macOS High Sierra: Up To Speed

macOS High Sierra: Up To Speed

R.M. Hyttinen

Copyright & License Notes

macOS High Sierra: Up to Speed

By R.M. Hyttinen

Copyright © 2017 by R.M. Hyttinen.  All rights reserved.

Published by PCM Courseware, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

http://pcmcourseware.com

ISBN: 978-1-943005-06-2

Examples used in this book are fictional.  Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, incidents, organization or events is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.  Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors and omissions.  Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of information contained within.

If you found this book helpful, please consider leaving a review wherever you purchased this book.  Also consider telling your friends about it to help me spread the word about my book.

Thank you so much for supporting my work!

License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold, given away to other people or used in any type of training classes. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite e-book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Trademark Acknowledgements

Apple, Mac and macOS High Sierra are registered trademarks of the Apple Corporation.  All other known trademarks have been appropriately capitalized and are the property of their respective owners.

Introduction

As the author and founder of PCM Courseware, I am delighted to bring you the next in our Up To Speed series of guides:  macOS High Sierra - Up To Speed.  Since 2003, PCM Courseware has been publishing innovative Print-On-Demand electronic courseware for both the PC and the Macintosh and beginning with the Up to Speed series, we are now creating software guides for everyone, not just for software trainers.

My mission is to create guides to make learning technology concepts easy, no matter what kind of learner you are. The guides are simple to use yet comprehensive in their effectiveness. Many students find the step-by-step approach of our manuals to be a valuable self-study resource.

You do not need to read the book sequentially, although this can certainly be helpful if you are just starting out with the Mac operating system.  I’ve written the book from scratch, starting with basic macOS High Sierra topics and moving on to more advanced features of the operating system, designed to help you to become more productive more quickly.

If you are looking to accomplish a specific task, be sure to take advantage of the handy Table of Contents.

So let’s get started with macOS High Sierra – Up to Speed.

Chapter 1 - The Fundamentals

Operating System Basics

Welcome to Apple’s latest operating system, macOS High Sierra 10.13!  Before we begin to work with the Macintosh, it is helpful to understand what exactly macOS High Sierra is and what it does.  High Sierra is the latest generation of the Macintosh operating system, incorporating an innovative new look and feel.

An Operating System is a software program that controls just about everything your computer does, such as:

Controls the application programs that run on your computer

Controls the computer’s hardware

Implements user management utilities and features such as the Finder and the Dock

Organizes the files and folders on your computer

High Sierra is actually made up of two operating systems, which provide for maximum power and flexibility.  These are:

Unix – A powerful and complex command-line interface

Metal 2 – The graphical overlay of macOS High Sierra.

Older versions of the Mac operating system included Mac OS 9 Classic support, allowing you to run your pre-OS X computer applications on OX 10.  The classic environment is no longer supported on newer Intel-based Macintosh computers or under the macOS High Sierra operating system.  Additionally, those applications that need Rosetta to run are also no longer supported.  High Sierra also introduces a new graphics framework called Metal 2, which offers better performance and smoother animations due to system level painting and drawing.

If you are new to computers or to the Mac, you are about to embark on an exciting new journey – the discovery of macOS High Sierra.

So, let’s get started!

Logging Onto Your Mac

The most basic task you will need to do with your computer is turning it on and logging onto your Mac.  To turn on your computer, find your computer’s On/Off switch.  Assuming your computer is plugged in correctly, macOS High Sierra should launch.

Depending on how your computer is set up, you may be presented with a list of users who have been added to the computer’s account list. Click your username, type your assigned password in the text box and then press the Return or Enter key (depending on your keyboard).

If you are about to turn on a brand new out-of-the-box Mac, you will need to configure your computer first.  After you turn on your computer, your Mac will prompt you for some information:  your name, the language you prefer, keyboard layout (US or Canada), short name (the name you want to give to your Home folder), and the password you want to use to log on to your Mac.  You may be prompted to set up your iCloud account (more on iCloud later).  If you already have a wireless network available, your Mac should identify it.  If your network is security enabled, you will need to provide your Wi-Fi password or key.  We’ll discuss setting up a new network in a later section.

You are now ready to begin working with your Macintosh!

To log on to your Mac, do this:

1.  Find the computer’s On/Off switch.

2.  Press the On/Off switch.

3.  Move your cursor over the icon that corresponds to your username and then click your mouse button.

4.  Type your password in the password box.

5.  Click Log in.

Understanding the Mac Interface

This section will help you become familiar with the High Sierra screen, also known as the Desktop.  The Desktop is the first screen you will see after logging in to the computer.  The table below summarizes the major elements of the macOS High Sierra screen.

