of his videos are in 1.85, but unfortunately it's not anamorphic, which makes it a pain to watch on a widescreen TV. If I were to rip the DVD to my computer, would it be possible to make some of the videos anamorphic and then put it back on a blank DVD?

Thanks

 

[marwan]

a noobish question, do i need to defrag Macs like windows? what app would you recommend to defrag or maintain a mac?

sorry i only use my MacBook when i travel or when im too lazy on the couch.

EDIT: i got a program on the Mac called "Onyx", is that supposed to be any good?

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/onyx.html

 

[mrkgoo]

a noobish question, do i need to defrag Macs like windows? what app would you recommend to defrag or maintain a mac?

sorry i only use my MacBook when i travel or when im too lazy on the couch.

EDIT: i got a program on the Mac called "Onyx", is that supposed to be any good?

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/onyx.html

in general, there's supposedly little need to defray. I believe it can be beneficial, but MAc OSX keeps files of something like 20 MB together, and says that with faster seek times, and larger hardrives, there's no need to fill every nook and rainy super efficiently. Well, Apple says so anyway.

I've heard Onyx is pretty useful.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

I've been looking around the internet all over for this but I can't find an answer to this question.

...where in my TV or receiver do I plug in a toslink cable to?

EDIT - The only thing that kinda looks like where I should plug in a toslink cable would be something on my TV that says "optical" under "Digital Audio Out". (But then again wouldn't it go to an input?)

 

[The_Inquisitor]

Yes Macs need to be defragged..... if you want to install windows after using OSX for a long time. I was unable to free 32GB space on my HDD because it was 26% fragmented. I ran Diskwarrior to fix it and solved my issue.

But for everyday use, I wouldn't worry about defraggging.

 

[bodyofanamerican]

my white MacBook has really slowed down alot lately. Taking almost a minute to open a Finder window from the dock. Any advice to find out what's slowing me down so much and how to speed it back up?

 

[mrkgoo]

my white MacBook has really slowed down alot lately. Taking almost a minute to open a Finder window from the dock. Any advice to find out what's slowing me down so much and how to speed it back up?

I guess you could start by seeing what kind of processes are running. Use activity monitor and console to help you.

 

[LCfiner]

my white MacBook has really slowed down alot lately. Taking almost a minute to open a Finder window from the dock. Any advice to find out what's slowing me down so much and how to speed it back up?

if you don’t have any processes in the background sucking up CPU cycles another risk is that your hard drive is messed up and may need to be replaced.

first sign of ha drive problems is generally lots of spinning beachballs and performance issues. then, poof, all gone.

make sure you have a backup

 

[bodyofanamerican]

if you don’t have any processes in the background sucking up CPU cycles another risk is that your hard drive is messed up and may need to be replaced.

first sign of ha drive problems is generally lots of spinning beachballs and performance issues. then, poof, all gone.

make sure you have a backup

dammit. yeah, i had read that this might be an issue. is there anything specific that causes this? just over use? having it on too much?

 

[LCfiner]

dammit. yeah, i had read that this might be an issue. is there anything specific that causes this? just over use? having it on too much?

y’know things break.



hard drives are very common failure points. and when you’re seeing 60 second delays for things that typically take <5 seconds… well, there’s a good chance that’s what you’re seeing.

 

[Jasoco]

What you probably want to do is:

cd /Users/Me/Documents/FolderWithFiles/ ; zip -r foo *

This will change into the directory and then it will execute the zip command in that exact sequence.

Thank you!

 

[grkazan12]

it's not a big problem at all but i was wondering if there's a way to change your admin name because whenever it asks me to put my password in for an installation or anything like that it says my full name while I just want my first name to be displayed

 

[Sean]

it's not a big problem at all but i was wondering if there's a way to change your admin name because whenever it asks me to put my password in for an installation or anything like that it says my full name while I just want my first name to be displayed

Try the "Accounts" part of System Preferences, there's a field for full name that you can edit there.

