Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition

Introduction

Without a doubt, Mac OS X is a stunning technical achievement. In fact, many tech reviewers and experts have called it the best personal-computer operating system on earth. But beware its name.

The X is meant to be a Roman numeral, pronounced “ten.” Unfortunately, many people see “Mac OS X” and say “Mac O.S. ex.” That’s a sure way to get funny looks in public.

Then there’s the “Mac OS” part—what a misnomer! Mac OS X is not, in fact, what millions of people think of as the Mac OS. Apple designed Mac OS X to look something like the old Mac system software, and certain features have been written to work like they used to. But all of that is just an elaborate fake-out. Mac OS X is an utterly new creation. It’s not so much Mac OS X, in other words, as Steve Jobs 1.0.

If you’ve never used a computer before, none of this matters. You have nothing to unlearn. You’ll find an extremely simple, beautifully designed desktop waiting for you.

But if you’re one of the millions of people who have grown accustomed to Windows or the traditional Mac OS, Mac OS X may come as a bit of a shock. Hundreds of features you thought you knew have been removed, replaced, or relocated. (If you ever find yourself groping for an old, favorite feature, see Appendix C and Appendix D—the “Where’d it go?” dictionaries for Mac OS 9 and Windows refugees.)

Why did Apple throw out the operating system that made it famous to begin with? Well, through the years, as Apple piled new features onto a software foundation ...