Wiley Mac OS X Panther Timesaving Techniques For Dummies Apr 2004 ISBN 0764558129 pdf

  Mac OS ®

  X ™

  

Timesaving

FOR

  

DUMmIES

‰

  Panther

Techniques

by Larry Ullman and Marc Liyanage

  Mac OS ®

  X ™

  

Timesaving

FOR

  

DUMmIES

‰

  Panther

Techniques

by Larry Ullman and Marc Liyanage

  ® ™ ® Mac OS X Panther Timesaving Techniques For Dummies Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.  111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada

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  1V/SS/QT/QU/IN About the Authors

Larry Ullman is the Director of Digital Media Technologies at DMC Insights, Inc., a firm

  specializing in information technology. He is the author of four other computer books. In addition to writing, Larry develops dynamic Web applications, conducts training semi- nars, and is an Extension Instructor for the University of California at Berkeley. He’s been working with Apple computers for more than 20 years, starting with the Apple IIe back in the dark (or monochrome) ages. When he’s not tinkering on his Mac, he spends his time reading, working on his fixer- upper of a house, and, given the time, napping in front of the fireplace. Larry currently lives outside of Washington, D.C., with his wife of eight years, Jessica.

  

Marc Liyanage is a senior software engineer at futureLAB AG, a research and development

company focusing on emerging Internet, telecommunications, and wireless technologies.

  He’s been using and programming Macintosh computers professionally for 15 years for desktop publishing, video and TV screen design, and software development. He’s been a UNIX user and software engineer for the past eight years in the Internet/ISP industry, doing commercial Web application work and large-scale ISP systems design and imple- mentation using open source software packages. He has also taught classes on XML and trained junior software engineers.

  He’s been a Mac OS X user and developer since the first beta versions, and he’s very excited about the Panther OS because it brings together the elegance of the Macintosh with the power of UNIX. In his spare time, he runs the developer-oriented Mac OS X Web site www.entropy.ch, writes Cocoa software, and tinkers with his Mac.

  His spare-time interests include graphic design, typography, and digital photography. He enjoys watching and reading science fiction movies and books. Marc lives in Zurich, Switzerland.

  Dedication

  We dedicate this book to the good people at Apple. Thanks for designing wicked hard- ware, putting out the best operating system we’ve ever used (that’d be Panther), giving away some top-notch software, and for demonstrating that there’s nothing wrong with a computer that’s cool, feature-rich, secure, and stable.

  Marc would like to also dedicate this book to his mother, Martina.

  Authors’ Acknowledgments Our thanks to Wiley and to Carole McClendon at Waterside.

  As always, thanks to Jess for her support and willingness to listen to me complain. A special shout-out to David S. just for being a swell guy. Thanks to my excellent co-author, Marc, both for his much-needed assistance with this book as well as for the copious amount of work and support he has done for the Mac OS X platform over the years. Last but not least, my sincerest gratitude goes out to you, the reader.

  —Larry Ullman First and foremost, big thanks to Larry Ullman for inviting me to join him on this book project and for being a great guy to work with. I enjoyed every minute and learned a lot on the way. Thanks to my friends at futureLAB for making this the best work place in the world! Finally, thanks to my brother Andy for being a great friend.

  —Marc Liyanage

  Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online regis- tration form located at .

  www.dummies.com/register/

  Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development Production Project Editor: Linda Morris Project Coordinator: Courtney MacIntyre Acquisitions Editor: Bob Woerner Layout and Graphics: Beth Brooks, Joyce Haughey,

  Stephanie D. Jumper, Michael Kruzil, Kristin McMullan,

  Senior Copy Editor: Teresa Artman

  Lynsey Osborn, Heather Ryan, Melanee Wolven

  Technical Editor: Ilene Hoffman Proofreaders: Laura L. Bowman, Carl Pierce Editorial Manager: Leah Cameron Indexer: Tom Dinse Media Development Supervisor: Richard Graves Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth Cartoons: Rich Tennant ( www.the5thwave.com ) Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

