Getting to Know OS X

Smart Folders

A folder is just a folder, right? Wrong. Folders on your Mac can be turned into Smart Folders, which intelligently select their contents from the search criteria you select. This is a nifty time-saver if you have lots to sift through. In the Finder, select New Smart Folder from the File menu and then enter a search term into the field at the top right. If you wish, you can also select where the folder looks for any matching files. The folder will now populate with all the results based on your chosen criteria and you can save it to any location and even include it in the Finder sidebar.

Force Quit Alright, twist our arms and we'll admit it; occasionally Mac applications will crash. When this happens you have the option to go to Force Quit in order to tackle any application that refuses to respond. By pressing Option +Cmd+Esc you can quickly bring up the Force Quit menu, which lists all of your open apps and those that are not responding and quit them from there. You can also click and hold on an app's icon in the Dock to bring up a menu with the Force Quit option that will do the same job and kill a troublesome app. Getting to Know OS X

Connect to Wifi

Connect to the internet If you want to connect to your internet, you can quickly and easily connect to the web using your Mac's System Preferences or the wifi icon (top right of the screen).

Don’t forget make sure your router is turned on. Now select your wireless network from the drop-down menu and enter your password if required. When you're done, click Join. If it’s a school network you will need to enter a proxy (see Open Spotlight from the menu bar. Use next page for this). Spotlight to search for files such as documents, emails, dates in Calendar and Then open up Safari from your Dock to make sure webpages that you've visited. Spotlight also everything is working correctly and you can access the does maths equations! internet.

Teachers notes:

Apple & Other Software

Launch your apps

Your Mac comes with many applications already installed. In OS X Lion and later, you can see all your apps by clicking the Launchpad icon in the Dock.

You can also open apps via the Dock, from the Applications folder, with an alias, or by opening a file associated with Launch Pad looks a lot like an iPad the app.

You can find much more software for your Mac online with the Mac App Store. Simply click its icon in the Dock to visit the App Store. After purchasing and downloading, applications are automatically installed in your Applications folder, and added to the Launchpad. To get updates for Mac App Store applications and With an iTunes account you download apps OS X Mountain Lion, simply open the App Store and click the Updates tab.

Use full screen apps Prior to the days of Lion, the silver toolbar that sits atop the OS X screen was always there. Lion changed this by introducing full screen apps, which take advantage of all your screen size. For native Apple programs like Safari things work pretty well, but not all third party apps support the function yet. Apple & Other Software

Install apps from the web

So, this one might seem massively obvious but believe us, if you have just moved from Windows, it is worth explaining how you get things installed on OS X. Essentially, unlike Windows operating systems, apps are installed simply by dragging them into the applications folder. You might find some Double click .dmg Double click mounted file applications, particularly those downloaded, come in the form of .dmg files.

If this is the case, double click them to open them and then drag the app icon into your apps folder. Mainstream applications, like Skype for example, once downloaded will open a folder which features the app icon and your normal applications folder. Just drag it to the app folder to install. Easy peasy.

Drag app into application folder

Remove apps

Removing apps is about as straightforward as it gets with OS X Lion. You just drag them straight into the trash and hit Empty. They may leave the odd file fragment in your system but it's nothing that a decent cleanup app, say like Cleanmymac, won't solve. You can also actually go into system's preferences, found in the folder marked Library on your hard disk, and delete the related .plist files. Although we do suggest not messing with this folder as it can cause errors. Your Mac shouldn't slow down much over time particularly as its file systems work very differently. Apple & Other Software

Use Photobooth

If you are one of the lucky few who has a new iMac or MacBook, then using Photobooth should be even better, thanks to the new Facetime HD cam. Photobooth is the classic Mac photo warping program. You can snap yourself with a whole host of different effects including mirroring or even green screen style backgrounds.

To access Photobooth click on the magnifying glass on the top right and type it in, hit enter when the application icon appears. Great app for if you need to take a quick serious pic of yourself for the Internet. Set up your email

You’ll probably want to set up your email to work with your Mac. You may even want to add more than one mail account to the Mail application. This is incredibly simple to do yourself with many of the most popular email services such as Gmail, Yahoo! and Apple's MobileMe.

Start by launching Mail and following the instructions to add your email address to the app so that it can search and display your messages. To add a new Mail account to your existing setup, simply open Mail, select Preferences from the Mail menu and under the Accounts tab, click the plus button at the bottom left of the interface then follow the set process. Apple & Other Software

Using Safari

Safari is the Mac’s own Internet browser. It is simple to use but if you wish, you can download Chrome or Firefox instead.

