Mac OS X Lion: The Missing Manual

Browsing Basics

You probably know the drill when it comes to Web browsers. When you click an underlined link (hyperlink) or a picture button , you’re transported from one Web page to another. One page might be the home page of General Motors; another might contain critical information about a bill in Congress; another might have baby pictures posted by a parent in Omaha.

Tip

Text links aren’t always blue and underlined. In fact, trendy Web designers sometimes make it very difficult to tell which text is clickable and which is just text. When in doubt, move your cursor over some text; if the arrow changes to a pointing-finger cursor, you’ve found yourself a link.

Scrolling

You’ll rarely do more page scrolling than you do in a Web browser. Scrolling is a constant activity.

Fortunately, Apple gives you about 11,339 different ways to do it.

You can use the regular scroll gesture (two fingers on the trackpad). You can also press your ↑ and ↓ keys to scroll one line at a time. Page Up and Page Down scroll in full-screen increments, while Home and End whisk you to the top or bottom of the current Web page. And if your mouse has a scroll wheel, it works, too. (Hold Shift while you’re rolling the wheel to scroll horizontally.)

But maybe the best way of all is to tap the space bar each time you want to see more. Press Shift-space to scroll up. (The space bar serves its traditional, space-making function only when the insertion point is blinking in a text box or the address bar.)

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