This chapter begins with a quick look at the initial setup of Mac OS X and at the components that give Mac OS X its power. We then examine basic desktop controls, System Preferences, and some of the applications included with 10.3, which are examined in depth in later chapters.
The first time Mac OS X starts, it runs Setup Assistant, which helps you set up the basic features of the operating system. During the setup procedure, your network settings are configured, and your registration details are sent back to Apple.
Mac OS X requires you to create an account for one user during the setup process. You can add other user accounts later, but. the original account is an administrator account, which is used to control access to the system and to prevent unauthorized changes from being made to your software.
Did you Know?
Mac OS X is a multiuser operating system that allows you to create multiple user accounts. This allows each user to have his own files and system preferences and requires each user to access the system with a username and password. Passwords provide a measure of security. On the other hand, if you’re the only user and don’t want to log in each time, you can configure your system to start without a login. We’ll discuss the options further in Chapter 33, “Sharing Your Computer with Multiple Users.”
The account setup fields are explained here:
Name—. Enter your full name.
Short Name—. The short name is the name of your account. It should be composed of eight or fewer lowercase letters or numbers. Spaces and punctuation aren’t allowed.
Password—. The Password field is used to enter a secret word or string of characters that Mac OS X uses to verify that you are who you say you are.
Verify—. The Verify field requires you to type the same string you entered in the Password field. This step ensures that the password you typed is actually what you intended.
Password Hint—. Type a phrase or question that reminds you of your password. If you attempt to log in to your system three times without success, the hint is displayed.
After you fill in this user information, click Continue to proceed.
After you create a user account, you can set up your Internet connection. If you already have Internet access, but don’t have all the information required to connect to your network or dial in to your ISP, skip this step for now. We cover specifics about Internet access in Chapter 11, “Connecting to the Internet.”
The next step is to specify the time zone for your computer. After you choose the appropriate zone and set the date and time, click Continue.
Congratulations! You’ve reached the last step of the configuration process. When prompted, click the Done button, and Mac OS X takes you to the desktop. Now let’s briefly explore the structure of Mac OS X.
Mac OS X consists of 11 separate pieces that work together and complement each other (as represented in Figure 1.1). Let’s take a brief look at the components that make up Mac OS X. We’ll also examine how they influence its features.
Mac OS X is made up of several components that work together to run applications, generate images, and provide a cutting-edge user experience:
Aqua—. Apple’s graphical user interface (GUI) system, which controls the appearance of windows, buttons, and other onscreen controls.
AppleScript—. A language that enables users to write scripts that interact with other software on the computer.
Cocoa—. A programming environment that enables applications for Mac OS X to be built from scratch quickly.
Java 2—. Mac OS X supports the development and deployment of Java-based programs.
Carbon—. An interface for developing programs that run on Mac OS 8/9 as well as Mac OS X.
Classic—. The environment that enables some applications written for Mac OS 9, the older Mac operating system, to run under Mac OS X.
Quartz—. Apple’s 2D imaging framework and window server, which is based on the Portable Document Format (PDF).
OpenGL—. The industry standard for 3D graphics.
QuickTime—. Apple’s award-winning multimedia technologies are built into the graphics foundation of Mac OS X.
Audio—. Mac OS X continues Apple’s tradition of providing world-class audio support for musicians and audiophiles.
Darwin—. The Unix-based core operating system.
Let’s start at the bottom with Darwin and work our way up.
Darwin is a Unix-based system that gives OS X all the power and stability of other forms of Unix. If Mac OS X were a building, Darwin would be the rock-solid foundation on which the other elements stand.
Unix (pronounced YOU-nix) is an operating system developed at Bell Labs during the 1970s. Unix was created to be a development platform for computer programmers. However, it has traditionally been run in the form of text commands typed at a command line, which can be a bit intimidating for casual computer users. Mac OS X preserves the power of Unix while adding the usability of a Mac interface.
Darwin itself is composed of two parts: the Mach kernel and the BSD subsystem. A kernel is a small piece of controlling code that serves as a gatekeeper for all other processes and programs. In Mac OS X, only the Mach kernel can directly access hardware, such as the keyboard, the monitor, and even the memory. By allowing only a single piece of software to perform these critical activities, individual applications can no longer crash or corrupt the system. (As any user familiar with Mac OS 9 and earlier knows, this is not how the Macintosh operating system worked in the past.)
Above the Mach kernel is the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) subsystem, which is a collection of software that makes up a Unix operating system. In many respects, Mac OS X is a composite of two operating systems. The BSD system is a completely functional environment in its own right that can be accessed through text commands. Mac OS X, however, is known for its user-friendly graphical environment. Together they form a system that’s suitable for use by people with a broad range of computer experience.
