A Beginners Guide to Apple Mac Computers

This article starts a thread of articles that give beginner users a grounding in the Apple Mac operating device. For the ones used to Windows computer systems, the switch to Apple can seem daunting. It need not be. In this collection of articles, I will lead you thru the transition from the Windows surroundings to the modern-day version of Apple OS 10.6, also called Snow Leopard. Each article inside the series will cover one precise place of the usage of the computer and could provide tips and tips that assist you to use your computer correctly and efficaciously to fulfill your wishes. Upcoming articles will encompass:

So, on to the first article. Identifying the similarities between Windows and Snow Leopard is a first-rate manner to get your bearings and quell any fears approximately the dimensions of the undertaking in advance. The first vicinity to Start on a Windows PC is the Start menu, and on a Mac, it is very comparable. On a Windows PC, you locate the Start button inside the bottom left-hand corner of the Toolbar that stays seen by default on the lowest of your display screen. On a Mac, you click on the Finder icon on the left-hand side of your Dock, which is likewise by way of default seen on the bottom left-hand aspect of the display.

Clicking the Finder icon brings up a window that looks very much like the Windows Explorer window that could open if you selected My Documents from the Start menu on your PC. The window has some familiar, comparable functions that permit you to navigate through your laptop. In the window’s left-hand column, you will see 3 headings: Devices, Places, and Search For. Under Devices, you could see your computer’s tough disk, through default called Macintosh HD, and iDisk, and any other drive that can be linked for your computer together with a USB pen power or external hard power.

Under the Places tab, you may once more see many familiar capabilities, consisting of: Documents, Music, Movies, Pictures, Downloads, and Desktop. These names are self-explanatory; however, for readability, you may relate them to the corresponding Windows folders: My Documents, My Music, My Videos, My Pictures, Downloads, and Desktop.

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To navigate via your laptop, you actually click on the relevant name to look at the files contained inside that folder displayed at the proper hand facet. At this point, you should test with the extraordinary view alternatives that you select by clicking on the icons alongside the top of the window. There are 4 view alternatives: Icons, List, Columns, and Cover Flow. Icon and list view show the files inside the folder at the right-hand window. The Column view permits you to click on a man or woman report and see a preview of that document with statistics on what kind of record it is, while it was created, what size it’s miles, and even shows a short preview of the document contents. Finally, Cover Flow combines the listing view with a preview panel and helps you to click the left and right arrow keys to navigate through the documents viewing the preview for each.

As with your Windows PC, you store your documents, music, video, and photographs inside the corresponding folders. In later articles, we can discover the packages or applications as they’re recognized on a Mac that you could use with every report kind. The Applications folder within the Finder window is wherein all programs are saved for your pc, and you can open any program installed for your laptop via clicking Applications and then double-clicking the relevant application, inclusive of Mail, if you wanted to send or obtain emails.

There is every other way to open Applications that is faster and extra user-friendly, known as the Dock. The Dock is just like the Windows Start menu and is positioned at the lowest of the display by way of default. You have already found the Finder icon, and you may now scroll your cursor throughout the alternative icons on the Dock to look at every application’s name. Click on any of these icons to open this system. You could alter how the dock is displayed by clicking on the apple icon in the top left-hand nook of the display.

Click the apple icon and hover over the Dock option. A pop-up menu seems, and you could pick Turn Hiding On, Turn Magnification On, change the placement of the Dock, and visit the Dock preferences inside System Preferences. System Preferences is the Control Panel of a Mac laptop, and all settings on your Mac can be found and controlled there. Let’s cope with the Dock settings first earlier than looking at System Preferences. Hiding the dock way that it’s going to disappear supplying you with a complete screen to paintings on and could reappear when you flow your cursor off the brink of the display screen that the Dock is located on. In the default example with the Dock at the bottom of the display, you actually scroll down to the bottom of the display screen, and the Dock appears.

Changing the magnification alters the size of the icons as you scroll throughout the Dock. Within the Dock settings in System Preferences, you can also alternate the entire length of the Dock. If you have got many packages on the Dock, it can be less difficult to lower the Dock length; however, grow the magnification. You can add programs to the Dock to drag the corresponding icon from the Applications folder inside the Finder window down to the Dock. Simply click on the icon, hold down the button, drag the icon to the Dock, and release the mouse button. All packages which might be presently jogging may also appear inside the Dock if they’re not there commonly. Applications that might be open or walking have a white dot under their icon. To do away with a utility from the Dock, sincerely click on and maintain the cursor at the icon and drag it across to the trash can at the proper hand side of the Dock.

Well executed, you’ve navigated around your Mac for the primary time and determined your Documents, Music, Videos, Pictures, and Applications folders. You additionally recognize how to open and close programs and a way to upload or eliminate applications from the Dock. In the subsequent article, we will move deeper on navigating thru your Mac, starting and ultimate programs, and using keyboard shortcuts.