14 Leopard and iMac Questions - Basic

Question 1

It won't. Use Apple+Left Arrow or Apple+Right Arrow. I think that's the modifier anyway. It's one of the three.

Question 2

Pretty much the same kind of things they are used for in Windows as far as the Command, Option, and CTRL keys are used for... aside from CTRL-ALT-Del that is... 🙂 fn is primarily used for system things. For instance the "8" key might be 8, *, or with function change your volume. It should be listed on the key. The arrow keys are used same as Windows. Moving around stuff.

Question 3
I don't know that there is one set up by default.

Question 4
Basically mounting a downloaded file is kinda like opening a zip file in a directory. Except it is more a "disk" instead of a folder. Anyway, usually you will want to copy the application to your Application folder and run it from there. Some apps work fine in their mounted drive but on occasion you'll get one that won't. Once you have copied the app to somewhere else you can unmount the disk. You can't unmount the disk if you are running the application from that disk.

Question 5
Move it to the trash. It may leave a preference file behind but they are extremely small and not worth hunting down. There is a "pay for" app (AppZapper I think) that will get rid of those files to but for the most part just drag it to the trash.

Question 6

This is the way. Application in your applications folder are actually folders too. They just don't appear that way. I'm guessing most people here keep their frequently used apps on the dock and search for the rest with spotlight, rarely going into their application folder. I would leave apps as they are though for now. No sense in messing up something that works.

Question 7

Usually they are in the app in the help menu or in the case of apps that make folders in your Applications folder, they are in there. Otherwise they are on the web or don't exist.

Question 8

You can, but on rare occasions this might fudge something up. I can't hardly remember the last time I've looked in my applications folder. Use the dock and spotlight.

Question 9

In Applications/Utilities there is "Activity Monitor". It's pretty much the same thing. Or just spotlight (Apple+Space) for "Activity Monitor".

Question 10

The red x always closes an app (or the current window of the app) and the blue one always minimizes it.

Question 11

I believe you can do this in the System Preferences/Keyboard & Mouse.

Question 12

Same as question 11.

Question 13

Not sure about this actually.

Question 14

I think you're talking about stacks on your Dock. Not sure you can.





Annnnnd... pencils down. I probably only got 50% but I'll do extra credit to raise my grade.

There is no Apple key anymore though, the Command key is the same as the Apple key.

Jetheat said:

Hi,

I've just bought a new iMac.
I'm switching over from a PC.

I'm still getting use to the operating system and I have some questions I was hoping some of the nice folks here can help me with.

Question 1
I have a Aluminum Full Wired Keyboard which came with my iMac.
Where is Home and End key which takes yo to the beginning or end of a sentence?

Click to expand...

Don't have that keyboard, but on my MacBook fn+left and fn+right are home and end, respectively. But on a Mac "home" and "end" take you to the home and end of a document (the beginning and end of the whole thing), not the beginning and end of the line. The beginning and end of a line is Cmd + Left and Cmd + Right.

Question 2
What is the Command key generally used for?
What is the Option key generally used for?
What is the CTRL key generally used for?
What is the fn key generally used for?
What are the left/up and right/down arrow keys generally used for?

Click to expand...

Most keyboard shortcuts use the command key. It's your go-to key for any command. It's just used to give an application a command like Hide (Cmd + H), New (Cmd + N) or Undo (Cmd + Z), etc.

The option and shift keys generally give you more options when doing a keyboard command. They can either be derivations from the original Cmd + Key command, or different commands entirely but associated with the same letter. Eg. Cmd + Option + H to "hide others" and Cmd + Shift + Z to "redo."

The Ctrl key is used for system-level and navigation commands. I.e., when using the Terminal access the Unix command line, use Ctrl keyboard commands to send instructions to the system, like Ctrl + C to send a break, etc. When talking about GUI and such, use it for accessing parts of the system that would otherwise be hard to access without a mouse, i.e. Ctrl + 2 giving focus to the menu, Ctrl + 3 to give focus to the Dock, for keyboard navigation, etc.

Fn is used like all other keyboards, to access other keyboard functions that the keyboard is too small to offer otherwise, like Fn + F1 to access "F1" rather than to change the dimness of the screen, or to access Forward Delete by Fn + Delete, or the Home and End keys in the left and right keys.

