Introduction
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR There’s no question that you’ll get some good out of this WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK book no matter how much of a Mac expert you are. DP: Everybody who’s ever worked Heck, even if you throw away the book, the accompany- with a Mac already knows that you ing 600 MB of spectacular software will make you discard a file by moving its icon to mighty glad you picked it up. the Trash can, that you select text by dragging across it, and that you end But we may as well admit that this book completely the day by choosing Shut Down skips over the basics of using a Macintosh. If you don’t from the Special menu.The world already know how to point and click, open windows, doesn’t need another book to define insert a disk, use a menu, and open a control panel, you scroll bar. should take a moment to play with the animated pro- JS: So when we started writing gram called either Mouse Practice or Macintosh Basics this book, we worked from one that came with your Mac. Read a manual. Read Macs For simple, overarching concept: Under Dummies, a really good beginner’s book from IDG no circumstances would we define Books (written by one of your present authors). Do scroll bar. whatever you have to do. DP: Instead, we decided to tell As a matter of fact, here are the terms we’re going to secrets: secrets about how a Mac really be tossing around without any definition: works, secrets that software program- Ô-key, Ú menu, backup copy, click, control panel, mers buried in programs but forgot to cursor, Delete key, desktop, double-click, File menu, tell the manual writer, secrets that floppy disk, folder, font, hard drive, icon, K (kilobyte), answer some of the most frequently keyboard, launch a program, MB (megabyte), menu, asked (and seldom answered) quest- ions about Macintosh computing, menu command, monitor, mouse, numeric keypad, secrets such as how to recover a file Option key, point, quit a program, Return key, spacebar, after you’ve dragged it to the Trash — scroll bar, System 7, title bar (of a window), Trash. and emptied the Trash. xxxi xxxii Macworld Mac SECRETS, 4th Edition
JS: Or what would happen if you didn’t On the other hand, this book doesn’t go to the choose Shut Down and just switched the very technical ends of the Mac universe, either. It Mac off.What are you supposed to do doesn’t talk about programming in C language or when you try to select text, but the mouse using DAL or hooking up to a mainframe. And we seems jerky, sticky, and out of control? And what about those times when your Mac wouldn’t tell you what you can accomplish by appears to be going just plain berserk — going inside your Mac with a soldering gun — when turning the machine off doesn’t even if we knew. even turn it off? This book is for everybody in the middle — DP: All those elusive, mystical Ô-Option- everybody who’s no longer impressed by the way Shift-Tab-Question Mark key sequences that the Trash can bulges when something’s in it, but are whispered at little-known user groups… wouldn’t mind knowing how to change a file’s icon or unlock the hidden 5MB of storage space on JS: The little animated surprises that lurk inside commercial programs… every hard drive. DP: The trick to connecting two Macs together with a piece of phone wire, or getting your PowerBook safely through SECRETS OF THIS BOOK the X-ray machine, or making your icons invisible to prying eyes… The biggest secret to getting the most out of this book is understanding its structure. Each topic is JS: …at last, it’s all been collected into divided into halves.The first part is a general discus- one substantial paperback written by a sion, like a miniarticle. It’s followed by the Secrets: couple of former college roommates. undocumented, often never-before-published hints DP: Is there anything else you think we and tips for pushing your Mac to its max. should mention? JS: Do the words free software mean anything to you? DP: Good point.We’ve included an PART BY PART incredible stash of great programs on a Here’s how the primary book sections are broken CD-ROM at the end of the book. down: JS: We were both sick of reading books PART I: SYSTEM SOFTWARE REVEALED unearths insider that tell you about some great software and then send you to your local user group information about the free software you got with or store to find it. So we decided from the your Mac — namely, the System software that fills outset that this book would be different. If that black System CD-ROM or that mound of we mention something you need, we white System disks. But we won’t mention only the included it with the book. Finder (and aliases and labels and Trash and the DP: And not only shareware.We’ve also Desktop file), but also the important Installer, your included commercial software, from actual control panels, your Apple menu, and all those software companies such as Adobe, Claris, Apple Extras. And, best of all, this part identifies all the System-folder clutter you can throw out. Introduction xxxiii
