Introduction to Mac OS X Snow Leopard

[ Not for Circulation ]

Information Technology Services, UIS Acknowledgements: Some images for the handout are from Apple Computers, Inc.

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Introduction to Mac Operating System: Snow Leopard Switching the Computer On 1. Press the round button on the back of the computer to turn the computer on.

If the screen is black, but the lights are lit on the CPU and the monitor, shake the mouse or press any key on the keyboard. This will roust the computer from Sleep Mode.

2. You may see a login dialog box. If this happens, login as uisguest. The password is

uisguest [all in lowercase]. Mac and Windows Differences 1. Mouse buttons. The Mac mouse has a single button whereas a Windows mouse has two

buttons. To display a contextual menu in a Mac environment, control+click on an object, unless your system has an “Apple Mouse”, in which case you have a right-click option.

2. Keyboard shortcuts. Most keyboard shortcuts are the same on the Mac as in Windows.

However, substitute the Command key [clover leaf] for the Ctrl key, and the option key for the Alt key.

3. Menu bars. There is only one Menu bar across the top of the screen on the Mac. In Windows,

a separate bar appears at the top of every window. 4. Force quit. If the computer freezes up, usually you will see the turning rainbow pinwheel.

First, try to quit the application that you are currently working in. To do this, click anywhere on the desktop and choose Apple > Force Quit.

If you cannot use the mouse, use the 3-key shortcut for Force Quit: Command + option + esc.

By hitting these three keys

together, a Force Quit Applications dialog box appears.

Select the name of the application and click on Force Quit.



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Mac Interface

Common Desktop Icons

Your desktop by default should have a panel on the bottom of the screen called the Dock.

The icons in the Dock represent the different software packages on the computer. Roll over each icon to reveal its name. Click on an icon to launch a program. You know that an application is active or “running” if there is a white dot below the

application’s icon.



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If you do not see the Dock, go to the Apple menu at the top of the screen. Select Dock > Turn Hiding Off.

If you are not able to open a particular program from the Dock: Go to the Application folder, in the Hard Drive. Find the program that you want to use and double-click on

its icon. Stacks

A new feature in Snow Leopard is scrollable Stacks that give you fast access to a folder of files. Create stacks from anything you want to access quickly from one place: a handful of documents, a group of applications, or an entire folder. Simply add the folder to the dock by dragging its icon from any Finder window and dropping it on the Dock. Then click on the folder in the Dock once to display the stack.

Hard Drive

Double-clicking on the Macintosh HD icon reveals folders that are contained in the operating system and applications/programs.

Trash

The Trash is located at the far right of the Dock. The Trash is where unwanted files are placed for eventual deletion. To get rid of an unwanted file, drag it and place it in the Trash. Note: Sometimes the computer cannot trash a file because the application that created it is still open or active. You must quit the application and then trash the

file. If the file you wish to trash is locked, hold down the option key as you Empty Trash.



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If you put an item in the Trash, then change your mind, you can restore it to its original location. Just select the item in the Trash folder and choose Put Back from the File menu.

Eject

Another important function that Trash serves is to eject removable media such as CDs, flash cards, zip disks and other external devices plugged in via USB. During these processes, the trash icon turns into an Eject symbol. You also disconnect servers in the same way.

To eject a CD or disk, drag it to Trash and the disk will pop out of the CPU.

Note: You can also eject a CD or disk by clicking on Eject symbol on your keyboard

System Preferences

System Preferences is an essential utility for the Mac user. Users can change the screen resolution, QuickTime plug-in settings, adjust sound options, Energy Saver preferences, etc. For example, The Input tab in the sound preference shows you external devices such as microphones and their signal. This is important when troubleshooting the absence of sound when trying to record to a sound program.

Note: The Energy Saver preference should be set to “Never” so as not to interfere with rendering video and sound. Menu Bar Items

Across the top of your computer screen is a menu bar. Listed below are options that may be useful while using the Macintosh computer.



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Apple Menu About this Mac > More Info This will display the System Profile, a software and hardware overview as well as devices and volumes chart that might be helpful to you. Apple System Profiler is a utility that monitors the computer as well as its external devices.

Recent Items

The Recent Items option lists applications,

documents, and servers that you have used in the last day or two.

Recent Items is a quick way to navigate to current files without having to search for them.

Sleep, Restart, or Shut Down

When you select one of these options under the Apple Menu, a dialog box will appear. If you do nothing [and depending upon the option you have selected], the computer will automatically carry out the function in approximately 60 seconds.

Controlling Volume

To control volume, go to the top-right of the monitor and click on the speaker icon. Use the slide bar mechanism to control the volume.

Note: You can also control volume by clicking on volume symbol on your keyboard.



