Computer Basics
Macintosh-Specific Information

Contents-Macintosh Page

Power, Anyone?
The Macintosh Mouse
The Mac Desktop
Macintosh Iconography
Windows on Macs
Specialized menus on the Macintosh

The Apple menu
The Application menu

Macintosh Modifier Keys
Mac: Creating an Alias
Mac: How can you tell if it's an Alias?
Creating Folders on Macs
Saving a file
Using the Apple menu to open a program
Switching between programs
Text editing in Macintosh

Controlling where you type
Selecting Text

How to shutdown a Mac
Recovering from a Mac Crash / Freeze
Finding files on a Mac
The online help on Macs

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Power, Anyone?

Turning it on

• If it's a recent Macintosh computer you can hit the Power button on the keyboard. There may also be a button on the front with the Universal Symbol for power
• Older keyboards have a key at the top with a triangle on it. Newer Mac keyboards have the universal symbol for power on the key that powers-on the Mac.
• If it's an older model, look on the rear (or, for a few models, the front) for a power button of some kind

The Universal Symbol for On-Off Power Switches

Don't be surprised if this is a surprise to you! All international standard symbols are a mystery until explained!

Turning it off

• Do not just turn the machine off
• Unless it's crashed and then you have to
• Call down the Special menu in the Finder and go to Shutdown.

Then wait. If it's a recent Mac it will power itself off. If it's an older model you'll see a message saying it's OK to turn off the power.

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The Macintosh Mouse

As you can see from this image, the Mac mouse has one button across all the top of the mouse. (Windows mice have two buttons.) Click this button in order to select an icon or pull down a menu. (This is the equivalent of a left click on a Windows mouse.)

With the modern Mac OS (System 8 and above) if you hold down the control key on the keyboard while you click you get the equivalent of the left click on a Windows mouse.

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The Mac Desktop

Here's what the Macintosh desktop looks like with some explanations.

Note that your mileage may vary. Different people can set up desktops to look different: other or additional icons on the desktop, different colors, patterns or even pictures as a background. We mean these screen shots to give you the lay of the land.

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Macintosh Iconography

Here are what the four kinds of icons look like on Macintosh OS computers:

Where files live

These can be hard disk(s), CDs, floppy disks, folders / directories you gain access to over the network, etc.

Folder icons

We use folders (also known as Directories or Sub Directories) to sort and order files.

Application (also known as programs) allow us to create and edit documents.

The stuff we care about!

These icons represent the information we create and edit within application programs: letters to mom, that annual report, etc.

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Windows on Macs

(Confusing, ain't it?)

Below is an assembled screen shot of a Macintosh Finder directory window (in list view) with Balloon Help turned on. The Balloon Help notes explain what the different parts of the window in a Mac are called and how you can use them.

(More on Balloon Help soon.)

Click on the image to open a new browser window with the full size (76k) image. When you're done looking at that image you can close that browser window and be right back here at this window! Try it, if you wan to see more of this image.

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Specialized menus on the Macintosh

The Apple menu

The Apple menu has stuff that's readily available in any program. You can get to it

from the upper left--the sign of the Apple Macintosh OS.

[This is similar in function to the Start Button on the Task Bar on a Windows OS computer in that it makes always available certain features.]

The Application menu

The Application menu is at the far right of menu bar. You use this menu to see what application programs you have open and to switch between these open apps. It looks like this:

The application menu.

[The Application Menu is similar in function to the Task Bar (along the bottom of the screen) on a Windows OS computer in that you get a tab on the Task Bar for each open program.]

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Macintosh Modifier Keys

In addition to Shift, the modern Macintosh keyboard has a ctrl, option and Command key. To Command key does not say "Command" on it. It has a little propeller-y or four-leaf clover looking item on it.

In general, the Command key is the one you use to issue commands to the Mac. (Example: Command-A will usually Select All.) The option key allows you alternative command (it will often copy something you drag with the pointer, for example). Depending on the version of the Mac OS you're using, if you hold down the control key while clicking the mouse you may generate menu of commonly used commands.

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Mac: Creating an Alias

You have two methods for creating an Alias on a Mac. You do this from within the Finder or desktop, not in any other program.

1) Menu item and keyboard equivalent

1. Select what you want to affect (the item you want an alias of)
2. Pull down the file menu to Make Alias (or type the keyboard equivalent: Cmd-M)

2) Mouse-ing around

1. Put the pointer over the item you want an Alias of.
2. Hold down the Command and Option keys (the two to the immediate left of the space bar with the OPT and propellery thing)
3. While holding them down and while continuing to hold them down press and drag the mouse to wherever you want the alias to be
4. Let up on the moue button.

An alias will show up there.

Using the mouse it looks like this:

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Mac: How can you tell if it's an Alias?

The Macintosh gives two signs that an icon is an Alias:

1. The file name is in italics and
2. There's a small arrow in the lower left of the icon

NOTE: The arrow in the icon showed up in System 8.0 and above. If you use any version of System 7 you have the file name in italics but not little arrow.