  Contents at a Glance Introduction 1

  Part I: Starting, Stopping, and Running Your Mac Faster

7 Technique 1: Installing Panther without

  9 Technique 2: Starting Up with Speed

  19 Technique 3: Running Panther Faster

  25 Technique 4: When Good Applications Go Bad

  32 Technique 5: Logging Out and Shutting Down

  36 Part II: Optimizing Your Interface

  43 Technique 6: Working with Displays

  the Hassle

  53 Technique 8: Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

  63 Technique 9: A Faster Finder

  69 Technique 10: Customizing Windows for Your Convenience

  79 Technique 11: Establishing an Efficient Dock

  90 Technique 12: Saving Steps with Contextual Menus

  96 Technique 13: Easily Managing Windows with Exposé 103

  Part III: Handling Files (And Other Stuff) Quickly 111 Technique 14: Organizing Your Home Directory 113 Technique 16: Managing Information Effectively 130 Technique 17: Working with Files 141 Technique 18: Finding Files in the Finder 151 Technique 19: Slimming Down Your Hard Drive 160 Part IV: Improving Application Performance 165 Technique 20: Managing Applications 167 Technique 21: Launching Applications Fast 175 Technique 22: Switching, Hiding, and Quitting Applications 183 Technique 23: Opening Files Faster 188 Technique 24: Saving and Printing Files 195 Technique 25: Cut, Copy, Paste 202 Technique 26: Managing Fonts 207 Technique 27: Getting to Know Services 214 Part V: Cranking Up Your Internet Activities 219 Technique 28: Surfing with Safari 221 Technique 29: Surfing with Other Browsers 232 Technique 30: Managing Bookmarks Better 238 Technique 31: Speedy Searches with Google 245 Technique 32: Searching the Internet

  45 Technique 7: Speedy Keyboard Navigation Technique 34: Stopping Spam in Its Tracks Technique 35: Innovative iChat

  Part VI: Optimizing Your Network Technique 36: Getting Your Mac Online Technique 37: The Wonderful World of Wireless Networking Technique 38: Sharing the Wealth with Rendezvous Technique 39: Share the Love: Sharing Files, Printers, and More Technique 40: Network Security

  Technique 41: Your Guide to .Mac: $100 Well Spent

  Part VII: Fast and Furious Multimedia Technique 42: iTunes: Rockin’ in the (Partially) Free World Technique 43: Working with iPhoto

  Technique 44: Staying on Schedule with iCal Technique 45: Snapping Screenshots Fast Technique 46: Working with CDs and DVDs Technique 47: Getting More Than Music out of Your iPod 271

  Part VIII: Security and Maintenance Technique 48: Better Backups with 379 278 rsync and .Mac 381

  287 Technique 49: Battling Viruses 389 289 Technique 50: Keeping Your Software Up-to-Date 394

  296 Technique 51: Securing Files 399 Technique 52: Proper Password Policy 405 303 Technique 53: Useful Utilities 410

  309

  Part IX: The Scary Or Fun Stuff 415 316 Technique 54: Controlling Cellphones with Bluetooth 417 321

  

Technique 55: The Terminal,

the Finder, and You 428 Technique 56: Managing and Finding

  329 Files Fast 438 Technique 57: Piping and Redirecting

  331 Output with the Terminal 444 342 Technique 58: Viewing and Editing

  Text Files 451 349 Technique 59: Customizing Your Terminal 456 357 Technique 60: AppleScript and You 464 Technique 61: Entertaining Yourself

  363 with Screen Savers 469 369

  Index 475 Table of Contents Technique 1: Installing Panther

  Faster Startups: Never Shut Down Booting into a Different Mac OS Speeding Up Login Starting Applications Automatically

  54 Navigating in icon view

  47

  9 Handling Fonts

  49

  9 Using Multiple Displays

  50

  11 Technique 7: Speedy Keyboard Navigation

  53

  11 Keyboard Characters

  53

  12 Moving Around in a Finder Window

  54

  13

  14 Navigating in any view mode

  55

  45

  17 Navigating in list view

  56

  18 Navigating in column view

  57

  19 Navigating the Desktop

  58

  19 Getting Places

  59

  21 Technique 8: Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

  63

  21 The Most Essential of the Essential

  23 Keyboard Shortcuts

  63 Application Shortcuts

  65

  45 Adjusting the Colors

  43 Technique 6: Working with Displays

  Introduction Saving Time with This Book Foolish Assumptions How This Book Is Organized