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File Menu Select File > New Finder Window. The file management window will be displayed. Use the Column View as often as possible as this will help you get acquainted with file

management on a Mac. The Documents folder is the default for saving documents.

Creating a New Folder

1. To create a new folder, select File > New Folder. 2. An empty folder will appear on the desktop. When the box below the

folder is highlighted blue, you can type in a name for the folder.

3. To edit the name of a folder, click on the text-box below the folder icon, wait until it turns blue, and then type in a name.

Get Info

The Get Info menu item allows you to find out important information on file size and file ownership if you need to change permissions on locked files. It also allows you to rename a file.



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Quick Look

The Quick Look menu item allows you to quickly view the contents of a file or folder without opening it or starting an application. It also works with nearly every file on your system, including images, text files, PDF documents, movies and more. You can also use Quick Look to create an instant slide show by selecting several images and choosing File > Quick Look. Add a Quick Look icon to your toolbar by selecting Customize Toolbar from the View menu in the Finder.

Note: You can also activate the Quick Look by pressing the Spacebar on your keyboard. Find Find helps you locate files that you may have inadvertently “lost”. To access Find:

1. Choose File > Find. A dialog box appears. 2. Select the hard drive or external media

where you think the file may be located. 3. Type a search word into the text field. The

search results will be displayed in a few seconds.

4. Click on an item and the path to that file is shown along the bottom of the window.

View Menu

View allows you to look at the files in your folder as a list, as icons, as columns, or as a Cover Flow. Changing the view to list can be very helpful if you open a folder, know you have a file in there, but cannot seem to find it. You can also use the Clean Up or Arrange options to organize an untidy desktop.

Go Menu

You can access the many areas of your computer using the Go option. Perhaps most important is the ability to go directly to the Applications folder and to Connect to Server.



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Connect to Server This option allows you to transfer files to a Mac server. To find a server: 1. Select Go > Connect to Server. 2. Specify the server and click on Connect. 3. Enter your username and password, and click on Connect. The server will now be

displayed on your desktop.

Note: If the server does not show up on your desktop, choose Finder > Preferences and check the box for “Connected Servers” under Show these items on the Desktop:

Printers Snow Leopard makes sure you always have the most up-to-date driver so you can get the most from your printer. Information Technology Services has two printers for patron use, 1) Media Lab Color Printer and 2) Media Lab B&W LaserJet. You print and pay for your color prints at the Front Desk. The default printer for the computer is the Color Laser. Exposé

Exposé gives you instant access to any open window with a single keystroke. Display all open windows as thumbnails, view windows of the current application, or hide all windows to quickly locate a file on your desktop.



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Spaces

Use Spaces to group your application windows and deal with clutter. If you do not have a Spaces icon on your

Dock, find the Spaces icon in your Applications folder to open the program. You may also choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and click the Spaces icon there. Check the “Enable Spaces” checkbox. You may drag active applications to specific spaces on your screen.

Spotlight

Spotlight and Find are not the same. With Spotlight, you always find what you are looking for, even if you do not

know where to look. The Spotlight search field gives you instant results encompassing files, folders and documents, messages in Mail, contacts in Address Book, iCal calendars, System Preferences and applications.

Dashboard

Dashboard is home to widgets: mini-applications that let you perform common tasks and provide you with fast

access to information. With a single click, Dashboard appears, complete with widgets that bring you a world of information: real-time weather, stock tickers, flight information and more instantly.



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Time Machine

Time Machine is the automatic backup system that is built into Mac OS X. It keeps an up-to-date copy of everything

on your Mac — digital photos, music, movies, TV shows, and documents. To begin using Time Machine, connect an external drive to your Mac and define it as your backup drive.

Tips and Tricks Capture Screen Shots You can take a screen shot of your entire screen by holding down the Command and shift

keys and pressing 3.

If you hold down the Command and shift keys and press 4, Mac OS X turns the cursor into crosshairs you can use to select whatever portion of your display you'd like to capture in a screen shot.

Note: If you hold down the Command + Shift + Control keys and press 4, then the cursor turns into crosshairs, you can use it, to copy whatever portion of your display you’d like to capture to a clipboard.



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Open a Web Page from the Dock 1. Go to the Web page you wish to create a shortcut for from the Dock 2. Drag the little Apple icon just to the left of the URL in the Address bar to your Dock. Innovative Chinese character input.

Until Snow Leopard, if you wanted to enter Chinese

characters on a computer, you had to type in the phonetic spelling of Chinese words and the computer would convert them into proper Chinese characters.

Snow Leopard offers a breakthrough new way to enter characters: You write them directly on the Multi-Touch track pad in your Mac notebook. They’ll appear on the screen in a new input window, which recommends characters based on what you drew and lets you choose the right one. The input window even

offers suggestions for subsequent characters based on what you chose.