The OSX/Apple support thread

[Escapegoat]

Any thoughts on how reliable the Apple Mail programme (Mac Big Sur on M1) is for more than casual use? At the moment, I only use it for a single account for sign-up emails and throwaway use. For proper emailing, I use a G-Suite-based email account with my own domain (but thinking of moving away from Google).

I haven't looked into using Apple Mail with my own domain and iCloud, but I am hoping there are ways to configure it for robust business use? I'm a single user, but use lots of folders for customer orders, supplier info, etc, etc. Would prefer not to have a local email database.

Ideas?

[vaud]

Personally I would evaluate O365 which is pretty good, plus you get storage space and the other bells and whistles.

[tog]

Escapegoat said:

Any thoughts on how reliable the Apple Mail programme (Mac Big Sur on M1) is for more than casual use? At the moment, I only use it for a single account for sign-up emails and throwaway use. For proper emailing, I use a G-Suite-based email account with my own domain (but thinking of moving away from Google).

I haven't looked into using Apple Mail with my own domain and iCloud, but I am hoping there are ways to configure it for robust business use? I'm a single user, but use lots of folders for customer orders, supplier info, etc, etc. Would prefer not to have a local email database.

Ideas?

I have half a dozen IMAP accounts and an old POP3 account all configured. A few rules run locally but most folder filtering is on the IMAP servers. If you're looking for an alternative to Google, I've used Fastmail.com for my main work email for several years and am very happy with the service.

[Escapegoat]

I'll have another look at Office 365 and try to remember why I dumped it a few years ago. I no longer need to stick to DOC/XLS formats, so the desktop apps lost their must-have appeal.

Fastmail looks interesting. The email retention thing with the Professional tier may be a great way of avoiding data loss due to fat fingers and idiocy (mine, that is).

And I just need to find the relevant Apple page for describing how to set up iCloud Mail with my existing web host/domain for comparison.

[stevoknevo]

vaud said:

stevoknevo said:

Hello all - I need to redo the room correction on my AV receiver but it's a Windows only programme and I don't have access to a PC anymore, just the mid-2014 i5 8gb iMac I inherited a couple of months ago - is it possible to run W10 on the mac? (and for free as I only need to use it for about 20 minutes)

Yes. you can install bootcamp.

Or VirtualBox on OS X

Windows downloads ISO from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/...

I think your Mac will be ok.

Cheers vaud - after umpteen attempts, and it failing for a variety of reasons, and none, I finally got it on last night! Hurrah!

[craigjm]

We use Mac mail corporately the only pain is having a separate calendar app

[Phooey]

I'll ask in this thread

Is this possible? -

I want to buy a new MBA with the M1 chip solely for home use. I also want to buy my daughter one as she needs something better than her old iPad for home/remote schooling.

Could I buy one machine and we both share it? My worry is everything i do on my mac at work also comes through to my mac at home and vice versa

Worst case scenario is i have to buy 2 machines but would like to find out first if the above is possible. I think she has an Apple ID etc (12 yrs old) and an email account and something called MS Teams for school.

Thanks

[mmm-five]

Phooey said:

I'll ask in this thread

Is this possible? -

I want to buy a new MBA with the M1 chip solely for home use. I also want to buy my daughter one as she needs something better than her old iPad for home/remote schooling.

Could I buy one machine and we both share it? My worry is everything i do on my mac at work also comes through to my mac at home and vice versa

Worst case scenario is i have to buy 2 machines but would like to find out first if the above is possible. I think she has an Apple ID etc (12 yrs old) and an email account and something called MS Teams for school.

Thanks

Just set up two completely separate user accounts with your own passwords on the machine. This will keep everything separate, and will only sync the stuff that is your's to your account, and your daughter's to her's.

[Phooey]

mmm-five said:

Just set up two completely separate user accounts with your own passwords on the machine. This will keep everything separate, and will only sync the stuff that is your's to your account, and your daughter's to her's.

Thanks for quick reply. Do you know if the passwords are all done by touch id on the new M1 machines? At the moment when i have finished on my laptop I just close the lid down... when i come back to it I simply open the lid and i'm back on. I take it if I was sharing with my daughter I would have to do some sort of log-off when i have finished using it, and she would have to do a similar action? Sorry for the numptie questions.. massively behind on modern day technology

[mmm-five]

Phooey said:

Thanks for quick reply. Do you know if the passwords are all done by touch id on the new M1 machines? At the moment when i have finished on my laptop I just close the lid down... when i come back to it I simply open the lid and i'm back on. I take it if I was sharing with my daughter I would have to do some sort of log-off when i have finished using it, and she would have to do a similar action? Sorry for the numptie questions.. massively behind on modern day technology

The two accounts would have their own touch-id credential (as well as passwords and Apple-IDs).

You can make one account the default, and make it log into that automatically, but you'd then have to either log out and back in to switch, or just use the fast user switching function to log a 2nd user in....although the 2nd user will still only have access to their own stuff.

