Tips for Mac noobs (that means 'newbies')

Kudos. Welcome to the 21st century.

I get asked a lot of the same questions now that the world is abandoning Windoze machines in favor of Mac computers. So, I'm compiling a list of favorite apps that are free or cheap. Then I can just refer people to this page and make their lives a little easier.

INSTALLING APPS:

1.) Download files that end with ".dmg" (I don't know why they use those letters, don't ask). It's what is called, a 'disk image.'

2.) Once that appears on your desktop, double-click it to 'mount' the disk image on your desktop (the icon will look like a little external hard drive when it's done).

3.) Double-click on that icon and inside, you will find the application (or a 'package'). If it's an application, just drag it to your APPLICATIONS folder. If it's a 'package' (a little open-box icon), double-click it and follow the installer wizard's instructions.

4.) If you want to put the application into your Dock, just go into your Applications folder, find the app you want and drag the icon to the Dock and let go. An alias will remain in the dock. The app itself is still in your App folder, so if you accidentally delete the alias (by dragging it off the Dock--watch for the puff of smoke)--you can replace it by dragging the app to the dock once again.

Here are some apps you might want to install:

http://adiumx.com/
Adium is a free instant messaging application for Mac OS X. With Adium, you can connect to any number of messaging accounts on any combination of supported messaging services and then chat with other people using those services. Kinda like iChat, but works with Yahoo!, MSN, and other services, all from one application.

http://skype.com
Skype let's you videochat with friends for free! And family, if you must...
(Your mac probably has a built-in video camera already...)

GimpShop
http://rapidshare.com/files/69806920/Gimpshop-OSX-2.2.11.dmg
This is a free photoshop clone that is a bit weird, but very powerful. Try to install the app by itself from the above link, but if it asks for X11, get it here.
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/x11formacosx.html

Seashore
http://seashore.sourceforge.net/
Seashore is based around the GIMP's technology and uses the same native file format. However, unlike the GIMP, Seashore only aims to serve the basic image editing needs of most computer users, not to provide a replacement for professional image editing products.

Pixelmator
http://www.pixelmator.com
A beautifully designed image editor that works very much like PhotoShop but only costs $59.

VIDEO
Handbrake can be used to rip DVDs to your hard drive, playable with Miro or Quicktime (included with the iMac). But I am not encouraging you to rip copyrighted material because that is illegal and not nice.
http://handbrake.fr/rotation.php?file=HandBrake-0.9.1-MacOSX.4_GUI_UB.dmg

Miro is an open-source (free) video player that can play pretty much any video file and help you find HD programming. You can use it to organize all your videos.
http://www.getmiro.com/

If none of THOSE play your video file, try VLC
http://www.videolan.org/

Joost is a decent source of free videos to watch, too. It's trying to be THEE source for Internet video. I don't know that they are doing well, but check them out.
http://www.joost.com/

Hulu is NBCs new online TV site.
http://www.hulu.com/