MacBook For Dummies, 5th Edition

MacBook For Dummies, 5th Edition

Released July 2014
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781118862346

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Book description

Make friends with your MacBook the fun and easy way!

Ultra-light, ultra-fast, and ultra-powerful, the MacBook is the coolest laptop in town, and longtime Mac guru Mark L. Chambers is just the guy to help you get to know your MacBook in no time. Take a closer look at the latest features, get the lowdown on OS X, unleash your creative forces with iLife, take care of business with the iWork applications, and sync it all with iCloud with the expert advice in this bestselling MacBook guide.

Whether this is your first MacBook or your first laptop, period, you'll learn to navigate the Mac desktop, customize your settings, surf the web and set up e-mail, hook into a network, transfer your important documents from another PC or Mac, and troubleshoot with ease. You'll also get the inside scoop on the fun stuff like FaceTime video calling, Messages, Reminders, photos, videos, music, the Mac App Store, and more.

  • Covers all MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models and is fully updated for OS X Mavericks and the latest editions of iLife and iWork

  • Gets you up to speed on helpful MacBook features like the Finder, Finder Tabs, Dashboard, Spaces, Mission Control, Spotlight, and iCloud

  • Explains how to work with files and folders, use the Safari web browser, connect with other wireless devices, add accessories, and use your MacBook on the go

  • Covers crunching data with Numbers, dressing up your documents with Pages, adding punch to your presentations with Keynote, editing your images with iPhoto, composing music with GarageBand, making movie magic with iMovie, and more

    • MacBook For Dummies, 5th Edition is the perfect companion for getting the most out of your mac-nificent MacBook!