[robbieduncan]

You can have Touch ID. I think for each user. But you will also have a password (even with just one user). It’s easy to demand authentication (either by password or Touch ID) when you wake from sleep. You can switch users from the authentication screen

[Phooey]

Thanks guys but i don't think it's going to work for what we need... just tried to create a seperate user account for my daughter on my 2011 Macbook Air and whilst i managed to create her an account... she can't do things like access the internet with it. So not really any point in having a second user?? I might just have to bite the bullet and buy 2 new machines

I can't enclose a screen shot for some reason of what her account looked like but basically there isn't any apps on the bottom of the screen like for example internet, mail, photos etc etc etc

Damn you Mac





eta - managed to take a photo of what we have. Can't see what she can do with this user account as there is no Safari thingy, or mail, or photos etc. Do we have to purchase these from the appstore or something?

Edited by Phooey on Sunday 10th January 13:24

[craig1912]

The set up can’t be right. I have three user accounts on my mac. Each has complete independence and own passwords etc.

[stemll]

Phooey said:

Thanks guys but i don't think it's going to work for what we need... just tried to create a seperate user account for my daughter on my 2011 Macbook Air and whilst i managed to create her an account... she can't do things like access the internet with it. So not really any point in having a second user?? I might just have to bite the bullet and buy 2 new machines

I can't enclose a screen shot for some reason of what her account looked like but basically there isn't any apps on the bottom of the screen like for example internet, mail, photos etc etc etc

Damn you Mac





eta - managed to take a photo of what we have. Can't see what she can do with this user account as there is no Safari thingy, or mail, or photos etc. Do we have to purchase these from the appstore or something?

Edited by Phooey on Sunday 10th January 13:24

Just because they aren't in the dock doesn't mean they aren't there. Go to Launchpad, launch the app you want. Once it's in the dock, two-finger tap > Options > Keep in Dock


ETA - You haven't created a "Sharing Only" account have you? That's an account type that allows only access to specific shared locations on the Mac and nowhere else. You want a Standard User and then add parental controls (not used them but lots on Apple Support pages on how to set it up - can limit apps and amount of time on each if you wan to)

Edited by stemll on Sunday 10th January 13:33

[Phooey]

stemll said:

Just because they aren't in the dock doesn't mean they aren't there. Go to Launchpad, launch the app you want. Once it's in the dock, two-finger tap > Options > Keep in Dock

Doesn't work mate, can't find launchpad and when i thought i had i tried searching for "photos" "safari" etc and it comes up as "No results".

I have hit a brick wall with this and ready to give up on it. It's st

[Phooey]

stemll said:

ETA - You haven't created a "Sharing Only" account have you? That's an account type that allows only access to specific shared locations on the Mac and nowhere else. You want a Standard User and then add parental controls (not used them but lots on Apple Support pages on how to set it up - can limit apps and amount of time on each if you wan to)

Edited by stemll on Sunday 10th January 13:33

It's definitely a standard user account. I just don't think it's going to work for us. I't's too advanced for me. The choices are either pay for a computer tech guy who knows how apple works to come round and set it up for us (Covid!?) or bite the bullet and buy 2 machines

Thanks to everyone who tried to help

eta - when setting up my daughters user account it asked me for her apple-id which i put in. I also had to put the code in that apple sent her mobile phone. It finished by opening up the above page with hardly anything in the dock and no launchpad thingy

Edited by Phooey on Sunday 10th January 13:51

[tapandunwrap]

i wouldn't give up, what you are describing is base functionality for mac os. I'd suggest setting up another user account and giving it a go - https://www.imore.com/how-set-multiple-users-your-...

Also - add her apple ID later in the accounts settings if possible, rather than at the start in case the issue is attached to that.

[stemll]

When logged in as her, what do you see in Finder? If you can see the Applications folder (Go -> Applications) then you should be able to launch anything you want

Can also get to Launchpad with a four finger pinch on the trackpad and then lock it to the dock.

[Phooey]

Think i may have sorted it. Logged her out and back in and now I can open launchpad and add things into the dock like safari etc. Also all her photos are coming through so icloud must be working too!

So it was obviously a weird glitch that needed sort of resetting by logging her out and back in. Trust it to happen to me

Thanks again for help

stemll said:

When logged in as her, what do you see in Finder? If you can see the Applications folder (Go -> Applications) then you should be able to launch anything you want

Can also get to Launchpad with a four finger pinch on the trackpad and then lock it to the dock.

she basically had no finder either. I've ran out of time to finish setting it up now but as above - once I logged out and back in things like launchpad was there wheras before it wasn't

Edited by Phooey on Sunday 10th January 14:58

[Craikeybaby]

Escapegoat said:

And I just need to find the relevant Apple page for describing how to set up iCloud Mail with my existing web host/domain for comparison.

I'm not aware that you can do that... I use iCloud for most things, but still need to use Google Apps for email on my domains.