Part I
Introducing Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Basics
In this part . . .
Because I believe it’s important to crawl before you walk, in this part you get a look at the most basic of basics — such as how to turn on your Mac. Next, I acquaint you with the Mac OS X Finder, with its Desktop, windows, icons, and menus (oh my)! Then you find out how to make this cat your own by customizing your work environment to suit your style. After that is a date with the Dock. And last but certainly not least, you discover some additional tasks that will make life with Snow Leopard ever so much easier.
So get comfortable, roll up your sleeves, fire up your Mac if you like, and settle down with Part I, a delightful little section I like to think of as “The Hassle-Free Way to Get Started with Mac OS X Snow Leopard.”
Chapter 1
Mac OS X Snow Leopard 101 (Prerequisites: None)
In This Chapter
Understanding what an operating system is and is not
Turning on your Mac
Getting to know the startup process
Turning off your Mac
Avoiding major Mac mistakes
Pointing, clicking, dragging, and other uses for your mouse
Getting help from your Mac
Congratulate yourself on choosing Mac OS X, which stands for Macintosh Operating System X — that’s the Roman numeral ten, not the letter X (pronounced ten, not ex). You made a smart move because you scored more than just an operating-system upgrade. Mac OS X Snow Leopard includes several new features to make using your Mac easier, and dozens of improvements that help you do more work in less time.
In this chapter, I start at the very beginning and talk about Mac OS X in mostly abstract terms; then I move on to explain what you need to know to use Mac OS X Snow Leopard successfully.
If you’ve been using Mac OS X for a while, some of the information in this chapter might seem hauntingly familiar; some features that I describe haven’t changed from earlier versions of Mac OS X. But if you decide to skip this chapter because you think you have all the new stuff figured out, I assure you that you’ll miss at least a couple of things that Apple didn’t bother to tell you (as if you read every word in Mac OS X Help, the only user manual Apple provides, anyway!).
Tantalized? Let’s rock.
If you’re about to upgrade to Snow Leopard from an earlier version of Mac OS X, I feel obliged to mention a major pitfall to avoid: One very specific misplaced click, done while installing your new OS,
could erase every file on your hard drive. The appendix describes this situation in full and loving detail, and it contains other important information about installing Snow Leopard that can make upgrading a more pleasant experience.
Gnawing to the Core of OS X
The operating system (that is, the OS in Mac OS X) is what makes a Mac a Mac. Without it, your Mac is a pile of silicon and circuits — no smarter than a toaster.
“So what does an operating system do?” you ask. Good question. The short answer is that an operating system controls the basic and most important functions of your computer. In the case of Mac OS X and your Mac, the operating system
Manages memory
Controls how windows, icons, and menus work
Keeps track of files
Manages networking
Does housekeeping (No kidding!)
Other forms of software, such as word processors and Web browsers, rely on the operating system to create and maintain the environment in which they work their magic. When you create a memo, for example, the word processor provides the tools for you to type and format the information. In the background, the operating system is the muscle for the word processor, performing crucial functions such as the following:
Providing the mechanism for drawing and moving the on-screen window in which you write the memo
Keeping track of a file when you save it
Helping the word processor create drop-down menus and dialogs for you to interact with
Communicating with other programs
And much, much more (stuff that only geeks could care about)
So, armed with a little background in operating systems, take a gander at the next section before you do anything else with your Mac.
One last thing: As I mention in the introduction (I’m only repeating it here in case you normally don’t read introductions), Mac OS X Snow Leopard comes with more than 50 applications. And though I’d love to tell you all about each and every one, I have only so many pages at my disposal. If you need more info on the programs I don’t cover, may I (again) recommend Mac OS X Snow Leopard All-in-One For Dummies, written by Mark L. Chambers; iLife All-in-One For Dummies, written by my old friends Tony Bove and Cheryl Rhodes; or iMovie & iDVD ’09 For Dummies by the technical editor of this very book, Dennis Cohen, and his brother Michael (all three titles are from Wiley).
