alias versus duplicate

Question

Level 1

36 points

alias versus duplicate

hi all, i have recently switched and have now VERY happily disposed of everything Windose in my house !.

I am slowly getting used to the new way of doing EVERYTHING, i am curious about some of the new commands i have available in FINDER, there is a "Make Alias" and there is also a "Duplicate" they BOTH seem to do the same thing, ie. Make a copy, am i missing something, becuase i wouldnt think that Apple would have made two commands available that do exactly the same ????

tim

iPad 2, iOS 4.3.2, MacBook Pro 2.2ghz, Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Apr 30, 2011 1:24 AM

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Answer 1

kisuke3

Level 3

914 points

Apr 30, 2011 1:29 AM in response to timmy toad

No they are not.

Alias is just a shortcut to that file while Duplicate is copying that exact file(basically having double files)

Here's an example to get a clear picture

When you make an alias of the any file and put that to the desktop. Clicking that Alias would direct you that file but that Alias is not necessarily the file. Think of it as a shortcut. You'll know that this is not the REAL file because of the size

While Duplicate copies the same file. Double the size. This is what you need for backing up purposes

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Answer 2

timmy toad Author

Level 1

36 points

Apr 30, 2011 1:40 AM in response to kisuke3

OK pal, that is an excelent answer to my question, of course the word "shortcut" makes it obvious now, because it has the little arrow on the icon, just like that other OS that i am trying very hard to forget about, thanks pal.

tim

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Answer 3

kisuke3

Level 3

914 points

Apr 30, 2011 1:42 AM in response to timmy toad

it was a pleasure 🙂

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