[GNC] New User: initial help getting up and running

[Adrien Monteleone]

On 12/18/22 2:20 PM, Eric Chapman wrote:
> Hi, everyone,
> 
> I just downloaded Gnucash-Intel-4.12-1.dmg for Mac. I plan to install in 
> on Ventura (MacOS 13.1) on a late 2018 Mac Mini (Intel). I'm trying to 
> migrate from another software on a Windows virtual machine on the Mac.
> 
> I have some questions:
> 
> (1) Is it likely that Gnucash will be made available for M1 and M2 Macs 
> in the future? From what I can tell, it is for Intel Macs only, so if 
> there is no future for the later ones, maybe I should not go this route.

GnuCash already runs on the M1. (that doesn't mean it is optimized for 
it, but it should run at least as well if not better than on Intel as 
most other pre-M1 apps do.)

> 
> (2) I read much of the README.TXT file. With the .dmg file I downloaded 
> install everything I need or do the instructions under "Dependencies" 
> and "Building and Installing" mean that I have to start with getting all 
> that stuff on the Mac first?

That is for building from source. You can ignore it as you already have 
a working copy.

However, the dmg does not have the handy shortcuts many other dmgs do. 
You need to drag the GnuCash.app from the dmg to your Applications 
folder. (either system-wide or per-user as desired)

Then from the Applications folder, right-click and choose Open. MacOS 
will ask if you are sure you want to open it. Confirm you do. It may or 
may not open at this point. (it does for some, not for others, and I'm 
not sure why.)

Simply run the app as normal from here on out. Put it in your Dock if 
you like.

One final note - GnuCash opens the last used file. On Mac, 
double-clicking a data file does *not* open what you double-clicked. 
GnuCash will still just open that last used file. This is only important 
if you end up with multiple data files.

To open a different file on MacOS, always start GnuCash then use File > 
Open.

> (3) Is there a "New User Guide" somewhere on the web that can be 
> accessed? Tutorials?

Both the Help and the Tutorial & Concepts Guide are on the GnuCash.org 
website for online viewing as well as individual downloads in several 
formats, both should also be accessible from the Help menu within the 
app, and there is also wiki.gnucash.org, as well as this mailing list.

Welcome to GnuCash!

Regards,
Adrien