OS X Yosemite For Dummies

Book description

Get the most out of the latest version of OS X

Updated and revised for the latest OS X release from Apple, OS X Yosemite For Dummies gives you fun, easy-to-understand coverage of the key features and tools needed to get the most out OS X. Inside, you'll get up and running on OS X basics; customizing your workspace; working with the Dock; finding files with Spotlight; working with Mission Control and Launchpad; organizing your life with Calendar, Reminders, Notes, and Notifications; browsing the web with Safari; setting up, sending, and receiving e-mail; communicating through Messages; enjoying music, movies, and digital photos; writing documents with TextEdit; getting where you're going with Maps; and much more.

Combining the power and stability of UNIX with Apple's legendary elegance and style, OS X is the default operating system installed on every desktop and laptop computer sold by Apple. OS X Yosemite For Dummies clearly explains the ins and outs of Apple's operating system in the straightforward but fun language that has defined the For Dummies series for more than twenty years.

  • Richly illustrated in full color and updated to reflect the latest version of OS X

  • Covers the key features and tools readers need to start using OS X

  • Shows you how to use OS X to make your work and personal life more organized and fun

  • If you're a first-time Apple consumer just switching over from a PC, or a beginner-to-intermediate Mac user upgrading to the newest version of OS X, this comprehensive and all-encompassing guide will have you whizzing around OS X like a pro in no time.

