Mac OS X Pocket Guide | O'Reilly Media

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This first part is intended to show those who are new to Mac OS X how to acclimate quickly to their new environment. For Windows and Unix users who are Switching to Mac OS X, most everything will be new, while users of older versions of Mac OS, such as Mac OS 8 or 9, will have to adjust the most to relearn the Mac.

This part of the book covers:

Changes to Mac OS X from Mac OS 9
Tips for "Switchers" coming to Mac OS X from Windows and Unix systems such as Linux or one of the BSDs (FreeBSD, NetBSD, or OpenBSD)

There are many noticeable changes in the user interface from earlier versions of the Mac OS to Mac OS X, while others may not be so apparent. Two of the biggest changes from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X can be found in the Apple menu and the Control Panels.

The Apple menu, displayed as an apple symbol (

) in the menu bar, is completely different; you can no longer store aliases for files, folders, or applications there. Here's what you'll find in Mac OS X's Apple menu:

About This Mac: This option pops open a window that supplies you with information about your Mac. Aside from telling you that you're running Mac OS X on your computer, the window shows you which version of Mac OS X is installed, how much memory you have, and the speed and type of processor in your computer. Clicking on the More Info button launches the Apple System Profiler (/Applications/Utilities), which gives you a greater level of detail about your computer.

Clicking on the version number in the About This Mac window will reveal the build number of Mac OS X; clicking it again will show the hardware serial number for your computer. These small details are important to have when contacting Apple Customer Service and when reporting a probable bug.

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There are many noticeable changes in the user interface from earlier versions of the Mac OS to Mac OS X, while others may not be so apparent. Two of the biggest changes from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X can be found in the Apple menu and the Control Panels.

The Apple menu, displayed as an apple symbol (

) in the menu bar, is completely different; you can no longer store aliases for files, folders, or applications there. Here's what you'll find in Mac OS X's Apple menu:

About This Mac: This option pops open a window that supplies you with information about your Mac. Aside from telling you that you're running Mac OS X on your computer, the window shows you which version of Mac OS X is installed, how much memory you have, and the speed and type of processor in your computer. Clicking on the More Info button launches the Apple System Profiler (/Applications/Utilities), which gives you a greater level of detail about your computer.

Clicking on the version number in the About This Mac window will reveal the build number of Mac OS X; clicking it again will show the hardware serial number for your computer. These small details are important to have when contacting Apple Customer Service and when reporting a probable bug.

In earlier versions of the Mac OS, the About box would change depending on which application was active. For information about the application, you now have to use the Application menu (located to the right of the Apple menu) and select the About option.
Get Mac OS X Software: Selecting this option will take you to Apple's Mac OS X software page (

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If you're one of the many people who have finally decided to make the "Switch" to Mac OS X from Windows or another Unix operating system (such as FreeBSD, Solaris, or Linux), this section is intended to be a quick reference guide to aid in your transition to the Mac. I've tried to point out some key differences between your old platform and Mac OS X to help you acclimate yourself with your Mac.

The following tips apply (in general terms) to Switchers from both Windows and other Unix-based systems, as well as users who've made the transition from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X:

The Mac user interface has only one menu bar—at the top of the screen—instead of one on each window. The menu bar's contents change depending on which application is currently active. The name of the application that's currently active appears in bold text next to the Apple menu.
At first, you will sorely miss your two- or three-button mouse. You can emulate right-button functions by holding down the Control key when clicking. Mac OS X also supports multibutton mice, mapping the Control key to the right mouse button.
If you have a scrollwheel mouse, Mac OS X should detect it automatically and provide options for how the scrollwheel performs via the System Preferences → Mouse preferences panel.
To find what Mac OS X applications you have on your system, click on the Applications icon in the Finder's toolbar.
To find out which Mac OS 9 applications you have on your system, click on Finder → Computer → Macintosh HD → Applications (Mac OS 9).
Printer setup and queue control is handled by the Print Center application (/Applications/Utilities). You may want to drag it onto the Dock or place its icon in the Finder toolbar for easy access.

