Santa may have been generous enough to bring you a new Mac for Christmas, but after firing it up and poking around a bit, you might be overwhelmed and not sure where to begin. Thankfully, MacLife.com is here with some ideas on how to spend Christmas Day (and beyond) with your new friend -- just consider us one of Santa’s friendly elves!

5 Things To Do First With Your New Toy

1. Visit Software Update
OK, so maybe checking to see if your operating system is up-to-date doesn’t sound like the most fun thing to do with your new computer, but you’d be surprised how many times small problems that crop up even with new systems can be solved by doing so. Under the Apple Menu, select “Software Update…” and install anything that pops up there. Some updates may require a reboot, so be sure you’re not in the middle of something else before you do so.

2. Fire up your own personal Time Machine
If you’re a first-time computer owner, you haven’t experienced the horror of losing your valuable files due to a hardware failure or hard drive crash. But you will, someday! It’s better to be safe than sorry, which is why Apple introduced Time Machine with Mac OS X Leopard 10.5, and it’s gotten even better (and faster) with Snow Leopard 10.6. Buy a cheap external hard drive that’s at least twice the capacity of your Mac’s internal hard drive, plug it in and visit Time Machine in the System Preferences to activate it as your backup drive. From now on, your Mac will back up all of your data without you having to do anything else (you can exclude certain volumes, if you like). If the worst happens down the road, you can even use your Time Machine disk to boot from, restore and get you going again as fast as possible. Oh, and you’ll have fun showing your Windows friends how you can delete a file, go back in time and bring it back again, just like magic, too. (Note that most store-bought hard drives are formatted for Windows, so you’ll need to visit Disk Utility first to reformat them for Time Machine use.)

3. Get acquainted and make yourself at home!
A fresh new computer is like a playground. If you’re new to the Mac or especially if this is your first computer, open the installed applications and check ‘em out. Go ahead, poke around and have fun! Be sure to visit the Preferences for your installed apps and do some initial setup to get things the way you like them. For those of you upgrading to a new computer who prefer to start fresh or experienced users setting up new systems, this can be a lengthy process so it’s best to get started early on. Don’t forget the System Preferences, which is a wealth of tweaks and settings to make that new system truly yours.

4. Visit MacLife.com for the latest news
Maybe this one is obvious (if not self-serving) since you're already reading this, but there’s a wealth of new information online every day, and plenty of great ideas, blogs, videos and more to get you started. What’s wrong with a little plug for your hard-working staff, right?

5. Start installing the rest of your applications & data
New Macs come preinstalled with Snow Leopard 10.6 and iLife ’09, but what about any other software you might have received as a gift (or even bought for yourself, in anticipation of Santa being generous)? Microsoft Office is a common new companion for a new Mac, or maybe iWork ’09 if you like to keep the Apple flag waving proudly. Even if you don’t have any other applications to install right now, you might have a digital camera loaded with pictures waiting to import into iPhoto or a pile of music CDs to import into iTunes. In our vast experience, nothing says happiness like curling up next to a new Mac and loading it up with all of your favorite stuff!

So maybe you need some software suggestions -- it’s Christmas, after all, and the stores are all closed, so you can’t run out and buy any new Mac applications today. That’s not a problem, since we have a great list of free applications you can bring straight to your desktop 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from the Internet.

10 Apps To Install First (And They’re All Free!)

AppTrap (Donationware)
There are more expensive and complicated ways to remove applications and any accompanying files from your computer, but AppTrap keeps things simple (and cheap). Drag an application to the trash and AppTrap will ask if you want to remove the associated preference files as well. If you love it as much as we do, donate to the developer to keep it going!

Dropbox (Free with paid options)
Even if you only have the one Mac you got for Christmas, Dropbox is a handy service -- and it’s free with 2 GB of cloud storage (or 50 GB for $9.99/month, 100 GB for $19.99/month). Save files to your Dropbox folder and you’ll be able to access them from anywhere you have Internet access, on any computer, or even on the iPhone thanks to the free App Store version.

