New Owner, don't know what to do next

[Gwynne]

OK. I have today been mostly playing with my new Pi B+

Now what?

I have downloaded the NOOBS and the raspbmc software (I think)
Now to transfer to an SD card on my mac. Which is best for me to start?

Then it will run ... yes?

I haven't 'played' with this sort of thing since I had my Dragon32 computer in the early 1980s. Then went to BEEB and then lost the plot with PCs until I started with my Mac in 2007 ... but i am just am operator. I hope this will get me coding ... eventually

Any advice?

[B.Goode]

I have downloaded the NOOBS and the raspbmc software (I think)
Now to transfer to an SD card on my mac. Which is best for me to start?

NOOBS is an Installer. By default it comes with a copy of Raspbian which it can install for you. Raspbian is a general purpose Operating System.

Raspbmc is an operating system tailored for use as a Media Centre.

Which you choose depends on what you hope to accomplish. For general purpose familiarisation with coding on the RPi you should use Raspbian not Raspbmc.

The methods by which NOOBS and Raspbmc are copied onto an SD card are different and incompatible. Be sure to read and follow the appropriate instructions at http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/

Then it will run ... yes?

Yes. If you've got the previous step right...

I haven't 'played' with this sort of thing since I had my Dragon32 computer in the early 1980s. Then went to BEEB and then lost the plot with PCs until I started with my Mac in 2007 ... but i am just am operator. I hope this will get me coding ... eventually

Any advice?

Just a youngster then... What is going to spark your interest? What do you hope to get from this?

Lots of resources from the Raspberry Pi Foundation http://www.raspberrypi.org/resources/ and from the free online MagPi magazine http://www.themagpi.com/

[Gwynne]

Thanks B.Goode

helpful advice. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. get it running in a general way and then perhaps something for converting teletype or high speed morse code, or a satellite weather receiver. Quite fancy some remote operation controlling it through my phone but that's a way off at the moment. I have to get my head around what it is.