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This part of the book will introduce you to the key features of the Mac OS X interface. Here we'll cover:

Window Controls
The Finder
Keyboard shortcuts
The Dock
Mac OS X and the Classic Environment
Users and Logging in Window Controls

Windows in Mac OS X have an entirely different set of controls than those from earlier versions of the Mac OS. These window features are highlighted in Figure 2-1.

Figure 2-1: Standard window controls in Mac OS X

The controls are defined as follows:

Close window button (red)
Minimize window button (yellow)
Zoom, or maximize, window button (green)
Proxy icon
Filename
Toolbar button (not available on all windows)
Scrollbars and scroll arrows
Resize window control

The top part of the window is known as the titlebar. The titlebar is home to the three colored window control buttons for closing (red), minimizing (yellow), and zooming (green) the window. Mousing over the buttons will change their state to be either an X, a minus sign (-), or a plus sign (+), respectively. These are visual cues to you as to the function the button performs.

With some applications, you'll notice that the red close window button has a dark-colored dot in its center. This means that the document you're working on has unsaved changes; if you save the document (File → Save, or

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Windows in Mac OS X have an entirely different set of controls than those from earlier versions of the Mac OS. These window features are highlighted in Figure 2-1.

Figure 2-1: Standard window controls in Mac OS X

The controls are defined as follows:

Close window button (red)
Minimize window button (yellow)
Zoom, or maximize, window button (green)
Proxy icon
Filename
Toolbar button (not available on all windows)
Scrollbars and scroll arrows
Resize window control

The top part of the window is known as the titlebar. The titlebar is home to the three colored window control buttons for closing (red), minimizing (yellow), and zooming (green) the window. Mousing over the buttons will change their state to be either an X, a minus sign (-), or a plus sign (+), respectively. These are visual cues to you as to the function the button performs.

With some applications, you'll notice that the red close window button has a dark-colored dot in its center. This means that the document you're working on has unsaved changes; if you save the document (File → Save, or

-S), the dot will go away.

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The following are some tips for working with windows:

Open a new window?: File → Open ( -O).
Close a window?: File → Close ( -W).
Close all open windows for an application?: Option-click on the close window button.

If there are changes that need to be saved in any of the windows being closed, you will be prompted to save the changes. Either hit Return to save the changes, or enter

-D to invoke the Don't Save button.

Minimize a window?: Window → Minimize Window ( -M).

Double-click on the window's titlebar.
Minimize all open windows for a single application?: Option- -M.

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In earlier versions of the Mac OS, the Finder was located in the application menu at the far-right edge of the menu bar. The Finder was the application responsible for displaying the contents of a drive or folder; when double-clicked, a window would open, displaying either an Icon or List View of the contents. Mac OS X's Finder really isn't that different from Mac OS 9's Finder. It still displays the contents of drives and folders; however, the Finder is much more powerful, particularly in Jaguar.

The Finder serves as a graphical file manager, which offers three ways (or Views) to look at the files, folders, applications, and other filesystems mounted on your system. The Finder also sports a toolbar that allows you quick access to frequently used files and directories, along with a built-in Search field. More on the Finder toolbar and how to search for files later; for now, let's look at the three Views available to the Finder: Icon, List, and the new Column View.

You can quickly change the Finder's viewpoint by using

-1 for Icon View,

-2 for List View, or

-3 for Column View.

Icon View: This shows the contents of a directory as either a file, folder, or application icon, as shown in Figure 2-2. Double-clicking on an icon will do one of three things: launch an application, open a file, or display the contents of a double-clicked folder in the Finder window.

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On the Mac (as with Windows and Linux desktops), you have two ways of invoking commands in the GUI: by using the menus or by issuing shortcuts for the commands on the keyboard. Not every menu item has a keyboard accelerator, but for the ones that do—the more common functions—using the keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time.

