Basically any Incase cases are worth owning.  Here are few links to get you started:
   
    – Incase 13-inch MacBook
    – Incase 15-inch MacBook Pro
    – Incase for MacBook Air

Unless you are used to the built in trackpad, you’ll probably want some kind of mouse.  Here are the obvious two that I recommend:

    – Apple Magic Mouse
    – Apple Magic Trackpad

Hope those get you started.  I’m working on a post for initial software recommendations, but don’t hesitate to comment with any questions.

Have fun!

Here’s a quick, easy and free application to keep your Mac awake. It’s called (appropriately)…Caffeine.

Caffeine is a free app that sits up in your menu bar. The implementation is brainless.

If the cup is empty, you’re out of caffeine = your Mac will fall asleep.

If the cup is full = you have caffeine = your Mac will stay awake.

Just click it on or off depending on what you are doing at the time. It’s brilliant! You can download Caffeine for free, here.

That little gem of an icon is your trash can. Duh. However, if you’re like me, you tend to either forget about the little guy sitting so quietly down there in your dock, your you neglect him. Shame, shame. If you manage it correctly, the trash can can either save your life (business, studies, school work, etc…) one day, or be your best friend in terms of freeing up some space on your hard drive.

When you delete a file on your Mac, either by dragging it onto the trash can and letting go or by using the shortcut key sequence (Apple + Delete), you’re not really trashing the file. What you are doing is moving the file from where ever it was, to the trash can with the purpose of eventually being deleted. You see, sometimes you might accidentally delete a file prematurely, then realize that you need it back. The good thing is that if you just go to your trash can, it’s right there waiting for you. All you need to do then is drag it out and put it where you want it to go. Simple huh? Or course it is. It’s a Mac.

But there is one thing that you need to be cautious of. That is, you need to get in the practice of “taking out your trash”. That is emptying it. Once you do that, you will be able to reclaim some disk space. The downside is that, any files you put in there, are now gone. Forever. That is, unless you have backed up. But we’ll save that for a future post.

How To Empty Your Trash

1. Right-click (or CTRL+click) on the trash can

2.   Choose “empty trash”

3. Confirm your decision

Now, I wouldn’t normally do this, but I do happen to know that some of you PC lovers do read and follow this blog. So, just to prove that I’m not that much of a PC hater, I thought I’d show you some love today. Basically, if you are on Twitter, and you have a PC, you need to have this software. Check it out.
Click here to visit Mesiab Labs website!

Apps: (applications) – sometimes referred to as “programs”. There are the actual components on your Mac that allow you to accomplish a task. Mail would be an app. iCal would be an app, and so on.

Bluetooth: a wireless technology used to create a temporary connection between two blue-tooth enabled devices. Bluetooth technology is used in instance where the two devices are in close proximity, such as a cell phone and headset or a mouse and your mac.

Dock: usually located on the bottom of a Mac’s desktop, the Dock holds icons, minimized and running applications.

Force quit: to force an application to shut down. On a PC, it’s known as Control+Alt+Delete. On a Mac the key combination is Option+Apple+Esc (but you won’t really have a use for it).

MobileMe: an online service offered by Apple. Having a MobileMe subscription allows you to have server/storage space online. It’s great for hosting pictures, files, syncing calendars, and even hosting a blog or website. More to come on this…

Screenshot: also referred to as a “screen grab” – to take a picture of what’s on your screen.

This is literally just the “tip of the iceberg”. There are a thousand other terms. Some are related specifically to the Mac platform, and others could be just general computing terms. So, I’d like to know what terms you are confused about. Click the “Comment” button on this post, leave a comment, and I’ll do my best to answer you question. If you like, you can subscribe to the newsletter by going up to the top of this page, and fill in your name and email. Make sure you check back, or subscribe to the RSS feed to stay updated. Another option is if you’re on Twitter, you can follow @beginnermac and speak your question there.

(The picture used at the top of this post is from a great book entitled “The Cult of Mac”. If you are interested in some of the genesis of the Mac culture, this is a great read.”

The Cult of Mac (Paperback edition)

I would be remiss if I didn’t let you know about this.

My friend John over at Creativityist.com wrote a great post on it, but here’s the skinny….

Every now and then MacHeist bundles a bunch of applications (software), and sells them for a ridiculous discount. The better part is that 25% of every purchase goes directly to charity. You can pick from 10 different charities, or split the cost between a number of them. I plan to do a series on apps later, but take if from me…for the price you pay ($550 for $39), it is a great deal.

It seems like the common theme that comes up when you are describing a Mac to a non-Mac user, is simplicity. Simplicity of use. Simplicity of design. Simplicity of functionality. “It’s just like when you expect it to do something, it just does it”, is probably what you’ve said before. I hear ya.

Have you ever wanted to capture a quick snapshot of something on your screen? Maybe you are having a video chat with someone and they make a funny face and you want to capture that to, perhaps blackmail them later???? Or say you are trying to describe to someone where to click on the screen? Or, maybe you just want to grab a photo from the web, but you can’t drag it over? Easy

Shift + Apple + 4 – is the command sequence that will bring up a cross hair that will then allow you click and drag to select and area of the screen that you would like to take a picture of. That’s it! That simple.

Luckily when you purchase a Mac, there isn’t alot of extraneous software on it that you want to dump. But every now and again, you might find that you don’t use something anymore and want to get rid of it to free up space. So in order to do that, you just open the applications folder, and drag that specific app to the trash and POOF! …it’s gone. Well, not quite…

Depending on the app, there may still be some system files that are left. You may have gotten rid of that application itself, but the registry files, or other “mac bits” may still be floating around.

Rest assured…I have a solution for you.

I picked up AppZapper when I was new to the Mac and googling around trying to find out the best way to ditch an app. I can’t say enough about this simple application. I guess the first thing I would say is that this application is…well…simple. You want to get rid of an app? You just open AppZapper, drop the app you want to get rid of, it finds the other associated files, hit “ZAP” and it makes a very cool sound and your app is gone! Just like that!

The creators of AppZapper have been so generous to provide me with 5 licenses to AppZapper, to be given AT RANDOM to 5 people who subscribe to the RSS feed, and comment on this post. Just leave a comment saying which app you have that you would like to “zap” and at the end of today (9pm PST) 5 commenters will be chosen at random, contacted via email,  and given their FREE license.  Good luck!

By the way, if you are looking for a killer everyday Mac application site, check out MacZot. Created by the same guys who gave you AppZapper.