You know the situation: you quit an app or close a document, and out slides a dialog (known as a “sheet” in OS X) asking you to Save / Don’t Save / Cancel.
On Windows, you can move through these buttons with the Tab key or the Arrow keys. But by default on OS X, that doesn’t work. Even some Mac users find this annoying, myself included.
There are two workarounds. The first is to learn some simple shortcuts.
On Windows, when you’ve finished using a particular piece of software, you close it with the X symbol in the top right corner of the application window.
Many switchers assume that the window close control in the top left of an OS X application window does the same job: but that’s not quite true.
The Menu Bar sits at the top of your screen at all times. Let’s take a moment to get to know it. It’s worth doing, because the Menu Bar is going to be one of your best friends.
When you used Windows, you were used to see menus inside each document window. File, Edit, all that stuff – every window had those menus built-in.
On the Mac, those menus do broadly the same job. They’re just in a different place.
This first tip starts with the very basic basics. Lots of more advanced stuff is coming very soon.
The first time you start your new Mac, you’ll see a screen that looks similar to the one above. If all you’ve ever used before is Windows machines, it might seem a little weird and intimidating.
So, here’s a super-quick guide to the geography of the Mac desktop.
Running across the top of the screen is the Menu Bar.
The Menu Bar stays there all the time, it is ever present. You’ll be using it a lot, so take a good look at it. We’ll cover the details of the Menu Bar in another post, coming soon.
At the bottom of the screen is the Dock, which also stays in sight all the time (but it doesn’t have to). Those symbols you see down there are applications, or programs, that you can use. Click on one to launch it.
The Dock does lots of things, some more useful than others. It’s also very adaptable; you don’t have to leave the Dock looking like that. You don’t have to have that particular set of icons on it. You don’t even have to keep it down there at the bottom of the screen. The Dock is yours to command: you can make it much more useful by customizing it a little. As with the Menu Bar, we’ll take a closer look at the Dock – and how to bend it to your will – in another post.
(You’re reading the first post in our series, 100 Essential Mac Tips And Tricks For Windows Switchers. Find out more.)
In the few short hours since we announced our new series, 100 Essential Mac Tips and Tricks For Windows Switchers, we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from you gorgeous Cult readers.
We’ve been deluged with emails from brand new, recent, and soon-to-become switchers asking questions and looking for help. It’s clear that there’s plenty of people out there with tips to share and questions that need answers.
So, to everyone who’s sent something in already: thank you. You guys rock. We will do our best to answer all your queries as we go along.
We’ve also had some mails from long-term Mac users who understand OS X just fine, but often encounter newcomers facing the same problems over and over again. Thanks to you guys too; your observations are spot-on and will come in very useful during this series.
If you have a tip you think should be included, or a question about something that’s been puzzling you ever since you shut down Windows for the last time, send them all along to us at 100tips@cultofmac.com.
Starting tomorrow, Cult of Mac will be publishing a series of posts simply called “100 Essential Mac tips and tricks for Windows switchers.”
These will be short, simple posts explaining one thing at a time. They’re aimed very squarely at people who don’t know much about OS X. Complete beginners who have only recently started using a Mac, and still don’t quite understand how it all fits together.
The posts are also a work in progress, and we’d love to hear your ideas for things that should be included on the list.
So if you are one of those newcomers to OS X and you have a question you want answered; or if you’re an experienced Mac user and have noticed something that your newbie friends always get wrong – let me know. I’ll be delighted to hear your suggestions and use the best ones in future posts.
Send your ideas to 100tips@cultofmac.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