  32

  Part I: Starting, Stopping, and Running Your Mac Faster Part II: Optimizing Your Interface Part III: Handling Files (And Other Stuff) Quickly Part IV: Improving Application Performance Part V: Cranking Up Your Internet Activities Part VI: Optimizing Your Network Part VII: Fast and Furious Multimedia Part VIII: Security and Maintenance Part IX: The Scary Or Fun Stuff Conventions Used in This Book Icons Used in This Book Comments and Questions Part I: Starting, Stopping, and Running Your Mac Faster without the Hassle What Panther Can Do for You Choosing an Installation Method Managing Your Disk Drives

  Formatting a volume Partitioning a disk drive Installing Panther Working with Setup Assistant Transferring Files Flawlessly

  Technique 2: Starting Up with Speed Technique 3: Running Panther Faster

  25

  1

  1 Optimizing Your System with Shareware

  25

  2 Disabling Unnecessary Features

  27

  2 Longer Battery Life

  29 Improving Performance through Hardware

  30

  2 Technique 4: When Good Applications

  2 Go Bad

  3 Slaying Stalled Apps with the Dock

  4 Part II: Optimizing Your Interface

  32

  3 Gaining Better Performance through

  3 Activity Monitoring

  33

  3 Technique 5: Logging Out and Shutting Down 36

  3

  3 Logging Out

  36

  3 Securing Your System with a Screen Saver

  39

  3 Fast User Switching

  40

  4 Making the Quick Exit

  41

7 Managing Your Display Resolution

  x Mac OS X Panther Timesaving Techniques For Dummies

  87 Effectively 130 Getting to Know the Address Book

  79 Revisiting Our Friend, the Dock 120

  80

  81 Technique 15: Managing Aliases,

  83 Favorites, and Icons 122

  84 Also Known As: Working with Aliases 122

  84 These are a few of my Favorites things 125

  86 If you can, icon 126

  87 Technique 16: Managing Information

  88 130 Customizing the Template 131

  78 Your Stuff, Your Home Directory, and You 113 Checking Out Your Library 116

  90 Creating Your Own vCard 133

  90 Creating and Using Groups 135

  92 Using the New Group From Selection tool 135

  92 Creating a group manually 136

  95 Duplicating an existing group 137 Other Cool Address Book Tricks 137

  96 Organizing and Prioritizing Information 139 Storing random bits of data as Stickies 139

  96 Prioritizing with to-do lists 140

  98 Getting organized with outlining applications 140

  99 Technique 17: Working with Files 141 100 101

  79 A Cluttered Desktop Is a Sign of a Cluttered Mind 118

  77 Home Directory 113

  Technique 9: A Faster Finder Finder Preferences

  Folder Actions Big Cat

  General Labels Sidebar Advanced

  Show View Options Menus Using Your Input Device Freeware and Shareware

  TinkerTool wClock Menu tools

  Technique 10: Customizing Windows for Your Convenience Understanding the Different View Modes

  Icon view List view Column view

  Customizing Windows Toolbar Sidebar Scroll bars

  Using Actions Moving Windows Around Technique 11: Establishing an Efficient Dock

  Customizing the Dock Organizing the Dock Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts for the Dock Shareware for the Dock

  Technique 12: Saving Steps with Contextual Menus Grasping the Basics of Contextual Menus Using CMs with Third-Party Applications AppleScript, Contextual Menus, and You

  69 Technique 13: Easily Managing

  77

  69 Windows with Exposé 103

  70 Introducing Exposé 103

  70 How to Get the Most out of Exposé 106

  71 Dragging and dropping with Exposé 107

  72 Using Exposé without the mouse 109

  73

  74 Part III: Handling Files (And

  76 Other Stuff) Quickly 111

  76 Technique 14: Organizing Your

  Understanding a File’s Properties 141 The General panel 142 xi Table of Contents

  The Open With panel 145 The Preview panel 145 The Ownership & Permissions panel 146 The Comments panel 147

  Solving Common File Problems 148 Deleting locked files 148 Ejecting stuck disk images 148 Finding the original for an alias 149 Sharing files with another OS 149

