Arkady Renko Posted March 31, 2008 Posted March 31, 2008 Yes, back in 2001 Apple mandated that file name extensions became mandatory. However, it still gives preferential treatment to file type metadata. From my interaction with it, Apple's Application Binding first looks at file type metadata, and THEN at file extensions, making file extensions all but useless. I disagree that they are useless. To the end user, Mac OS X is using file extensions that can be hid or unhid. The mechanics behind the scene are less important. You can switch file extension on the fly just by changing the file name without altering anything else if need be. And Steve was asking about whether the OS understood the standard file extensions that he uses on the PC and they do.
Chilly Posted March 31, 2008 Posted March 31, 2008 I disagree that they are useless. To the end user, Mac OS X is using file extensions that can be hid or unhid. The mechanics behind the scene are less important. You can switch file extension on the fly just by changing the file name without altering anything else if need be. And Steve was asking about whether the OS understood the standard file extensions that he uses on the PC and they do. Windows users are likely to think that by renaming the file extension, you are changing what Mac OS X thinks is the file type, and what program it will open in, which is not the case. This is also the reason why the mechanics behind the scene are extremely important. Does Mac OS X "understand" them? Depends on your definition of "understand". Yes, it can determine what file extension a file has, but it does not listen to them, and changing it in most cases will not change the OS' behavior.
Rubes Posted March 31, 2008 Posted March 31, 2008 Windows users are likely to think that by renaming the file extension, you are changing what Mac OS X thinks is the file type, and what program it will open in, which is not the case. This is also the reason why the mechanics behind the scene are extremely important. Does Mac OS X "understand" them? Depends on your definition of "understand". Yes, it can determine what file extension a file has, but it does not listen to them, and changing it in most cases will not change the OS' behavior. Gosh, that's funny. I just took a .jpg file that opens automatically in Apple's Preview program, and changed the file extension to .xls. The icon changed to an Excel workbook file and it opened automatically in Excel.
Arkady Renko Posted March 31, 2008 Posted March 31, 2008 Gosh, that's funny. I just took a .jpg file that opens automatically in Apple's Preview program, and changed the file extension to .xls. The icon changed to an Excel workbook file and it opened automatically in Excel. Yes, this is how it always works in OS X. It is also important to assure Steve that a .doc file created on Windows will open up fine in Microsoft Word without doing anything extra.
Chilly Posted March 31, 2008 Posted March 31, 2008 Gosh, that's funny. I just took a .jpg file that opens automatically in Apple's Preview program, and changed the file extension to .xls. The icon changed to an Excel workbook file and it opened automatically in Excel. Which works *sometimes*, when it is not reading from the Metadata of the file over the filename. I have had plenty of experiences on Mac OS X when changing the extension does NOT change how the OS views the file.
stevestojan Posted March 31, 2008 Author Posted March 31, 2008 Holy crap. I wasn't confused until I asked about extensions. JPGS changing to Excel files?
Arkady Renko Posted March 31, 2008 Posted March 31, 2008 Holy crap. I wasn't confused until I asked about extensions. JPGS changing to Excel files? Don't worry about the side discussion. The Mac can handle all the important PC file extensions.
Nanker Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 I have an extension that's important to read correctly. Luckily for me, it's gender sensitive. +- /ying-yang all the way baby.
Chilly Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 Holy crap. I wasn't confused until I asked about extensions. JPGS changing to Excel files? He was just talking about changing an extension, it didn't actually become an excel file, the OS simply tried to open it in excel. The same would happen on a PC.
Arkady Renko Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 He was just talking about changing an extension, it didn't actually become an excel file, the OS simply tried to open it in excel. The same would happen on a PC. If that's your position, then I think we are simply talking about 2 different things.
stevestojan Posted April 2, 2008 Author Posted April 2, 2008 My first visit to TBD using the MacBook. So far so good... The two finger scrolling on webpages is just one of those things that shows that apple does actually look to make things intuitive. I'll give a full review when I've had it for a week or so.
John Adams Posted April 2, 2008 Posted April 2, 2008 My first visit to TBD using the MacBook. So far so good... The two finger scrolling on webpages is just one of those things that shows that apple does actually look to make things intuitive. I'll give a full review when I've had it for a week or so. The magnet power cord is also a great invention.
stevestojan Posted April 2, 2008 Author Posted April 2, 2008 The magnet power cord is also a great invention. pretty simple concept that really all computers should have. it will likely prevent me from killing one of my dogs when they pull the cord out of my new computer....
thebug Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 The magnet power cord is also a great invention. My deepfryer has one......
Pete Posted April 4, 2008 Posted April 4, 2008 Could someone please recommend a good ad aware program and a free antivirus for Mac?
DrDawkinstein Posted April 4, 2008 Posted April 4, 2008 wish me luck. after 1 year and 8 months of daily abuse (travelling a lot, using it about 15 hours a day), my MacBook Pro took a crap today. they think its the logic board, i had to hand over my laptop to the geniuses for up to 5-7 business days. im dying right now. my entire life's on it. most of it (maybe 80-90%) is backed up, but i know its not all there...
Alaska Darin Posted April 5, 2008 Posted April 5, 2008 Just wonering what you don't like. I may just get another Dell. The one thing that I don't like about Dell is it takes the better part of 3 weeks to get it built and delivered. That's unacceptable in my eyes. My last one took 8 days from click to delivery and I took the free "by mule" shipping option.
Bmwolf21 Posted April 5, 2008 Posted April 5, 2008 My last one took 8 days from click to delivery and I took the free "by mule" shipping option. Same here - mine was about 6-7 days because they were running a "free next day shipping" special. When I placed the order they gave me an estimated ship date of three weeks - it was ordered right before Christmas, so I think they were being overly cautious for the holidays - but I got an email about 4-5 days later saying it was complete and shipping the next day.
Arkady Renko Posted April 5, 2008 Posted April 5, 2008 Could someone please recommend a good ad aware program and a free antivirus for Mac? You shouldn't need either, but there is ClamXAV.
/dev/null Posted April 5, 2008 Posted April 5, 2008 You shouldn't need either Right You shouldn't need to worry about virus' or adware on a Mac. They're out there and just as dangerous on a Mac as a PC. But given the market share of M$ vs Mac, there are so many more written for Windows. There is no such thing as a secure PC (unless you disconnect it from the internet and lock it in a room that you only have the key). That said, Macs IMO are more secure than Windows PCs. There are also far fewer virus's, malwares, etc written for the Mac than PC (given market share). However you should still take every precaution possible to protect yourself, regardless of OS
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