Mac OS X in a Nutshell

The Menu Bar

Regardless of which application you’re using, Mac OS X’s menu bar is always located across the top of the screen. This is different from Microsoft Windows or Linux GNOME or KDE Desktop environments, where the menu bar is attached to each individual window. There are some standard items that you’ll always find in the menu bar, but as you switch from application to application, you’ll notice that the menu names and some of their options change according to which application is active. Figure 1-2 shows the menu bar as it appears when the Finder is active.

Figure 1-2. The Mac OS X menu bar (with the Finder active)

As Figure 1-2 shows, the following menus and items can be found in the menu bar.

• The Apple menu (see Section 1.2.3)

• The Application menu (see Section 1.2.4)

• A default set of application menus (see Section 1.2.5)

• Menu extras (see Section 1.2.6)

Active and Inactive Applications

A running application can have one of two possible states: active or inactive. An active application is the application you’re currently using—in other words, the application that receives any input you generate through the keyboard or mouse (with the exception of clicks or keystrokes that switch between applications). An inactive application has been launched, but is running in the background.

You’ll typically run many applications at once, using the Dock to track and manage them as described ...