  Technique 18: Finding Files in the Finder 151 Finder Window Searches 151 Using the Find Window 153 Incorporating Better Search Techniques 157

  Technique 19: Slimming Down Your Hard Drive 160 Avoiding Unnecessary Installations 160 Weeding Your Hard Drive: Manually Deleting

  Files 161 Pruning your Home directory 162 Thinning out no-longer-required applications 162 Cleaning out your System and Library folders 163 Cleaning other volumes 163

  Diet Tools: Third-Party Applications 163 Hands-Off: What Not to Trash 164

  Part IV: Improving Application Performance 165 Technique 20: Managing Applications 167 Installing Applications 167 Tracking Installed Applications 169 Moving Installed Applications 171 Organizing the Applications folder 172 Uninstalling Applications 173 Technique 21: Launching Applications Fast 175 Auto-launching with the Accounts Panel 175 Launching with the Finder 177 Launching with the Dock 178 Other Ways to Launch Applications 180 Favorites and aliases 180 Recent Items 180 Launching with Shareware Tools 181 Using LaunchBar 182 Technique 22: Switching, Hiding, and Quitting Applications 183 Switching among Open Applications 183

  Switching apps with Panther 183 Switching apps with shareware 185 Hiding Applications 185 Quitting Applications 187 Logging Out and Shutting Down 187

  Technique 23: Opening Files Faster 188 Opening Files with the Finder 188 Opening Files with Specific Applications 189

  Using the Window navigational bar to open files 189 Using the Dock to open files 189 Using Favorites to open files 190 Opening files with a contextual menu 190

  Using LaunchBar 191 Opening Files within an Application 191 Recalling Recent Items 192

  Recalling files from the Apple menu 192 Recalling files from application menus 192 Setting the Default Application for Files 193

  Technique 24: Saving and Printing Files 195 Saving Files 195

  Marc’s cool trick for navigating in Save dialogs 198 Overwriting existing files 198

  Printing 198 Customizing print settings 199 Previewing your documents 199 Desktop printing 200

  Creating PDFs 200 xii Mac OS X Panther Timesaving Techniques For Dummies

  Technique 25: Cut, Copy, Paste 202 Copying and Pasting with the Keyboard and Mouse 202 Understanding the Clipboard 205 Copy and Paste Tips and Tricks 205

  Clipboard shareware options 205 Copying items within the Finder 206 Using the Find Clipboard 206

  Technique 26: Managing Fonts 207 Fonts Support in Panther 207 Installing Fonts 208 Viewing Fonts 209

  Character Palette 209 Font panel 210 Font Book 212

  Managing Fonts 213 Technique 27: Getting to Know Services 214

  What Are Services? 214 Grasping the Best Services Techniques 216 Adding On Services 218

  Part V: Cranking Up Your Internet Activities 219 Technique 28: Surfing with Safari 221 Navigation Shortcuts 221 Standard Shortcuts 222 Other Shortcuts 223 Setting Preferences 224 Setting General preferences 224 Working with tabbed browsing 225 Blocking pop-up windows 227 Saving Time with AutoFill Forms 228 Managing Usernames and Passwords 229 Marking Pages with SnapBack 229 Customizing Safari 231 Technique 29: Surfing with Other Browsers 232 Internet Explorer 232 Explorer bar 234 Other features 235 Netscape, Mozilla, and Camino 235 Commercial Web Browsers 236 Technique 30: Managing Bookmarks Better 238 Managing Bookmarks in Safari 238 Bookmarking a page 240 Using the Bookmarks window 240 Using the Bookmarks menu 241 Working with the Bookmarks Bar 241 Setting bookmark preferences in Safari 242 Accessing Safari Bookmarks 243 Sharing Bookmarks across Browsers 243 Bookmark Tips and Tricks 244 Technique 31: Speedy Searches with Google 245 Doing Basic Google Searches 245 Doing Advanced Google Searches 246 Doing Specialized Google Searches 247 Searching Google with Safari 248 Google Tips and Tricks 249

  Google, the dictionary 249 Google, the mathematician 249 Google, the unit converter 250 Google, the linguist 250 Google, the investor 251 Google, the cartographer 251 Google, the (fill in the blank) 251

