Resources - main resources page


All content has now been removed from the Resources section of this website.
This page has only been retained to minimise the number of broken links.

Because this website is no longer being actively maintained or updated all resources have been removed to avoid the risk of people obtaining outdated information.



I often found myself having to explain the same sort of things to people as a prelude to actually answering a computer related question which they had asked. For example an intial question might be "can I do X, Y or Z with my computer?", which after an answer was given of "no" would then be followed by a question like "why not?". At this point there was often no option except to explain something fundamental about computers and computing.
On other occasions I found myself being asked to carryout work for people because, although they might have had an instruction manual, a certain level of basic knowledge about what computers do, how they do it, why they do it and what things are called or mean was required in order to actually read (and understand) the instruction manual.

There are numerous websites and web pages available (to people who know where to look for them) which offer detailed descriptions of topics related to computers and their use. A good example of a general website which does this quite comprehensively is Wikipedia.
What it is less easy to find however is a website which provides relatively easily understood information about computers and their use.

The resources section of the Mostly4Macs.co.uk website was my attempt to answer at least a few of the most common computer related questions I got asked.
While I hoped that people found these pages useful and that they help people understand computers better, I also hoped that (if people read and understand what I have written) I would have to explain these things face to face far less.



the formats for resource pages

Each of the resources pages on the Mostly4Macs.co.uk website were designed to fall within one of several formats.
Sometimes one topic area (examples included things like 'the internet' or 'MP3s and digital music') were covered in several - or even all - of the different formats within the Mostly 4 Macs resource pages. When this was the case it was generally because that one topic area was being covered in different levels of complexity and/or from different perspectives. Each of the different formats was best suited to cover a topic area in a different way and with a different level of complexity.


Just The Basics

As the name might suggest, the Just The Basics section was aimed to provide a basic overview of computers and computer related topics. Each topic was covered on a single webpage and was intended to be as simple as possible, while still providing as much detail as was required to gain a basic understanding about the general topic area that was being covered.

Each of the webpages within Just The Basics were ideally suited to be read by someone who wanted to know a small amount, but didn't want or need more detail than was absolutely necessary.


Computer Principles Explored

Computer Principles Explored aimed to offer more detail about a topic than the Just The Basics section. In some cases the topics which were covered (for example numbering systems and counting) could prove a bit complicated, and might have needed to be read over several times, but underpinned many other computer related issues. In many cases, the topics covered here had also been covered within the Just The Basics section. When this was the case there was likely to be a noticeable difference in the length and complexity of the information which was contained. Because of the amount of detail in which each topic was covered this tended to be done with a series of linked webpages rather than all on one page.

Each series of webpages within Computer Principles Explored which related to the topic being covered would have been best suited to someone wanting to gain a reasonable level of understanding about computers (or someone wanting a quick reminder of knowledge). This information could have also proved useful as a background to understanding software and hardware manuals or to reading more indepth descriptions of computer topics.


Hints, Tips, Tricks And Time Savers

Each entry in the Hints, Tips, Tricks and Time Savers section aimed to contain a small and compact, but reasonably detailed, description of a very specific computer related issue.

The details contained in this section were most suitable for someone who wished to use their computer more effectively.


Tabs, Buttons, Tool Bars, Menus And Short Cuts

The Tabs, Buttons, Tool Bars, Menus and Short Cuts section was focussed on descriptions of how to get things done within specific software applications or operating systems.

One potential use for the information contained within these webpages would have been as quick reference guides to, and reminders about, some of the commonly used features and keyboard based shortcuts for specific applications or operating system functions.


Basic Definitions of Confusing Computer Terms

A variety of websites offer their own lists of words, abbreviations and/or acronyms which relate in one way or another to computers. The Basic descriptions of Confusing Computer Terms (abbreviated to BDoCCT) was yet another set of lists and focussed upon some of the most commonly used computer terms. Each definition within the BDoCCT would be a maximum of 45 words in length and where relevant would contain links to any webpages within the Hints, Tips, Tricks and Time Savers, Just The Basics, or Computer Principles Explored sections which offered greater detail.

The different lists within BDoCCT were most likely to be of use as a quick reference point as and when required (for example to look up the meaning of a term contained within text on another website or in a computer manual).


Yet Another List of Stuff on the Internet

In addition to being able to be used as a stand-alone links directory, individual pages or sections of the links pages on the Mostly4Macs website often provided additional sources of information relating to a topic being covered on a resources page.



(some of) the topics (which used to be) covered by resource pages

A variety of topics used to be covered by articles in the resource pages on the Mostly4Macs.co.uk website. These will included:-

  • computer parts and peripheral devices
  • computer cables
  • accessible computing
  • numbers
  • colours
  • printing
  • the internet
  • shopping online
  • viruses, spyware, adware and computer security issues
  • mp3s and digital music
  • iPods and iTunes
  • software licences
  • peer-to-peer file sharing
  • operating systems - Mac OS (classic)
  • operating systems - Mac OSX
  • operating systems - Unix, Linux and BSD
  • operating systems - Microsoft Windows
  • operating systems - Palm OS
  • operating systems - EPOC and Symbian OS
  • ESD (electrostatic discharge)
  • HTML, XHTML, CSS tags
  • making websites more accessible