Chapter 1. Mac OS X Snow Leopard 101 (Prerequisites: None)
In This Chapter
Understanding what an operating system is and is not
Turning on your Mac
Getting to know the startup process
Turning off your Mac
Avoiding major Mac mistakes
Pointing, clicking, dragging, and other uses for your mouse
Getting help from your Mac
Congratulate yourself on choosing Mac OS X, which stands for Macintosh Operating System X — that's the Roman numeral ten, not the letter X (pronounced ten, not ex). You made a smart move because you scored more than just an operating-system upgrade. Mac OS X Snow Leopard includes several new features to make using your Mac easier, and dozens of improvements that help you do more work in less time.
In this chapter, I start at the very beginning and talk about Mac OS X in mostly abstract terms; then I move on to explain what you need to know to use Mac OS X Snow Leopard successfully.
If you've been using Mac OS X for a while, some of the information in this chapter might seem hauntingly familiar; some features that I describe haven't changed from earlier versions of Mac OS X. But if you decide to skip this chapter because you think you have all the new stuff figured out, I assure you that you'll miss at least a couple of things that Apple didn't bother to tell you (as if you read every word in Mac OS X Help, the only user manual Apple provides, anyway!).
Tantalized? Let's rock.
Warning
If you're about to upgrade to Snow Leopard from an earlier version of Mac OS X, I feel obliged ...
Get Mac OS® X Snow Leopard™ for Dummies® now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