Evernote (Free with paid options)
If your memory is like ours (i.e., not so good), then Evernote should be the first thing you download to your new Mac. It’s basically a software “second brain” where you can toss just about any digital files or web clippings into and quickly & easily find them later on. Best of all, a 40 MB monthly upload allowance is absolutely free (500 MB is available for $5/month or $45/year), and you can access your second brain from any web browser, Windows, iPhone or iPod touch, Android and Blackberry.

Firefox (Free)
Apple’s Safari is a great, fast browser, but it’s not always 100% compatible with every site. That’s where Mozilla’s free Firefox browser comes in handy. It’s infinitely expandable thanks to crafty add-ons and the session restore feature alone will warm your heart: Quit the program and when you re-open it, all of the sites you last had open will be restored.

Flip4Mac WMV (Free with paid options)
Especially handy for former Windows users who just converted to Mac-dom, Flip4Mac WMV is your ticket to playing Windows Media files on the Mac, right inside Quicktime Player, your web browser or other media players. It’s so good at what it does that Microsoft ditched Mac development for Windows Media Player and now offers Flip4Mac WMV instead! The free version only allows playback, but there are upgrade options available from $29 (to import Windows Media for editing or conversion) all the way up to the $179 WMV Studio Pro HD, and everything in-between.

iPhoto Library Manager (Free with paid option)
If you got a brand-new Mac, chances are you’ve already got iLife ’09 installed, which includes Apple’s iPhoto software. iPhoto is great, but you’ll quickly fill up your iPhoto library and the program will start to bog down accordingly. iPhoto Library Manager to the rescue! Create multiple iPhoto libraries to better manage large photo collections, copy between them, merge them, automate them, you name it. For basic functions, iPhoto Library Manager is free; advanced features get unlocked for a mere $19.95.

NetNewsWire (Free with paid option)
If you’re even a moderate RSS news reader, you will love NetNewsWire, which now syncs to Google Reader so you can read your posts from anywhere and still have them sync up to your desktop. Best of all, you can save posts to read later using the awesome (and also free) Instapaper service. NetNewsWire is free with unobtrusive ads, or you can pay $14.95 to remove the ads, and yes, there’s even an iPhone version.

Skype (Free with paid options)
Particularly useful if you just got an iMac or MacBook for Christmas, Skype is basically free (or really cheap) calls worldwide over the computer, complete with video if your Mac has a built-in iSight camera (or if you add a webcam). If you have friends or family overseas, Skype should be your first download -- you’ll save a fortune since Skype-to-Skype calls are absolutely free. They also have a number of paid options, including Skype Out credit to call those still tied to landlines or mobile phones.

TapDex (Free)
Apple’s Address Book is great, but you’ll quickly find it becomes a drag to have to open it whenever you need quick access to a contact or want to copy & paste an address into an e-mail or another document. That’s where Yellow Mug’s excellent TapDex comes into play. Tap a customizable hot key and wha-la! You can rapidly search your Address Book for exactly the contact you seek, then quickly e-mail or even map their address, all without leaving TapDex or launching Address Book. Also be sure to check out their other awesome utilities (all available in a value-priced bundle), including FileChute (to send large files) and EasyCrop (for quick photo cropping).

Xmarks (Free)
Particularly handy if you’re migrating from Windows and missing your browser’s bookmarks, Xmarks is a great utility to keep your bookmarks in sync between multiple browsers and computers. Even if you only use Safari and Firefox on your new Mac, you’ll appreciate the ability to store your bookmarks in the cloud and have Xmarks sync them between the programs without having to lift a finger. And yes, it’s available on Windows, so you can install it there first, run a sync and then have all of those bookmarks brought over to your Mac with ease.

So now you’ve done some initial setup, poked around your preferences and even installed some new applications. Maybe now you’re ready to learn a few clever tricks to master your Mac and maybe even make your life easier.

