Getting started with your first Mac: Part 2
January, 05 2007 11:15 PM Filed in: How-to
This is the second installment in a series of
articles for new Mac users. Part
1 focused on the Menu Bar and the Dock. Most
of the information presented in each is intended
to be a detailed explanation of just a few basic
elements that may be helpful during those first
few days. Welcome to the Mac.
The Apple Menu and the Start Menu
While the Apple Menu and the Start Menu are similar they have a few differences worth noting. The Windows Start Menu offers a shortcut to applications, Search, and the system control panel as well as buttons to shutdown or logout.
The Apple Menu offers About this Mac which provides an informative window that offers a quick overview of your current operating system version, the processor and amount of ram installed as well as a button to open up the System Profiler that provides you with all the details of your system. The Apple Menu also offers a shortcut to Software Update, Apple's OS X downloads page, System Preferences, Dock and Location preferences, Recent Items (Applications, Documents, and Servers), Force Quit (for frozen applications), Sleep, Restart, Shut Down, and Logout for the current user.
System Preferences
Assessable via the Apple Menu, open it up and get to know your system. There are lots of options to explore. By default there are four categories: Personal, Hardware, Internet & Network, and System. My suggestion is that you go through one by one within the first few hours of use. Here's a tip and an example of the importance of knowing what's in System Prefs. One complaint many Windows to Mac switchers have is that they have to relearn the shortcuts, specifically shortcuts that involve the Control key such as Copy, Cut, and Paste. On Macs the default modifier key for those shortcuts is Command key (has the Apple and ⌘, next to the spacebar). Well, rather than relearn that shortcut just open the Keyboard and Mouse prefs. On the Keyboard tab, click the Modifier Keys button. Set the Control Key to Command, and Command Key to Control, then hit OK.
Now your shortcuts will work exactly as they did on your PC.
One last thing I'll mention regarding System Prefs is the nice touch of the integrated Spotlight searching which includes keywords that include Windows terms. For example, type "Wallpaper" and the Desktop & Screen Saver preference pane will highlight.
The Finder
Need to open a document or application? Unless you've placed a shortcut in the Dock you will use the Finder to navigate your hard drive or Spotlight to search (covered in more detail below). Similar to Windows Explorer, the Finder is both a file browser as well as a searching tool. You can open a Finder window by clicking the blue happy face in the far left side of the dock. By default you'll see a nifty side pane in every Finder window that includes various shortcuts. In the top half you'll see Network and Macintosh HD as well as any mounted external drives or mounted optical media such as cds or dvds. In the bottom half of this pane you'll see shortcuts to your Desktop, Home directory, Applications, Documents, Movies, Music, and Pictures. Similar to the Dock at the bottom of your screen, you can add a shortcut to any folder or file to this pane in the Finder by simply dragging and dropping it. You can also remove any shortcut by dragging it from the pane and releasing it.
To learn more of the details check out Apple's Tour of Mac OS X. Part 1 of that tour is dedicated to the Finder.
Searching with Spotlight
Spotlight is your best friend. While the Finder makes managing files fairly easy, Spotlight makes finding files and nearly anything else on your Mac an effortless process with nearly instant results. Searching from the Spotlight menu in the top right of the screen is perhaps the quickest and most powerful technique. From the Spotlight menu you can find documents, images, contacts, tasks, events, email, system preferences and more. To give you just a hint of how great Spotlight searching is, it will find not just contacts by name, but will also search the text you have put into a contact's notes. The same goes for the notes in all iCal tasks and events. Spotlight looks into the content of pdf files and most text files as well. You'll also discover that Spotlight is integrated into every Finder window and most Apple apps such as the already mentioned System Preferences as well as Address Book, Mail, iCal, and Preview. Many of these applications allow you to create Smart Groups that are saved searches, updated real-time, based on Spotlight. While the search field in each specific application will only find content within that app they are all tied together by the same technology.
It's easy to get started with Spotlight but if you'll spend some time with it you'll find that there is a great deal of power buried within it. For more details on using this technology to the fullest, check out my post on project management with Spotlight.
