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Beginner Mac users usually make silly mistakes. Here are the most common ones and some tips on how to avoid them:
1. Run a program from a DMG file instead of installing it.
This is by far the most frequent mistake. After downloading a program, the user double-clicks the DMG file and then double-clicks the program icon to start it. These actions do not install the program. Every time the Mac is started the DMG file needs to be reopened so that the program runs. This causes the desktop to be full of DMG files.
The best thing to do, as described here, is to open the DMG file and drag its icon to the Program folder. Finally, delete the DMG file and the program will always be available in your Program folder.
2. Alter iPhoto files
This is another silly mistake. A Windows user usually finds the iPhoto folder inside Images folder and either edits, moves or erases his photo files, resulting in a corrupted iPhoto Library, as the software doesn’t know what was done to each of the image files.
Solution: NEVER alter the iPhoto image library. When you need to copy, add, delete or change images, use iPhoto. That’s why it is for. You’ll find it weird in the beginning, but once you get used to it you won’t even consider doing things in a different way.
3. Alter iTunes files
iTunes library is usually a “victim” of the procedure above. In that case, apply the same rule: never add, move or delete audio files from the iTunes folder. The correct procedure is to perform these actions direct from iTunes.
4. Removing a USB device without properly unplugging or ejecting it
I know Windows puts up with the manual removal of a USB storage device (pen drive, external drive), but Mac OS X is very strict about this procedure. The truth is that removing a USB device without ejecting it will damage its file system. Thus, remember to eject your USB device before manually removing it (right-click it > Eject)
5. Keep personal files and documents in the “Home” folder.
Many new users have the lousy habit of keeping their personal documents and files in the folder represented by the icon of a house, trusting that they belong there. They forget that inside the “Home” folder there is a folder named “Documents”, which is where personal files should be stored. This is a good way to avoid transforming your “Home” folder in a mess of icons.
6. Start programs by double-clicking them on Dock
The shortcuts placed on Dock (the icon bar on the bottom of the screen) need no double-click to be started. Just left-click it to start you program. Actually, double-clicking the icon may open the program twice, “polluting” your screen.
7. Try opening .EXE files
This is not a very common mistake, but it may happen. “.EXE” files are executable files (programs) created specifically for Windows. That’s why it is no use trying to run them under Mac OS X. To run an “.EXE” file you need to start Windows either through the Boot Camp, Parallels or VMware Fusion, as described in this area of MacMundi.
Translated from Portuguese by
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