Mac Basics in easy steps

by Drew Provan

Overview

Covering the new OS X 10.9, Mac Basics in easy steps shows the reader how to get up and running on a Mac with minimal time and effort. Useful for anyone new to the world of Mac computing, such as those converting from Windows software, Mac Basics in Easy Steps covers all the essentials a novice needs to know, from getting started to security issues. Topics covered include getting to grips with the Mac, dealing with documents, mastering email, browsing the web with Safari, calendars and contacts, photos, videos, and the world of iTunes. Readers also learn about networking on the Mac, video chat, personalization tools, and troubleshooting. This handy guide even shows how to transition from a PC — in easy steps — with minimum hassle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781840786033
Publisher:	In Easy Steps Limited
Publication date:	02/17/2015
Series:	In Easy Steps
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Drew Provan is currently a senior lecturer at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry in London. He enjoys writing, editing, and typesetting, and has been involved with the production of a number of medical books. He also writes for GP Magazine, and has written pieces for other publications including Financial Times, Tesco Healthy Living, and Reader's Digest.

Table of Contents

1 Welcome to the Mac! 9

The Mac Desktop 10

Launchpad 11

Set up a User Account 12

System Preferences 13

Mission Control 14

Security 15

The Mouse and Trackpad 16

Keyboard Options 17

Adding Foreign Keyboards 18

Mail, Contacts and Calendars 19

Networking the Mac 20

Setting up Sharing 21

Date and Time 22

Setting up Time Machine 23

Power Management 24

Handling CDs and DVDs 25

Notifications and Reminders 26

Facebook and Twitter 27

About This Mac 28

2 Dealing with Documents 29

The Finder 30

Finder Views 31

Folders 32

Move Files into Folders 34

Deleting Files from Folders 35

Where's My User Library? 36

Labels 37

Opening Documents 38

Quick Look at Documents 39

Dictation 40

Notes app 41

Mac and PC Compatibility 42

3 Working with PDF Files 43

What is a PDF? 44

Programs to Read PDF files 45

Opening PDF in Preview 46

Add Text to PDF 47

Creating a PDF 48

Making PDFs Secure 49

Emailing PDF files 50

Acrobat Reader 51

Heavyweight PDF Readers 52

4 Mastering Email 53

The Mail Window 54

Add an Email Account 55

Create an Email message 56

Send an Attachment 57

Receive Email Attachments 58

Reading Emails 59

Mailbox Folders 60

Smart Mailboxes 61

Searching Mail 62

Change Fonts and Colors 63

VIP list 64

5 Surf with Safari 65

Go on Safari 66

Full-Screen Browsing 67

Reading List 68

Search the Internet 69

Bookmarks 70

Organizing Bookmarks 71

Importing Bookmarks 72

Browsing Using Tabs 73

Making Browsing Secure 74

6 Calendars and Contacts 75

Calendar 76

Calendar Views 77

Add an Event 78

The Inspector 79

Editing Events 80

Multiple Calendars 81

Sending Invites 82

Searching Calendar 83

Contacts 84

Add a New Contact 85

Add a Contact From Email 86

7 Photos and Videos 87

Programs for Viewing Photos 88

iPhoto 89

Opening iPhoto 90

Importing Photos 91

Create a New Album 92

Editing Photos 93

Videos on the Mac 94

DVD Player 95

Editing Your Own Movies 96

Sharing Your Movie 98

8 The World of iTunes 99

What is iTunes? 100

Importing Audio CDs 101

iTunes Preferences 102

Playing Audio 103

Buying Music from iTunes 104

Pause and Skip 105

Playlists 106

Smart Playlists 107

Changing iTunes Views 108

Genius 109

Sharing Your Music 110

9 Networking the Mac 111

Networking is Easy! 112

Getting Online 113

Sharing Internet Connection 114

Connecting to Other Macs 116

Screen Sharing 118

Share Files Using AirDrop 119

Wireless Printing 120

10 Video Chat 121

FaceTime Video Chat 122

Skype 124

Google Voice and Video Chat 126

Microsoft MSN Messenger 128

Other Video Chat Options 130

11 Personalizing Your Mac 131

Name Your Hard Drive 132

Using Wallpapers 133

Screen Savers 34

Wake and Sleep Options 135

Change the Clock Display 136

Set Your Time Zone 137

Change Your Icon Sizes 138

The Dock Options 139

Add Folders to the Sidebar 140

Set the Screen Corners 141

Mouse and Trackpad Settings 142

Empty Trash Without Warning 143

Pimp Your Windows! 144

Customize Keyboard Shortcuts 145

Change the Alert Sounds 146

12 Installing Software 147

Installing Apps is Easy! 148

Installing From a dmg File 149

Put an App onto the Dock 150

Removing Preference Files 151

How to Uninstall Apps 152

13 Switch from PC to Mac 153

Mac Desktop and Windows 154

Single-Click Mouse? 155

Where's Windows Explorer? 156

The Start Menu 157

Keyboard Shortcuts 158

Control Panel 159

Network Settings 160

Print and Scan 161

User Accounts 162

Migrate Your PC Files to Mac 163

Run Windows on the Mac 164

14 Burn CDs and DVDs 165

Burning Music to CD 166

Burn Photos onto CD/DVD 168

Copy Files/Folders onto CD/DVD 169

Burn CD/DVD with Disk Utility 170

15 Explore the App Store 171

What is the App Store? 172

Top Charts 173

Categories 174

Purchased 175

Updates 176

How to Buy an App 177

Tell a Friend 178

See More Apps 179

Searching for Apps 180

16 Keep Things in Sync 181

Keeping Email in Sync 182

Calendar Syncing 184

Google Calendar 185

Syncing Contacts 186

Keep Your Notes in Sync 187

Keeping Safari in Sync 188

17 Back up your Files! 189

Simple Copy Methods 190

Keep Files on the Cloud 191

Time Machine Backups 192

Restore Files with Time Machine 194

Scheduled Backups 195

Cloning Your Drive 196

SuperDuper 198

18 Tips & Tricks 199

Keyboard Tricks 200

Organizing System Preferences 201

Compare Documents Quickly 202

How Much Disk Space is Left? 203

Extract Pictures from PDFs 204

Where are the Scroll Bars? 205

Application Switcher 206

Select the Default Browser 207

Boot up into Windows 208

Access Someone's Drop Box 209

Change the Login Picture 210

Undo Mistakes with Versions 211

Make Mac Always Open With 212

19 Mac Maintenance 213

Repair Permissions 214

Maintenance Programs 215

Clear Your Desktop! 216

Reset Safari 217

Rebuild Spotlight Index 218

Rebuild Mail's Database 219

Defragmenting Drives 220

Remove Unneeded Login Items 221

Don't Ignore Software Updates 222

Remove User Accounts 223

Scan for Viruses 224

20 Troubleshooting 225

My Mac Won't Start! 226

This Disk is Unreadable 227

App Crashes 228

Duplicate Fonts 229

Spinning Beachball 230

Folder Moved to Wrong Place 231

Can't Find Network Printer 232

Safe Boot 233

Deleted File or Folder in Error 234

Can't Eject a Disk 235

Mountain Lion Recovery Disk 236