    Table of contents

      1. Introduction
        1. About This Book
        2. Conventions Used in This Book
        3. Foolish Assumptions
        4. Beyond the Book
        5. Icons Used in This Book
        6. Where to Go from Here
      2. Part I: Introducing OS X Yosemite: The Basics
        1. Chapter 1: OS X Yosemite 101 (Prerequisites: None)
          1. Gnawing to the Core of OS X
          2. A Safety Net for the Absolute Beginner (or Any User)
            1. Turning the dang thing on
            2. What you should see on startup
            3. Shutting down properly
            4. A few things you should definitely not do with your Mac
            5. Point-and-click boot camp
          3. Not Just a Beatles Movie: Help and the Help Menu
        2. Chapter 2: The Desktop and Windows and Menus (Oh My!)
          1. Touring the Finder and Its Desktop
          2. Anatomy of a Window
            1. Top o’ the window to ya!
            2. A scroll new world
            3. (Hyper)Active windows
          3. Dialog Dealie-Boppers
          4. Working with Windows
            1. Opening and closing windows
            2. Resizing windows and window panes
            3. Moving windows
            4. Shuffling windows
          5. Menu Basics
            1. The ever-changing menu bar
            2. Contextual menus: They’re sooo contextual!
            3. Recognizing disabled options
            4. Navigating submenus
            5. Underneath the Apple menu tree
            6. Using keyboard shortcut commands
        3. Chapter 3: What’s Up, Dock?
          1. A Quick Introduction to Your Dock
            1. The default icons of the Dock
            2. Trash talkin’
            3. Opening application menus on the Dock
            4. Reading Dock icon body language
            5. Opening files from the Dock
          2. Customizing Your Dock
            1. Adding Dock icons
            2. Removing an icon from the Dock
            3. Resizing the Dock
            4. What should you put on your Dock?
            5. Setting your Dock preferences
        4. Chapter 4: Delving Deeper into the Finder and Its Desktop
          1. Introducing the Finder and Its Minions: The Desktop and Icons
            1. Introducing the Desktop
            2. Bellying up to the toolbar
            3. Figuring out what an icon is
            4. Identifying your Finder icons in the wild
          2. Aliases Are Awesome!
            1. Creating aliases
            2. Deleting aliases
            3. Hunting down an alias’s parent
          3. The View(s) from a Window
            1. Moving through folders fast in Column view
            2. Perusing in Icon view
            3. Listless? Try touring folders in List view
            4. You gotta go with the flow
            5. What’s on the (View) menu?
          4. Finder on the Menu
            1. The actual Finder menu
            2. Like a road map: The current folder’s pop-up menu
            3. Going places with the Go menu
          5. Customizing Finder Windows
            1. Adding folders to the Sidebar
            2. Setting Finder preferences
          6. Digging for Icon Data in the Info Window
      3. Part II: Inside Yosemite (Or How Stuff Works)
        1. Chapter 5: Have It Your Way
          1. Introducing System Preferences
          2. Putting a Picture on the Desktop
          3. Setting Up a Screen Saver
          4. Putting Widgets on the Dashboard
            1. Translation
            2. Flight Tracker
          5. Giving Buttons, Menus, and Windows a Makeover
          6. Adjusting the Keyboard, Mouse, Trackpad, and Other Hardware
            1. Keyboard
            2. Mouse
            3. Bluetooth
            4. Trackpad (notebooks and desktops with a Magic Trackpad)
          7. Styling Your Sound
            1. Changing sound effects
            2. Choosing output and input options
        2. Chapter 6: The Care and Feeding of Files and Folders
          1. A Quick Primer on Finding Files
          2. Understanding the OS X Folder Structure
            1. Understanding nested folders
            2. From the top: The Computer folder
            3. Peeking into the Applications folder
            4. Visiting the Library folders
            5. Let it be: The System folder
            6. There’s no place like Home
            7. Your personal Library card
          3. Saving Your Document Before It’s Too Late
            1. Stepping through a basic Save
            2. Save As versus Duplicate: Different names for the same result
          4. Open, Sez Me
            1. With drag-and-drop
            2. With a Quick Look
            3. When your Mac can’t open a file
            4. With the application of your choice
          5. Organizing Your Stuff in Folders
            1. Files versus folders
            2. Organizing your stuff with subfolders
            3. Creating new folders
            4. Navigating with spring-loaded folders
            5. Smart folders
          6. Shuffling Files and Folders
            1. Moving files and folders
            2. Selecting multiple icons
            3. Playing the icon name game: Renaming icons
            4. Comprehending the Clipboard
            5. Copying files and folders
            6. Pasting from the Clipboard
            7. Compressing files
            8. Getting rid of icons
          7. The Incredible New iCloud Drive
        3. Chapter 7: Four Terrific Timesaving Tools
          1. With a Quick Look
            1. Share and share alike with the Share menu
            2. Slide into Slideshow (full-screen) mode
          2. Spotlight on Finding Files and Folders Faster
            1. Using the Search box in Finder windows
            2. Using the Spotlight menu and window
            3. Finding files by other attributes
          3. Exposé Yourself to Mission Control
            1. The Mission Control pane: It’s painless
            2. Hot corners!
            3. Spaces from 30,000 feet (an overview)
            4. Getting around in space(s)
          4. Launchpad: The Place for Applications
          5. Customizing Your Launchpad
        4. Chapter 8: Dealing with Disks
          1. Comprehending Disks
            1. Some disks need to be formatted first
            2. Moving and copying between disks
          2. Surprise: Your PC Disks Work, Too!
      4. Part III: Getting Things Done in Yosemite
        1. Chapter 9: Organizing Your Life
          1. Keeping Track with Calendar
            1. Navigating Calendar views
            2. Creating calendars
            3. Deleting a calendar
            4. Creating and managing events
          2. Reminders: Protection Against Forgetting
            1. Getting started with Reminders
            2. To do or not to do: Setting reminders
          3. Everything You Need to Know about the Notification Center
          4. Use Notes for Making Notes
        2. Chapter 10: (Inter)Networking
          1. Getting Connected to the Internet
            1. Your Internet service provider and you
            2. Setting up your modem
            3. Plugging in your Internet-connection settings
          2. Browsing the Web with Safari
            1. Owning your toolbar
            2. Using the Safari Sidebar
            3. What’s on your Reading List?
            4. Using the terrific Top Sites page
            5. Searching with Google
            6. Checking out Help Center
          3. Audio and Video Calls with FaceTime
        3. Chapter 11: Finding People and Places
          1. Collecting Your Contacts
            1. Adding contacts
            2. Importing contacts from other programs
            3. Creating a basic group
            4. Setting up a smart group (based on contact criteria)
            5. Deleting a group or smart group
