Mac 101

A new users guide to the Mac interface

Introduction
is document is an overview of the OS X interface,
a how-to guide for several common activities and a
reference for switchers new to the Mac platform.
We hope you nd it useful!
Laptops perform under
higher heat levels and
experience more wear
and tear than desktop
systems which increases
the risk of hard drive
failures. Performing
regular backups is essen-
tial in safe guarding your
valuable data.
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e Finder and the Desktop

Keyboard symbols and commands,
right-click, Quicklook and the Trackpad
Connecting to servers, terminology and
windows buons
Adding a printer and screen capture
System preferences and nding les
Whats Inside
Version 1.1 05/2010 MK
Performing Regular Backups
Ensure your CrashPlan soware is installed and
successfully backing up on a daily basis. If you
are unsure whether CrashPlan is working prop-
erly, please contact the Service Desk.
Did you know...
Closing the last window for an application
does not always cause the application to
quit? e application may still be running
but will not be using any system resources.
In the Dock, applications that are still
running will have a blue dot under them.
In this example, Illustrator and Photoshop
are running, but Safari and Excel are not.
Request Hurd Copy
1. Apple Menu
2. Menu bar
3. Finder window close, minimize and zoom buons.
4. Finder window View buons: Icon, List, Column,
Cover Flow
5. Quick Look buon
6. Action Menu
7. Search Field
8. Hide / Show Finder window toolbar & sidebar
9. Spotlight icon
10. Back / Forward buons
11. Sidebar
12. Column view content
13. e Finder application icon
14. e Dock
15. Trash
e Finder is the default application used on the Mac OS and Mac OS X operating systems. It is the rst
thing you see when you boot up a Mac system. e Finder lets you organize, view, and access practically
everything on your Mac, including: applications, les, folders, discs, and shared drives on your network.
e Desktop is the space on your screen where you see le, folder, and volume icons. Following is an
illustration of a Finder window as displayed on the Desktop, with callouts for the major features and
interface elements.
e Finder and the Desktop
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
11
12
13 14 15
Quicklook allows you to instantly
preview your documents without
launching an application. To use
Quicklook, select the le or les in
the Finder and press the space bar or
click the Quicklook icon. Quicklook
works with a variety of le types,
including: pdf, html, txt, rtf, Micro-
so Word, Excel, and PowerPoint,
images, video, and audio.
Quicklook
e Trackpad
MacBook
trackpads do
not function
solely as a
pointing
device. You
can enable a
variety of one,
two, three and
even four
nger
gestures.
In Windows, a right click is used to open
contextual menus. People unfamiliar
with the Mac OS oen believe that there
is no way to right-click on a Mac. In fact,
there are several alternative methods.
- Mouse - may need to be congured in
the Mouse preference pane
- Trackpad - two ngers - may need to
be congured in the Trackpad prefer-
ence pane
- Control key - holding down the
control key while clicking
- Action menu in the Finder - select an
item, then click on the gear.
Right-click
Keyboard symbols
Common keyboard commands
Action Mac keyboard command
Cancel -.
Close -w
Close All (Files, Windows) Option--. (Available in the
Finder, but not all applications)
Connect to server -k
Copy (Selection, File) -c
Eject Disc or Volume -e or Eject key
Empty Trash Shi--Delete
Find -f
Force Quit Current
application
Shi--Option-Esc (hold for 3
seconds)
Force Quit / End Task Dialog -Option-Esc
New File (in an application) -n
New Folder (in the Finder) Shi--n
New Window (in the Finder) -n
Next Application -Tab
Open -o
Paste (Selection, File) -v
Print -p
Quit -q
Save -s
Select All -a
Send to Trash -Delete
Undo -z
Symbol Key Name Keyboard Label

Command or command

Option option or alt

Shi shi

Control control

Escape esc
Connecting to servers
In the Finder, type Command - K (to Connect
to a server). In the dialog, enter the name of
the server.
If you cannot connect to the server, try entering
smb:// in front of the server address.
Enter your credentials. Select the volume (or share) you want to mount.
e volume will appear in the Finder.
Most Finder and application
windows have three buons at
the top le corner.
Window buons
Red - close the window
Yellow - minimize the window to
the Dock
Green - Expand the window
A black dot in the middle of the
red buon indicates that the
document has unsaved changes.
Clicking the red buon in this
state will usually result in a
dialog to save your changes.
Terminology
Windows Mac
Command Prompt Terminal
Control Panel System Preferences
Crtl+Alt+Del Command-Option-Esc
Exit Quit
Hourglass (busy) Spinning beachball
My Computer Finder
My Documents Documents Folder
Notepad TextEdit
Properties Get Info (-I)
Recycle Bin Trash Can
Se ings Preferences
Shortcut Alias
Standby Sleep
Start Menu
Apple Menu ( menu)
Taskbar and Tray Dock
Windows Explorer Finder Window
Windows Update So ware Update
Wizard Assistant
Adding a printer
In System Preferences, open the Print & Fax
preference pane. Click the + to add a printer.
Enter the IP address of the printer. e Name,
Location and Print Using elds should populate
automatically. Click Add.
e printer will now appear in the list of
available printers.
If necessary, click on IP.
Screen capture
Entire screen to le Shi --3
Entire screen to clipboard Ctrl-Shi --3
Crosshair screen selection to le Shi --4
Crosshair screen selection to
clipboard
Ctrl-Shi --4
Window on screen to le 1. Press spacebar a er invoking Shi --4, and the
cursor will turn into a camera.
2. Click a window to capture it.
Window on screen to clipboard 1. Press spacebar a er invoking Ctrl-Shi --4, and the
cursor will turn into a camera.
2. Click a window to capture it.
Finding les
ere are two main methods for nding les on
your Mac: Spotlight and the search eld in the
Finder toolbar.
Invoke Spotlight by clicking the magnifying glass
in the upper right corner of the menu bar or by
<command> <space bar>. Entering a search term,
such as contract, will return a list of les that
have that term in the title, body or that les
metadata. Selecting the le and pressing <enter>
will open it.
Entering the search term in the Finder search eld
will also nd related les. In the Finder search you
can further rene your search by such aributes as
size, created or modied date, type, etc.
System
Preferences
System Preferences, found under
the Apple menu or in the Dock,
is an application that allows
users to congure various system
seings. ese seings are
divided into separate preference
panes such as Displays, Network,
Print & Fax, etc. Clicking on any
of the individual preference
panes will bring up the available
options for that category.
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