Tips & Tutorials:

 

OS X Basics :

 

The Finder:
The Finder is the primary application that begins to run when you log on to your workstation, the Finder gives you access to applications, documents, removable storage, and servers. Through Finder Windows, you can manipulate and browse folders, applications, and documents.
The Finder Menus:
• The Apple Menu Gives you access to system-wide commands, important system preferences, and recently used items, also the logout command and the restart and shut down commands.   • The Finder Menu Contains all of the Mac's application-specific tasks such as preferences and services.   • The Go Menu Tracks the folders you've used recently and stores your favorite items such as documents, folders, or applications in a centralize location and it gives you access to the servers on the network.
The Finder Window:
• Windows Toolbar   • Window Controls The window controls resemble traffic lights. Select Red to close the window (stop), Yellow to minimize the window (slow), and Green to zoom the window (go)   • Window Views You can choose between icon, list and column view to show your files. With the new column view you can quickly move around drives with hundreds of files and folders on them.   • Action Menu The commands that appear on this menu depend on the item you first click on within the window, i.e., a file, a folder or an item on the sidebar. For example, after clicking first on a file icon the Action icon will display a menu similar to that in the figure on the side.     • Search Box You can use the Search box at the far right of the Toolbar to locate items on your computer, the results will appear in a pane on the top right of the window. Locate the item you’re looking for by scrolling through the list of items and clicking on that item’s name once you locate it. The path to that item will appear in the pane below the list of items.   • The Side Bar The Sidebar is a quick way to locate files and folders on your hard drive. By double clicking the hard drive and selecting the various locations located on the left of the window, you can quickly go to those folders without going through multiple steps. You can add shortcuts to any file or folder to the side bar by simply dragging the icon from any finder window to the sidebar area.
The Home Folder :
Each user of a Mac OS X machine gets a home folder, stored within the users folder on the hard disk. Users' home folders are where they keep all their private files, music libraries, photo libraries and application preferences.   Users of the machine can't see files in the other home folders.
The Dock:
The Dock is used for organizing the workspace environment. It provides you with a customizable space where you can add shortcuts of your commonly used files and applications for easy access. Here some examples of what to add to the Dock: • A commonly used application. • A project folder. • Your favorite URL.     Applications that have the triangles below (or next) them are running.       • Adding a shortcut to the Dock: Adding an application, file, or folder to the Dock is as simple as dragging it there. Follow these steps to add an icon to the Dock: Open a Finder window containing an application, file, or folder that you use frequently. Click the item that you want to add to the Dock and drag it out of the Finder window and onto the Dock, An icon for this item now appears on the Dock.   • Removing an item from the Doc: Drag the item from the Dock onto the desktop. It disappears in a puff of smoke. The original item remains in its original location.     • Changing the dock settings, preferences: Select Dock from the Apple Menu. Explore by making changes and see what happens to the way the Dock functions and looks.
Saving files in Mac OS X applications:
Home Folders are primarily where you save your files; the extension at the end of the file name tells you what type of file it is (.jpg, .pdf, .doc, .html, .txt). You can rename files or folders by clicking directly on a file’s name and holding down the mouse button– just click slowly on the name and hold for a few seconds! You can also save things in the Shared folder.   To ensure your word processed document can be viewed on as many computers as possible, save it as a “Rich Text” document (.rtf). People who use Microsoft Word, Works, Word Perfect and other cross platform applications can view this format. Sometimes documents are unreadable on PCs because there is no file extension on the end of the file name so the computer doesn’t understand how to open it. Make sure the file has an extension at the end of the filename and be sure the “Append file extension” box is checked when saving documents in Office X.       It is important to understand where you save your files so you can locate them again. Click the disclosure triangle in the dialog sheet to see more save locations and additional options.
Creating PDF Files :
PDF (Portable document file) files are files that are created to be cross-platform making them viewable on virtually any system and small in file size. Creating PDF's in OS X is as simple as selecting the print command from the Apple Menu in whichever application you are working in, selecting printer, and clicking the Save as PDF button.
Notable Keyboard Equivalents:
·       Hide Application: Command-H ·       Minimize Window: Command-M ·       Hide Dock: Option-Command-D ·       Home: Option-Command-H ·       Applications: Option-Command-A ·       Connect To Server: Option-Command-K ·       Printing: Command-P
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