Table 2-4 lists the common key commands found in Mac OS X. While most of these commands function the same across all applications, the functions of some, such as

-B and

-I, can vary between programs, and others may only work when the Finder is active. For example,

-B in Microsoft Word turns on boldface type or makes a selection bold, while in Project Builder,

-B builds your application. Likewise,

-I in Word italicizes a word or selection, while hitting

-I after selecting a file, folder, or application on the Desktop or in the Finder opens the Show Info window for the selected item.

Table 2-4: Common keyboard shortcuts

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One way to think about the Dock is as part Finder, part Apple menu, and part Launcher from earlier versions of the Mac OS. The Dock, shown in Figure 2-9, holds application aliases, making it easy for you to launch a program quickly with a single mouse click. To launch an application in the Dock, simply click on its icon. While the application is starting, its icon will "bounce" in the Dock; afterward, a black triangle will appear below the icon to indicate that the application is active.

Figure 2-9: The Dock

By default, the Dock includes icons for the Finder, Mail, iChat, Address Book, Internet Explorer, iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, Sherlock, QuickTime, System Preferences, and the Trash. To the left of the Trash icon is a quick link icon to Apple's Mac OS X web site; clicking this icon will launch your default web browser and take you to Apple's web site.

The Finder icon is permanently fixed to the left of the Dock (or on top if you've moved your Dock to the left or right of the screen). Likewise, the Trash is located at the far-right of the Dock (or at the bottom if your Dock is on the left or right). No matter how hard you try to grab and move them around, you can't. Also, you can't place an icon to the left of the Finder or to the right of the Trash.

To add an application icon to the Dock, simply drag its icon from the Finder to any location in the Dock and let go. To remove an application, click on the icon and drag it away from the Dock; the icon will disappear in a puff of smoke.

Here are some helpful hints and tips for using and configuring your Dock:

Quickly resize the Dock without launching its System Preferences panel?: Place the mouse over the divider bar in the Dock; the pointer changes from an arrow to a horizontal bar with arrows pointing up and down. Click on the divider bar and move the mouse up or down to make the Dock larger or smaller, respectively.

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To help bridge the application gap between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, Apple has built a virtual machine that enables you to run older Mac software under Mac OS X in what's known as Classic. Classic (or the "Classic environment") looks and feels just like Mac OS 9. The only exception is that the applications that are run in Classic don't benefit from the features of Mac OS X, such as protected memory and advanced printing capability. Additionally, some Control Panels (

→ Control Panels), such as Control Strip, Memory, and Remote Access, are disabled. Basically, when you're running Classic, you are running a slightly watered-down version of Mac OS 9 on top of Mac OS X with only a minor performance hit.

Until all Mac applications are compliant with Mac OS X, you will also need to install a version of Mac OS 9 (9.2.2, to be exact). During the installation process, you can install both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X on the same partition (or hard drive), or you can use Disk Utility (Installer → Open Disk Utility) to create a separate partition for each. Basically, you're creating a dual-boot system , which means you can boot your Mac into either OS. However, if you don't plan to run Classic applications, you won't need to install Mac OS 9.

If your computer came with Mac OS X preinstalled, Mac OS 9 has been preinstalled as well. It's worth noting that Apple places both Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 on the same partition of your hard drive. If you want the OSes on separate partitions, you will need to partition your hard drive and reinstall the system. In most cases, the biggest benefit of installing Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X on separate partitions is being able to choose a startup volume at boot up by holding down the Option key. Otherwise, you can choose which OS to boot using the Startup Disk Control Panel (Mac OS 9) or System Preferences → Startup Disk (Mac OS X). At the time of this writing, Apple will reportedly make it impossible for you to boot into Mac OS 9 on newer hardware that releases in January 2003.

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When you first install Mac OS X (or when you first boot your new hardware), you have to create at least one user account. Mac OS 9 first introduced the option of setting up a multiuser Mac system, but you weren't required to set up individual user accounts as with Mac OS X.

