A simple guide to setting up and using the Apple Mail application which is bundled with OS X. Most users want to know how to send emails, attach photos, and about viewing files and photos they have been sent.
Mac OS X: Mail Basics (length 0:03:04, source: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/)

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Mail is Apple’s bundled email app. It can use most email services and types of email account.

Setting up Mail. MobileMe (now iCloud) automatic. The video skips over settings for other services! (Though my experience has shown Mail to be thoroughly capable if you know what settings are needed, and it already knows them if you are using Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc).

What you can do with Apple Mail.
Creating a new email message, addressing an email, finding email addresses.
Adding attachments, adding photos from iPhoto, sizing images prior to sending.

Quicklook: viewing attachments without having to open other applications. Viewing photos in emails as a slideshow.

Searching through emails: use anything you can remember about the email you are trying to find using Mail’s powerful search facility.

Just a quick post to plead with Mac users to back-up their stuff. Windows users seem to know they have to back up their stuff, but Mac users are lulled into a false sense of security by their Macs, especially if they have had years of trouble-free use. But I just came across another iMac with a disk that had suddenly become unuseable. Years of precious photos gone. I tried every disk utility I could find but no joy. This is sad and unnecessary because with TimeMachine* and a USB hard disk it is 2 clicks for hourly back-ups forever. How to here: http://macwiz.co.uk/backup-and-restore-your-mac/

There are those unwilling to back up their whole Mac, who perhaps just want backups of their pictures or music, etc. These could just be put on a few USB keys for instance. To save copying the whole lot manually each time there are utilities that will keep two folders in sync. My favourite is the free software Silverkeeper by Lacie. After setting source folder on your Mac, and the destination folder on your USB key, the back-up is a one click process. You can have many different back-ups configured and they can be scheduled – so you don’t have to click anything. The utility also offers on start-up to back up your whole Mac, or just your user folder, but this can be bypassed.

And if actually remembering to connect your USB disk to your Mac is to difficult – or perhaps plain inconvenient – there is the (rather expensive) TimeCapsule by Apple which will accept TimeMachine backups wirelessly over your wifi network. How to again here: http://macwiz.co.uk/backup-and-restore-your-mac/ You can configure a cheaper wireless “NAS” box to do the same thing, but check support for TimeMachine first, and don’t expect help from Apple.

Persuading people to back-up is a bit like selling them a pension – they know it is important but they put it off. But Apple have at least made it easy, so please do set this up today.

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*To use TimeMachine users of older Macs need to upgrade to OS X 10.5 Leopard, or OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Backup and restore your Mac (length 0:02:45, source: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/)
Automatic back-up and restore of your Mac and your files with TimeMachine. Time Machine is a back-up technology introduced to the Mac with OS X 10.5 Leopard. Earlier versions did not have this facility.

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Time Machine

Can backup your whole Mac

Setup Time Machine

Wireless backup via Time Capsule

Restoring lost files

Finding lost files anywhere on your Time Machine backup

Restore your data to a new Mac

Full wireless backup and restore can take a long while. The video does not explain how to exclude something from the backup. If you want to exclude items, open Time Machine Preferences either from within System Preferences, or from the Time Machine menu at the top of your screen. There you see an options button. Click it, and any folder or volume you add in the window that follows will be excluded from the back-up.

A very basic overview of wireless connections available to your Mac. Included here because it does simply explain some basic terms. However, there is the impression given that you need an Apple Airport Basestation to set up wireless networking in your home or office. This is not so, as is indicated towards the end of the video when connecting to wireless networks in other places is explained.

Basic wireless networking (length 0:02:48, source: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/)

  

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Wifi – used for access data, internet, email

Bluetooth – shorter range compared to wifi. Used to transmit data between close or adjacent devices, i.e headsets or keyboards, mice

Wireless networking in the home – basestation connects to modem. Computer connect wirelessly to basestation or printer

Connecting to existing networks – Airport symbol in menubar, select from list of networks, enter password if prompted to do so

Don’t be intimidated by the Mac. If you have used Windows, you will soon be up and running with the Mac.
From PC to Mac length: 0:05:40, source: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

  

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Start menu and taskbar functions in Apple Menu and Dock.

Opening applications. Pinning applications. Finding your applications, files and downloads.

Minimalising windows. Trash/Recycle Bin

Right-clicking, control-click, double tapping trackpad.

Menubar, switching and quitting applications. Keyboard shortcuts

Windows Explorer function in the Finder