Although this might seem complex, the good news is that Mac OS X shields all these technical details from your view—unless you choose to know more. Although software developers can create new modules that operate at the kernel level, the rest of us need do nothing more than sit back and reap the benefits. Those who want to access the BSD subsystem can learn more about it in Chapter 38, “Using Basic Unix Commands.”
The second layer of the Mac OS X foundation is the imaging layer. It comprises the tools that your applications call on to create onscreen images.
The first of these tools is the QuickTime Application Programming Interface (API). To many people, QuickTime is a media player that’s used to listen to music or watch video clips, but it’s far more than that. QuickTime forms the heart of all multimedia operations in Mac OS X. Using QuickTime, applications can support reading and writing dozens of image file formats.
Three-dimensional imaging is performed by another component: OpenGL. Used to create realistic special effects in games and productivity applications, OpenGL produces effects ranging from texture mapping to motion blur.
By the Way
Mac OS X, with the help of OpenGL, performs a variety of eye-catching visual effects, such as seamlessly fading between screensaver images and scaling icons. However, some computers that can handle the other demands of Mac OS X have a graphics card that isn’t capable of producing these effects. If you find that transitions between images are jerky, your graphics card might be to blame. However, rest assured that the other less-cosmetic aspects of Mac OS X are unaffected.
The final piece of Apple’s imaging framework is Quartz, which is based on a standard developed by Adobe called PDF, the Portable Document Format.
By the Way
You might recognize PDF as a common file type for forms and documents available on the Internet. PDFs are especially useful for distributing forms because they reproduce the page layout regardless of the type of computer receiving the information. If your Internet browser has called for you to downloaded Adobe’s Acrobat Reader, you’ve already encountered PDFs.
Quartz, like all PDFs, renders images precisely and makes it easy to resize them. These qualities allow Mac OS X to display dramatic desktop visuals. Double-click the Finder icon, which looks like a smiling face, in the row of icons along one edge of your screen to launch a window and then double-click on the window’s title bar. You’ll see that the window you viewed in full-size has shrunk into a tiny version of itself to fit in the Dock (which, by the way, is the name for the row of icons on your screen).
Mac OS X also uses a variation on Quartz called Quartz Extreme. Quartz Extreme pairs the image manipulation capabilities of Quartz with the powerful graphic transformation features of OpenGL. (Although powerful for 3D rendering, OpenGL can also manipulate 2D images with ease.) Using Quartz Extreme, video cards, such as the Radeon and GeForce, can perform the work of OpenGL rendering using the card’s dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU), virtually eliminating the burden of Quartz from your computer’s processor.
The next layer of Mac OS X consists of APIs under which applications are created.
The first of these APIs is called Classic. It was created because Apple knew people upgrading to OS X would want to use their favorite (and essential) programs from the older Mac operating system. Using Classic, almost any application that’s functional in Mac OS 9 can run inside Mac OS X. (This is truly astounding because Mac OS X’s foundation is in no way similar to the traditional Mac operating system.)
If you install and open a “Classic” application, your computer actually starts up a version of Mac OS 9.After Mac OS 9 boots, you’ll notice subtle changes in the desktop—including a multicolored Apple icon at the upper left instead of the blue Apple icon of OS X! For more detail about using applications in the Classic environment, see Chapter 4, “Working with Folders, Files, and Applications.”
In addition to Classic, there are three other development platforms for creating software that will run under Mac OS X: Carbon, Cocoa, and Java 2.
Carbon is a rewrite of the traditional Macintosh development toolbox to take advantage of the new technologies in Mac OS X. When an application is written in Carbon, it can run on both Mac OS X and Mac OS 8/9.
Cocoa provides a compelling development environment for Mac OS X. Compared to traditional programming methods, Cocoa offers the ability for a single programmer to create full-scale applications in a fraction of the time required for other approaches.
The final programming environment included in Mac OS X is Java 2. Java applications can be developed easily to run on a variety of operating systems, broadening the range of applications available for use under OS X.
The final layer, composed of Aqua and AppleScript, provides a user interface to the Mac OS X operating system and a scripting language to control it. With translucent colors, transparent windows, and graphics that morph in and out of position, Aqua does for the computer desktop what the iMac did for the aesthetics of computer design.
In Aqua, all the standard Mac OS user interface elements—scrollbars, buttons, window shapes, and every other control—are now represented with the translucent theme. We’ll take a closer look at the interface elements of Aqua in the section “Interface Elements” later in this chapter so that you can become familiar with how they look and operate.