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Creating Folders on Macs

On Macintoshes, the first item under the File menu in the finder is New Folder (or Cmd-N). If you execute this command an Untitled Folder will show up in the active Finder window or on the desktop. You may then give it a name and move it where you like.

The easiest way to get a new folder on the desktop is to

1. Put the pointer where you want the folder to be
2. Do a Control-click and a menu will appear.
3. Highlight the New Folder menu item and let up on the mouse button

This will create a folder on the spot where you started the right-click. Name it as you will and there you go!

Your newly created folder looks like this:

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Saving a file

Take these steps to save a file:

• Create or start a file you want to save. Have that window in front of you
• Call down the File menu to Save

The Save As Dialog Box appears

Fill in the name you want, direct the dialog box into whatever folder (or desktop) where you want the file to live in and click Save.

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Using the Apple menu to open a program

The Apple menu is the menu with the icon of a multicolored Apple in the extreme left corner of the menu bar, to the left of the File menu. Recent Applications is one of the menu items in the Apple menu (in modern systems). If the program is one you have opened recently you can get back to that application program by selecting that program in the list.

This looks like this:

(NOTE 1: You can customize your Apple Menu so don't think it odd if the Apple Menu in this screenshot isn't the same as what you see on your screen.

(NOTE 2: You can change the number of items stored in Recent Applications by changing a number in the Apple Menu Options in the Control Panels. The way this works is every time you open a program an alias goes into this folder so it's available to you. When you reach the number set in the Apple Menu Options Control Panel then the system deletes the oldest alias.)

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Switching between programs

In order to switch between open programs on a Mac you use the Application menu in the upper right hand corner of the menu bar. This menu is not named "Applications" (like the File menu is named "File"). It will have an icon as its indicator, and the icon will be that of the application now in the foreground.

On my Mac, it looks like this:

Beginning with System version 8.5 you can pull that little bar to the immediate left of the icon of the application menu and get the name of the application. (If you don't see that little bar there then you have a version of the system earlier than version 8.6.) So it looks like this:

In fact, if you press and drag within the area of the application menu icon you can "drag off" a "floating pallet" of the application menu to another part of your screen. Then you can click on individual icons of applications to switch between them an see at a glance which applications are open. (This is quite similar to part of what the Task Bar does in Windows.)

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Text editing in Macintosh

Getting to a text editor

The simplest text editor on a Macintosh computer is a program called SimpleText. It comes free with the Mac System. If you've run that program recently, you can get to it by clicking on the Apple menu and going to Recent Programs. This will invoke a cascading sub-menu. On that menu go to SimpleText on that list and click on that item in order to launch the program.

If it's not on that list, open the hard disk (whatever its called) by double-clicking on its icon on the desktop. Within that directory window will be a folder called Apple Extras. Open the folder and look for an icon labeled SimpleText. (If it's not there, check inside a folder called Applications.) At worst you'll need to do a Find for that name. Double-Click on the icon in order to open or launch the SimpleText program.

Once open, its application and document window looks something like this.

Now that you've got all that going, please type a few paragraphs of text so we have something to work with. Don't worry about spelling, grammar or content. Just type away!

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Controlling where you type

When you're in a text editing mode within any program application you'll often see a blinking line between letters. This is called the Blinking Insertion Point. (Some people may call this a "cursor".) It will look like this, only blinking:

You like this Blinking Insertion Point. Because when you type, your typing "inserts" to the left of that Blinking Point, moving the line to right. So if you want to type at a certain point you need to know how to move the Blinking Insertion Point around. Here's how to do that:

Using the Arrow Keys

All windows computer keyboards have arrow keys. These are usually in the lower right of the keyboard and have, well, little arrows on them! Up, down, right, left. If you're in a text editing environment, you may use those arrows to move the Blinking Insertion Point around.

Try it!

Using the Mouse and I-Beam

Using the arrow keys isn't always efficient. Let's try the mouse!

If you move the mouse so that the pointer is inside a text editing area you'll  notice that the pointer changes shape from the left-leaning arrow to the "I-beam". That looks like this:

(I blew this up a little larger so it's easier to see.)

There is a connection between the I-Beam and the Blinking Insertion Point. If you put the I-Beam over text and click, the place where you clicked now has the Blinking Insertion Point! You can roll the mouse to get the I-Beam out of the way and type there now.

In fact, you can use the mouse to get the  Blinking Insertion Point in the general area and then use the arrow keys to jockey the Blinking Insertion Point into exactly where you want it to be.

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Selecting Text

"What you select is what you affect." So if you want to affect something (delete it, change it, reformat it) you have to know how to select. (Click here for more on Selection.)

General and application specific selection tactics

We'll tell about selection tactics that are available anywhere, in almost any program. But keep in mind that specific programs offer their own keyboard and mouse selection tactics. Please look at the online help or manual that came with that program to learn more.

Mouse Selection Tactics

Press and Drag

The most common way to select text with the mouse is to press and drag over the items you want to select. This should highlight or select that text.