10 How-Tos You Should Know

1. Control those auto-launching programs!
Mac OS X is usually very diligent in trying to help accomplish a task, but sometimes it can go overboard. One such case is automatically launching iPhoto when you plug in your camera (or iPhone/iPod touch), or launching DVD Player when you insert a DVD. If you prefer to make such decisions on your own, there is hope. The CD & DVD System Preferences will control what happens when you insert various types of discs, including having nothing at all happen. To control if and when iPhoto opens, visit the Image Capture application, select the device in the upper left pane and change the “Connecting this XX opens:” to “No application”. Now wasn’t that simple?

2. Automate importing your CDs into iTunes
You may already know how to import CDs into iTunes, but did you know that you can automate the process a little more? Go to Preferences > General and next to “When you insert a CD:” select “Import CD and Eject.” Now, each time you insert a CD, iTunes will grab the track names, encode all tracks based on your import settings and then eject the disc. Be sure to visit your Import Settings before you start sticking discs into your Mac, particularly if you’re an audiophile who likes a little more customization over how your tracks get encoded.

3. Never worry about your date & time again
Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 brought simplicity to setting your date & time: The OS will intelligently (and automatically) set your Mac to the correct time zone, no matter where you are, as long as it’s connected to the Internet. But first you have to tell it to do so, by going to the Date & Time preference in System Preferences and selecting “Set time zone automatically using current location.” This one is particularly handy for new MacBook owners who travel.

4. Scan directly into Preview
Torn from the “Why didn’t they think of this before?” file: Open Preview and select File > Import From Scanner. Yes, it’s that simple.

5. Add a date to your menu
Another how-to that previously required some hackery, now simplified with Snow Leopard. If you like to see what day it is in your menu bar as well as the time, pop back into Date & Time in the System Preferences, select the Clock tab and make sure “Show date” is selected under Date Options. You might also want to select “Show the day of the week” as well.

6. See it before you open it
Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 first introduced QuickLook, which allows you to select a file and click the Space bar on the keyboard to get a preview of your photos, movies or Word/Excel/PDF documents. No need to open a bunch of programs just to take a quick peek at what you’ve just downloaded. While it’s old hat for longtime Mac users, it’s a worthwhile tip to repeat for those of you just joining us.

7. Oops, I wanted that file after all!
No need to open a bunch of windows in order to move a file you just trashed back into place. In Snow Leopard, just right-click on the file in Trash and select “Put Back” and it’s done for you.

8. Help! One of my programs is stuck!
Don’t panic -- while it’s rare that a Mac OS X application will lock up (especially compared to certain other operating systems from certain other companies), it does happen occasionally. If you can’t quit a program, you can opt to Force Quit it instead. Hold down the Command and Option keys while you press the Esc key (or select Force Quit… from the Apple Menu), and up comes a list of all running applications. Select the unruly one (which probably has a “not responding” message next to it) and click “Force Quit” to go about your day.

9. Show all of my disks on the Desktop
If you like to see all of your disks (including servers, hard disks, optical media and even iPods) on the Finder’s Desktop, this tip is for you. With the Finder selected, go to Finder > Preferences and look for “Show these items on the desktop:” on the General tab. Your choices are “Hard disks”, “External disks”, “CDs, DVDs, and iPods” and “Connected servers”. Select the ones you’d like to see and watch them appear on your Desktop, like magic.

10. The incredible shrinking Dock
Love it or hate it, the Finder’s Dock is an indispensable part of your Mac OS X experience. By default, the OS features a static dock that appears on screen whether you want it or not. If you have a smaller display or just prefer to see the Dock only when you want it, head to the Apple Menu > Dock and select “Turn hiding on” (you can also do this via keyboard with the Command-Option-D shortcut). You’ll also be able to control the size of the Dock as well as its position on the screen from there, or also the Dock icon in System Preferences.

And there you have it, folks! Just consider it MacLife.com’s little holiday gift to you, and here’s to a long & happy partnership with your new Mac.