    Table of contents

      1. Introduction
        1. Foolish Assumptions
        2. About This Book
        3. Icons Used in This Book
        4. Beyond the Book
        5. Where to Go from Here
      2. Part I: Tie Myself Down with a Desktop? Preposterous!
        1. Chapter 1: Hey, It Really Does Have Everything I Need
          1. An Overview of Your Mac Laptop
            1. The parts you probably recognize
            2. The holes called ports
            3. Don’t forget the parts you can’t see
          2. Meet the MacBooks
            1. Comparing the MacBooks
            2. Look, Ma, no moving parts!
            3. What if I need that pesky optical drive?
          3. Location, Location, Location!
          4. Unpacking and Connecting Your Laptop
            1. Unpacking for the road warrior
            2. Connecting Cables 101
          5. Great, a Lecture about Handling My Laptop
          6. An Overview of Mac Software Goodness
            1. What comes with my laptop?
            2. Connecting to the Internet from your lap
            3. Applications that rock
            4. Boot Camp For Dummies
          7. Other Stuff That Nearly Everyone Wants
        2. Chapter 2: Turning On Your Portable Powerhouse
          1. Tales of the On Button
          2. Mark’s Favorite Signs of a Healthy Laptop
          3. You Won’t Lecture Me about Batteries, Will You?
          4. Setting Up and Registering Your Laptop
            1. Your Apple ID is your friend
            2. Setting up OS X Mavericks
            3. Registering your MacBook
          5. Importing Stuff from Another Mac
          6. Importing Stuff from Windows (If You Must)
        3. Chapter 3: The Laptop Owner’s Introduction to OS X
          1. Your Own Personal Operating System
            1. The Mavericks Desktop
            2. Why get so excited by Mavericks?
            3. Like Windows done right
          2. And Just in Case You Need Help . . .
            1. The Mavericks built-in Help system
            2. The Apple web-based support center
            3. Magazines
            4. Mac support websites
            5. Local Mac user groups
      3. Part II: Shaking Hands with OS X
        1. Chapter 4: Opening and Closing and Tapping and Such
          1. Using the All-Powerful Finder
          2. Wait a Second: Where the Heck Are the Mouse Buttons?
          3. Launching and Quitting Applications with Aplomb
          4. Juggling Folders and Icons
            1. A field observer’s guide to icons
            2. Selecting items
            3. Copying items
            4. Moving things from place to place
            5. Duplicating in a jiffy
            6. Using Finder Tabs
          5. Keys and Keyboard Shortcuts to Fame and Fortune
            1. Special keys on the keyboard
            2. Using the Finder and application keyboard shortcuts
          6. Performing Tricks with Finder Windows
            1. Scrolling in and resizing windows
            2. Minimizing and restoring windows
            3. Moving and zooming windows
            4. Closing windows
        2. Chapter 5: Getting to the Heart of Mavericks
          1. Home, Sweet Home Folder
          2. Personalizing Your Desktop
          3. Customizing the Dock Just So
            1. Adding Dock icons
            2. Removing Dock icons
            3. Using Dock icon menus
          4. What’s with the Trash?
          5. Working Magic with Mission Control and the Dashboard
            1. Multitasking with Mission Control
            2. Using the Dashboard
          6. Printing in OS X
        3. Chapter 6: A Nerd’s Guide to System Preferences
          1. An Explanation — in English, No Less
          2. Locating That Certain Special Setting
          3. Popular Preferences Panes Explained
            1. The Displays pane
            2. The Desktop & Screen Saver pane
            3. Mission Control preferences
            4. The General pane
            5. The Energy Saver pane
            6. The Dock pane
            7. The Sharing pane
            8. The Time Machine pane
            9. iCloud preferences
            10. Notifications preferences
        4. Chapter 7: Sifting Through Your Stuff
          1. A Not-So-Confusing Introduction to Spotlight
            1. Searching with Spotlight
            2. Working with matching stuff
            3. Tweaking Spotlight in System Preferences
          2. Other Search Tools Are Available, Too
          3. With Widgets, the Internet Is Your Resource
        5. Chapter 8: Using Reminders, Notes, Notifications, and Maps
          1. Remind Me to Use Reminders
          2. Taking Notes the Mavericks Way
          3. Staying Current with the Notification Center
          4. Introducing the Maps Window
          5. Switching Views in Maps
          6. Getting Directions over Yonder
      4. Part III: Connecting and Communicating
        1. Chapter 9: Let’s Go on Safari!
          1. Pretend You’ve Never Used This Thing
          2. Visiting Websites
          3. Navigating the Web
          4. Setting Up Your Home Page
          5. Adding and Using Bookmarks
          6. Working with the Reading List and Shared Links
            1. Saving pages for later with the Reading List
            2. Visiting pages recommended by friends
          7. Downloading Files
          8. Using History and Top Sites
          9. Tabs Are Your Browsing Friends
          10. Printing Web Pages
          11. Protecting Your Privacy
            1. Yes, there are such things as bad cookies
            2. Cleaning your cache
            3. Banishing pesky iCloud Keychain passwords
            4. Handling ancient history
            5. Setting notifications
            6. Avoiding those @*!^%$ pop-up ads
        2. Chapter 10: iCloud Is Made for MacBooks
          1. So How Does iCloud Work, Anyway?
          2. Configuring iCloud
          3. Managing Your iCloud Storage
        3. Chapter 11: Your Laptop Goes Multiuser
          1. Once Upon a Time (An Access Fairy Tale)
          2. Big-Shot Administrator Stuff
            1. Deciding who needs what access
            2. Adding users
            3. Modifying user accounts
            4. I banish thee, mischievous user!
            5. Setting up login items and parental controls
          3. Mundane Chores for the Multiuser Laptop
            1. Logging in and out in Mavericks For Dummies
            2. Interesting stuff about sharing stuff
            3. Encrypting your Home folder can be fun
        4. Chapter 12: Working Well with Networks
          1. What Exactly Is the Network Advantage?
          2. Should You Go Wired or Wireless?
          3. Be a Pal: Share Your Internet!
            1. Using your MacBook as a sharing device
            2. Using a dedicated Internet-sharing device
          4. What Do I Need to Connect?
            1. Wireless connections
            2. Wired connections
          5. Connecting to the Network
            1. Verifying that the contraption works
            2. Sharing stuff nicely with others
          6. USE YOUR FIREWALL!
      5. Part IV: Living the iLife
        1. Chapter 13: The Multimedia Joy of iTunes
          1. What Can I Play on iTunes?
          2. Playing an Audio CD
          3. Playing Digital Audio
            1. Exploring the Music Library
            2. Navigating the Library in Browse mode
            3. Finding songs in your Music Library
            4. Removing old music from the Library
