Thank you for attending Get To Know Your Mac. I hope you find this outline helpful to you as a reference to the material we covered. I have included videos and links to various things I think you may find helpful. If you have any further questions don't hestiate to contact Mike.
Customizing Your Mac - Ch. 12
There are numerous things on your Mac that you can customize. Many of these customizations can be done inside the System Prefernces app.
System Preferences - Ch. 12 pg. 236-237
To open System Preferences you can either use Spotlight, Launchpad, or access it via the Apple menu in the upper left corner of your Mac.
This is where you can customize the settings of your Mac.
- Desktop/Screensavers
- Energy Settings
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Printers
- Along with many more!
Dication
You can turn on Dictation via the System Preferences app. Dicatation allows you to talk to your Mac and it will type for you.
You can learn more about Dication on Apple's website
Dashboard - Ch. 12 pg. 256-257
Dashboard provides access to several fun and functional, mini applications called widgets. OS X includes widgets for some of your favorite Mac apps, like Contacts and Calendar. These widgets give you quick access to your contacts and events without having to open up an app.
You can learn more about Dashboard on Apple's website.
AppleID
Your AppleID is your Passport to the Apple world. It is used for numerous Apple services including:
- App Store
- Apple Online Store
- Apple Retail services and programs (Concierge, One to One, Joint Venture, workshops, and youth programs)
- Apple Store app
- Apple TV
- FaceTime
- Find My Friends
- Find My iPhone
- Game Center
- iBooks Store
- iCloud
- iMessage
- iTunes Genius
- iTunes Home Sharing
- iTunes Match
- iTunes Radio
- iTunes Store
- iTunes U
- Jobs at Apple (jobs.apple.com)
- Mac App Store
You can learn how to change your Apple ID password by visiting Apple's website.
App Store - Ch. 9 pg 146-147
The Mac App Store is the built in way to purchase and update software.
Benefits of the Mac App Store include:
- Open 24/7/365
- Always in stock
- Can install apps on every Mac you own
- Can always redownload apps for FREE
There are various areas of the App Store:
- Featured - Hand picked apps by Apple employees
- Top Charts - Most downloaded apps
- Categories - Browse apps by type of app
- Search - Search for a specific app that you are looking for
You can learn more about the App Store on Apple's website.
Safari - Ch. 4 pg. 52-71
Safari is the web browser that comes with every Mac. The book and Apple's website covers Safari in good detail.
Tabs - pg. 54-55
You can have multiple websites open at the same time by utilizing tabs. To open a new Tab you can:
- Press Command + T
- Click on the little + sign on the far right side of the screen
- File > New Tab
To close a tab you hover over the tab and press the little x on the left hand side of the tab.
Search For Sites - pg. 64-65
In the Smart Search Field you can type in a search term and hit enter to perform a search. As you type suggestions will come up and you can click on the suggestion for it to perform a web search on that search term.
If you know which website you want to visit you can type in the website name cnn.com in the Smart Search Field and press enter on the keyboard and it will take you directly to that site skipping the web search.
If you see a word on the screen that you don't recognize you can get a defintion by right clicking on it or by tapping three fingers on the trackpad.
Check out the blog post that I wrote about this trick!
To right click:
- Press Control on keyboard and click trackpad or mouse
- Press down the right side of your Magic Mouse
- Put two fingers on trackpad and press down
When an article is loaded on a website press the Reader button on the right side of the Smart Search Field to get a nice clean copy of the article.
Reading List - pg. 70-71
Reading List is a great for saving articles you don't have time to read when you discover them.
You can learn more about Safari on Apple's website.
Mail - Ch. 5 pg. 74-91
I like using the Mail app on the Mac because it is quicker than logging into a website to check my email and it interacts with the people in my Contacts app.
Send An Email Message - pg. 76-81
When composing a message you can attach files and photos. You can also add a signature at the end of your message. The book covers how to do this.
Various elements in an email message can be interacted with. If you see the following things:
- Phone numbers
- Physical addresses
- Email addresses
- Dates & Times
- Tracking numbers
You can hover your mouse over them and click on the little box with a triangle in it to interact with them. You can:
- Add things to your Contacts app
- Add things to your Calendar app
- Look up things in the Maps app
- Track a package online
You can learn more about Data Detectors on Apple's website.
Creating Folders (Mailboxes) - pg. 90-91
You can create folders or mailboxes to file various emails. You can always create folders or mailboxes on Your Mac (only accessible on that specific Mac) or on the email server (accessible on every device logged into that email account). Some email services do not support adding folders or mailboxes directly on the email server.
You can learn more about the Mail app on Apple's website.
Contacts & Calendar - Ch. 7 pg. 106-109
The book shows how to:
- Add a new contact
- Edit a contact
- Create a contact group
You can also print out envelopes and labels by clicking on File > Print and then choosing your options.
You can learn how to Print envelopes and labels on Apple's website.
The book shows how to:
- Navigate the calendar
- Create an event
- Create a repeating event
- Send or respond to an event invitation
You can learn more about the Calendar app on Apple's website.
Messages & FaceTime - Ch. 6 pg. 94-103
Messages is an app that allows you to send iMessages to other Apple devices. It's kinda like sending a text message but can only be received by iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, and Macs.
Even though a person may have an Apple device you may still not be able to send a message to them from your Mac if they have not registered their AppleID with the Messages app.
The book shows you how to:
- Send a message
- Send a file in a message
FaceTime is an app that allows you to video or audio chat with other Apple devices. It is similar to Skype.
Even though a person may have an Apple device you may still not be able to send a message to them from your Mac if they have not registered their AppleID with the Messages app.
The book shows you how to:
- Connect Through FaceTime
iCloud - Ch. 14 pg. 282-299
iCloud is a set of online services that allow you to:
- Sync Information
- Locate Your Mac
- Share Photos
You can access iCloud by opening up the System Preferences app on your Mac.
You can check boxes for:
- Contacts
- Calendars
- Reminders
- Notes
- Safari
If the box is checked it will now sync these items to iCloud and they become accessible on other devices that are logged into your iCloud account (iPad, iPhone, PC).
Note: If you check the box for Notes it will require you to setup a free iCloud email address.
A really neat feature of iCloud is sharing photos with your friends and family.
You can learn how to share photos with iCloud on Apple's website.
If you turn on the Find My Mac option in the iCloud settings in System Preferences, you can locate where your Mac is if it gets lost or stolen. The book shows you how you would determine the location of your Mac on iCloud.com
Note: This only works if your Mac is turned on and connected to the internet so you wouldn't be able to find your Mac if the battery dies.