Introduction

I purchased my first Mac as a graduate student at Duke University in the 1980s after trying to use a PC, and failing miserably. A friend saved me from my PC-induced frustration by showing me how to use a program called MacWrite on a Macintosh SE. In those days, most Macs didn't have an internal hard drive. Instead, dual floppy drives where the order of the day--one floppy for the operating system and a second floppy for storing applications and documents. The computer used an operating system called System 6, which featured a graphical user interface and mouse instead of the blue background, white text and mouse-less blinking cursor of the PC. Within five minutes, I wasn't learning how to use the Macintosh, I was using the Macintosh, and I never looked back.

That was in the 1980s, and now Mac OS X Version 10.2 is here, and anyone who has used the Mac OS in the past will be instantly familiar with the basic Macintosh concepts of icons, Desktop, menu bar, printing, launching applications, creating documents, and managing files and folders. Recent users of Mac OS X and its stunningly beautiful graphical user interface called Aqua will be impressed with the 150 or so new, features enhancements and applications compared to the initial release of Mac OS X. iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes and QuickTime provide the tools necessary to explore the digital lifestyle; Mail, Address Book, iChat, Sherlock, and the built-in firewall will help you safely and intuitively navigate the Internet; and Darwin, Quartz Extreme, OpenGL, Java 2, AppleScript, and the Aqua interface provide the industrial-strength core operating system upon which all these wonderful applications rely.

Despite all the technical advances and wow-factors of Mac OS X, however, it still retains a tremendous level of backward-compatibility with earlier, "Classic" versions of the Mac OS. In fact, you can probably run the vast majority of you old applications within Mac OS X using the Classic compatibility environment and an installation of Mac OS 9.x.

This book covers it all--from the most basic concepts of using and customizing the user interface, using old and new applications, mobile computing, printing, multimedia and Internet applications, networking, using your Mac to share with others, troubleshooting and getting help, installing and updating the operating system, and even a thing or two about using the command-line interface.

Who Needs This Book?

This book is for anyone who is new to Mac OS X, such as a new iMac owner, or anyone who has used a previous version of the Mac OS and recently upgraded to a G3 or G4 and needs to master what's new in Mac OS X Version 10.2. Of course, some of you who are experienced users will already know much of what lies ahead in this book, such as managing aliases, switching among multiple applications, or customizing your Desktop. An equal number of you who are experienced users will be surprised to learn a thing or two about such tricks as customizing the Dock, typing commands in the Terminal application, and configuring the firewall. So, this book is for the earliest beginner, as well as the experienced user.

Hardware Requirements

Mac OS X will run on any Macintosh with a G3 or G4 processor, except the original G3 PowerBook. Specifically, Mac OS X also requires:

• 128MB of RAM
• 3GB of free disk space
• An built-in display, or an external display and an Apple-installed video card

The list of supported machines includes all Power Mac G4, Power Macintosh G3, iMac, iBook, and G3 or G4 PowerBooks except the very first G3 PowerBook.

And although Mac OS X uses a sophisticated and persistent form of virtual memory, experience tells me that you will be happier with the performance of your computer if it has at least 256MB of RAM instead of the minimal 128MB. To take advantage of Quartz Extreme, you must also have an NVIDIA GeForce2 MX, GeForce3, GeForce4 MX, GeForce4 Ti, or any AGP-based ATI RADEON video card with at least 16MB of video RAM. Mac OS X Version 10.2 will work even if you don't have one of these cards, but video performance will be up to twice as fast if you have one of these Quartz Extreme-supported video cards.

What's Inside

Here is a chapter-by-chapter rundown of what you will find in this book:

• Chapter 1, Getting to Know Mac OS X--Provides an overview of tasks performed by the Mac OS, looks at its various components, and explains how to use its basic features and how to configure the basic System Preferences.

• Chapter 2, Working with the Finder and Desktop--Explores the various drop-down menus in the Finder and how to use them; how to manipulate Finder windows; advanced Finder and Desktop features; and how to use the Trash and Get Info windows.

• Chapter 3, Customizing Mac OS X--Explores how to customize the Mac OS using built-in features and third-party utilities, as well as how to create user accounts to make sharing your computer easier and safer than ever.

• Chapter 4, Configuring the Classic Environment--Explores how to best configure Mac OS 9.x to run in the Classic environment under Mac OS X, or boot directly into Mac OS 9.x.

• Chapter 5, Organizing Your Data--Looks at the various ways you can manage the Mac OS X file structure and the contents of your hard drives using aliases and comments, as well as how to search for information using the new Find command, and how to compress, decompress and encrypt data.

• Chapter 6, Mac OS X for PowerBooks and iBooks--Explains issues that mobile users are likely to encounter, including power, performance, display, remote access, and security.

• Chapter 7, Working with Mac OS X Applications--Addresses the various levels of compatibility between the three types of Mac OS X applications, how to launch applications, assign applications to certain types of documents, use stationery documents, layered windows, and attached sheets.

• Chapter 8, Working with Classic Applications--Explains the differences between working with Classic versus Carbon and Cocoa applications, including memory management and using multiple applications.

• Chapter 9, Exploring Multimedia--Shows off the impressive multimedia capabilities and utilities in Mac OS X, including QuickTime, QuickTime VR, Preview, speech capabilities, and the basics of iTunes, iMovie, and iPhoto.

• Chapter 10, Managing Fonts and Printers--Describes the Quartz Extreme imaging model, various types of fonts that may be used in Mac OS X, how to use the Fonts panel and a few third-party utilities, and how to configure ColorSync to manage color matching more efficiently.

• Chapter 11, Scripting Mac OS X--Explains the basics of AppleScript, how to use the Script Editor to record and save scripts, and how to use the Script Menu.

• Chapter 12, Using Java--Shows how you can run Java applets on your Mac using Applet Launcher, Web browser, and Java Web Start, and how Java applets can take on the look and feel of various operating systems.

• Chapter 13, Troubleshooting Mac OS X--Explains the various errors you might encounter, what to do about them, and the best tools for fixing problems.

• Chapter 14, Connecting to the Internet--Explains the different types of Internet access and how to configure ports and protocols, switch among Internet locations, and connect to a dial-up ISP using the Internet Connect application.

• Chapter 15, Accessing Network Services--Explores how to use the Connect To Server command to access remote servers and volumes, how to access .Mac services, how to use FTP and SSH connections, how to share screen information using several third-party applications, and how to store Internet passwords in the Keychain.

• Chapter 16, Sharing Internet Services--Demonstrates how you can use the many built-in sharing features to share your files, folders, and documents over a local area network or the Internet, as well as how to configure ownership and access privileges for folders and activate the built-in firewall to increase the security of your Mac.

• Chapter 17, Mastering Internet Applications and Utilities--Provides an overview of the Internet configuration features, applications, and utilities installed by Mac OS X, as well as a handful of essential applications and utilities from third-party developers.

• Appendix A, Getting Help--Shows you the various ways you can get online help.

• Appendix B, Shortcuts--Lists the most commonly used keyboard shortcuts available in Mac OS X.

• Appendix C, Learning Unix Shell Commands--Introduces the basics of using the Terminal application to execute commands.

• Appendix D, Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X Feature Comparison--Gives a brief overview of the differences in features between Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X.

• Appendix E, Installing and Updating Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X--Explains how to use the installation CDs to install, reinstall, add, and remove Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X components, as well as how to use the Software Update feature to update the Mac OS over the Internet.

• Appendix F, Additional Resources on the Web--Lists several categories of Web sites for additional information about Apple and the Mac OS.