  Technique 32: Searching the Internet with Other Tools 252 Searching Swiftly with Sherlock 252 Searching with Watson 255 Other Search Tools 257

  CleverKeys 257 iSeek 258 Huevos 258

  Technique 33: Mastering Mail 259 Keyboard Shortcuts 259

  Table of Contents xiii

  Using Rendezvous with iChat 305 Using Rendezvous with iTunes 306 Using Rendezvous with Hardware 308

  Working with Your .Mac Web Page 326 Using iSync with .Mac 326

  I Like My iDisk: Storing Stuff Online 322 Making your iDisk secure 324 Using another .Mac member’s iDisk 325

  Technique 41: Your Guide to .Mac: $100 Well Spent 321 Top Ten Reasons to Use .Mac 321

  Software firewalls 317 Hardware firewalls 319 Checking for Security Problems 319

  Technique 40: Network Security 316 Keeping Your Mac Secure 316 Using a Firewall 317

  Technique 39: Share the Love: Sharing Files, Printers, and More 309 Safe Sharing 309 Sharing a Web Page 310 What’s in a Name (Or URL)? 311 Fun with File Sharing 312 Personal File Sharing 312 Print Sharing 313 Sharing Your Internet Connection 314

  Why You Should Use Rendezvous 303 Setting Up Rendezvous 303 Using Rendezvous with Software 304

  Customizing Mail’s Appearance and Behavior 260 General preferences 261 Composing 261 Customizing the Mail toolbar 262 Customizing the messages window 263

  Finding Networks 300 Technique 38: Sharing the Wealth with Rendezvous 303

  Part VI: Optimizing Your Network 287 Technique 36: Getting Your Mac Online 289 Defining a Location 289 Using a Modem 292 Networking Tips and Tricks 294 Switching locations on the fly 294 Ordering connections 295 Dialing with a calling card 295 Using FireWire over IP 295 Technique 37: The Wonderful World of Wireless Networking 296 What to Look for in a Wireless Network 296 Understanding Encryption 299

  Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts 278 Customizing iChat 280 Transferring Files with iChat 282 Using the Videoconference 283 Creating URLs 285 Chatting with Multiple People at Once 285 Other Instant Messenger Tools 286

  Bouncing spam 275 Other spam tools 276 Technique 35: Innovative iChat 278

  Fighting Spam with the Junk Mail Button 271 Creating and Using Rules 273 Stopping Spam before It Gets to You 275

  Using the Dock icon 269 Sending attachments 270 Technique 34: Stopping Spam in Its Tracks 271

  Organizing Your Mailboxes 265 Performing Searches 267 Creating and Using Signatures 268 The Best Mail Tips and Tricks 269

  Part VII: Fast and Furious Multimedia 329 Technique 42: iTunes: Rockin’ in the (Partially) Free World 331 xiv Mac OS X Panther Timesaving Techniques For Dummies

  Making the iTunes Window Look the Way You Want 336 Managing Your Music 338

  Making CDs in the Finder 365 Making an audio CD in iTunes 366 Making picture CDs in iPhoto 366 Making data CDs in Disk Utility 367

  Backup for .Mac Users 385 Getting started with Backup 385 Deciding what to back up 386 Finalizing the backup 387

  Technique 48: Better Backups with rsync and .Mac 381 Smart Backups 381 rsync: Using the Command Line to Back Up 382 rsync syntax options 383 Backing up Home to an external hard drive 383

  Housekeeping on the iPod 376 Useful Hardware You Might Consider 377 Part VIII: Security and Maintenance 379

  Using Notes on older iPods 375 OmniOutliner 375 Driving directions 376

  Using .Mac and Backup 372 Using Carbon Copy Cloner 373 Emergency Rescue iPod 374 Synchronizing with iSync 374 Keeping Notes on Your iPod 375

  Using the iPod for Data Storage and Transfer 369 Secure, Encrypted Storage on the iPod 370 Backing Up Your Data to an iPod 371

  Making Labels and Covers 367 Managing a Disc Collection 368 Technique 47: Getting More Than Music out of Your iPod 369

  Technique 46: Working with CDs and DVDs 363 Setting Your System Preferences 363 Burning CDs 365

