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Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Mountain Lion Edition
book

Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Mountain Lion Edition

by David Pogue
September 2012
Beginner content levelBeginner
762 pages
29h 25m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Mountain Lion Edition

Launchpad

The Launchpad app presents a dark background with evenly spaced icons that represent all your programs (Figure 4-3). You can open one with a single click.

Why did Apple feel the need to create yet another way to open programs?

First, because Launchpad fits right into the general theme of Mountain Lion: making the Mac look and work more like the iPad. Launchpad is a dead ringer for the Home screens of an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.

Second, it’s a much less intimidating place for technophobes to learn to love than, say, the Applications folder.

And third, it’s a lot quicker to get to than the Applications folder. You can summon it instantly, using any of these methods:

  • Put four fingers on your trackpad and pinch them together. The Launchpad appears instantly, no matter what program you were in; you don’t have to duck back into the Finder, navigate to the Applications folder, and so on.

    You can open Launchpad by clicking its Dock icon (it’s the very next one after the Finder icon), or by using a four-finger pinching gesture on your trackpad. Launchpad covers your entire main monitor, hiding everything else.Use the arrow keys to navigate a page; press ⌘-arrow to move between pages; press Option to make the icons ready for deletion.

    Figure 4-3. You can open Launchpad by clicking its Dock icon (it’s the very next one after the Finder icon), or by using a four-finger pinching gesture on your trackpad. Launchpad covers your entire main monitor, hiding everything else. Use the arrow keys to navigate a page; press ⌘-arrow to move between pages; press Option to make the icons ready for deletion.

  • Press the Launchpad key. Recent Macs have a special Launchpad icon painted right on the F4 key ().

  • Click its icon on the Dock. It’s the second ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781449338978Supplemental ContentErrata Page