MacBook Pro® Portable Genius, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11. How Can I Control My MacBook Pro More Effectively?

To get the most from your MacBook Pro, you should customize the keyboard and trackpad so that they work according to your preferences. And learning to use keyboard shortcuts effectively will help you work more quickly and efficiently. You might want to add a mouse or external keyboard to your toolkit, especially for those times when you are using the computer at a desk; Bluetooth mice and keyboards enable you to do this without being tethered with cables.

Using the Trackpad Effectively

A trackpad is an ideal input device for a mobile computer because it provides a similar degree of control that a mouse does but doesn't require anything external to the computer. The MacBook pro trackpad provides all the basic capabilities you need to enable you to point and click, but it certainly doesn't stop there. The MacBook pro's trackpad supports gestures, which go way beyond just pointing and clicking. Using combinations of your fingers and motion, you can scroll windows, zoom in, zoom out, and so on. You can use the trackpad much more effectively by tweaking its options over time.

Note

If you've used an iPhone, you experienced Apple multitouch technology; you can control an iPhone using normal motions of your fingers on the screen, such as a pinching motion to zoom in and out. The MacBook Pro incorporates a similar interface on its ...