Questions from a Windows user.

[Sea Monster]

I have a few questions about Mac OS X, for I may be interested in using it eventually.

1 - Are the desktop backgrounds lossless? One of my favorite things about Windows Vista is the lack of loss of quality desktop backgrounds. In 7, they are converted to JPEGs when set as the desktop background, in Windows 10 they brought lossless backgrouds back, but everything else about 10 sucks in my opinion.

2 - Is there anything like the Windows Media Player toolbar in Windows Vista? I like being able to easily access media player controls without having to have the program maximized.

3 - For how long are versions of OS X usually supported?

4 - Is there a simple way to manage startup programs and background programs?

5 - How good is WineBottler for running Windows applications on OS X? I know it must have limitations, but what would those limitations be? I'm only interested in running some Windows only internet browsers.

6 - Is it possible to use custom icons for certain folders?

Forgive me if some of the questions are stupid, but I have almost no experience with OS X.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

1, Yes, you can use lossless PNG images, as well as JPG and TIFF. I don't believe OS X compresses them as Windows does.
2, All Mac keyboards have media control keys built-in - rewind, play/pause, fast forward, volume mute/down/up, eject.
3. A long time. Apple recently issued an update for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, which was released in Aug 2009. Currently, full active support goes back at least one or two versions - i.e. Mac OS X 10.9/10.10 Yosemite.
4. You can add/remove startup applications via the login section in System Preferences > Users & Groups on aper user basis. You can use Activity Monitor to see the active processes.
5. WineBottler can do the more simple tasks with Windows software like browsers. You can use Parallels/Fusion/Boot Camp for full on Windows emulation. Most browsers have a full Mac version as well, and you can change their user agent status using the developer mode in Safari.
6. Yes, you can add custom icons to folders.

No worries at all, that is why we're here. Please feel free to ask any additional questions you may have.

C

 

[Sea Monster]

Awesome, thank you very much for the help.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries...glad it helped.

C