Chapter 2 - Desktop

Chapter 2 - Desktop

The desktop, as seen above, should look familiar to Macintosh users. The concept is the same. Your desktop is a place where you can keep files and applications without having to search for them. This is actually a special folder in your user directory on your hard drive. Anything in this folder shows up on your desktop. Let's take a closer look starting with the menu bar across the top.

The Apple Menu

Apple Menu changes: In addition to some familiar items there are many new items under the Apple Menu.

About This Mac brings up a window with memory and OS version information.
Software Update... newly located in Panther, this brings up the Software Update application to check Apple's servers to see if there are any updates to your current system.
Mac OS X Software... links to a page from Apple with software download links. The software on this page may contain licensing costs and, outside of approved titles, is not supported by the district.
System Preferences... changes options for the OS. More on this in Chapter 5.
Dock sets preferences for the Dock. More on this in Chapter 4.
Location is related to network settings and should not be changed.
Recent Items lists your most recent files and applications. Think of it as a short-cut to where you were.
Force Quit... allows you to force the current application in which you are working to quit. Doing so will mean a loss of data in any unsaved files. From the Finder, this menu item force quits and restarts the Finder.
Sleep puts your computer in a low power mode.
Restart... restarts your computer. Save your work before you do this!
Shut Down... turns off your computer. Save your work before you do this!
Log Out... closes your current session and returns you to the Log In screen. This can be a useful option to try if you suspect the system is not behaving correctly. It is much faster than restarting the computer, but it will require you to log in as described in Chapter 1. Save your work before you do this!

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The Finder Menu

The next item over in the menu bar is the Finder. This is a new application level menu item that changes for each OS X application. For example, if you are using Microsoft Word, Word appears in this menu location. This is where application specific options are located, such as preferences. About Finder displays the Finder version number. Preferences options are shown below.

The General tab includes choosing which items show up on the desktop and the behavior of windows. Setting New Finder windows to open at Home brings users to their Home Directory where all of their files are kept. More information about the Home Directory can be found in Chapter 6. You can also select options for new windows, to open either in separate windows or to replace the same window. New windows can also be set to open in column view. More information about column view can be found in Chapter 3. Spring-loaded folders and windows sets how long it takes for a folder to open when you are dragging an item onto the folder icon.

Clicking on the Labels tab allows you to define label names. This is a return of a feature that used to exist in OS 9. Adding a label to a file or folder helps to organize similar items, and to add color coding.

The Sidebar tab defines what appears on the left side of a Finder window. More on this in the Chapter 3. The Advanced tab allows you to set preferences to Show warning before emptying the Trash and Show all file extensions to view the .doc or .txt part of a file name indicating the file type.

Services are system level helpers that are dynamically available based on the work you are doing. For example, in an application that functions with Services, like TextEdit, highlighting text and selecting the Speech > Start Speaking Text tells the computer to use the built-in speech synthesis to read the text aloud.

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The File Menu

The next menu, File, we find some familiar choices and some new ones.

New Finder Window opens a new window. The old keyboard shortcut (Command-n, or hold down the Apple key and press the letter 'n') to create a new folder now opens a new window. Available keyboard short cuts are listed in all menus as seen in the example to the right.
You can create a new folder by selecting New Folder.
New Smart Folder is similar to a "Find" window, which is explained below.
A New Burn Folder creates a folder that acts like a blank optical disk where you can add files and folders. When you are ready to burn the contents to disk, hold down the "control" key and click on the folder, select "Burn Disk", and follow the on-screen instructions to insert a blank disk.
Open With allows you to choose which application will open a selected file. This is handy for opening up one file type with another application. For example, you can open a text file with Word instead of TextEdit.
Print will open a selected file and send a print command.
The File menu is also where you can Add items to your list of Favorites, Duplicate items (Command-d) or Move them to the Trash, Eject disks and mounted servers (Command-e), or if you have a CD-ROM burner, Burn a CD. You can also Create an Archive of a selected item (creates a .zip compressed archive) and the ability to Get Info for a selected item (Command-i). The Find... menu option is shown below.

Smart Folders and Find windows search the computer for specific items on your hard drive. You can refine your search parameters by clicking on the small "+" sign on the right side or by modifying any of the drop down menus. You can also add or remove specific locations or folders in which to search in the area at the top of the Find window. Results are displayed below your search criteria. You can also save a Smart Window if you perform the same seaches on a regular basis.

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The Edit Menu

The Edit menu items should all be familiar. By the way, the Undo (Command-z) option at the top will also undo file movement. If you accidentally move a file into another folder, you don't have to guess where it went, just Undo to put it back where it came from. The Copy (Command-c) menu item also copies files or folders that can then be Pasted (Command-v), or copied, in another location. The Special Characters option at the bottom of the Edit menu brings up a pallet that allows you to select special characters and accent marks. An example is seen at the right.

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The View Menu

The View menu allows us to customize how we look at files. A detailed look at folder view options will be presented in Chapter 3. Clean Up and Arrange both organize the contents of your folders when they become disorganized. Show View Options brings up the window to the right. You can set the size of icons on your desktop, or in folders, the size of the text (the name of the file or object), and where the name of the file is located (bottom or off to the right). Additional options relate to placement of the items in relation to each other, which information shows up about the file or item, and the order of arrangement. Each of the last four choices is independent of each other and can be used in any combination.

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The Go Menu

The Go menu keeps short cuts to frequently used folders:

Back, Forward, and Enclosing Folder (the folder containing the current window)- help you navigate around your hard drive in open windows by moving you backward to where you were, forward to where you backed up from, or up one level to the enclosing folder.
Computer opens a window at the level of the hard drive.
Home takes you directly to your home folder (your files and folders) on this computer.
Network browses your local network.
iDisk is only for users who pay for and register for this Internet-based service from Apple. This option is not supported by the district.
Applications opens the Applications folder.
Utilities takes you to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder.
Recent Folders shows a list of items you recently visited.
Go to Folder brings up a short way to go to a folder by typing in the name of the folder. This option benefits from an in-depth knowledge of your computer's file structure.

Connect to Server... replaces the Chooser when connecting to a file server. Type in the name or IP address of the server in the top line.

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The Window Menu

Window menu items:

Minimize temporarily moves the window out of the way by placing it in the Dock (minimize).
Zoom expands the window to full size.
Cycle Through Windows brings up each window, one at a time, in the current application.
Bring All to Front brings up all open windows in the current application (even the finder) above any other application windows.
Individual folder names that are already open will be listed below the Bring All to Front item.

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The Help Menu

The Help menu (Command-?) brings up a handy Help application. Type in specific key words to see if your question is already listed. Some applications also take advantage of the Help menu to provide easy access to specific questions for that application. Give it a try when you get stuck.

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The Date and Time Menu

The other items on the menu for setting your display options, volume level, or date and time are changed in the System Preferences, discussed in more detail in Chapter 5.

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The Spotlight Menu

Spotlight is a new way to search for items on your computer. A search field opens when you click on the magnifying glass in the top right corner. When you start to type in this field, Spotlight begins to show you which files, folders, and applications may be related to your search term. In this example, the term TCP was typed into the Spotlight search field. The Network System Preference and many other files come up as possible results.