Here are some helpful hints to assist you in managing your user account:

Configuring my login?: System Preferences → Accounts → Login Options.
Change my login password?: System Preferences → My Account; click on the Change button next to My Password.

System Preferences → Accounts → username → Edit User.

Use the passwd command in the Terminal.

When choosing a password, you should avoid using dictionary words (i.e., common, everyday words found in the dictionary) or something that could be easily guessed. To improve your security, choose an alphanumeric password. Remember, passwords are case-sensitive, so you can mix upper- and lowercase letters in your password as well.
Add another user to the system?: System Preferences → Accounts → New User (requires administrator privileges).

Unix administrators might be tempted to use the useradd , userdel, and usermod commands to add, remove, and modify a user, respectively, from the Terminal. The only problem is,

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This part introduces you to the various tools that accompany Mac OS X. The sections in this part are intended to provide an overview of the following:

System Preferences
Applications and Utilities
Developer Tools

Chapter 5 provides additional information about how to use and apply the System Preferences for configuring your system, as well as specific uses for some of Mac OS X's standard Applications and Utilities.

As mentioned earlier, Mac OS X's System Preferences perform many of the same functions as Mac OS 9's Control Panels. To launch the System Preferences application, simply click on the light-switch icon in the Dock, and the window shown in Figure 3-1 will appear.

Figure 3-1: The System Preferences window

As you'll notice, the System Preferences are broken down into four categories: Personal, Hardware, Internet & Network, and System. There is also a customizable toolbar at the top of the window, similar to the toolbar in the Finder window. If you find yourself using a particular System Preference often, drag its icon to the toolbar. Likewise, if there is one you use rarely (such as the Displays panel), drag the icon away, and the item will be removed from the toolbar.

Unlike the Finder's toolbar, you cannot customize the System Preferences toolbar. (You can customize the Finder's toolbar by Control-clicking on the toolbar itself and selecting Customize Toolbar from the context menu.) Thankfully, not all hope is lost, though. You can add and remove icons from the System Preferences toolbar by dragging an icon onto or off the toolbar. When you drag an icon off the toolbar, it will disappear in a puff of smoke, similar to what happens when you remove an icon from the Dock. You can also change the size of the icon and the text labels for the icons by Command-clicking on the toolbar button as follows:

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As mentioned earlier, Mac OS X's System Preferences perform many of the same functions as Mac OS 9's Control Panels. To launch the System Preferences application, simply click on the light-switch icon in the Dock, and the window shown in Figure 3-1 will appear.

Figure 3-1: The System Preferences window

As you'll notice, the System Preferences are broken down into four categories: Personal, Hardware, Internet & Network, and System. There is also a customizable toolbar at the top of the window, similar to the toolbar in the Finder window. If you find yourself using a particular System Preference often, drag its icon to the toolbar. Likewise, if there is one you use rarely (such as the Displays panel), drag the icon away, and the item will be removed from the toolbar.

Unlike the Finder's toolbar, you cannot customize the System Preferences toolbar. (You can customize the Finder's toolbar by Control-clicking on the toolbar itself and selecting Customize Toolbar from the context menu.) Thankfully, not all hope is lost, though. You can add and remove icons from the System Preferences toolbar by dragging an icon onto or off the toolbar. When you drag an icon off the toolbar, it will disappear in a puff of smoke, similar to what happens when you remove an icon from the Dock. You can also change the size of the icon and the text labels for the icons by Command-clicking on the toolbar button as follows:

The first time you Command-click reduces the size of toolbar icons and the text labels.
The second time you Command-click removes the text labels and displays the icons at the normal size.
The third time you Command-click reduces the size of the toolbar icons without the text labels.
The fourth time you Command-click removes the panel icons and replaces them with large text labels.

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Apple has included a set of native applications and utilities for Mac OS X, including the famous iApps (iMovie, iPhoto, and iTunes; future releases will most likely include iCal and iSync as well).