Next up, Part 3: Keyboard Shortcuts, Installing Apps, The Help System
Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, Macintosh, Mac, Switchers, Switch to Mac
The Apple Menu and the Start Menu
While the Apple Menu and the Start Menu are similar they have a few differences worth noting. The Windows Start Menu offers a shortcut to applications, Search, and the system control panel as well as buttons to shutdown or logout.
The Apple Menu offers About this Mac which provides an informative window that offers a quick overview of your current operating system version, the processor and amount of ram installed as well as a button to open up the System Profiler that provides you with all the details of your system. The Apple Menu also offers a shortcut to Software Update, Apple's OS X downloads page, System Preferences, Dock and Location preferences, Recent Items (Applications, Documents, and Servers), Force Quit (for frozen applications), Sleep, Restart, Shut Down, and Logout for the current user.
System Preferences
Assessable via the Apple Menu, open it up and get to know your system. There are lots of options to explore. By default there are four categories: Personal, Hardware, Internet & Network, and System. My suggestion is that you go through one by one within the first few hours of use. Here's a tip and an example of the importance of knowing what's in System Prefs. One complaint many Windows to Mac switchers have is that they have to relearn the shortcuts, specifically shortcuts that involve the Control key such as Copy, Cut, and Paste. On Macs the default modifier key for those shortcuts is Command key (has the Apple and ⌘, next to the spacebar). Well, rather than relearn that shortcut just open the Keyboard and Mouse prefs. On the Keyboard tab, click the Modifier Keys button. Set the Control Key to Command, and Command Key to Control, then hit OK.
Now your shortcuts will work exactly as they did on your PC.
One last thing I'll mention regarding System Prefs is the nice touch of the integrated Spotlight searching which includes keywords that include Windows terms. For example, type "Wallpaper" and the Desktop & Screen Saver preference pane will highlight.
Need to open a document or application? Unless you've placed a shortcut in the Dock you will use the Finder to navigate your hard drive or Spotlight to search (covered in more detail below). Similar to Windows Explorer, the Finder is both a file browser as well as a searching tool. You can open a Finder window by clicking the blue happy face in the far left side of the dock. By default you'll see a nifty side pane in every Finder window that includes various shortcuts. In the top half you'll see Network and Macintosh HD as well as any mounted external drives or mounted optical media such as cds or dvds. In the bottom half of this pane you'll see shortcuts to your Desktop, Home directory, Applications, Documents, Movies, Music, and Pictures. Similar to the Dock at the bottom of your screen, you can add a shortcut to any folder or file to this pane in the Finder by simply dragging and dropping it. You can also remove any shortcut by dragging it from the pane and releasing it.
To learn more of the details check out Apple's Tour of Mac OS X. Part 1 of that tour is dedicated to the Finder.
Searching with Spotlight
Spotlight is your best friend. While the Finder makes managing files fairly easy, Spotlight makes finding files and nearly anything else on your Mac an effortless process with nearly instant results. Searching from the Spotlight menu in the top right of the screen is perhaps the quickest and most powerful technique. From the Spotlight menu you can find documents, images, contacts, tasks, events, email, system preferences and more. To give you just a hint of how great Spotlight searching is, it will find not just contacts by name, but will also search the text you have put into a contact's notes. The same goes for the notes in all iCal tasks and events. Spotlight looks into the content of pdf files and most text files as well. You'll also discover that Spotlight is integrated into every Finder window and most Apple apps such as the already mentioned System Preferences as well as Address Book, Mail, iCal, and Preview. Many of these applications allow you to create Smart Groups that are saved searches, updated real-time, based on Spotlight. While the search field in each specific application will only find content within that app they are all tied together by the same technology.
It's easy to get started with Spotlight but if you'll spend some time with it you'll find that there is a great deal of power buried within it. For more details on using this technology to the fullest, check out my post on project management with Spotlight.
Next up, Part 3: Keyboard Shortcuts, Installing Apps, The Help System
Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, Macintosh, Mac, Switchers, Switch to Mac
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