Mac OS X in a Nutshell

How This Book Is Organized

This book is broken down into 5 parts, 25 chapters, and 1 appendix:

Part I

Chapter 1

We begin our exploration of Mac OS X at its surface, by describing and documenting Aqua, the system’s liquid-themed graphical user interface. This chapter covers the visual metaphors and window features that every native Mac OS X application uses, as well as onscreen objects that are available from every program, such as the Dock and the menu bar.

Chapter 2

The Finder is Mac OS X’s graphical file navigation application, which presents your computer’s filesystem through the familiar visual metaphor of folders and files. This chapter explores this application, including a wealth of subtle tips and tricks.

Chapter 3

Meant especially for longtime Mac veterans, this chapter covers the major differences between Mac OS X and its predecessors, of which Mac OS 9 was the final version.

Chapter 4

This chapter provides a quick index of common operating system activities in a question-and-answer format.

Part II

Chapter 5

This chapter covers the System Preferences application as it appears in Mac OS X Version 10.2, and details how it works as a frontend to the file-based preferences system.

Chapter 6

Mac OS X comes with a wealth of core applications, more than any Mac OS before it. This chapter lists the contents of a fresh Mac OS X installation’s Applications folder and discusses the system’s unique approach to application integration, as well as ways to install new programs ...