OS X® Yosemite For Dummies®

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OS X® Yosemite For Dummies

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014946665

ISBN 978-1-118-99119-0 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-99121-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-99122-0 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Bob LeVitus, often referred to as “Dr. Mac,” has written or co-written more than 70 popular computer books, including iPhone For Dummies, iPad For Dummies, OS X For Dummies for every version of OS X since time immemorial, all for John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; Stupid Mac Tricks and Dr. Macintosh for Addison-Wesley; and The Little iTunes Book and The Little iDVD Book for Peachpit Press. His books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Bob also pens the popular Dr. Mac column for the Houston Chronicle, and has since 1996. He’s been published in dozens of newspapers and computer magazines over the past 25 years and his achievements have been documented in major media around the world. (Yes, that was him juggling a keyboard in USA Today a few years back!)

Bob is known for his expertise, trademark humorous style, and ability to translate techie jargon into usable and fun advice for regular folks. Bob is also a prolific public speaker, presenting more than 100 Macworld Expo training sessions in the United States and abroad, Macworld keynote addresses in three countries, and Macintosh training seminars in many U.S. cities. (He also won the Macworld Expo MacJeopardy World Championship three times before retiring his crown.)

Bob is considered a leading authority on Apple technology. From 1986 to 1989, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the first desktop-published Mac magazine, The MACazine; from 1989 to 1997, he was a contributing editor/columnist for MacUser magazine, writing the Help Folder, Beating the System, Personal Best, and Game Room columns at various times.

In his copious spare time, Bob heads up a team of expert technical consultants who do nothing but provide technical help and training to Mac, iPhone, and iPad users via telephone, email, and/or unique Internet-enabled remote control software that allows the team to see and control your Mac no matter where in the world you may be.

If you’re having problems with your Mac, you ought to give them a try. You’ll find them at www.boblevitus.com or 408-627-7577.

Prior to giving his life over to computers, Bob worked in advertising at Kresser/Craig/D.I.K., a Los Angeles advertising agency and marketing consultancy and its subsidiary, L & J Research. He holds a B.S. in marketing from California State University.

Dedication

For the seventy-something-th time (I’ve lost count), this book is dedicated to the love of my life, my wife and best friend, Lisa, the person who taught me almost everything I know about almost everything I know (except technology).

And, again for the umpteenth time, this book is also dedicated to my adults (they’re not kids anymore), Allison and Jacob, who love Apple gadgets almost as much as I love them (my adults, of course, not my gadgets).

Finally, although it makes me sad, I dedicate this book to my longtime technical editor, the late Dennis R. Cohen, who did a fabulous job on every edition of OS X For Dummies prior to this one. This one’s for you, Dennis.

Author’s Acknowledgments

Also for the seventy-something-th time, hats off to my super-agent, Carole “Swifty” Jelen, who has represented me for as long as I’ve been writing books — almost 25 years and you are still the world’s greatest agent.

Special thanks to everyone at Apple who helped me turn this book around in record time: Keri Walker, Monica Sarkar, Janette Barrios, Greg (Joz) Joswiak, Teresa Brewer, and others too numerous to mention. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Big-time thanks to the gang at Wiley: Kyle “Worry-Free” Looper, Aaron “Back in” Black, Andy “Big Boss Man” Cummings, Barry “Still No Humorous Nickname” Pruett, and everyone else at Wiley who put their heart and soul into getting this book to you.

Thanks also to my family and friends for putting up with me during my all-too-lengthy absences during this book’s gestation.

Super-special thanks to Saccone’s Pizza, Sodastream, The Garden Spot Café & Catering, The Noble Sandwich, J. Mueller Meat Company, Black’s Barbecue, and Torchy’s Tacos, for sustenance during the writing process.

And last but certainly not least, thanks to you, gentle reader, for buying this book.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

Acquisitions Editor: Kyle Looper

Sr. Project Editor: Mark Enochs

Copy Editor: Teresa Artman

Technical Editor: Galen Gruman

Editorial Assistant: Claire Johnson

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond

Cover Image: Front Cover image: ©iStock.com/Lucyna Koch.

Chapter 1

OS X Yosemite 101 (Prerequisites: None)

In This Chapter

Understanding what an operating system is and is not

Turning on your Mac

Getting to know the startup process

Turning off your Mac

Avoiding major Mac mistakes

Pointing, clicking, dragging, and other uses for your mouse

Getting help from your Mac

Congratulate yourself on choosing OS X, which stands for (Macintosh) Operating System X — and that’s the Roman numeral ten, not the letter X (pronounced ten, not ex). You made a smart move because you scored more than just an operating system (OS) upgrade. OS X Yosemite includes several new features that make using your Mac easier and dozens of improvements that help you do more work in less time.