Be careful not to drift down or up as you go over text. The computer may mistakenly interpret your action as going to the line above or line below. This will make your selection seem to jump around.

Double-Click to select a word

One cool trick is to double-click to select a word. Put the I-Beam pointer over any part of a word and double-click the mouse. This will highlight or select the word. You may then change the formatting, delete, overtype or otherwise modify that selection.

Keyboard Selection Tactics

If you hold down the shift key while using the arrow keys you can select text. Try it!

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How to shutdown a Mac

When your Mac is working correctly, there are several ways to shut it down. (Here's guidance for shutting down your Mac when it's not working correctly.)

Shutdown from the Menu

In the Finder, call down the Special menu and go to Shutdown.

This will cause the system to automatically do these things:

• Quit all program applications
• You don't have to quit them all yourself!
• If you have any document windows open that have changes that haven't been saved, the system will automatically prompt you to save those changes!
• Close all windows
• If you have any directory windows open you don't have to close them. They will reopen when you next start up your Mac.
• Shut down the system (software)
• Power off the computer (hardware)
• This depends on the module Mac you have. Some will power themselves off. Others will say "It's now safe to turn of the power" in which case you have to power flip the power switch.

Shutdown from the keyboard

On a modern Mac, if you hit the power key on the keyboard, you'll get a dialog box asking what you'd like to do:

Here's what these terms mean:

Restart
This will shutdown your Mac and and immediately start it up again. Useful after installing software that requires a restart.

Sleep
This will put your Mac into "suspended automation". Not shut down but not doing anything, either. This uses less power than running and comes back to you quicker than a restarts. Very useful for PowerBook and iBooks (laptop Macs).

Not available in all models.

Cancel
This will make this dialog box go away and leave you be.

Shutdown
See above for a full description of what this means.

NOTE that some older Macs won't do anything if you hit the Power button on the keyboard. They don't have the circuitry that makes this happen. Nor will hitting the power button do anything if you're in a crashed state.

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Recovering from a Mac Crash / Freeze

Here are the things you should try and do, in order, when you suspect you're in a crashed state. These steps in this order will cause you the least trouble and disruption.

Force Quit

If you hit the Command-Control and Escape keys on a Mac running System 7 or later you will get a Force Quit dialog box. (Unfortunately I can't show you a screen shot of that dialog box because it completely Makes the Mac Not Work until you respond to it!)

If you hit the Force Quit button the system will dump that program out of memory--stop it from running.

This is a useful trick under these circumstances:

• If you crash comes from the program level and
• Your system is running well enough for this to work (it could be crashed in such a way that the Force Quit dialog box doesn't come up at all) and
• Closing the program doesn't cause so much instability that it will really crash you.

Note the large number of conditions? A crashed state is a bad thing. And bad things may very well happen when you're in a crashed state.

Restart

If this doesn't work, restart you computer. Here are the tactics for restarting a Windows computer.

Power it off and restart

If the usual ways of restarting your Macintosh computer don't work, power it off, count to five and power it back on again. Here are the steps to take to power off / on a Macintosh computer.

When things continue to go bad....

If the problem you've had continues seek technical help. Anything can happen once but if a pattern develops that you can't figure out then you need help from someone who knows more than you about your computer.

And for heaven sakes, don't blame yourself! Blame the computer!

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Finding files on a Mac

To locate files on a Macintosh computer, first, be in the Finder. (Here's instructions on how to switch between programs.) Then you can call down the File menu to Find or type Command F (a keyboard equivalent for the File Find menu item). Depending on the version of the system you've got You'll get a box that's called Find File or Sherlock (systems 8 through 8.6) or Sherlock 2 (system 9). The windows will look like this:

Find File and Sherlock v1:

Sherlock v2:

Those Different Versions

Find File does just that. Sherlock v1 and v2 will also find by content (typing within files based on an index) and find on the Internet. Sherlock v2 will also allow you to create "Channels" which you can use to group kinds of searches.

How to Use Find File / Sherlock

At its most elementary level here's what you do:

• Call up Sherlock / Find file
• Type in any part of the file or folder name you know
• Hit Find or the magnifying glass
• The results will show in a window
• Click on what you want
• This will show you the path of folders to where that item lives
• You can double-click on what you want to open it.

This will allow you to find and open things you want to find.

Both Find File and Sherlock do about a gazillion other cool things than that we can't go into here. Use the online help to learn more about these programs.

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The online help on Macs

(Online help means help that's built into the computer. Offline help would be hiring a consultant, reading a manual, asking a friend.)

On modern Macs there's either a question mark icon in the menu bar at the right (system version 7) or a menu named Help (system version 8). Call down either and go to Show Balloons. As you move the pointer around the screen you'll get balloons what explain stuff. Many (but not all) applications make use of balloon help and Balloon help is available throughout the desktop (also known as the Finder). Try this first when looking for help.

Click here for a bigger image of the kind of information Balloon Help can give you.

As a second level of help, call down that help menu again and look further down the menu. Depending on the version of the system you have, there'll be something like Mac OS Help. Invoke that and poke around.

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