Abort This Mac OS
Nov 12, 2020 The System Information app provides detailed specifications and other information about your Mac hardware and software, including your network and external devices. In some versions of OS X, this app is called System Profiler. Choose Apple menu About This Mac. A Mac tutorial for PC users or beginners that serves as a basic introduction to Mac OS X. Updated tutorial on macOS available here: https://www.youtube.com/.
Written by Mårten Björk •
This guide will help you become familiar with Mac OS X — the operating system of every Mac. In just a few, short steps, this article will teach you everything you need to know to get started with your Mac.
Mac OS X — The Basics
Mac OS X is the operating system of your Mac. It’s the basic system that enables your Mac to work. All the files, folders and programs are handled by Mac OS X as well as internet connectivity, battery consumption and more.
As a Mac user, you will encounter Mac OS X in many different forms:
- When viewing the desktop
- When you’re browsing through files
- Through the Mac’s search function (called “Spotlight”)
- Through the application bar (called “The Dock”)
- As the system that runs your applications
…and much more. Mac OS X is always there in the background, making sure your Mac runs smoothly. By learning more about Mac OS X, you will become a more efficient and confident Mac user. Let’s get started!
Mac OS X — An Overview
The home of your Mac is the desktop. Think of it as a physical desktop – a place where you may temporarily spread out your work while performing a task.
For example, you may put an image from the internet on the desktop, make some modifications, and then drag it into an email. Just remember, while the desktop is a great workspace it not a good place to store files long-term since it quickly gets messy — again, just like an actual desktop.
Let’s have a look at the other things you see in when you first turn on your Mac.
The Dock
In the bottom of your screen, you should see “the Dock” — a bar with convenient shortcuts to your favorite applications. If you don’t see it by default, try moving your cursor to the bottom of the screen and it should pop right up.
The icons in the Dock are just shortcuts. You can add or remove icons from the Dock without affecting the actual applications.
Macintosh Operating Systems - Wikipedia
To add an application shortcut to the dock, you can use Launchpad, which is a complete overview of all your applications. You can probably find Launchpad in the left part of your Dock. Click Launchpad to view all your applications, then drag any icon into the dock to create a new shortcut.
Another way to add shortcuts to the Dock is to find the Application file (in the Applications folder) and drag it to the Dock. This requires some familiarity with browsing through files.
To remove an item from the dock, just drag it out and hold it over the desktop. After a second or so, a “remove” label shows up. Release the icon and the application shortcut is removed from the Dock.
Menus
At the top of the screen you will see some menus. These menus change depending on what application you are using at the moment.
If there is ever anything you want to do in a certain application, try to find it in these menus.
Menu extras
Look at the top of your screen. To the right of the menus you are most likely to see a few symbols.
These little icons are mostly used to quickly edit your Mac’s settings. Rather than having to open System Preferences, you can change the settings using Menu extras.
To change what Menu extras are visible, open System preferences. Click a preference pane and look for the checkbox that lets you choose if you want the specific Menu extra to be visible or not.
Users
Mac OS X offers a really nice way to switch between the different user accounts on the Mac. Near the upper right corner of your screen you will find your name. Click it and a list of all the users on the computer will appear.
Now, just click another user in order to log in to his/hers account (password may of course be required).
Spotlight
If you look at the upper right corner of your screen, you will see a small magnifying glass. This is Mac OS X’s search function. It is called Spotlight. To read more about it, click here.
Dashboard
News For About This Mac OS
Mac OS X has a great thing called Dashboard where you can run mini-applications called widgets. Read the article about it, Dashboard is awesome.
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␡- Small Open/Save Dialog Boxes
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When I wrote 'Ten Things I Hate About Mac OS X,' I hoped that by pointing out rough edges in the user interface, readers would say, 'I never noticed that before, but you know, that really is very annoying and should be fixed.' Boy was I naive.
The article touched a nerve with many Apple apologists and set off a firestorm of controversy. A few of the comments the article generated were just plain nasty, questioning my technical prowess, if not my very manhood. Fortunately, there were brave readers who came to my defense, pointing out that all of my gripes were technically accurate, even if they didn’t share my frustration at the 'flaw' I was discussing.
In the spirit of helping make Apple’s operating system the best it can be, here are 10 more things I hate about Mac OS X, presented in no particular order. For the most part, these are admittedly small annoyances, but it was Apple’s dedication to sweating the details that drew many users to its fine products in the first place. I hope that engineers in Cupertino will address these issues in a Mac OS X update soon, so that I can go back to loving everything that’s great about my computer, rather than griping about the few things I hate.
1. Small Open/Save Dialog Boxes
When the original 128K Mac was released in 1984, it featured a 9-inch monochrome display. Even if you don’t have a monster 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display, today’s Macs offer so much more screen real estate. Why is it then that the default Open and Save dialog boxes (see Figure 1) remain extremely small, forcing users to scroll to find the file or location they want?
Figure 1 Small dialog boxes force users to scroll excessively and guess at precise filenames.
Fortunately, in most applications you can resize these dialog boxes by dragging the bottom right corner. Stretch vertically to see more locations and files and horizontally to see longer filenames. The resized dialog boxes are used in the future, but you must repeat the process for every application you use. Too bad there’s no way to set a larger default dialog box for all applications. I paid for a big screen and I want all of my programs to make the most of it without fiddling with each individually.