There are applications for such things as viewing and printing PDF files, basic word processing, sending and receiving email, and creating movies, as well as utilities to help you manage your system.

Use the Finder to locate the Applications (/Applications) and Utilities (/Applications/Utilities) on your system. You can quickly go to the Applications folder either by clicking on the Applications icon in the toolbar or by using the Shift-

-A keyboard shortcut. Because there is no keyboard shortcut to the Utilities, you might consider dragging the Utilities folder icon to the Finder toolbar.

The following is a list of the programs found in the Applications directory:

Acrobat Reader: This is Adobe Systems' application for viewing and printing PDF files.
Address Book: This is a database program you can use to store contact information for your friends and colleagues.
AppleScript: This folder contains all the tools necessary for writing AppleScripts. If you've downloaded or installed the Developer Tools (see Section 3.3), you will also have the ability to build applications using AppleScript Studio.
Calculator: The Calculator application that ships with Jaguar has a fully-functional scientific calculator, compared to the simple four function one that shipped with earlier versions of the Mac OS. Calculator also has a Paper Tape sheet that allows you to view the math functions, which you can copy and paste into another application.

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Apple has gone to great lengths to lure a new breed of developers to the Mac, offering environments for traditional C, C++, Objective-C (and recently Objective-C++), Java, Perl, Python, Ruby, and with the introduction of AppleScript Studio, AppleScripters can now harness their scripting knowledge to build Cocoa-based applications.

You can quickly check to see if you have the Developer Tools installed. If you have a /Developer folder on your hard drive, you are ready to go. If not, you'll need to install the tools either from the Developer Tools CD that came with your system or from a disk image you can download from the Apple Developer Connection (ADC) site.

The Developer Tools CD comes with every boxed set of Mac OS X (including Mac OS X Server), as well as with new Macs shipped from the factory with OS X. To install the tools, simply find the CD (it's the gray one), put it into your CD-ROM drive, and double-click the Developer.mpkg file that appears.

If you didn't receive a Developer Tools CD with your new Mac, you can find Developer.mpkg in /Applications/Installers/Developer Tools.

If you can't find your Developer Tools CD, you should go to the ADC member web site at http://connect.apple.com, register as an online member (it's free), and then you can download the Developer Tools.

There are many levels of ADC membership available. The free Online membership gets you a good range of benefits, including access to the latest version of the Developer Tools and the ability to track bugs that you submit. You can register a free for online membership at http://connect.apple.com.

To download the Tools, log in to the ADC Member web site, click on Download Software in the navigation bar, and then on the Mac OS X subcategory link that appears. From this page you can download the Developer Tools either in segments or in one big chunk. If you download the Tools in segments, simply double-click on the first segment, and StuffIt will launch and put all the segments together into one file.

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This part is a basic introduction to show new users the Unix side of Mac OS X. Specifically, this section will cover:

Configuring and using the Terminal
Command-line editing with tcsh
Additional shell commands, such as bindkey, defaults, and open
Basic Unix commands

You don't have to venture into the command line if you don't want to, but it's easy to be seduced by its power, as this part shows you a glimpse at what's possible with just a few easy keystrokes.

The Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities) is your interface to Mac OS X's Unix shell. The Terminal can be used for everything from creating new directories (folders) and files to launching applications, and from managing and monitoring your system to programming and tweaking your system preferences.

This section offers advice on how to configure the settings for your Terminal. Previously, you would use Terminal → Preferences to configure the Terminal's settings. However, with Jaguar, you'll need to use File → Show Info and change the settings from the Terminal Inspector window via the pull-down menu at the top of the window.

Change the style of the cursor?: Display & Cursor Style → (Block, Underline, Vertical Bar).
Stop the cursor from blinking?: Display → Cursor Style → Deselect Blinking Cursor.
Change the background color and font colors of the Terminal window?: Color → click on the color selection boxes next to Background, Cursor, Normal Text, Bold Text, and Selection to open another window with the color wheel, which allows you to change and select a different color and even the transparency of the Terminal window.