In this chapter, I start at the very beginning and talk about OS X in mostly abstract terms; then I move on to explain what you need to know to use OS X Yosemite successfully.

If you’ve been using OS X for a while, some of the information in this chapter may seem hauntingly familiar; a number of features that I describe haven’t changed from earlier versions of OS X. But if you decide to skip this chapter because you think you have all the new stuff figured out, I assure you that you’ll miss at least a couple of things that Apple didn’t bother to tell you (as if you read every word in OS X Help — the only user manual Apple provides — anyway!).

Tantalized? Let’s rock.

One last thing: If you’re about to upgrade to Yosemite from an earlier version of OS X, you might want to peruse the article on installing and reinstalling Yosemite in full and loving detail, found at www.dummies.com/extras/osxyosemite.

Gnawing to the Core of OS X

The operating system (that is, the OS in OS X) is what makes a Mac a Mac. Without it, your Mac is a pile of silicon and circuits — no smarter than a toaster.

“So what does an operating system do?” you ask. Good question. The short answer is that an OS controls the basic and most important functions of your computer. In the case of OS X and your Mac, the operating system

  • Manages memory
  • Controls how windows, icons, and menus work
  • Keeps track of files
  • Manages networking
  • Does housekeeping (No kidding!)

Other forms of software, such as word processors and web browsers, rely on the OS to create and maintain the environment in which they work their magic. When you create a memo, for example, the word processor provides the tools for you to type and format the information. In the background, the OS is the muscle for the word processor, performing crucial functions such as the following:

  • Providing the mechanism for drawing and moving the onscreen window in which you write the memo
  • Keeping track of a file when you save it
  • Helping the word processor create drop-down menus and dialogs for you to interact with
  • Communicating with other programs
  • And much, much more (stuff that only geeks could care about)

So, armed with a little background in operating systems, take a gander at the next section before you do anything else with your Mac.

One last thing: As I mention in this book’s Introduction (I’m repeating it here only in case you normally don’t read introductions), OS X Yosemite comes with more than 50 applications. Although I’d love to tell you all about each and every one, I have only so many pages at my disposal. If you need more info on the programs I don’t cover, may I (again) recommend OS X Yosemite All-in-One For Dummies, written by Mark L. Chambers, or iLife For Dummies, written by my old friends Tony Bove and Cheryl Rhodes (both published by Wiley).

A Safety Net for the Absolute Beginner (or Any User)

In the following sections, I deal with the stuff that OS X Help doesn’t cover — or doesn’t cover in nearly enough detail. If you’re a first-time Macintosh user, please, please read this section of the book carefully; it could save your life. Okay, okay, perhaps I’m being overly dramatic. What I mean to say is that reading this section could save your Mac or your sanity. Even if you’re an experienced Mac user, you may want to read this section. Chances are you’ll see at least a few things you’ve forgotten that will come in handy now that you’ve been reminded of them.

Turning the dang thing on

Okay. This is the big moment — turning on your Mac! Gaze at it longingly first, and say something cheesy, such as, “You’re the most awesome computer I’ve ever known.” If that doesn’t turn on your Mac (and it probably won’t), keep reading.

Apple, in its infinite wisdom, has manufactured Macs with power buttons on every conceivable surface: on the front, side, and back of the computer itself, and even on the keyboard and monitor.

So if you don’t know how to turn on your Mac, don’t feel bad; just look in the manual or booklet that came with your Mac. It’s at least one thing that the documentation always covers.

These days, most Macs have a Power button near the keyboard (notebooks) or the back (iMacs). It usually looks like the little circle thingy you see in the margin.

Don’t bother choosing Help⇒Mac Help, which opens the Help Viewer program. It can’t tell you where the switch is. Although the Help program is good for finding out a lot of things, the location of the power button isn’t among them. If you haven’t found the switch and turned on the Mac, of course, you can’t access Help anyway. (D’oh!)

What you should see on startup

When you finally do turn on your Macintosh, you set in motion a sophisticated and complex series of events that culminates in the loading of OS X and the appearance of the OS X Desktop. After a small bit of whirring, buzzing, and flashing (meaning that the OS is loading), OS X first tests all your hardware — slots, ports, disks, random access memory (RAM), and so on. If everything passes, you hear a pleasing musical tone and see the tasteful gray Apple logo in the middle of your screen, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1: This is what you’ll see if everything is fine and dandy when you turn on your Mac.

