Mac 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.
Hard disk icon,
Apple Menu Go Menu mounted server
Restart, shut down or Quickly access recent folders and other
log out folders, or division servers media

Side Bar

OS X dock, where all

open applications
appears and you may
add shortcuts to your
The Finder Menus: applications

• The Apple Menu

Gives you access to system-wide commands, important system preferences, and recently
used items, The logout command and the restart and shut down commands are also under
this menu.

• 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.

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 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 sidebar by simply dragging the icon
from any finder window to the sidebar area.

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 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:
1. Open a Finder window containing an application, file, or folder that you use
frequently.
2. 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 Dock

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 and preferences

1. Select Dock from the Apple Menu.

2. Explore by making changes and see what happens to the way the Dock
functions and looks.

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 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”
Disclosure box is checked when saving documents in Office X.
triangle

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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