This article is the beginning of a thread of items that deliver novice customers a grounding in the Apple Mac operating device. For the ones used to Windows computers, the transfer to Apple can seem daunting. It needn’t be. In this series of articles, I will lead you thru the transition from the Windows surroundings to today’s model of Apple OS 10.6, also known as Snow Leopard. Each piece in the series will cowl one precise computer usage area and deliver tips and recommendations that help you use your pc effectively and effectively to meet your wishes. Upcoming articles will encompass:
So, directly to the first article. Identifying the similarities between Windows and Snow Leopard is a fantastic way to get your bearings and quell any fears about the mission’s scale in advance. The first area to Start on a Windows PC is the Start menu, and on a Mac, it is certainly very similar. On a Windows PC, you discover the Start button inside the bottom left-hand nook of the Toolbar that stays visible via default on the bottom of your display. On a Mac, you click on the Finder icon at the left-hand aspect of your Dock, which is also, by default, visible on the bottom left-hand facet of the display screen.
Clicking the Finder icon brings up a window that looks very similar to the Windows Explorer window that would open if you selected My Documents from the Start menu on your PC. The window has some acquainted, similar functions that permit you to navigate thru your pc. In the left-hand column of the window, you may see 3 headings: Devices, Places, and Search For. Under Devices, you may see your computer’s laborious disk, by using default referred to as Macintosh HD, an iDisk, and any others drive that may be connected in your computer along with a USB pen power or external formidable force.
Under the Places tab, you’ll once more see many acquainted functions, along with: Documents, Music, Movies, Pictures, Downloads, and Desktop. These names are self-explanatory, but for clarity, you could relate them to the corresponding Windows folders: My Documents, My Music, My Videos, My Pictures, Downloads, and Desktop.
To navigate thru your laptop, you, in reality, click on the applicable name to see the files contained within that folder displayed at the proper hand facet. You must test with the distinct view alternatives you pick out using clicking on the icons along the window’s top. There are 4 view options: Icons, List, Columns, and Cover Flow. Icon and list view display the files within the folder at the right-hand window. The Column view allows you to click on a character file and see a preview of that report with records on what kind of file it’s far, while it became created, what size it’s far, or even shows a brief preview of the record contents. Finally, Cover Flow combines the listing view with a preview panel and helps you click the left and proper arrow keys to navigate via the files viewing the preview for each.
As with your Windows PC, you keep your documents, music, video, and pix inside the corresponding folders. In later articles, we can explore the packages or programs they’re regarded on a Mac, that you could use with every record kind. The Applications folder within the Finder window is where all applications are saved to your computer, and you could open any software hooked up for your pc through clicking Applications and then double-clicking the applicable software, together with Mail if you wanted to send or receive emails.
There is some other manner to open Applications that is quicker and greater person-pleasant, known as the Dock. The Dock is just like the Windows Start menu and is by way of default placed at the bottom of the screen. You have already determined the Finder icon, and you may now scroll your cursor throughout the other icons on the Dock to look at every application’s name. Click on any of those icons to open the program. By clicking on the apple icon on the pinnacle left-hand nook of the display, you may modify how the dock is displayed.
Click the apple icon and hover over the Dock choice. A pop-up menu appears, and you could pick to Turn Hiding On, Turn Magnification On, alternate the Dock’s location, and visit the Dock options within System Preferences. System Preferences is the Control Panel of a Mac pc, and all settings for your Mac can be located and controlled there. Let’s deal with the Dock settings first before searching at System Preferences. Hiding the dock manner that it’ll disappear supplying you with a full screen to work on and will reappear when you flow your cursor off the threshold of the display screen that the Dock is positioned on. In the default example with the Dock at the lowest of the screen, you absolutely scroll right down to the most inferior screen, and the Dock appears.
Changing the magnification alters the size of the icons as you scroll across the Dock. Within the Dock settings in System Preferences, you can add an alternate total length of the Dock. If you have got many Dock programs, it may be less difficult to lower the Dock length; however, boom the magnification. You can add programs to the Dock by dragging the corresponding icon from the Applications folder within the Finder window down to the Dock. Click on the icon and hold down the button, drag the icon to the Dock, and release the mouse button. All presently walking applications will even appear in the Dock if they’re now not there typically. Applications that are open or running have white dots beneath their icon. To take away an application from the Dock, genuinely click and hold the cursor at the icon and drag it throughout to the trash can on the right-hand facet of the Dock.
Well performed, you’ve got navigated around your Mac for the primary time and observed your Documents, Music, Videos, Pictures, and Applications folders. You also know how to open and near packages and upload or eliminate programs from the Dock. In the following article, we can move deeper on navigating through your Mac, commencing and ultimate plans, and using keyboard shortcuts.