AppleScript provides a way for a user to control all the layers underneath it by writing simple scripts or programs. You learn about AppleScript’s capabilities in Chapter 39, “Introducing AppleScript.”
Now that you have an idea of what Mac OS X is made of, let’s take a look around.
As you’ve already learned, Mac OS X was built to allow the continued functioning of many applications written to operate under Mac OS 9. However, in the time since Mac OS X was unveiled, many fun and helpful programs have become available for use with Mac OS X.
Here are just a few of the applications that come bundled with Mac OS X:
iTunes—stores and playHelps you store and play music files and burn custom CDs as well as listen to Internet radio stations. Figure 1.2 shows iTunes’ Visualizer, which displays colors and patterns in time with the music. You learn more about iTunes in Chapter 22, “Using iTunes.”
iPhoto—Helps you import and organize digital photographs as well as adjust photo quality and share your work. You find out more of the details in Chapter 23, “Using iPhoto.”
iMovie—Enables you to edit digital video. It also includes features that let you add titles and visual effects to your movies. You learn more about it in Chapter 24, “Exploring the iMovie Interface,” through Chapter 29, “Exporting iMovies.”
Safari—This Web browser comes bundled with Mac OS X. In Chapter 12, “Using Safari,” you find out about accessing the Web.
Mail—Sends and receives email, including text and image attachments. Chapter 15, “Using Mail,” explores email and related settings.
If your favorite applications weren’t mentioned, remember that many other applications are included with Mac OS X and still more are available for purchase or download. We discuss additional software that you might want to add in Chapter 9, “Installing Additional Software.”
Now let’s move on to exploring the desktop!
One of the best features of the Macintosh operating system has always been its interface filled with pictorial icons and easy-to-access menus. The Mac OS X desktop, shown in Figure 1.3, continues that tradition.
As you may already know, the Mac desktop is part of the Finder, which manages your computer’s tasks and organizes your files. The desktop is a neat and orderly place with a row of menus across the top (called the menu bar), a row of icons along one edge (called the Dock), and plenty of wide open space to hold all the application windows you’ll soon be working with.
Let’s take a look at several elements of the Mac OS X environment and their basic use. We continue our exploration in greater depth with discussion of the Finder in Chapter 2, “Using the Finder,” and the Dock in Chapter 3, “Exploring the Dock.”
The Apple menu provides access to system controls. You open the Apple menu by clicking the Apple icon in the menu bar. It remains accessible, and its options are unchanged regardless of which program is in use. Figure 1.4 shows this menu.
These options are available in the Apple menu:
About This Mac—. Displays information about the computer, such as the current version of the operating system, the amount of available memory, and the type of processor that the system is using.
Software Update—. Launches the Software Update feature, where updates to currently installed Apple software are listed as they become available for your download.
Mac OS X Software—. Launches the user’s preferred Web browser and loads the URL http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/. At that Web page, you can download third-party applications from Apple’s list of available Mac OS X software.
System Preferences—. The equivalent of the traditional control panels, the System Preferences selection launches the application used to control almost all aspects of the Mac OS X configuration.
Dock—. One of the most visible additions to Mac OS X. The Apple menu provides quick access to common Dock preferences, such as the ability to hide the Dock. We discuss Dock preferences further in Chapter 3.
Location—. Enables you to quickly adjust the Mac OS X network settings for your current location. This is the equivalent of the Location Manager Control Strip module.
Recent Items—. Displays the most recently launched applications and documents.
Force Quit—. Opens a list of applications and allows you to select which to quit. This is equivalent to pressing Command-Option-Esc to exit an application that has frozen.
Sleep—. Places your computer in a sleep state that requires very little power and can be restarted in a matter of seconds without the need for a full reboot.
Restart—. Quits all applications, prompts the user to save open files, and gracefully reboots the computer.
Shut Down—. Quits all applications, prompts the user to save open files, and shuts down the computer.
Log Out—. Quits all applications, prompts the user to save open files, and then returns to the Mac OS X login screen.
Immediately to the right of the Apple menu is the application menu, which provides functions specific to the application currently in use. When an application launches in Mac OS X, a menu based on its own name appears to the right of the Apple icon. For example, if you start an application named TextEdit, the TextEdit application menu is the first menu item after the Apple icon.
The application menu contains items that act on the entire application rather than on its files. Figure 1.5 displays the application menu for Mail—an application included with Mac OS X.
Seven default items make up an application menu:
About—. Reveals information about the running program.
Preferences—. An application menu provides a standardized location for application preferences.