  Editing song information 338 Searching for tracks 338 Creating playlists 339 Adding album covers 339

  Taking Screenshots with Screen Capture 357 Taking Screenshots with Grab 359 Using Snapz Pro X 360 More Screenshot Utilities 362

  Exploring Alternatives to iCal 356 Technique 45: Snapping Screenshots Fast 357

  Where to find subscriptions 353 Publishing your Calendar with .Mac 353 Publish your Calendar without .Mac 354 iCal Tips and Tricks 354 iCal and Mail 354 AppleScript 355

  Creating Calendars and Events 349 iCal’s Main Keyboard Shortcuts 351 Best iCal Practices 352 Subscribing and Publishing 352

  Creating an Online Photo Album 347 Technique 44: Staying on Schedule with iCal 349

  Working with Your Digital Library 345 Importing images 345 Managing your images more efficiently 345 Storing your images to save space and time 346

  Best iPhoto Practices 342 Preferences 342 Creating a new Photo Album quickly 343 Editing images with ease 344

  Blowing Your Paycheck at the iTunes Music Store 340 Technique 43: Working with iPhoto 342

  Other Backup Options 388 xv Table of Contents

  Technique 49: Battling Viruses 389 What You Should Know about Viruses 389 Things You Can Do to Limit Viruses 390 Using Virex 392 Other Antivirus Software 393

  Technique 55: The Terminal, the Finder, and You 428 Navigating within the Terminal 428

  Technique 57: Piping and Redirecting Output with the Terminal 444 Handy Commands to Use with Piping 444 Combining Commands with Pipes 446 Redirecting Output 449

  Copying, Moving, Renaming, and Deleting Files 438 Creating and Listing Directories 440 Using Wildcards 441 Using the find Command 441 Using the locate Command 442

  Editing between the Terminal and the Finder 437 Technique 56: Managing and Finding Files Fast 438

  Making the Terminal and the Finder Play Together Nicely 435 Using the open command 436 Drag and drop with the Finder 436

  Terminal Tips and Tricks 432 Getting help 432 A command of history, or a history of commands 433 Role playing: Executing commands as another user 434

  Getting around in the Terminal 429 Tab completion 430 Viewing directory contents 431 Navigating among open Terminal windows 431 Other commands 432

  Setting up iSync 424 Your Cellphone as a Remote Control 425 Storing Notes and Pictures on a Cellphone 426

  Technique 50: Keeping Your Software Up-to-Date 394 Using Software Update 394 Updating Other Applications 396 Staying Informed about Updates 397

  Dialing from within Address Book 421 Display incoming call alerts 421 Synchronizing with iSync 424

  Part IX: The Scary Or Fun Stuff 415 Technique 54: Controlling Cellphones with Bluetooth 417 What Is Bluetooth? 417 Getting Started with Bluetooth 418 Setting Up Your Connection 418 Working with Your Address Book 421

  Technique 53: Useful Utilities 410 Working with TinkerTool 410 Automating Tasks with cron 411 Other Useful Utilities 413

  Creating a Good Password 405 Working with Apple’s Keychain Access 406 Changing Login Passwords 408

  Using the Finder’s Secure Empty Trash 403 Technique 52: Proper Password Policy 405

  Disk Utility 401 StuffIt 402 Mac GNU Privacy Guard 402 PGP 402 SubRosaSoft and CodeTek Studios 402

  Technique 51: Securing Files 399 Making the Most of FileVault 399 Other Encryption Tools 401

  Technique 58: Viewing and Editing Text Files 451 Viewing Files 451 cat 451

  Technique 59: Customizing Your Terminal 456 Adjusting Terminal’s Preferences 456 Creating Terminal Preferences Files 460 Choosing Your Shell 461 Customizing Your Shell 462 Shareware Tools for Working with the Terminal 463

  Technique 60: AppleScript and You 464 The Easiest Way to Write Scripts 464 Four Fabulous Reasons to Use AppleScripts 467 AppleScript Resources 468

  Technique 61: Entertaining Yourself xvi

  Mac OS X Panther Timesaving Techniques For Dummies with Screen Savers 469 Configuring Screen Savers in Panther 469 Adding to Your Screen Saver Library 471 Using the Desktop as a Screen Saver 473

  Index 475 Introduction

  e’re fairly smart people, and presumably you’re a really smart person (you are looking at the right book, after all), but it still seems like technology has eclipsed our ability to understand it.