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The Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities) is your interface to Mac OS X's Unix shell. The Terminal can be used for everything from creating new directories (folders) and files to launching applications, and from managing and monitoring your system to programming and tweaking your system preferences.

This section offers advice on how to configure the settings for your Terminal. Previously, you would use Terminal → Preferences to configure the Terminal's settings. However, with Jaguar, you'll need to use File → Show Info and change the settings from the Terminal Inspector window via the pull-down menu at the top of the window.

Change the style of the cursor?: Display & Cursor Style → (Block, Underline, Vertical Bar).
Stop the cursor from blinking?: Display → Cursor Style → Deselect Blinking Cursor.
Change the background color and font colors of the Terminal window?: Color → click on the color selection boxes next to Background, Cursor, Normal Text, Bold Text, and Selection to open another window with the color wheel, which allows you to change and select a different color and even the transparency of the Terminal window.
Assign a different title to the Terminal window?: Window → Title.
Assign a different title to the current Terminal window?: With an open Terminal window, select File → Set Title (Shift- -T). The Terminal Inspector window will open with Window selected in the pull-down menu. Enter a new title for the window in the Title field and hit Return or Tab to change the title of the current window.

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Mac OS X's default user shell, tcsh, lets you move your cursor around in the command line, editing the line as you type. There are two main modes for editing the command line, based on the two most commonly used text editors: Emacs and vi. Emacs mode is the default; you can switch between the modes with:

bindkey -e: Select Emacs bindings
bindkey -v: Select vi bindings

The main difference between the Emacs and vi bindings is that the Emacs bindings are modeless (i.e., they always work). With the vi bindings, you must switch between insert and command modes; different commands are useful in each mode. Additionally:

Emacs mode is simpler; vi mode allows finer control.
Emacs mode allows you to cut text and set a mark; vi mode does not.
The command-history-searching capabilities differ.

Table 4-2 through Table 4-4 describe the various editing keystrokes available in Emacs mode.

Table 4-2: Cursor-positioning commands (Emacs mode)
Command	Description
Control-B	Move the cursor back (left) one character
Control-F	Move the cursor forward (right) one character

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One of the first things that traditional Unix users will notice when they start poking around in the Terminal is that there are a few new commands they'll need to add to their repertoire. Three that we'll discuss here are bindkey, defaults, and open.

bindkey is a tcsh shell command, used to select, examine, and define key bindings for use in the Terminal. Table 4-13 shows the various uses of the bindkey command.

Table 4-13: Using the bindkey command
Command	Description
bindkey	List all the key bindings
bindkey -c key cmd	Bind key to Unix command cmd
bindkey -d	Restore the default key bindings
bindkey -e	Change the key bindings to Emacs mode
bindkey key	List the bindings for key
bindkey key cmd	Bind key to editing command cmd
bindkey -l	List the editing commands and their meanings
bindkey -r key

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If you've never used Unix before, this section will serve as a quick introduction to issuing Unix commands from the Terminal. Experienced Unix users can skip over this section. For each of the following, you will need to be using the Terminal application. The commands you need to type are shown in bold.

View a command's description and its options?

All the Unix commands on your system have a manual page (or manpage for short). To view the manpage for any command, you use the man command:

[macchuck:~] chuck% man pwd

The instructions for using the pwd command (described next) are then displayed one screen at a time. If there is more than one screen for a command's description, you will see a percentage at the lower-left corner of the Terminal window telling you how much of the manpage has been viewed. To scroll to the next screen, hit the spacebar; you will be returned to the command prompt when you've reached the end of the manpage. The man command even has its own manpage, which can be viewed by using:

[macchuck:~] chuck% man man

Where am I?

Type pwd on the command line, and hit Return; this will tell you the present working directory.