Services—. An interesting feature of Mac OS X. When a service is installed by an application, it can act on a selected item on the system. For example, if you want to have a portion of an email message read aloud by your computer, you could select the text in your Mail window and then choose Start Speaking Text from the Speech submenu under Services. This would automatically have your computer read you the chosen text.
Hide—. Hides all windows of the active application.
Hide Others—. Hides the windows of all applications other than the front-most application. This effectively clears the screen except for the program you’re currently using.
Show All—. Shows all hidden applications.
Quit—. Quits the current application. Command-Q is the universal Quit shortcut.
The remaining menus vary widely by application, so we’ll cover them for specific applications in later chapters as needed.
One of the most obvious places in which you interact with the Mac OS X interface is through onscreen windows, as illustrated in Figure 1.6. Let’s take a brief look at the controls for a Mail window.
In the upper-left corner of each window are the Close (red X), Minimize (yellow −), and Zoom (green +) buttons. Differentiated only by color and position, the corresponding symbol appears in each button when the mouse cursor nears.
Did you Know?
The Close, Minimize, and Zoom buttons in the currently active window will have color, whereas those in windows that don’t have the system’s focus won’t have color.
Clicking the Close button closes the open window. The Mac OS X Minimize button shrinks the window into an icon view and places it in the Dock. This icon is a miniature of the original window—down to the items it contains. In some cases, the icon even updates its appearance when the parent application generates new output. Clicking the icon in the Dock restores the window to its original position and size on the screen.
Did you Know?
There is a preference option that makes double-clicking the title bar of a window have the same effect as clicking the Minimize button. This option can be found in the Appearance section of the System Preferences, which can be open from the Apple menu.
The Zoom button (usually) opens the window to the size necessary to display the available information. Most Windows PC users expect the maximized window to fill the entire screen. However, if there are only three icons to be shown, Mac OS X doesn’t waste space by filling up your window with blank area.
In the upper-right corner of some windows (including the Finder and Mail windows) is an elongated button, called the Toolbar button, that can be used to quickly show or hide special toolbars in the top of some windows. Figure 1.7 shows the result of hiding the toolbar in the Mail application.
Apple advocates the use of toolbars in applications to increase usability and efficiency. However, because individual programmers must write their programs to support the toolbar button, you shouldn’t expect all applications with toolbars to have the Toolbar button.
Another characteristic of some Mac OS X windows is the borderless content area. As shown in Figure 1.8, the display in most Mac OS X application windows (except those with a metal appearance) stretches to the of the content window. In contrast, some operating systems such as Mac OS 9 and Windows offer window borders for dragging.
To drag a window, you must grab it by its title bar. For windows with a metal appearance, you can grab them by any “metal” area.
To resize a window, click and drag the size control in the lower-right corner of each window. Many applications in Mac OS X take advantage of live resizing; that is, as you resize the window, its contents adjust in real-time (such as Web pages in Safari).
Did you Know?
It is possible to resize a window so large that you can’t reach the size control. If you can’t reach the size control, how do you make the window smaller? Click the green Zoom button, which makes a window only as large as it needs to be to show its contents or makes the window fit within the viewable screen area.
Did you Know?
In Chapter 4, we’ll talk about a feature called Exposé, which allows you to temporarily view the full windows of everything open on your desktop all at once. The settings for this feature are accessed in the System Preferences, discussed in the section “System Preferences” later in the chapter.
There are a few other neat tricks you can use when working with Mac OS X windows. If you hold down the Command key, you can drag inactive windows located behind other windows. If fact, holding down Command enables you to click buttons and move scrollbars in many background applications.
Another fun trick is holding down the Option key while clicking on an inactive application’s window. This hides the frontmost application and brings the clicked application to the front.
Finally, instead of switching to another window to close, minimize, or maximize it, positioning your cursor over the appropriate window controls highlights them—enabling you to get rid of obtrusive windows without leaving your current workspace.
Two other unique interface elements in Mac OS X are sheet windows and window drawers. Sheets are used in place of traditional dialog boxes. Normally, when a computer wants to get your attention, it displays a dialog box containing a question such as, “Do you want to save this document?” If you have 10 open documents on your system, how do you know which one needs to be saved?
Sheet windows connect directly to the title bar of an open window. As shown in Figure 1.9, these messages appear inside the window they’re associated with.
Sheet windows are used just like regular dialog boxes, except that they’re attached to a document. Unlike many dialog boxes, which keep you from interacting with the rest of the system until you interact with them, sheet windows limit access only to the window in which they appear.