  W

  Even the magical Mac — the symbol of all things easy in computers — is overladen with features and gadgets and pretty lights. Make no mistake: We all like features and gadgets and pretty lights, but how are we supposed to make sense of it all and just do what we want to do, quickly and easily? By reading this book, of course! But if that isn’t enough to convince you (and we can’t imagine why not; after all, we’ve never lied to you before), take a moment or two to read through this Introduction. You’ll see where we’re coming from, what this book offers, and how it’ll make you fall in love with your Mac all over again.

  Saving Time with This Book

  The Timesaving Techniques For Dummies books focus on high-payoff techniques that save you time, either on the spot or somewhere down the road. And these books get to the point in a hurry, with step-by-step instructions to pace you through the tasks you need to do, without any of the fluff you don’t want. We’ve identified more than 60 Techniques that Mac OS X Panther users need to know to make the most of their time. In addition, each Technique includes lots of figures that make following along a breeze. Decide for yourself how to use this book: Read it cover to cover if you like, or skip right to the Technique that interests you the most. In Mac OS X Panther Timesaving Techniques For Dummies, you can find out how to

  ⻬ Tame time­consuming tasks: Because we demystify the inner workings of Mac OS X Panther for you, letting you in on more than 60 tips and

2 Introduction

  Techniques, which are chapter-like sections grouped

  II is navigation techniques, both with the keyboard and the mouse. You also discover how to customize the Finder, windows, and the Dock. All in all, the absolutely most-universal and most-helpful time- saving techniques are here.

  as files, applications, and so forth. This is the gen- eral guide to doing anything better. The heart of Part

  Part II: Optimizing Your Interface This part of the book discusses specific topics such

  how to get the machine and operating system to load and run faster — in other words, how to speed up the process between pushing the power button and actually doing anything. While we’re at it, we also discuss some faster aspects of the installation process and the easiest ways to shut down and log out. These might be the basics of using your com- puter, but even here, you find ways to do things more efficiently.

  Part I: Starting, Stopping, and Running Your Mac Faster This first part of the book focuses exclusively on

  Technique to Technique, or just pick out the little pieces most relevant to the way you work. This book has a structure, but you can be a free thinker. You own a Mac, after all!

  you want to. Read a part straight through, skip from

  by application or the general theory being dis- cussed. These Techniques, it turns out, are sorted into larger parts, which we’re calling (appropriately enough) parts (we’re clever that way). We give you the highlights as to what the parts are all about here, but remember that you can approach this book how

  ⻬ Take your skills up a notch: You’re already familiar with the basics of using Mac OS X. Now this book takes you to the next level, helping you become an even savvier Mac user.

  ⻬ Customize Mac OS X to meet your needs: 

  How This Book Is Organized

  Having a fast Internet connection will help you get the most out of this book, and so will a little extra spending money (but just a little). But neither of these are required as long as you have a Mac and a willingness — or a need — to discover how to use

  ⻬ Basic familiarity with your computer: In some ways, this is the same kind of For Dummies book you’ve come to know and love, but it’s not the kind that shows you how to plug in a printer or save a document. (It will show you how easy it is to share a printer on a network and how you can save documents faster, though.) We promise that you won’t be overwhelmed by anything in this book, but keep in mind that you won’t be spoon- fed, either.

  thing this book says you can do. This require- ment is more of a highly advisable suggestion.

  ⻬ A Macintosh, running Panther (Mac OS X v.3):  Well, to be perfectly frank, if you aren’t running Panther (but are running another version of Mac OS X), you’ll still be able to get a lot of things out of this book; you just won’t be able to do every-

  Every book is written with certain assumptions about the reader, and this one is no exception. Don’t be alarmed: We’re not looking for an advanced degree in computer science or the ability to recall long lists of Mac trivia at parties. What we do expect of you are two things:

  Foolish Assumptions

  Spending some upfront time customizing Mac OS X so that it works faster, more reliably, and more like how you work on a daily basis can save you time (and aggravation) later.