[macchuck:~] chuck% pwd
/Users/chuck
[macchuck:~] chuck%

The default tcsh command prompt will show you what directory you're in, but only to a point; for example:

[macchuck:Applications/Extras/Bluetooth] chuck% pwd
/Developer/Applications/Extras/Bluetooth
[macchuck:Applications/Extras/Bluetooth] chuck%

As this example shows, at first it only looks like I'm in Applications/Extras/Bluetooth, but issuing the pwd command shows that I'm really in /Developer/Applications/Extras/Bluetooth. Your cue that you are in a deeper path is that there is no slash before the first directory in the prompt.

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This final section of the book shows you how to configure and administer your Mac OS X system using the System Preferences and the Applications and Utilities that come with Mac OS X.

The book wraps up with a table that lists the special characters you can create from the keyboard.

After rooting through all the System Preferences and looking at the Applications and Utilities that come with Mac OS X, you'll quickly find that there are literally hundreds of ways to configure the settings for your system. In some cases, instructions are provided for how to perform tasks using the GUI tools and by issuing Unix commands in the Terminal. Which is faster or easier to use is up to you to decide (but you're likely to realize quickly that the power of Unix is unmatchable by most GUI tools).

This section provides shorthand instructions to help you configure and use your Mac OS X system as quickly as possible. Each task is presented as the answer to a "How do I . . . " question (e.g., How do I change the color depth of my display?), followed by the shorthand way to execute the answer (e.g., System Preferences → Displays). The tasks are divided into the following ten categories:

Customizing the System
Files and Folders
Fonts and Font Management
Searching for and Locating Files
Obtaining Information About the System
Internet, Web, and Email
Modems and Dial-Up Networking
Networking
Printer Configuration and Printing
Maintenance and Troubleshooting

If you're new to Mac OS X, or if you just want to jog your memory when you can't quite remember where a particular setting is located, this is the place to start.

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After rooting through all the System Preferences and looking at the Applications and Utilities that come with Mac OS X, you'll quickly find that there are literally hundreds of ways to configure the settings for your system. In some cases, instructions are provided for how to perform tasks using the GUI tools and by issuing Unix commands in the Terminal. Which is faster or easier to use is up to you to decide (but you're likely to realize quickly that the power of Unix is unmatchable by most GUI tools).

This section provides shorthand instructions to help you configure and use your Mac OS X system as quickly as possible. Each task is presented as the answer to a "How do I . . . " question (e.g., How do I change the color depth of my display?), followed by the shorthand way to execute the answer (e.g., System Preferences → Displays). The tasks are divided into the following ten categories:

Customizing the System
Files and Folders
Fonts and Font Management
Searching for and Locating Files
Obtaining Information About the System
Internet, Web, and Email
Modems and Dial-Up Networking
Networking
Printer Configuration and Printing
Maintenance and Troubleshooting

If you're new to Mac OS X, or if you just want to jog your memory when you can't quite remember where a particular setting is located, this is the place to start.

The following are options you can use to customize the "Aqua look and feel" of your system:

Change my desktop size/resolution, or the color depth of my display?: System Preferences

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Included with Mac OS X is the Key Caps application (located in /Applications/Utilities), which is a keyboard widget that allows you to see which character would be created by applying the Shift, Option, or Shift-Option keys to any key on the keyboard. Key Caps also allows you to copy and paste the character you create into another application, such as Microsoft Word.

While this might seem useful, it can be a hassle to launch another app just to create one character and copy and paste it into another program. Fortunately, one of the most little-known/-used features of the Mac OS is its ability to give you the same functionality within any application—making Key Caps unnecessary if you know what you're doing. Table 5-1 lists these special characters. Keep in mind that this doesn't work for all font types, and some fonts such as Symbol, Wingdings, and Zapf Dingbats create an entirely different set of characters or symbols. For example, to create the symbol for the Command key (

), you would need to switch the font to Wingdings and type a lowercase z.

Table 5-1: Special characters and their key mappings
Normal	Shift	Option	Shift-Option
1	!	¡	/
2	@	™

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