            6. The view is lovely
            7. Sync + Contacts = Your contacts everywhere
          2. Maps Are Where It’s At
            1. Finding your current location with Maps
            2. Finding a person, place, or thing
            3. Views, zooms, and pans
            4. Maps and Contacts
            5. Timesaving map tools: Favorites, Recents, and Contacts
            6. Smart map tricks
        4. Chapter 12: Communicate with Mail and Messages
          1. Sending and Receiving Email with Mail
            1. Setting up Mail
            2. A quick overview of the toolbar
            3. Composing a new message
            4. Sending email from the Contacts app
            5. Working with stationery
            6. Checking your mail
            7. Dealing with spam
            8. Changing your preferences
            9. Mail rules rule
            10. Mailboxes smart and plain
            11. Sign here, please
            12. Take a (Quick) look and (Slide) show me some photos
            13. The Yosemite Duo: Markup and Mail Drop
          2. Communicating with Messages
            1. What the heck is an iMessage?
            2. Chit-chatting with Messages
        5. Chapter 13: Sharing Your Mac and Liking It
          1. Introducing Networks and File Sharing
            1. Portrait of home office networking
            2. Three ways to build a network
          2. Setting Up File Sharing
          3. Access and Permissions: Who Can Do What
            1. Users and groups and guests
            2. Creating users
            3. OS X knows best: Folders shared by default
            4. Sharing a folder or disk by setting permissions
            5. Useful settings for permissions
            6. Unsharing a folder
          4. Connecting to a Shared Disk or Folder on a Remote Mac
          5. Changing Your Password
            1. Changing your account password on your Mac
            2. Changing the password of any account but your own on your Mac
            3. Changing the password for your account on someone else’s Mac
          6. More Types of Sharing
            1. Screen Sharing
            2. Web Sharing
            3. Internet Sharing
            4. And yet more ways to share
      5. Part IV: Getting Creative in Yosemite
        1. Chapter 14: The Musical Mac
          1. Introducing iTunes
          2. Working with Media
            1. Adding songs
            2. Adding movies and TV shows
            3. Adding podcasts
            4. Learning from iTunes U
            5. Listening to iTunes Radio
          3. All About Playlists
            1. Creating a regular playlist
            2. Working with smart playlists
            3. Burning a playlist to CD
            4. Looking at the Genius playlist
        2. Chapter 15: The Multimedia Mac
          1. Playing Movies and Music in QuickTime Player
          2. iBooks on the Mac
            1. Buying iBooks
            2. Shopping for books without Apple
            3. Reading iBooks
          3. You’re the Star with Photo Booth
          4. Viewing and Converting Images and PDFs in Preview
          5. Importing Media
            1. Downloading photos from a camera
            2. Downloading DV video from a camcorder
        3. Chapter 16: Words and Letters
          1. Processing Words with TextEdit
            1. Creating and composing a document
            2. Working with text
            3. Adding graphics to documents
          2. Font Mania
            1. Types of fonts
            2. Managing your fonts with Font Book
            3. Installing fonts manually
        4. Chapter 17: Publish or Perish: The Fail-Safe Guide to Printing
          1. Before Diving In . . .
          2. Ready: Connecting and Adding Your Printer
            1. Connecting your printer
            2. What about wireless printing?
            3. Setting up a printer for the first time
            4. One last thing: Printer sharing
          3. Set: Setting Up Your Document with Page Setup
          4. Print: Printing with the Print Sheet
            1. Printing a document
            2. Choosing among different printers
            3. Choosing custom settings
            4. Saving custom settings
          5. Preview and PDF Options
      6. Part V: The Care and Feeding of Yosemite
        1. Chapter 18: Features for the Way You Work
          1. Talking and Listening to Your Mac
            1. Dictation: You talk and your Mac types
            2. Commanding your Mac by voice
            3. Listening to your Mac read for you
          2. Automatic Automation
            1. AppleScript
            2. Automator
          3. A Few More Useful Goodies
            1. App Store
            2. Accessibility
            3. Energy Saver
            4. Bluetooth
            5. Ink
            6. Automatic Login (Users & Groups System Preferences pane)
            7. Boot Camp
            8. AirPlay Mirroring
        2. Chapter 19: Safety First: Backups and Other Security Issues
          1. Backing Up Is (Not) Hard to Do
            1. Backing up with Yosemite’s excellent Time Machine
            2. Backing up by using the manual, brute-force method
            3. Backing up by using commercial backup software
          2. Why You Need Two Sets of Backups
          3. Non-Backup Security Concerns
            1. About viruses and other malware
            2. Firewall: Yea or nay?
            3. Install recommended software updates
          4. Protecting Your Data from Prying Eyes
            1. Blocking or limiting connections
            2. Locking down files with FileVault
            3. Setting other options for security
        3. Chapter 20: Utility Chest
          1. Calculator
          2. Activity Monitor
          3. AirPort Utility
          4. ColorSync Utility
          5. DigitalColor Meter
          6. Disk Utility
            1. First Aid tab
            2. Erase tab
            3. Partition tab
            4. RAID tab
            5. Restore tab
          7. Grab
          8. Grapher
          9. Keychain Access
          10. Migration Assistant
          11. System Information
          12. Terminal
        4. Chapter 21: Troubleshooting OS X
          1. About Startup Disks and Booting
            1. Finding or creating a startup disk
            2. They call it a prohibitory sign for a reason
          2. Recovering with Recovery HD
            1. Step 1: Run First Aid
            2. Step 2: Safe Boot into Safe Mode
            3. Step 3: Zapping the PRAM/NVRAM
            4. Step 4: Reinstalling OS X
            5. Step 5: Things to try before taking your Mac in for repair
          3. If Your Mac Crashes at Startup
      7. Part VI: The Part of Tens
        1. Chapter 22: Almost Ten Ways to Speed Up Your Mac Experience
          1. Use Those Keyboard Shortcuts
          2. Improve Your Typing Skills
          3. Resolution: It’s Not Just for New Year’s Anymore
          4. A Mac with a View — and Preferences, Too
          5. Get a New, Faster Model
          6. You Can Never Have Too Much RAM!
          7. Get an Accelerated Graphics Card
          8. Get a New Hard Drive
          9. Get a Solid-State Drive (SSD)
        2. Chapter 23: Ten (or So) Great Websites for Mac Freaks
          1. Macworld
          2. The Mac Observer
          3. The Unofficial Apple Weblog
          4. TidBITS
          5. Download.com
          6. Alltop
          7. Apple Support
          8. Other World Computing
          9. EveryMac.com
          10. dealmac
          11. Dr. Mac Consulting
      8. About the Author
      9. Cheat Sheet
      10. More Dummies Products

    Product information

    • Title: OS X Yosemite For Dummies
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: October 2014
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9781118991190