 

[mrkgoo]

Try the "Accounts" part of System Preferences, there's a field for full name that you can edit there.

That said, I'm not sure you can change your short user name without crazy repercussions (because it probably means renaming your user folder).

 

[Hitokage]

Get Windows Media Player, or VLC. They both play AVIs pretty damn well. I also suggest you change the default program to open AVI files when you get either one of them. It should help to keep Quicktime from opening it from now on.

Also, I installed Vista on Boot Camp. Man, that's fuckin' awesome. I'm tempted to never own a PC again. =O

Wow this post is all sorts of wrong.

Just use MPlayer OSX Extended, VLC, or *gasp* QT7 with Perian.

 

[Battersea Power Station]

I'm currently on Windows and use a non-iPod music player. I'm getting my first Mac soon, but will still be using my non-iPod music player. Based on your experiences, should I use iTunes? If not, what media organizer do you suggest? Thanks.

 

[Jet Grind Radio!]

Wow this post is all sorts of wrong.

Just use MPlayer OSX Extended, VLC, or *gasp* QT7 with Perian.

Hey! I got the VLC part right.

Spoiler

=P

 

[The_Inquisitor]

VLC tends to stutter sometimes for some encodes I watch. It also seems to run hotter than MPlayer. I use both depending on the situation tbh where VLC is my program of choice. Why use one when you can have both?

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

I'm currently on Windows and use a non-iPod music player. I'm getting my first Mac soon, but will still be using my non-iPod music player. Based on your experiences, should I use iTunes? If not, what media organizer do you suggest? Thanks.

It's up to you but iTunes is a lot better on mac.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

here's an OSX noob ignorant statement followed by a serious question

MAC FILE SHARING SUX

OK, I have a windows 7 box and want to share my files with my girlfriends mac

I found this guide
http://maczealots.com/tutorials/file-sharing-2/

ok the problem is, in her system preferences 'windows sharing' isn't available. It's just not there.

How can I turn this feature on. we want to swap media and it's harder than peter norths wanger.

EDIT: she has MAC OSX version 10.5.8

 

[mrkgoo]

here's an OSX noob ignorant statement followed by a serious question

MAC FILE SHARING SUX

OK, I have a windows 7 box and want to share my files with my girlfriends mac

I found this guide
http://maczealots.com/tutorials/file-sharing-2/

ok the problem is, in her system preferences 'windows sharing' isn't available. It's just not there.

How can I turn this feature on. we want to swap media and it's harder than peter norths wanger.

EDIT: she has MAC OSX version 10.5.8

I can't really help you here all that much, but that article you linked to is over 5 years old.

Likely the windows sharing probably 'just works' (lol). Try enabling file sharing first off.

 

[mrkgoo]

I'm currently on Windows and use a non-iPod music player. I'm getting my first Mac soon, but will still be using my non-iPod music player. Based on your experiences, should I use iTunes? If not, what media organizer do you suggest? Thanks.

It depends if you hate how iTunes does things or not.

Do you mean you have a non-iPod musicplayer, as in you have an iPod but use another solution? Or that you have another mp3 player? Or none at all?

To be honest, I think the iTunes app is pretty good (although the most recent 9.0 release needs a fix for all the bugs). One of the big pluses in the Mac environment is the useful programs it comes bundled with, and all those apps speak to each other. Front row, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD all can point to the iTunes library when selecting music, for example.

The integration for the iTunes i pretty considerable. You do have to understand and enjoy (or at least put up with) the iTunes mentality though. Depends on how adaptable you are it can be annoying if you MUST have something done your way.

 

[Blackhead]

I installed Windows in a virtual machine and now all items with an extension '.theme' are associated with a Windows host process (previously there was no application associated). How do I change this behavior to how it was before? I can change the 'open with' selection to another application but I can't leave it blank. Also the 'change all' option is grayed out so I'd have to change it manually for each item. I want to tread carefully so any changes doesn't detrimentally affect the Windows install (Windows 7 in VMware Fusion by the way).