Don’t worry if the Mac screen appears mystifying or confusing at first.  Each of these elements will be covered in detail in subsequent sections.  This section is just to introduce to you to major parts of the Desktop.

Major Elements of the macOS High Sierra Screen

Apple Menu

The Apple Menu is used for a variety of Mac system commands such as opening System Preferences, modifying the Dock properties, logging out, restarting your computer, selecting a network location and jumping to recent items.

Desktop

This is the large background area of the High Sierra screen.  The desktop is where you may find shortcuts to your favorite folders, documents, and applications.

Menu Bar

Displays the Mac menus used to execute commands.  Clicking on a menu displays a list of commands for that menu.

Menulets

Icons that display in the menu bar, such as date and time or Airport connection status.

Notification Center

The Notification Center provides a place for all of the alerts from various applications.  You can easily view all of your appointments, events, and reminders from the Today tab of the Notification Center.

The Dock

The Dock is a band of icons that launch programs, files or folders that you use often.  When you open another application or minimize a document window, its icon will then appear in the Dock.  The Dock also includes the Trash. To delete a file, drag it to the Trash.

Trash

Files and folders that you delete are moved to this folder.

Using the Mouse

The Mouse, a small device that is connected to your computer (or connected to it wirelessly), allows you to select and move objects on the screen.  The mouse is associated with the Mouse Pointer on your screen.  The mouse pointer is used to point to and select objects on your screen.  When you move the mouse on your desk, the pointer moves on your screen.  To move the pointer left, move your mouse to the left on your desk.  Likewise, to move your pointer up, down or to the right, move your mouse upwards, downwards or to the right, respectively.

The mouse pointer normally takes one of three forms:  Standard Pointer, Insertion Point, and Rotating Beach Ball.

The Standard Pointer is the most common appearance of the pointer. When the Standard Pointer appears, it looks like an arrow pointing to the upper left, at about a 30-degree angle. In Standard Pointer mode, you can move the mouse and single click to highlight an icon, double-click (click twice in rapid succession) to open an item and click and drag to do a number of different actions, such as highlighting more than one item at the same time, or moving an item.

The next common pointer is the Insertion Point. This pointer appears when you move the mouse and place the cursor over an area in a text-based program, such as a word processor, the Terminal or even a text field in a dialog box. When the pointer is in this mode, you can usually perform text-based actions, such as clicking once to place the cursor (commonly called setting the insertion point), or clicking and dragging to select a section of text.

The third type of pointer is the Rotating Beach Ball (sometimes referred to as the Beach Ball of Death). This pointer appears when an application is busy processing a task and cannot do anything else at the current time.  You are unable to do anything with that application while the beach ball is spinning except wait.

Mouse Actions

Selecting is the process of choosing an object in order to perform some action.  For instance, you may wish to open an application or move a file from one location to another. There are five basic Mouse Actions that you will use to select objects:

• Single-Click – Press and release the mouse button once.  This action is used to select an icon or to click a button in a dialog box.

• Double-Click – Quickly press and release the mouse button twice in rapid succession.  This action is used to open an application, a document or a folder.

• Right-Click (also known as Control-Click) – Press and release the right mouse button once.  This action is used with a two-button mouse and usually produces a pop-up menu.  To produce this same result with a one-button mouse, hold down the Ctrl key and then press the mouse button.

• Click-and-Drag – Press the mouse button and, with the mouse button still pressed down, move the mouse.  This action is used to select text in a document or to select more than one sequential item at a time.

• Drag-and-Drop – Used to move items from one location to another.  Move your mouse pointer over the item you wish to move and then press and hold down the mouse button.  With the mouse button still held down, move or drag your mouse until the mouse pointer is in the location where you want to place the item.  Release the mouse button to drop the item.

If you are using a two-button mouse, pressing the right-mouse button often produces a contextual shortcut menu.  This is the equivalent of pressing down the Control key and clicking with a one-button mouse.  You can use either a one-button or two-button mouse with your Mac.

Using the Keyboard

The Keyboard is another device that is connected to your computer.  You may already be familiar with the keyboard.  However, there are several special keys on the Mac keyboard that allow you to use keyboard shortcuts instead of using the mouse.  One key that you will find on a Mac compatible keyboard that is typically used in combination with one or more other keys is the Command (⌘) key.  Holding down a combination of keys executes a particular command associated with that keystroke combination.  For example, holding down the key combination of ⌘ + W (The Command key and the W key) will close the active window.

It is important to note that the Control key, which is often labeled Ctrl, is not the equivalent of the Control key on a non-Mac keyboard.  One of the main purposes of the Control key on a Mac is for control-clicking to display shortcut menus. The Option key is often used to display hidden menus or to add special characters.