Umm...left right up and down....let you navigate left right up and down? I'm not sure how you don't know what these do..

Question 3
What shortcut can I use if I Just want to sleep the display only?

Click to expand...

Ctrl + Shift + Eject.

Question 4
When i download an application, It is mounted and shows up on my Finder Sidebar.
What should I do with it? Is there any significance? What if I eject it before I install the application? Need the low-down on this mounting business.

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A dmg file is just like a virtual disk; it's a "disk image". "Mounting" it is just like inserting a CD into your CD drive. When there's an application inside, simply drag the application to your Applications folder to use it. When you unmount, or eject, it's just like taking the CD out. The informations still there on the CD like it's still there in the dmg file. After installing an application, you can safely delete the dmg file.

Question 5
How do I uninstall an application completely without any residue?
In Windows, you have to run an uninstall file before everything goes. How do i make sure everything is gone from an application without any other files hanging around elsewhere? It can't simply be to move the application into the trash can, can it?

Click to expand...

You can usually just drag it to the trash. There will, of course, be a few preference files left in "Library->Application Support." These just save your preferences should you want to reinstall the app later. They usually only take up a few KBs of space, so there's no real advantage to deleting them. If you want, either look in Application Support folder, or use something like AppZapper, AppDelete, etc.

If you installed it using an installer (a pkg file) then if you look around, you should be able to find an uninstaller for it, either in Application Support or by right clicking (ctrl + click) the Application and doing "Show Package Contents."

Question 6
I have Applications in my Applications folder. But some of them contain folders within folders. Is this how everyone normally keeps their apps in the application folder? Is there a better way to just keep the executable file there and the rest of it elsewhere?

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If the application originally came in a folder with lots of support files in the same folder, then it might need them there. In that case, leave it like it is, and it'll be fine. In some cases, you don't need the others, and you can safely just take the .app file. If you're curious, try it with just the .app and see if it works...if not, then you need whatever was in the folders, and the .app most likely needs to be in that folder.

Question 7
Im sure some apps do have their docs and other important files installed somewhere. Where can I find them? In Windows, I would have found them under Program Files, but where are they kept on the Mac?

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The preference files are stored in Library->Application Support, but these are usually very small (a few KB) preference files. On a Mac, most applications (the ones that just come with an icon) are actually themselves a special kind of folder. If you right-click and choose "Show Package Contents," you can see everything inside it. All the important files are actually stored right there inside the .app in your Applications folder. Macs don't like application files scattered all over the place like Windows. If the app came with a pkg installer, it may have bigger, more important, but still nonvital files in Application Support (like GarageBand loops).

Question 8
Is there any way to install an application and have its application executable file in the Applications folder and the rest of its files/docs in another folder or elsewhere?

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Well considering most of the applications files and docs are part of the .app file, as I explained above, no, not really, and there's no reason to. There's no "executable file" in OS X. The whole application (all its files and the "executable" are stored together as a special kind of folder, your .app file.

Question 9
In Windows, I was to be able to see things running in the background as in System Tray on bottom right. How can I make sure Mac applications are running in the Background from the moment i switch on the PC and how can I make sure that they are indeed running.

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What kind of applications do you mean? Like important system processes? Don't worry about them. If you want to, check the Activity Monitor (Applications->Utilities). Everything else should either be in your Dock, where you can see it there, and the rare ones that aren't should be in your menu bar (like Spaces, or something).

Question 10
Some applications close when I close the x button and some minimize to the dock with a blue button. How can I find out which apps will do what?

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In general, if an application can only have one window ever, or if it has no functionality at all without that one window, it will close with the X (like System Pref, iPhoto, Calculator....you can't do anything once you close the window). If you can have more than one window open, or if they retain functionality, the app won't close when you click X (like iTunes can still play music without the window, browsers and office suites won't close, because you can have multiple windows, etc.) Get in the habit of Cmd + W to close a window, and Cmd + Q to quit.

Question 11
How do I assign my own shortcuts to the F keys such as Copy when I press F5 and Paste when I press F6?

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System Pref->Keyboard and Mouse->Keyboard Shortcuts. You can assign keyboard shortcuts for anything you can think of.

Question 12
How do I assign a back and copy command to my Wireless Mighty mouse?