This is somewhat related: how do I set up 'show package contents' to be the 'open with' behavior for particular extensions?

 

[mrkgoo]

I installed Windows in a virtual machine and now all items with an extension '.theme' are associated with a Windows host process (previously there was no application associated). How do I change this behavior to how it was before? I can change the 'open with' selection to another application but I can't leave it blank. Also the 'change all' option is grayed out so I'd have to change it manually for each item. I want to tread carefully so any changes doesn't detrimentally affect the Windows install (Windows 7 in VMware Fusion by the way).

This is somewhat related: how do I set up 'show package contents' to be the 'open with' behavior for particular extensions?

I'm not sure much can be done about it in either case.

if a .theme is associated with a windows process, the most you can do, I think, is to associate it back with another app. Chances are, you don't double-click it anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Show package contents is a special command to 'unhide' the packages (which is just a special folder). It's like an action,not really an association. I think.

 

[somnific]

here's an OSX noob ignorant statement followed by a serious question

MAC FILE SHARING SUX

OK, I have a windows 7 box and want to share my files with my girlfriends mac

I found this guide
http://maczealots.com/tutorials/file-sharing-2/

ok the problem is, in her system preferences 'windows sharing' isn't available. It's just not there.

How can I turn this feature on. we want to swap media and it's harder than peter norths wanger.

EDIT: she has MAC OSX version 10.5.8

hmmm, you could try:

system preferences > sharing > file sharing

turn file sharing on.

under file sharing options check "Share files and folders using SMB"

then you can connect via "smb://whateverhercomputernameis"

 

[Battersea Power Station]

It depends if you hate how iTunes does things or not.

Do you mean you have a non-iPod musicplayer, as in you have an iPod but use another solution? Or that you have another mp3 player? Or none at all?

To be honest, I think the iTunes app is pretty good (although the most recent 9.0 release needs a fix for all the bugs). One of the big pluses in the Mac environment is the useful programs it comes bundled with, and all those apps speak to each other. Front row, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD all can point to the iTunes library when selecting music, for example.

The integration for the iTunes i pretty considerable. You do have to understand and enjoy (or at least put up with) the iTunes mentality though. Depends on how adaptable you are it can be annoying if you MUST have something done your way.

Well, from what I understand, iTunes puts in album art in a way that a non-iPod won't be able to display it, i.e. it's not in the tag of the file itself. (I use my Android phone as a music player.) I'm basically asking about details like that which might not be obvious until I actually start using it.

 

[mrkgoo]

Well, from what I understand, iTunes puts in album art in a way that a non-iPod won't be able to display it, i.e. it's not in the tag of the file itself. (I use my Android phone as a music player.) I'm basically asking about details like that which might not be obvious until I actually start using it.

It kind of does both. It embeds and it keeps a library, and which it does depends on how the art gets there. It's kinda stupid.

 

[kr2t0s]

Just installed snow leopard - question about 32 / 64 bit applications.

I use handbrake a lot and there is a 64bit version (snapshot downloadable version) and wondering if I should run that version or not. I thought I read somewhere that SL doesn't boot up into 64 by default? So I'm not sure if that would affect anything.

Thanks in advance.

 

[hirokazu]

make a folder for the ilife apps and put them in there. drag the folder to the right side of the dock (where you put folders and files).


make a folder for the office apps (I think the installer makes one by default) drag folder to dock.

I have dedicated stack folders where I chuck in aliases of whatever app I want in them. Much better than just putting the entire Applications folder into the stack since that's too unwieldy, and much better than moving the apps themselves around, especially since Adobe CS3 apps break when you move them from their default location (how fucking stupid is that?)

I would do a folder of aliases instead as some apps don't play nice when they're in subfolders. Hit command-L on when selecting the App to make an alias. Put all the aliases in a folder and put that folder in the dock.