Using Preview

Preview is the Mac’s inbuilt PDF reader and maker. You can also annotate PDFs and images. Apple & Other Software

Use the new look calendar OS X Lion brought a new calendar app along with it. iCal now looks more like the one you see on the iPad and features an easier way to add quick events and manage your commitments. The real thing you want to do with iCal however, is sync it up nicely with your Google and other web-based calendars. Hit Preferences, then the plus icon and sign in with your relevant credentials. The calendar will then populate with your information.

Try out iLife The core of Apple’s user experience is driven by things like iLife. Once you get used to each individual application, they all begin to compliment each other perfectly. Start off with iPhoto, upload some images from your camera and then begin tagging them. Really straightforward stuff. iMovie will then let you send stills from iPhoto and even take songs in from iTunes. The last and biggest part of iLife is Garageband.

Make Photo books, calendars, videos, websites, dvds, music, podcasts and much more

Apple & Other Software

Connect your camera

iPhoto makes it easy to download your 4. Open iPhoto if it does not open camera's photos to your hard drive. automatically. 5. iPhoto displays your camera or the 1. Make sure you have the latest iPhoto name you gave your media card in the and OS X updates installed by checking devices list of the iPhoto sidebar. the App Store (OS X Mountain Lion) or 6. Type a name for your group of photos in Software Update. the Event Name field, such as "Nevada 2. Connect your camera to your Mac using Vacation" or "Company Party Photos." the USB cable that came with your 7. Click Import Selected to only import camera. selected photos from your camera, or click Import X Photos to import all Note: If your Mac has an SD card slot photos from your camera. iPhoto will and your camera uses a compatible SD import pictures and movies from your card, you can simply insert the card into camera. your Mac instead of connecting the 8. When prompted, click Delete Photos to camera via a USB cable (then skip to delete them from your camera or SD step 4). card. Or click Keep Photos to keep them on your cameras or SD card. 3. Turn on your camera. If your camera 9. To disconnect the camera when needs to be set to a certain mode to finished, control-click the device in the transfer photos, do so now but check devices list and select Unmount, or your camera manual if you're not sure power off the camera. To disconnect an how. The camera or more precisely, its SD card, click the Eject button to the media card, appears in the devices right of the device. When the camera or section of the Finder sidebar as a card disappears from the list you can mounted volume. safely remove it.

Apple & Other Software

Camcorders & Digital Video Here's how to connect a camcorder to your computer and capture footage in iMovie.

1. Connect your camcorder to your computer, using the cable that came with it. 2. Turn on your camcorder and set it to PC Connect mode (this mode may have a different name on your camcorder). 3. Open iMovie. 4. If the Import window doesn't open, choose File > Import from Camera from the iMovie menu, or click the video camera button above the Event Library list. The Import window displays all the video clips on your camera. 5. You can use the playback controls in the iMovie interface to view your camcorder footage in the iMovie monitor pane. 6. To select all clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Automatic, and then click Import All. To import specific clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Manual. Deselect the clips you don't want to import, and click Import Checked. The first time you import from a video camera that records high-definition (HD) video, an HD Import Setting dialog appears. Even if you aren't importing high-definition, video now, select Large or Full, and then click OK. 7. From the Save to pop-up menu, choose a location to store the videos. 8. In the Create new Event field enter an event name and then click Import. Apple & Other Software

Edit a class or school movies iMovie is now simpler than ever to use, so you have no excuse not to edit those movie clips you've recorded over the years. In most cases you can import your videos, add titles and a soundtrack, green screen and iMovie will do the rest. If you want to get more involved, you can add new transitions and sound effects. When you're done, send your video to YouTube, save it to DVD or even share it by email. Apple & Other Software

Design a website or class blog

How could we fail to mention iWeb when it comes to building your own homepage? There are a bunch of great templates to choose from within the app, regardless of whether you want to create a blog or a photo gallery. You can even post podcasts and videos to your site to share with your friends. With a MobileMe subscription, you can host your site quickly and easily, and make changes that are published immediately. Show your friends just what your new Mac can do by building your own little corner on the web today.

Try out iWork Apple actually does a really good job at word processing, spreadsheet making and powerpoint presentations. Unlike the usual Microsoft Office excitement, everything is done with that Apple shine and costs quite a bit less. Open up the App Store and search for Pages, Numbers and Keynote. All three are the equivalent of Microsoft’s offering and can save in the relevant formats. They’re £13.99 each and have iPad equivalents which can manage things just as well. Apple & Other Software

Write an eBook

iWork now lets you export your Pages documents in ePub format, which is used by iBooks and the Kindle. You don't have to do anything different with your document other than save it in this format for it to be viewable on supported devices. Pages makes it easy to combine text and images in your documents and the templates available make your work look even better.

Present research With Keynote, learners can present their research with style. Teachers can import old Powerpoint presentations.

Present spreadsheets and data

With Numbers, learners can present their research with style. Teachers can import old Excel spreadsheets.