  As devoted Mac users, we’ve amassed a gazillion pieces of useful knowledge. By sheer luck, it turned out that these little pieces could be organized into

  3 Conventions Used in This Book

  with good reason: The free software that comes with the operating system is exceptional. In the multi- media section of the book, we take a few of these applications and demonstrate how to more effi- ciently use them.

  This book, as you’ll soon see, has a lot of visual stuff in it to serve as your roadmap. You know . . . different fonts and icons, indentations, and a few funny char- acters. Here’s a Rosetta stone as to what they all mean:

  Conventions Used in This Book

  scary, check out the Technique on using your cell- phone with your Mac as well as the one on screen savers.

  Part IX: The Scary Or Fun Stuff Whether you know it or not, your Mac is a powerful machine capable of some really, really cool things. The final part of the book strongly emphasizes our friend, the Terminal, with a nod given to AppleScript. If you’re looking for something more fun and less

  cure section of the book.

  to you and me) offers you all the motherly advice you can use on viruses, creating backups, keeping your software up-to-date, and the like. Think of this as the An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of

  Part VIII: Security and Maintenance Okay, so your Mac pretty much takes care of itself. Still, a little TLC couldn’t hurt. Part VIII (that’s eight

  Part VII: Fast and Furious Multimedia Apple markets itself as the multimedia machine, and

  Part III: Handling Files (And Other Stuff) Quickly Like a teenager’s closet, your Mac is full of stuff. Who

  counterpart. Although not every user has advanced networking needs, most could benefit from using locations, working with an iDisk, and knowing how to easily connect to other computers when the time comes.

  Part VI: Optimizing Your Network The networking section of the book is Part V’s

  computers now.” Well, the man’s never been more correct. Accessing e-mail and the World Wide Web are why many people have computers. Most folks spend a decent portion of their computing life in this realm. Part V covers Web browsers, performing searches, using e-mail, and other timesaving online techniques. Tips on managing spam and using Google effectively can save you minutes per day — minutes you could spend surfing the Internet.

  Part V: Cranking Up Your Internet Activities As Homer Simpson says, “They have the Internet on

  stuff (not to be too technical about it). You won’t read about any one specific application here but rather pick up some useful knowledge for using any application more efficiently.

  Part IV: Improving Application Performance Included on your computer (see Part III) are applications — software that does stuff with other

  knows what it all is? Okay, we know, and we think you should, too. Although your hard drive might not yet be bursting, there’s always going to be a lot of junk in there. This third part of the book demon- strates how to best organize, manage, and find your (and your computer’s) stuff. You’ll also see how to save disk space and remove clutter by trashing unnecessary files.

  ⻬ Keyboard shortcuts: This book has a healthy amount of keyboard shortcuts in it. These use a conjoining plus sign to indicate that two (or more) keys should be pressed in harmony. So when you see something like Ô+A (the Select All Introduction

  4

  shortcut), you should press and hold Ô, press These icons reemphasize the timesaving point A once, and then release both. Something like being made in a certain section. If you don’t feel like reading through all those pesky words Control+click means that you hold down the and get tired of our trite jokes, look for these. Control key while clicking the mouse button once.

  This icon means that you’ve seen this idea ⻬

  Menu bar: The menu bar is the thing going before, you’ll see this idea again, and you across the entire top of your window. It has all ought to keep it in mind. These are publish- the, you know, menus. ing’s version of sticky notes. ⻬

  Menu sequences: Sequences of menus are refer- enced with an arrow. For example, Go➪Recent For crying out loud, don’t do anything marked

  Folders means that you should click the Go menu with this icon! If you don’t believe anything (on the menu bar) and then choose the Recent else that we say, trust us on these warning Folders submenu from there. icons. Think curiosity and cat here and how that went. You won’t see many warnings in

  ⻬ Apple menu: The Apple menu, represented by this book, but when you do, understand that the Ú symbol, is that blue Apple symbol in the you might be about to take an irrevocable step. upper-left corner of your window.

  ⻬ Application menus: When we refer to an applica-

  tion menu, we mean the menu that has the title of Comments and Questions