A window drawer is used to store commonly used items, such as settings or additional content, that might need to be accessed while a program is running. Figure 1.10 shows the Mac OS X Mail application’s window drawer holding a list of active mailboxes.
To use active drawers in applications that contain them, you typically click a button in the toolbar. After a drawer is open, you can often drag its edge to change the drawer’s size.
Did you Know?
Although only a few applications use the Mac OS X window drawer feature, there are already two standards for how it operates. By default, the drawer slides out from a single side, left or right, of the main window after you click a button to activate it. If the window is too close to that side of the screen, the drawer is either forced out on the other side of the window, or the main window moves over to make room.
Other functions of the interface are activated by graphical interface elements. Figure 1.11 shows samples of many of the Mac OS X interface elements.
Aqua interface elements include the following:
Pushbuttons—. These are rendered as translucent white or aqua ovals or as square-ish buttons with appropriate label text. They’re typically used to activate a choice or to respond to a question posed by the operating system or application. The default choice, which is activated by pressing the Return key, pulses for easy visual confirmation.
Check boxes/radio buttons—. Check boxes are used to choose multiple attributes (AND), whereas radio buttons are used to choose between attributes (OR).
List views—. Clicking a category, such as the Date Modified heading shown in Figure 1.11, sorts by that selection. Clicking the category again reverses the direction of the sort (ascending to descending or vice versa). To resize category headings, click the edge of the heading and drag in the direction you want to shrink or expand the column.
Pop-up menus/system menuspop-up menus>—. Single-clicking a menu drops down the menu until you make a selection. The menu can stay down indefinitely. With Mac OS X’s multitasking system, other applications can continue to work in the background while the menu is down.
Disclosure triangles—. These continue to work as they always have. Click the triangle to reveal additional information about an object.
Disclosure pushbuttons—. Like disclosure triangles, these pushbuttons are used to reveal all possible options (a full, complex view) or to reduce a window to a simplified representation. They are used in the new File Save sheets.
Scrollbars—. Scrollbars visually represent the amount of data in the current document by changing the size of the scrollbar slider in relation to the data to display. The larger the slider, the less data there is to scroll through. The smaller the slider, the more information there is to display.
Button bar—. Button bars, made up of several buttons, are used to move between separate settings within a single window when you can only choose one available option at a time. By breaking up long lists in this way, windows with many options are less overwhelming, but you might have to click between sections to find the settings you’re looking for.
Mac OS X enables you to control many aspects of your system, from desktop appearance to user access. Conveniently, you can tailor these settings to your own needs from one centralized place, System Preferences, as shown in Figure 1.12.
To access System Preferences, simply click the Dock icon that resembles a light switch; it should be located in the row of icons at the bottom of your screen. Or choose System Preferences from the Apple menu. As you can see in Figure 1.12, the items in System Preferences are organized by function. You’ll learn more about System Preferences in Chapter 5, “Setting System Preferences and Universal Access Options,” and throughout this book as we discuss different topics.
Mac OS X offers a feature that gives users quick access to common system settings: menu extras. They appear as icons at the upper right of the menu bar. Figure 1.13 shows a number of menu extras.
Each extra is added to the menu bar through individual System Preferences panes that correspond to an item’s function. You can activate or deactivate an extra by clicking the Show <option> in Menu Bar check box for the corresponding option. For example, under Displays in the Hardware group, you can turn on the Displays Menu Extra.
A few of the menu extras available under Mac OS X include
Date & Time—. Displays the time and date graphically as a miniature clock or by using the standard text format.
Displays—. Adjusts the resolution and color depth of the display from the menu bar.
Volume—. Changes the sound volume.
Battery—. For PowerBook and iBook users, this option tracks battery usage and recharge time.
AirPort—. Monitors AirPort signal strength and quickly adjusts network settings. (The AirPort is a device that enables computers to be connected to the Internet without wires. It’s discussed further in Chapter 11.)
Clicking a menu extra opens a pop-up menu that displays additional information and settings. Items such as Battery and Date & Time can be modified to show textual information rather than a simple icon status representation.
You can alter the order of menu extras by holding down the Command key and dragging an icon to a different position.
A lot of care went into making Mac OS X the versatile, powerful, and attractive system that’s available today. In this chapter, you learned about the structure of Mac OS X as well as some basic features to help you find your way around the Mac OS X desktop. The focus was on elements such as the Apple and application menus and window controls. We also briefly discussed some of the applications bundled with Mac OS X and the System Preferences, which are covered in more detail in later chapters. In Chapter 2, you explore the Mac OS X file system and some useful shortcuts to your favorite applications.