You just got your Mac out of that pretty packaging, fooled around with taking a few crazy photos, and now it’s time to get down to business. You bought your Mac to help you get good grades, grow your business, or just help you with your personal productivity, and darn it you are going to do it, lol.
#1 – Block Internet Pop-Ups
For the few websites that still annoy companies to advertise with pop-ups you have to have a defense and why not use the built-in preference that Safari came with. To block those annoying Netflix ads:
- Open Safari (that is the default web browser installed on the Mac) .
Look at the top of the screen and you will see the word “Safari“.- Choose “Block Pop-Up Windows” from the Safari menu.
Now you will have no more pop-ups!
#2 – How to Take Screenshots
Sharing your Mac love or a cool photo of your cool screensaver to your friend is easier than you think. I wrote up a FULL screenshot how-to previously and it’s a great read, check it out: Mac Screenshots 101
#3 – Get Familiar with Your Shortcuts
Nothing makes working on your Mac more efficient than shortcuts. I have a Mac Newbie MUST-KNOW shortcut list in two parts: Mac Newbie Shortcuts 1 and Mac Newbie Shortcuts 2
#4 – Create a PDF
I love this tip, because I am asked this tip by noobs the most. Lucikly, Apple thought of this too! You can print any document, web page, etc. to a PDF with one simple feature. Simply:
- Open up the document, web page, or anything you want to save as a PDF.
- Go to the menu bar ( at the top of your page) and click on “File”
- Now click on “Print”
- With this option, you will now see a button that reads “Save as PDF”.
- Now you will be prompted to save your PDF, ,name the file and press “Save”.
#5 – Run Windows apps on your Mac
If you insist on running a couple of Windows apps on your Mac, you must use an app for that. These apps let you run your version of Windows on your Mac, isn’t that cool (it’s like two computers in one)!
There are two programs that are highly recommended for this VMWare and Parallels. A lot of people don’t really think there is much difference in them, but please try them out for yourself with their free trials. Spend some time with both and see which one fits your lifestyle.
For more Beginner Mac tips, make sure to check out this : Beginner Mac Tips . It’s a link to all of our “Beginner Mac Tips” articles. Enjoy learning!
