installing FireFox [WAS: "[G4] Mac Classic Environment"]

[David L. Presberg]

Celia --

The best of the newest Macintosh apps, like FireFox are quite trivial
to install -- approximately 2 steps.

Click on the desktop (no particular window).  From the "Go" menu, select
Applications.  That will open a folder with all the installed applications.
That was step 1.

The FireFox downloaded file named with ".dmg" is a "disk image".  That is
why when you click on it it mounts as if it is a volume.  One of the
items in there is the actual application.  (They've been "creative" with
the background image on that top folder.  I don't know if this list will allow
attachments to emails -- someone let me know and I'll decorate a message
with screen captures of what that latest FireFox .dmg looks like for Celia.)
All you have to do to install FireFox is to drag it from the open .dmg folder
into the Applications folder.  That was step 2.

Note that that dragging didn't actually take it out of the .dmg -- when you
"drag" across "volumes" on the Mac it is actually doing a copy.  (When you
"drag" across folders on the same volume on a Mac, it is actually doing
a move of the file.)  For a "copy" you should see the cursor icon turn into
a green circle with a "+"-sign on it.  [All this is being done from memory
so don't shoot me if the cursor isn't green...  ;-) ]

Apple has a not bad set of beginner tutorials at:

   http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/

or if you want the viewpoint of someone moving to a Mac from a PC:

   http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

I'd be interested in your reaction to either of the above, given that you
have a lot of experience with Linux.  Let us know how this works out for you.

-- Pres

Re part of posting:
> Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:40:53 +0000
> From: "Celia Lawton-Livingstone" <lawli56 at hotmail.com>
> Subject: [G4] Mac Classic Environment
> To: g4 at listserver.themacintoshguy.com
 >
     ...
 >
> But others like installing aps are eluding me... eg I've downloaded Firefox 
> and double-clicked on the file to install it but it doesn't do what I expect 
> it to do... install on the drive... it seems to exist as a volume (i think 
> that's what it's called) on the desktop which dismounts? when I shutdown. 
> Then the next time I want to use it i have to double-click on the .dmg file 
> again to "re-install" it... what am I doing wrong?