PART II: SECRETS OF THE MACHINE takes you into the Dantz Development, Abbott Systems, Now actual mechanics of the Mac. You won’t go so far in Software, MicroFrontier, Affinity, and Nova that you’ll need a degree in electrical engineering; Development. And we’ve even thrown in a you’ll just learn enough of the inner workings to be couple of programs written especially for this book — totally exclusive software. All useful. This part, for example, actually gives a this adds up to a book that delves into the decent explanation of how to use virtual memory. inner workings of the machine, the It includes a Disk Chapter, a Memory Chapter, and hardware behind the hardware, the raw special coverage of the Power Macs, Performas, code, the… and PowerBook laptops. Chapters 12 and 13 even JS: Wait a minute, this isn’t going to be contain detailed Mac-by-Mac model descriptions one of those horribly dry, technical, IBM- so that you’ll know what you bought, how it can be style books that probes the depths of upgraded, and how much technology has marched programming and discusses things like — on since you bought your machine. like DIP switches, is it? PART III: APPLICATION SECRETS covers the programs DP: DIP switches won’t even be you probably use in day-to-day work: major play- mentioned. ers such as ClarisWorks, Word, Excel, and JS: So then why is there a “DIP Switch” FileMaker, as well as software like ResEdit that can entry in the index? help make the Mac more yours. This part is a DP: Because you just said DIP Switches. whole book-within-a-book, with enough expert Once you say it, it goes in the index. Now insight to make you say “Wow” at least once per it’s part of the book. page. JS: Just because I said it. PART IV: ATTACHMENTS is about everything you DP: Yes! That’s how indexes work. So, attach to your computer — printers (and, there- anyway, we think this book will show you fore, fonts), modems (and, therefore, the Internet how to get the most from your Mac and and America Online), scanners, CD-ROM players, increase the… NuBus and PCI cards, and networks. At the end of JS: So if I say “DOS,” suddenly DOS is in this part is a troubleshooting chapter that, among the index? other things, contains our Rule of Three: a trou- bleshooting trick that solves about 99 percent of DP: Right, so quit saying stuff like that. typical mysterious Mac crashes and odd behaviors. I’m trying to finish this obligatory introductory section… PART V: THE SECRETS SOFTWARE VAULT describes the dozens of fantastic programs that come with this JS: What about AUTOEXEC.BAT? And COM1? And RS-422 port? book. They come, by the way, on a CD-ROM. If you don’t have a CD-ROM drive, the publisher will DP: Stop it! Stop it! send you floppy disks, free, containing the best of JS: Just checking. this software. Call IDG Books at 800-434-3422. DP: Shall we begin? JS: Let’s. xxxiv Macworld Mac SECRETS, 4th Edition
SIDEBARS Along the way, we intend to spice things up with special minitopics:
MACINTOSH SECRET TRUE FACT
A Macintosh Secret has,we True Facts,however,may not end suppose,much in common with happily.These are fun tidbits a regular Hint or Trick or Tip.But from the world of high-powered to qualify for its own special Silicon Valley politics:tales of sidebar,a Macintosh Secret must Apple intrigue or Adobe have particular juiciness,a warfare,and other trivia. surprising element,or special pertinence to the discussion at hand. CASE HISTORY Case Histories are true stories from real life,reflecting the DIALOGUE genuine agony of trying to solve As you can imagine, writing a tightly a computer problem as deadlines integrated book like this is difficult loom.Of course,we’ve selected for one person.We found that it may only stories with happy endings. even be tougher for two; sometimes we (JS and DP) simply couldn’t agree. In those instances, you’ll get both sides of the story in the form of a Dialogue between your coauthors. ANSWER MAN You’ll hear the conservative, careful Each Answer Man contains an actual view (usually Joe’s) versus the devil- question asked by an actual may-care, it’s-under-warranty- imaginary Macintosh user, and our anyway stance (usually David’s). actual attempt to answer it.
FINDING THE GOOD PARTS Finally, you’ll find icons in the margin of this book. Here’s what they’re about:
SPEED TIP icons are for people in such a hurry that they don’t even have the
Speed Tip time to scan our Secrets for efficiency tips; these symbols mark our time-sav- ing tips.
EXCLUSIVE icons point to something that we’re particularly proud of because Exclusive we discovered it ourselves. Introduction xxxv
ON THE CD icons let you know that, whatever the current discussion is about, you don’t have to go out and buy some program to make it work. The soft- On the CD ware you need is on a CD-ROM, right at the back of this book.
