OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies

OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies

Released August 2012
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781118394182

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Book description

Tame your Mountain Lion, the "Dr. Mac" way

Author Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus is a Mac guru and one of the world's leading authorities on all things Apple, so when he talks OS X Mountain Lion, people listen. Now you can learn how to get the most out of OS X Mountain Lion with the latest edition of this bestselling guide to OS X. Whether you're learning your way around your first Mac or just updating your OS, you'll unleash the power of OS X Mountain Lion with this friendly, full-color guide to Apple's new operating system.

  • Covers OS X basics, including working with the Dock, Launchpad, and Mission Control; setting up your e-mail; surfing the web with Safari; organizing your files; navigating with multi-touch gestures; managing your contacts and calendars; connecting a printer; and printing documents

  • Walks you through the new-to-OS-X features, such as Messages, Notes, Reminders, Notification Center, Power Nap, Dictation, Twitter and Facebook integration, Game Center, and Gatekeeper

  • Gets you up and running with iTunes and the latest apps from the Mac App Store and shows you how to enjoy music, movies, DVDs, and digital photos on your Mac

  • Provides troubleshooting tips, advice on customizing and maintaining your Mac, and keeping your information safe with Time Machine

OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies is the perfect guide to help you reach the peak of this exciting new operating system.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Title Page
  4. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. What You Won’t Find in This Book
    3. Conventions Used in This Book
    4. Foolish Assumptions
    5. How This Book Is Organized
    6. Icons Used in This Book
    7. Where to Go from Here
  5. Part I: Introducing OS X Mountain Lion: The Basics
    1. Chapter 1: OS X Mountain Lion 101 (Prerequisites: None)
      1. Gnawing to the Core of OS X
      2. A Safety Net for the Absolute Beginner (Or Any User)
      3. Not Just a Beatles Movie: Help and the Help Menu
    2. Chapter 2: The Desktop and Windows and Menus (Oh My)!
      1. Touring the Finder and Its Desktop
      2. Anatomy of a Window
      3. Dialog Dealie-Boppers
      4. Working with Windows
      5. Menu Basics
    3. Chapter 3: Have It Your Way
      1. Introducing System Preferences
      2. Putting a Picture on the Desktop
      3. Setting Up a Screen Saver
      4. Putting Widgets on the Dashboard
      5. Giving Buttons, Menus, and Windows a Makeover
      6. Adjusting the Keyboard, Mouse, Trackpad, and Other Hardware
      7. Styling Your Sound
    4. Chapter 4: What's Up, Dock?
      1. A Quick Introduction to Your Dock
      2. Customizing Your Dock
    5. Chapter 5: The Finder and Its Desktop
      1. Introducing the Finder and Its Minions: The Desktop and Icons
      2. Aliases: Greatest Thing since Sliced Bread
      3. The View(s) from a Window
      4. Finder on the Menu
      5. Customizing Finder Windows
      6. Digging for Icon Data in the Info Window
  6. Part II: Mountain Lion Taming (Or “Organization for Smart People”)
    1. Chapter 6: The Care and Feeding of Files and Folders
      1. Understanding the OS X Folder Structure
      2. Saving Your Document before It’s Too Late
      3. Open Sez Me
      4. Organizing Your Stuff in Folders
      5. Shuffling Around Files and Folders
    2. Chapter 7: Four Terrific Timesaving Tools
      1. With a Quick Look
      2. Spotlight on Finding Files and Folders Faster
      3. Exposé Yourself to Mission Control’s Spaces
      4. Launchpad: The Place for Applications
      5. Customizing Your Launchpad
    3. Chapter 8: Dealing with Disks
      1. Comprehending Disks
      2. Surprise: Your PC Disks Work, Too!
      3. Burning CDs and DVDs
      4. Getting Disks out of Your Mac
    4. Chapter 9: Organizing Your Life
      1. Keeping Track with Calendar