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Don't have a Might Mouse, but I'm pretty sure you'd find it in the same place as above (Sys Pref->Keyboard and Mouse).

Question 13
How do I assign a different font to my Safari Menus (such as bookmarks). They're too fat and they all have the same icon.

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Don't know. Honestly, I don't think you can. Also, all menus have the same font, so I'm not sure why you mentioned Safari in particular.

Or do you mean the toolbars? You can right click on them and go to "Customize" and also tell it to use "Small icons."

Question 14
How do I change folder or application icons to what I want? This will prevent me from seeing the first file icon in stacks.

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Well for a stack, just right click on it and tell it to display as folder rather than display as stack. Individual icons are a little more complicated, but generally you can right-click "Get Info" (or Cmd + i) and select the little icon next to the application/file name and paste a new one in.

I'm sorry for these silly questions but I must get my head around them for me to continue.
I'm sure there will be more questions in my head later but for now...

I appreciate the assistance,

Thanks,

JH

Click to expand...

I hope I was some help.

Other than Q2, I think most of those are answered in my post. Those extra arrows you're referring too--well they're not on my MacBook so I have no idea.

As for Q11 and Q12...

I don't have a Mighty Mouse, just my trackpad, so I can't help you there.

But for the shortcuts, just go to System Preferences -> Keyboard and Mouse -> Keyboard Shortcuts.

Click the little "+" button and keep "All Applications" selected. Then type "Copy" for your command. Then press F5 (or fn+F5) to make that the command. Same for paste. Easy as that. I did it just now, so I know it works. You may have to close and restart any open applications to make it take effect in the ones you already have running.

Once you have copied the app into your Apps folder, there is no need to keep the disk image, you can eject the virtual disk then move the image to the Trash and empty the Trash. The only reason I can think of keeping the image is if you might need it again and don't want to re-download it.

Yes, everything is held in those 4 folders. Though technically there are a multitude of hidden folders/files that OS X uses that you don't need to worry about, which is why they are kept hidden.

No there is no way to find out which apps Quit, and which apps close the window but remain running. The way I see it is if it makes sense for the app to be useful to you with more than one window open, like Safari or Mail, then closing a window will not quit it. On the other hand, things like System Preferences and iLife have one window where you can pretty much do everything, so those will Quit.

And the sleep display shortcut was answered by kuwisdelu (OMG I never knew that 😱 thanks)

EDIT: *iLife = iPhoto

Jetheat said:

When an image is mounted, can I drag the entry in my finder sidebar to the applications folder or do I have to drag the image on my desktop to the applications folder? Or does it not make a difference?

Click to expand...

Not entirely sure what you mean. The mounted image isn't what you want to drag to the Applications folder. You want to drag the .app file (with application icon) that's in the mounted image to the Applications folder. You are right, though, that the mounted image that appears on your desktop is the same as the one in your Finder sidebar. It doesn't matter which you use to drag the application.app to your Applications folder.

and once you have dragged the contents out of the image, simply eject it (drag to the trash).🙂

As for your question about "where are all the files that go with the program?", right click or ctrl click on one of your apps and select "View package contents". That application you are clicking on isn't like a windows .exe file. It's actually more like clicking on the Adobe CS3 folder and having the application launch. Just don't dink around with the stuff in there. You'll probably end up messing something up and for the most part never need to go in them.

Jetheat said:

Thanks guys,

I need help assigning these two commands to my mouse buttons. Copy and Back.

See if you can do it on your own mac.

Let me know,

JH

Click to expand...

I'm (pretty) certain you can assign "back" to a button on it, because I'm think many people here have that. Sadly, I don't have a mouse to test it out with. If no one else comes along, perhaps try a Google search? Rest assured, it is possible, though.

Jetheat said:

Thanks guys,

I need help assigning these two commands to my mouse buttons. Copy and Back.

See if you can do it on your own mac.

Let me know,

JH

Click to expand...

Didn't have any luck with the default driver on mine, even allocating scripts to the buttons proved unreliable and slow.

Now I use SteerMouse http://plentycom.jp/en/steermouse/index.html it lets you easily allocate keyboard commands for copy, back, etc. I use left and right of the scroll ball to issue the keyboard command for backwards and forwards, the side button is set to close a tab.

I don't think anyone has answered your question 10 about closing applications.