          4. Watching Video
          5. Keeping Apart Slim Whitman and Slim Shady: Organizing with Playlists
          6. Know Your Songs
            1. Setting the song information automatically
            2. Setting or changing song information manually
          7. Ripping Audio Files
          8. Tweaking the Audio for Your Ears
          9. A New Kind of Radio Station
            1. Internet radio
            2. Tuning in your own stations
            3. Radio stations in your playlists
            4. Creating a custom iTunes Radio station
          10. iTunes and iCloud Together
          11. iSending iStuff to iPod, iPhone, and iPad
          12. Sharing Media across a Network
          13. Burning Music to Shiny Plastic Circles
          14. Feasting on iTunes Visuals
          15. Exercising Parental Authority
          16. Buying Digital Media the Apple Way
        2. Chapter 14: The Masterpiece That Is iPhoto
          1. Delving into iPhoto
          2. Working with Images in iPhoto
            1. Import images 101
            2. Organize mode: Organizing and sorting your images
            3. Edit mode: Removing and fixing stuff the right way
          3. Producing Your Own Coffee-Table Masterpiece
          4. Putting Photo Stream to Work
          5. E-Mailing Photos to Aunt Mildred
        3. Chapter 15: Making Film History with iMovie
          1. Shaking Hands with the iMovie Window
          2. A Bird’s-Eye View of Moviemaking
          3. Importing the Building Blocks
            1. Pulling in video clips
            2. Making use of still images
            3. Importing and adding audio from all sorts of places
          4. Building the Cinematic Basics
            1. Adding clips to your movie
            2. Marking clips
            3. Removing clips from your movie
            4. Reordering clips in your movie
            5. Editing clips in iMovie
            6. Transitions for the masses
            7. Even Gone with the Wind had titles
            8. Adding maps and backgrounds
          5. Creating an Honest-to-Goodness Movie Trailer
          6. Sharing Your Finished Classic with Others
        4. Chapter 16: Recording Your Hits with GarageBand
          1. Shaking Hands with Your Band
          2. Composing Made Easy
            1. Adding tracks
            2. Choosing loops
            3. Resizing, repeating, and moving loops
            4. Using the Arrangement track
            5. Tweaking the settings for a track
          3. Sharing Your Songs
            1. Creating song files and ringtones in iTunes
            2. Exporting a project
            3. Burning an audio CD
      6. Part V: Getting Productive and Maintaining Your MacBook
        1. Chapter 17: Desktop Publishing with Pages
          1. Creating a New Pages Document
          2. Open an Existing Pages Document
          3. Saving Your Work
          4. Touring the Pages Window
          5. Entering and Editing Text
          6. Using Text and Graphics Boxes
          7. The Three Amigos: Cut, Copy, and Paste
            1. Cutting stuff
            2. Copying text and images
            3. Pasting from the Clipboard
          8. Formatting Text the Easy Way
          9. Adding a Spiffy Table
          10. Adding Alluring Photos
          11. Adding a Background Shape
          12. Are You Sure about That Spelling?
          13. Printing Your Pages Documents
          14. Sharing That Poster with Others
        2. Chapter 18: Creating Spreadsheets with Numbers
          1. Before You Launch Numbers . . .
          2. Creating a New Numbers Document
          3. Opening an Existing Spreadsheet File
          4. Save Those Spreadsheets!
          5. Exploring the Numbers Window
          6. Navigating and Selecting Cells in a Spreadsheet
          7. Entering and Editing Data in a Spreadsheet
          8. Selecting the Correct Number Format
          9. Aligning Cell Text Just So
          10. Formatting with Shading
          11. Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns
          12. The Formula Is Your Friend
          13. Adding Visual Punch with a Chart
          14. Printing Your Spreadsheet
        3. Chapter 19: Building Presentations with Keynote
          1. Creating a New Keynote Project
          2. Opening a Keynote Presentation
          3. Saving Your Presentation
          4. Putting Keynote to Work
          5. Adding Slides
          6. Working with Text and Graphics Boxes
          7. Adding and Editing Slide Text
          8. Formatting Slide Text for the Perfect Look
          9. Using Presenter’s Notes in Your Project
          10. Every Good Presentation Needs Media
          11. Adding a Background Shape
          12. Creating Your Keynote Slideshow
          13. Printing Your Slides and Notes
        4. Chapter 20: When Good Mac Laptops Go Bad
          1. Repeat after Me: Yes, I Am a Tech!
          2. Step-by-Step Laptop Troubleshooting
            1. The number one rule: Reboot!
            2. Special keys that can come in handy
            3. All hail Disk Utility, the troubleshooter’s friend
            4. Mark’s MacBook Troubleshooting Tree
          3. Okay, I Kicked It, and It Still Won’t Work
            1. Local service, at your service
            2. The OS X Help Center
            3. Apple Help Online
        5. Chapter 21: Adding New Stuff to Your Laptop
          1. More Memory Will Help
            1. Figuring out how much memory you have
            2. Installing memory modules
          2. Considering a Hard Drive Upgrade?
            1. Ponder your external options
            2. Gotta have internal
          3. A List of Dreamy Laptop Add-Ons
            1. Game controllers
            2. Video controllers
            3. Music hardware
        6. Chapter 22: Tackling the Housekeeping
          1. Cleaning Unseemly Data Deposits
            1. Getting dirty (or, cleaning things the manual way)
            2. Using a commercial clean-up tool
          2. Backing Up Your Treasure
            1. Saving files
            2. Putting things right with Time Machine
          3. Maintaining Hard Drive Health
          4. Automating Those Mundane Chores
          5. Updating OS X Automatically
      7. Part VI: The Part of Tens
        1. Chapter 23: Top Ten Laptop Rules to Follow
          1. Keep Your Laptop in a Bag
          2. Maximize Your RAM
          3. Install a Tracker Application
          4. Keepeth Thy Drive Encrypted
          5. Brand Your MacBook
          6. Disable Your Wireless
          7. Take a Surge Protector with You
          8. Use Power-Saving Features
          9. Use an External Keyboard and Mouse
          10. Not Again! What Is It with You and Backing Up?
        2. Chapter 24: Ten Things to Avoid Like the Plague
          1. USB 1.1 Storage Devices
          2. Phishing Operations
          3. Oddly Shaped Optical Discs
          4. Submerged Keyboards
          5. Antiquated Utility Software
          6. Software Piracy
          7. The Forbidden Account
          8. Unsecured Wireless Connections
          9. Refurbished Hardware
          10. Dirty Laptops
      8. About the Author
      9. Cheat Sheet
      10. More Dummies Products

    Product information

    • Title: MacBook For Dummies, 5th Edition
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: July 2014
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9781118862346