STRANGE BUT TRUE icons indicate an oddity we bet you didn’t know. Even though the Mac is the world’s most self-explanatory computer, there’s a lot of Strange weirdness going on behind that platinum-colored plastic. But True
WORTH LEARNING icons mark a technique most people don’t bother with. But we, as seasoned veterans, have found a tip marked by this icon particularly Worth worth making part of your work routine. Learning
CONTEST WINNER icons alert you to Secrets submitted by readers — the best 50, in fact. These lucky 50 readers each received a free copy of this book, just as Contest you’ll receive a copy of the Fifth Edition if we choose your Secret to publish Winner (see the contest details below).
WHAT’S NEW IN SECRETS 4.0 As you know, computer years are like dog years — seven of them for one of our years. This edition hit the shelves only ten months after the previous one appeared, because it had to; so many aspects of Macintosh life had changed that a major overhaul was already appropriate. You’ll find changes on almost every page. You’ll find new discussions of the upcoming onslaught of System versions (what’s left of Copland); Jaz disks; OpenDoc and Cyberdog; SCSI Fast and SCSI Wide; America Online 3.0; Internet Relay Chat; the Rescued Items folder; new Power Mac, Performa, and PowerBook models; speech recognition; Mac OS 7.6 and Mac OS 8; and many other major developments. And we had to double-check every single Secret to make sure it still works. You might wonder what we cut to make way for all of this good new stuff. The answer is: just about every remaining shred of System 6 information. If your Mac still runs this operating system that exited the scene in 1991, we’re indeed sorry. (Anyway, the lost material isn’t really gone; you’ll find it neatly stuffed onto the CD-ROM that accompanies this book!) Finally, we overhauled the software that comes with this book. We’ve added even more commercial programs: Claris Emailer, CanOpener, Square One, KeyQuencer 2.0, MicNotePad, and QuickTalk are among the new ones. Second- edition favorites like the invaluable Color It, Tempo EZ, and Color Coordinator are still here — software you could purchase on your own for literally hundreds xxxvi Macworld Mac SECRETS, 4th Edition
of dollars. And we’ve included many times more hand-picked shareware and freeware programs; you’ll never have to go scampering to America Online to find some useful utility we describe in the text. You’ll even find a special folder brought to you by Apple’s advanced-technology evangelists: speech, video con- ferencing, Internet phone, Cyberdog, and other software. And, finally, if you look carefully on the CD, you’ll get to meet your cheerful authors in person, star- ring in our own pathetic little QuickTime movie. See Chapter 34 for the complete list and descriptions of the CD goodies.
YOU ASKED FOR IT We get copies of every single feedback postcard (from the back of this book). If you fill yours out and mail it in, we read it. By far the most frequent suggestions we receive are: “Give us an electronic, searchable edition!” You got it.The book in your hands is also on the accompanying CD in an electronic, searchable format. Now you can take Mac SECRETS with you on your PowerBook, too. “Keep the book updated!” That’s the purpose of our free online updates (see “Free Electronic Updates,”below) — and our new, expanded Web page (http://www.idgbooks.com/idgbooksonline/macsecrets). “Clean up the design!” Here again, the readers have spoken, and we obeyed. IDG has completely redesigned the book’s layout, making it, we think, much easier to read and scan. The column width is easier to take in in one eyeball pass, the fonts look much sharper, and — perhaps most important of all — we can fit much more information on a page. As a result, we’ve been able to include coverage of many more topics without increasing the book’s thickness or cost. “Give us a title we can remember!” We feel your pain. The old title, Macworld Mac & Power Mac SECRETS, was designed to hint that the book was equally useful to owners of both regular Macs and the new Power Macs. Today, of course, every Mac made is a Power Mac — that is, built around the PowerPC processor. Therefore, it’s safe for the book to return to its original first-edition title — the short, friendly, Macworld Mac SECRETS. “The book is too big! Sell it as separate volumes.” The publisher really did consider this suggestion — for about 11 seconds. We were told that this kind of packaging would jack up the cost of the book and prevent book- store browsers from checking the book out (because it would have to be wrapped in plastic). Bummer. Introduction xxxvii