Mac OS X Pocket Guide, Second Edition

Chapter 2. Mac OS X Basics

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

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:

1. Close window button (red)

2. Minimize window button (yellow)

3. Zoom, or maximize, window button (green)

4. Proxy icon

5. Filename

6. Toolbar button (not available on all windows)

7. Scrollbars and scroll arrows

8. 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.