This is a thread for all my OS X guides. Each guide is designed to help out new users of OS X.

Mac OS X Guide
This guide is designed to help new users get familiarized with OS X. It covers all the basics and will help them find things they were used to in Windows.
Download 3.5 MB - Last Updated 2nd February 2008

Applications Guide
This guide goes through all the applications in OS X Leopard. Helps new users know what each application is and what each application does. Also includes good things to know about applications.
Download 3.8 MB - Last Updated 29th January 2008

Utilities Guide
This guide goes through all the utilities in OS X Leopard. Helps new users know what each utility is and what each utility does. Also includes good things to know about utilities.
Download 2.7 MB - Last Updated 29th January 2008


NOTE: Some applications and utilities in the Apps and Utilities guides don't have that much text. It's just because there isn't that much to write about those apps. You are more than welcome to help me by adding some extra text for those apps that lack it, which I'll add into the guide and credit you

The section with Appzaper has no link, it just says <link>. Overall, a really good guide for beginners.

Really excellent guide, osiris. Deserves a sticky.

This should really help the clutter from new switchers.

My suggestion would be to give a link for third party applications to the one stickied in this forum .

Whoops. It's now fixed and updated. Also added a link to the Neowin software thread.

Thanks for stickying it Giga

However, I must say very good guide, I have looked at it and well done. My comment above is just for all the Apple fanatics.

We don't need comments that will stir negative posts here. Keep that to yourself.

Very well done and very much appreciated! Thanks osirisX.
I laughed at this: "Other things you need to know: Mac overcharges for RAM."

Cheers mate, very good guide.

(If you like you may always inherit my customisation guide in there)

Nice guide. Really well done.

I've just switched to OS X this guide will help me alot.

Cheers

I'm glad you guys like it I'm going to post an update in the next few days to reflect things that happened at Macworld and add some extra stuff that I missed.

I was wondering though, would a guide for all the apps included in OS X be useful? This guide would be like the In Depth sections for Finder and System Preferences, except for every app shipping with Leopard. New users often totally miss the goodies in the Utilities folder.

A guide on the goodies folder wouldn't hurt. I didn't even know where to find Terminal at first.

Yeah absolutely. I don't know what half the bundled apps in OS X do! So you've got my vote

I updated the guide to include this:

-About Apple Hardware now includes Macbook Air.
-Meet the Family now includes images of Macbook Air and the black Macbook.
-Time Machine section now includes information of required drive format and partition scheme.
-Differences between Windows and OS X now includes info on how to do screenshots.
-Other Good things to know includes info about Time Capsule.


I will also have the OS X Apps Guide done in about a week

trumendous effort man ... nice job .... keep up the good work

This is a great help to me osirisX, considering I only switched to OS X yesterday. Thanks

Could anybody point to a Boot Camp guide? I'm looking to install Vista.

Apple has their own guide for Boot Camp. It's quite a simple process actually.

But here it is: http://localhostr.com/files/fdbc47/Documentation.pdf

As a recent switcher this looks very helpful and well written, cheers!

Very nice guide osirisX.
Looks like a lot of work is put in it.

It's a wonderful and insightful guide for the new and dare I say it not so new user. If this was a report in class you'd get an A. Brilliant work

This is a follow up to my Mac OS X Guide. This guide goes through all the Applications and Utilities included in Leopard and tells you what each application does and other useful things to know. This is designed for new users of OS X who are wondering things like, which application is an internet browser and where the hell is Task Manager. The guide is split into 2 PDFs. One for Applications and the other for Utilities.

Download 3.8 MB - Last Updated 29th January 2008

Download 2.7 MB - Last Updated 29th January 2008

Later on I may include another PDF for extra things like apps that live in Core Services and the Developer Tools. I might also add an iLife and iWork PDF.

NOTE: Some applications don't have that much text. It's just because there isn't that much to write about those applications. You are more than welcome to help me by adding some extra text for those apps that lack it, which I'll add into the guide and credit you

Looks great! How long did it take you to make it?

Took about 2 weeks. It was a lot more than I expected it to be

Excellent work keep it up

Good thing you explained that calculator thing - I was all confused by it!

Great job - I enjoy reading these.

Merged

Thought it would be better to merge all the guides into one as it would be handier for users to get all at once. Would also help keep the forum less cluttered with so many stickies. (which gets overbearing for users)

It would be nice to have them all in the OP though.

Scientific and Programmer modes often go unnoticed though.

Added the guides to the first post. I'll be doing an update to the OS X guide very soon.

I updated the Mac OS X Guide:

- Included info on Kernel Panics in Other Good things to Know.
- Wrote a new section about reinstalling OS X.
- Included the current version of OS X in About Mac OS X.

Thanks for the Guide OsirisX, most useful to the novice like me to Leopard!

Very useful guides, especially for the newcomer to Mac.
Thank you.