Oh right, you beat me to it. Well, err... you can also Cmd+Opt+Drag stuff to make aliases, instead of making, then dragging them.

 

[hirokazu]

That said, I'm not sure you can change your short user name without crazy repercussions (because it probably means renaming your user folder).

Yeah, changing shortname is not a good idea. Probably best to set up a new account if the default shortname assigned by OS X annoys you. I never liked it, so I made sure to change it when setting up my account.

here's an OSX noob ignorant statement followed by a serious question

MAC FILE SHARING SUX

OK, I have a windows 7 box and want to share my files with my girlfriends mac

I found this guide
http://maczealots.com/tutorials/file-sharing-2/

ok the problem is, in her system preferences 'windows sharing' isn't available. It's just not there.

How can I turn this feature on. we want to swap media and it's harder than peter norths wanger.

EDIT: she has MAC OSX version 10.5.8

Are you trying to share her stuff with your Windows computer, or are you trying to share your Windows stuff on the Mac? Your first sentence suggests the latter, but your description is the exact opposite.

Sharing Windows stuff to Mac is simple, it really just works (most of the time). Open a Finder window, and if you shared properly on Windows, the shared computer will appear under Shared on the sidebar.

I've found this to be much more responsive than Windows XP (and Vista?), which can hang for a few secs to minutes when trying to view available network shares. I used to say that OS X is better at networking with Windows than Windows is, but Windows 7's networking works well and is as responsive as OS X.

Sharing Mac stuff to Windows, you go to System Preferences > Sharing, check File Sharing, then click Advanced and tick Share files and folders using SMB (Windows). I believe this option was called Windows Sharing in the past, which would've been easier to work out.

 

[Ashhong]

hmmm, you could try:

system preferences > sharing > file sharing

turn file sharing on.

under file sharing options check "Share files and folders using SMB"

then you can connect via "smb://whateverhercomputernameis"

to add to this, you need to do some steps on the W7 side as well

select the folder/file you want to share and right click -> properties
go to sharing tab
click the box that says share and then press advanced sharing
add a rule for "Everyone" and make it at least readable

in my experience both of these steps need to be done if you want the actual contents of the folder to show in OSX. its a pain

Sharing Windows stuff to Mac is simple, it really just works (most of the time). Open a Finder window, and if you shared properly on Windows, the shared computer will appear under Shared on the sidebar.

I've found this to be much more responsive than Windows XP (and Vista?), which can hang for a few secs to minutes when trying to view available network shares. I used to say that OS X is better at networking with Windows than Windows is, but Windows 7's networking works well and is as responsive as OS X.

Sharing Mac stuff to Windows, you go to System Preferences > Sharing, check File Sharing, then click Advanced and tick Share files and folders using SMB (Windows). I believe this option was called Windows Sharing in the past, which would've been easier to work out.

on the contrary, its much easier to share to Windows than vice versa. the windows server never shows up under Shared, and you have to manually go to the server. on windows all i have to do is press networks and everything is there, easy to view, and it was even easier to allow sharing for the folders on the mac.

now for my own question, is there a menu to select default programs? i want my divx movies to open via VLC. i select the option after pressing "Open With" but it just doesnt work and still opens with DIVX player.

 

[hirokazu]

on the contrary, its much easier to share to Windows than vice versa. the windows server never shows up under Shared, and you have to manually go to the server. on windows all i have to do is press networks and everything is there, easy to view, and it was even easier to allow sharing for the folders on the mac.

now for my own question, is there a menu to select default programs? i want my divx movies to open via VLC. i select the option after pressing "Open With" but it just doesnt work and still opens with DIVX player.

Well I'm only speaking from personal experience, and for me, OS X finds Windows network shares much better than Windows XP does. There's the odd times where it doesn't show up in Shared, but that's almost become a non-issue for me - I'm guessing they patched up related bugs as they released 10.5 updates.

