Introduction
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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.