Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Mavericks Edition

Getting into OS X

When you first turn on a Mac running OS X 10.9, an Apple logo greets you, soon followed by an animated, rotating “Please wait” gear cursor—and then you’re in. No progress bar, no red tape.

Logging In

What happens next depends on whether you’re the Mac’s sole proprietor or have to share it with other people in an office, school, or household.

• If it’s your own Mac, and you’ve already been through the setup process described in Appendix A, no big deal. You arrive at the OS X desktop.

• If it’s a shared Mac, you may encounter the newly redesigned Login screen, shown in Figure 2-1. It’s like a portrait gallery, set against a handsome piece of dark gray linen. Click your icon.

  If the Mac asks for your password, type it and then click Log In (or press Return). You arrive at the desktop.

  Chapter 14 offers much more on this business of user accounts and logging in.

Note

In certain especially paranoid workplaces, you may not see the rogue’s gallery shown in Figure 2-1. You may just get two text boxes, where you’re supposed to type in your name and password. Without even the icons of known account holders, an evil hacker’s job is that much more difficult.

Figure 2-1. On Macs used by multiple people, this is one of the first things you see upon turning on the computer. Click your name. (If the list is long, you may have to swipe the trackpad to find your name—or just type its first few ...