Not sure why it doesn't work properly for you, and I assume you have the latest updates for 10.5 or 10.6 installed. :S

Tip - make an alias to a network share that's currently mounted and put it somewhere useful, like say in a stack of drives/network shares. Then if it doesn't show up under Shared, you can just open the alias and it should mount properly as long as the share is available.

Default programs - well this one is a bit tricky. The easy way is to Get Info a file, select a default app to open for that file format under the Open With part of the Get Info pane, then click Change All...

If you want full power control, you need to look into RCDefaultApps preference pane. It works fine on 10.5, but it doesn't seem to have been updated for a while, so it's 32-bit only. And it seems to crash often on Snow Leopard, though it still does it's job.

 

[Ashhong]

Well I'm only speaking from personal experience, and for me, OS X finds Windows network shares much better than Windows XP does. There's the odd times where it doesn't show up in Shared, but that's almost become a non-issue for me - I'm guessing they patched up related bugs as they released 10.5 updates.

Not sure why it doesn't work properly for you, and I assume you have the latest updates for 10.5 or 10.6 installed. :S

Tip - make an alias to a network share and put it somewhere useful, like say in a stack of drives/network shares. Then if it doesn't show up under Shared, you can just open the alias and it should mount properly anyway as long as the share is online.

Likewise, as someone mentioned, you can also connect manually from Go > Connect to Server... as long as you know what to type into there.

Default programs - well this one is a bit tricky. The easy way is to Get Info a file, select a default app to open for that file format under the Open With part of the Get Info pane, then click Change All...

If you want full power control, you need to look into RCDefaultApps preference pane. It works fine on 10.5, but it doesn't seem to have been updated for a while, so it's 32-bit only. And it seems to crash often on Snow Leopard, though it still does it's job.

well its not just me, everytime ive asked about that issue in here everyone has replied saying they have the same issue. its weird that you see it just fine though, i wonder what we're doing differently?

thanks for the tip for default programs, the Get Info trick worked. no more changing extensions for all my movies

last one, you know how option boxes, like those that pop up when trying to change an extension, have an outline and a shaded button? back in 10.5 the button to keep the extension was shaded, and the button to change it was outlined so i could simply press space to change. now in 10.6 the button to keep it is both shaded and outlined. is everyones like this? seems like there should be a way to change this..

 

[mrkgoo]

Just installed snow leopard - question about 32 / 64 bit applications.

I use handbrake a lot and there is a 64bit version (snapshot downloadable version) and wondering if I should run that version or not. I thought I read somewhere that SL doesn't boot up into 64 by default? So I'm not sure if that would affect anything.

Thanks in advance.

The kernel doesn't boot into 64-bit, but pretty much everything else runs 64-bit. The new handbrake is probably fine regarding 64-bitness. It's up to you if you want to run nightly builds.

Open up Activity monitor and you can see what is currently running in 64-bit.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Are you trying to share her stuff with your Windows computer, or are you trying to share your Windows stuff on the Mac? Your first sentence suggests the latter, but your description is the exact opposite.

Sharing Windows stuff to Mac is simple, it really just works (most of the time). Open a Finder window, and if you shared properly on Windows, the shared computer will appear under Shared on the sidebar.

I've found this to be much more responsive than Windows XP (and Vista?), which can hang for a few secs to minutes when trying to view available network shares. I used to say that OS X is better at networking with Windows than Windows is, but Windows 7's networking works well and is as responsive as OS X.

Sharing Mac stuff to Windows, you go to System Preferences > Sharing, check File Sharing, then click Advanced and tick Share files and folders using SMB (Windows). I believe this option was called Windows Sharing in the past, which would've been easier to work out.

Sorry, we are trying to do both quickly and easily.

I'm going to check this tonight. For some reason she couldn't see my shares then the password was failing to let her access. I've not ruled out the 'girlfriend typed it wrong repeatedly' factor, but I think it was OK. I had to do some stuff regarding lowering windows 7 authentication and NTLM as well according to a few articles.