      2. Reminders: Protection Against Forgetting
      3. Use Notes for Making Notes
  7. Part III: Do Unto Mountain Lion: Getting Things Done
    1. Chapter 10: Internet-Working
      1. Getting Connected to the Internet
      2. Browsing the Web with Safari
      3. Video Calls with FaceTime
    2. Chapter 11: Communications Made Easy
      1. Collecting Your Contacts
      2. Sending and Receiving E-Mail with Mail
      3. Communicating with Messages
    3. Chapter 12: The Musical Mac
      1. Introducing iTunes
      2. Working with Media
      3. All about Playlists
    4. Chapter 13: The Multimedia Mac
      1. Watching Movies with DVD Player
      2. Playing Movies and Music in QuickTime Player
      3. You’re the Star with Photo Booth
      4. Viewing and Converting Images and PDFs in Preview
      5. Importing Media
    5. Chapter 14: Words and Letters
      1. Processing Words with TextEdit
      2. Font Mania
  8. Part IV: Making This Mountain Lion Your Very Own
    1. Chapter 15: Publish or Perish: The Fail-Safe Guide to Printing
      1. Before Diving In . . .
      2. Ready: Connecting and Adding Your Printer
      3. Set: Setting Up Your Document with Page Setup
      4. Print: Printing with the Print Sheet
      5. Preview and PDF Options
      6. Just the Fax . . .
    2. Chapter 16: Sharing Your Mac and Liking It
      1. Introducing Networks and File Sharing
      2. Setting Up File Sharing
      3. Access and Permissions: Who Can Do What
      4. Connecting to a Shared Disk or Folder on a Remote Mac
      5. Changing Your Password
      6. More Types of Sharing
    3. Chapter 17: Features for the Way You Work
      1. Talking and Listening to Your Mac
      2. Automatic Automation
      3. A Few More Useful Goodies
      4. AirPlay Mirroring
  9. Part V: The Care and Feeding of Your Mountain Lion
    1. Chapter 18: Safety First: Backups and Other Security Issues
      1. Backing Up Is (Not) Hard to Do
      2. Why You Need Two Sets of Backups
      3. Non-Backup Security Concerns
      4. Protecting Your Data from Prying Eyes
    2. Chapter 19: Utility Chest
      1. Calculator
      2. Activity Monitor
      3. AirPort Utility
      4. ColorSync Utility
      5. DigitalColor Meter
      6. Disk Utility
      7. Grab
      8. Grapher
      9. Keychain Access
      10. Migration Assistant
      11. System Information
      12. Terminal
    3. Chapter 20: Troubleshooting OS X
      1. About Startup Disks and Booting
      2. Recovering with Recovery HD
      3. If Your Mac Crashes at Startup
  10. Part VI: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 21: Almost Ten Ways to Speed Up Your Mac Experience
      1. Use Those Keyboard Shortcuts
      2. Improve Your Typing Skills
      3. Resolution: It’s Not Just for New Year’s Anymore
      4. A Mac with a View — and Preferences, Too
      5. Get a New, Faster Model
      6. You Can Never Have Too Much RAM!
      7. Get an Accelerated Graphics Card
      8. Get a New Hard Drive
      9. Get a Solid State Drive (SSD)
    2. Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Make Your Mac Better by Throwing Money at It
      1. RAM
      2. Backup Software and/or Hardware
      3. A Better Monitor (Or a Second One)
      4. A Fast Internet Connection
      5. Games
      6. Multimedia Titles
      7. Some Big Honking Speakers with a Subwoofer
      8. A New Mouse and/or Keyboard
      9. A MacBook Air or MacBook Pro
    3. Chapter 23: Ten (Or So) Great Websites for Mac Freaks
      1. MacFixIt
      2. Macworld
      3. The Mac Observer
      4. CNET Downloads (formerly VersionTracker)
      5. MacInTouch
      6. Alltop
      7. Apple Support and Knowledge Base
      8. Ramseeker
      9. Other World Computing
      10. EveryMac.com
      11. dealmac
      12. Dr. Mac Consulting
    4. Part VI: Appendix: Installing or Reinstalling OS X Mountain Lion (Only If You Have To)
      1. How to Install (or Reinstall) OS X
      2. Getting Set Up with Setup Assistant
  11. Cheat Sheet

Product information

  • Title: OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: August 2012
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781118394182