First, you need to understand that 95% of the time, the red X does NOT quit the application. If you want to quit the app, press CMD-Q or select "Quit" from the App's menu in the menu bar.

The Red x generally only closes the window. This behaviour is so you can close a window, but not quit the application. For example, closing a window in Photoshop but leaving the app open.

Now, there are some exceptions, as you noted. Generally, applications that have ONLY one window (and can only have one window) will close completely when you hit the red X. Examples I can think of off the top of my head are iPhoto and System Preferences. It is an inconsistancy, and it is slightly annoying. Just one of those things, however. If you want to get rid of the window on one of those programs without quitting the app, just press CMD-H to hide it. You can restore it by pressing the apps icon in the dock.

I don't think there is a list of apps that behave in this manner...you'll just have to try it and see. However, I would say that only a very few apps behave this way--most of them will only close the window when you hit the red x, not quit the application...

Hope that helped...

SilentPanda said:

Question 5
Move it to the trash. It may leave a preference file behind but they are extremely small and not worth hunting down. There is a "pay for" app (AppZapper I think) that will get rid of those files to but for the most part just drag it to the trash.

Click to expand...

I see people saying that, but it's simply not true. Take for example GarageBand, in the application folder it only takes up a mere 100MB of storage, but the garageband folder in /library/application support/garage band/ takes well over 700MB of space, any installed Adobe applications will also take up over a gig of space in the library folder, and I noticed several other applications do this as well. Its the very simple applications that might take "extremely small space". And of course if you are cleaning up your harddrive all thos extras simply add up.

I don't understand why over a decade apple hasn't addressed that problem and treats it like a "non issue".

Jetheat said:

Rquestioned in Bold below.
I'm talking about the diagonal arrows next to my delete key. They don't seem to move anything. Do you know what they are for?

Click to expand...

I was looking on here to find out how to scroll directly to the top or bottom of a page.

I read your question and discovered that the diagonal arrows do just that🙂


The keys next to these move the page up and down incrementally.

Using the shift + the diagonal arrows on an email or a Pages document highlights the text above or below the cursor.

On the link below it appears that the wired keyboard has now changed and the diagonal keys are now designated 'Home' and "End' and those next to it are 'Page up" and 'Page Down'.

http://www.apple.com/keyboard/

Jetheat said:

Hi,


Question 5
How do I uninstall an application completely without any residue?
In Windows, you have to run an uninstall file before everything goes. How do i make sure everything is gone from an application without any other files hanging around elsewhere? It can't simply be to move the application into the trash can, can it?

Click to expand...

If you want to delete the preference files you can do a "spotlight" search for the application name & it should show up any preference files associated with that application.

Spotlight: Searching software built into Macintosh computers. The Spotlight program builds a database of information about all the files on a computer by cataloging all items found when the computer is first started and any items added thereafter. When you type a search term into the Spotlight field, Spotlight checks its database for any files related to that term, and presents a list. While the initial cataloging may take a few minutes, subsequent Spotlight searches appear instantaneous.

Stephenbw said:

I was looking on here to find out how to scroll directly to the top or bottom of a page.

I read your question and discovered that the diagonal arrows do just that🙂


The keys next to these move the page up and down incrementally.

Using the shift + the diagonal arrows on an email or a Pages document highlights the text above or below the cursor.

On the link below it appears that the wired keyboard has now changed and the diagonal keys are now designated 'Home' and "End' and those next to it are 'Page up" and 'Page Down'.

http://www.apple.com/keyboard/

Click to expand...

Ohh now I realize what those buttons are. I was wondering what those keys could be and why I don't have them. The "arrow" versions are the international keyboard symbols that correspond to "home" and "end." They're the same thing.

Oh, and as for the extra files issue. It's usually very easy to tell whether an application has big files or if they're just negligible preference files. ...it just depends whether you had to use an actual installer to install it or not. If you use a .pkg file to install the application, it's highly likely that the installer is making big files for the application to use. Also chances are, that if the program came with an installer, if you hunt around a little bit, you'll also find an uninstaller. If it's a regular .app that you just drag to the Applications folder, chances are it's just going to have a preference file that's only a few kilobytes, and these applications are probably 70-80% of most applications people install. Honestly, I don't see what's so difficult about it.