MacBook Pro® Portable Genius, 2nd Edition

Chapter 1. How Can I Use My Desktop Space Efficiently?

Your MacBook pro desktop is the area that is displayed on its screen. Although the size of the screen is fixed, you can maximize the size of your desktop on that screen. Like a physical desktop, you place things (in this case, windows) "on top" to focus your attention on them and use their content. As you work, your desktop naturally becomes cluttered with windows for applications, documents, and system tools. Keeping control of all these windows can help you make the most of your MacBook Pro's desktop space. The good news is that it's a lot easier to keep your MacBook Pro desktop neat and tidy than it is a real desktop, and you don't even need a dust rag.

Maximizing Desktop Space

MacBook Pros have 13-, 15- or 17-inch displays. No matter which display size your MacBook Pro has, more display space is always better. Fortunately, you can maximize the amount of information you see on your MacBook Pro screen by configuring its display. For even more working room, you can attach and use an external display. For the ultimate in desktop space, you can connect your MacBook Pro to a projector. When you are using an external display or projector, you can have the same image displayed on the MacBook Pro display and the external device, or you can expand your desktop over both displays.

Configuring the MacBook Pro's display

While the physical ...