Below is a list of common keyboard shortcuts.  Keep in mind that not all shortcuts will work in all applications.

Common Keyboard Shortcuts

Cut:  ⌘ + X

Copy:  ⌘ + C

Paste:  ⌘ + V

Select All: ⌘ + A

Undo:  ⌘ + Z

Redo:  ⌘ + Shift + Z

Delete:  ⌘ + Backspace

Page Top:  ⌘ + Up Arrow

Page Bottom:  ⌘ + Down Arrow

Line Begin: ⌘ + Left Arrow

Line End:  ⌘ + Right Arrow

Previous Word:  ⌘ + Option + Left Arrow

Next Word:  ⌘ + Option + Right Arrow

Save: ⌘ + S

Save As: ⌘ + Shift + S

Force Quit: ⌘ + Alt + Escape

Switch Window:  ⌘ + `

Screen Shot:  ⌘ + Shift  + 3, ⌘ + Shift + 4

Font Panel:  ⌘ + T

Color Panel:  ⌘ + Shift + C

Close Window  :  ⌘ + W

Quit Program:  ⌘ + Q

Hide Program:  ⌘ + H

New Window:  ⌘ + N

New Folder:  ⌘ + Shift  + N

Open Spotlight Box:   ⌘ + Space

Investigating Menus

In the last section, we learned how to give commands to your Mac by using keystroke combinations.  Another common way to issue a command is by use of menus.  A menu is a categorized list of commands relevant to a particular application and is located near the top of the window.  The menu titles are displayed on the menu bar.  To display the commands for a menu title, position your mouse pointer over the title and click your mouse button.

Common menu items are File, Edit, View, and Help.  A disclosure triangle to the right of the menu name indicates that the menu contains a submenu.  You can trace to the submenu with your mouse pointer to execute the submenu’s command.

The Apple menu (click the Apple icon) located on the top left of the screen contains many Mac system commands such as Sleep, Restart and Shut Down.  From here, you can also access System Preferences, display recently opened applications and documents or browse applications in the App Store.

To use menu commands, do this:

1.  Move your mouse pointer over the desired menu title on the menu bar.

2.  Click with your mouse to display the menu.

3.  Move your mouse pointer downwards to the desired command to highlight it.

4.  Click the mouse button.

5.  To display a submenu, move your mouse pointer over the disclosure triangle and trace to the submenu with your mouse pointer.

Using Shortcut Menus

Shortcut menus appear when you Right-Click an item (or Ctrl-Click an item if you are using a one-button mouse).  A shortcut menu is a pop-up menu that contains many useful commands.  For example, to view the properties of an icon, press and hold the Ctrl key, click the icon, and then select Get info from the shortcut menu.

To use shortcut menus, follow these steps:

1.  Press and hold down the Ctrl key.

2.  Click the item whose shortcut menu you want to display.

3.  Click the desired menu command in the shortcut menu.

4.  Click anywhere on your screen to close the shortcut menu.

Or

1.  If using a two-button mouse, right-click on the item whose shortcut menu you want to display.

Using Gestures with a Trackpad

If you are using a Mac laptop such as a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or are using an external Trackpad instead of a mouse (some people even use both!), then you can take advantage of Gestures.  Gestures allow the use of a trackpad, which converts certain finger movements into equivalent mouse movements.  For example, double-tapping the trackpad is the equivalent of double-clicking with your mouse.  Tapping a trackpad with two fingers is the equivalent of right-clicking your mouse.  Apple’s Magic Mouse contains a multi-touch surface enabling the use of gestures as well.

High Sierra provides a preference pane that can be accessed by clicking the Trackpad icon in the System Preferences pane, which can help you become more familiar with gesture options.

To view the Trackpad Pane, follow these steps:

1.  Click the Apple icon on the menu.

2.  Select System Preferences from the menu.

3.  Click the Trackpad icon.

4.  Click the Point & Click, Scroll & Zoom, or More Gestures tab.

5.  Set any desired gesture options by clicking the appropriate checkbox.

6.  When finished, click System Preferences on the menu and then click Quit System Preferences.

Using the Dock

The Dock is a 3-D ribbon located by default on the bottom of the screen that gives you quick access to the applications, folders, and documents that you use most often.  To open an item on the Dock, click on the icon for the item you wish to launch.  Hovering your mouse pointer over any icon on the Dock displays the item’s name above the icon.

The Dock is divided into two sections divided by a vertical line.  The items to the left of the line are applications.  The items to the right of the line are everything except for applications (shortcuts to documents, folders, minimized windows, etc.)  When you launch an application, its icon displays in the Dock until you exit the application.  A small black dot appears on the bottom of the Dock icon to