Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual

Chapter 20. Safari

The Internet has come a long way since its early days in the 1960s, when it was a communications network for universities and the military. Today, that little network has morphed into a international information hub, entertainment provider, and world's biggest mall. For that, we can thank the development of the World Wide Web—the visual, point-and-click face of the Internet.

Apple is obviously intrigued by the possibilities of the Internet. With each new release of Mac OS X, more clever tendrils reach out from the Mac to the world's biggest network: Dashboard, the Wikipedia link in the Dictionary program, Web clippings, Back to My Mac, and so on.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION: Where to Specify Your Preferred Mail and Browser Programs

Hey! Where the heck do I specify what browser I want to open when, say, I click a link in an email message? It used to be in the Internet panel of System Preferences, but that panel doesn't exist anymore!

You're right. What used to be the Internet panel is now the .Mac panel, and the places where you set up your preferred email and Web programs have gone off to the great software company in the sky.

This is going to sound a little odd. But to indicate that you want some other browser to be your favorite, you start by opening Safari. Choose Safari→Preferences, click the General tab, and choose from the Default Web Browser pop-up menu.

You change email programs using the same twisted logic: You open Mail, and then open its Preferences.

If you'd ...