Here are the things that might happen when you power-up your Mac:

  • Fine and dandy: Next, you might or might not see the OS X login screen, where you enter your name and password. If you do, press Return after you type your name and password, of course, and away you go.

    If you don’t want to have to type your name and password every time you start or restart your Mac (or even if you do), check out Chapter 18 for the scoop on how to turn the login screen on or off.

    Either way, the Desktop soon materializes before your eyes. If you haven’t customized, configured, or tinkered with your Desktop, it should look pretty much like Figure 1-2. Now is a good time to take a moment for positive thoughts about the person who convinced you that you wanted a Mac. That person was right!

  • Blue/black/gray screen of death: If any of your hardware fails when it’s tested, you may see a blue, black, or gray screen.

    Some older Macs played the sound of a horrible car wreck instead of the chimes, complete with crying tires and busting glass. It was exceptionally unnerving, which might be why Apple doesn’t use it anymore.

    The fact that something went wrong is no reflection on your prowess as a Macintosh user. Something is broken, and your Mac may need repairs. If this is happening to you right now, check out Chapter 21 to try to get your Mac well again.

    If your computer is under warranty, dial 1-800-SOS-APPL, and a customer service person can tell you what to do. Before you do anything, though, skip ahead to Chapter 21. It’s entirely possible that one of the suggestions there can get you back on track without your having to spend even a moment on hold.

    Figure 1-2: The OS X Yosemite Desktop after a brand-spanking-new installation of OS X.

  • Prohibitory sign (formerly known as the “flashing question mark on a disk”): Most users eventually encounter the prohibitory sign shown in the left margin (which replaced the flashing question-mark-on-a-disk icon and flashing folder icon back in OS X Jaguar). This icon means that your Mac can’t find a startup disk, hard drive, network server, or DVD-ROM containing a valid Macintosh operating system. See Chapter 21 for ways to ease your Mac’s ills.
  • Kernel panic: You shouldn’t see this very often, but you may occasionally see a block of text in six languages, including English, as shown in Figure 1-3. This means that your Mac has experienced a kernel panic, the most severe type of system crash. If you restart your Mac and see this message again, look in Chapter 21 for a myriad of possible cures for all kinds of ailments, including this one.

How do you know which version of the Mac OS your computer has? Simple:

  1. Choose About This Mac from the menu (the menu with the symbol in the top-left corner of the menu bar).

    A window pops up on your screen, as shown in Figure 1-4. The version you’re running appears just below OS X Yosemite near the top of the window. Version 10.10 is the release we know as Yosemite.

    Figure 1-3: If this is what you’re seeing, things are definitely not fine and dandy.

    Figure 1-4: See which version of OS X you’re running.

    If you’re curious or just want to impress your friends, OS X version 10.9 was known as Mavericks; 10.8 as Mountain Lion; 10.7 as Lion; 10.6 as Snow Leopard; 10.5 as Leopard; 10.4 as Tiger; 10.3 as Panther; 10.2 as Jaguar; 10.1 as Puma; and 10.0 as Cheetah.

  2. (Optional) Click the Displays, Storage, Memory, Support, and Service tabs to see additional information about your Mac and the version of OS X that it’s running.
  3. Click the System Report button to launch the System Information application and see even more details.

    The System Information app shows you even more about your Mac including bus speed, number of processors, caches, installed memory, networking, storage devices, and much more. You can find more about this useful program in Chapter 20.

Shutting down properly

Turning off the power without shutting down your Mac properly is one of the worst things you can do to your poor Mac. Shutting down your Mac improperly can really screw up your hard or solid-state drive, scramble the contents of your most important files, or both.

If a thunderstorm is rumbling nearby, or you’re unfortunate enough to have rolling blackouts where you live, you may really want to shut down your Mac. (See the next section, where I briefly discuss lightning and your Mac.)

To turn off your Mac, always use the Shut Down command from the menu or shut down in one of these kind-and-gentle ways:

  • Press the Power button for approximately two seconds and then click the Shut Down button in the Are You Sure You Want to Shut Down Your Computer Now? dialog.
  • On keyboards that don’t have a Power key, press Control+Eject instead, and then click the Shut Down button that appears in the Are You Sure You Want to Shut Down Your Computer Now? dialog.

    You can use a handy keyboard shortcut when the Shut Down button (or any button, for that matter) is highlighted in blue and pulsating slightly. Pressing the Return key is the same as clicking that button.

The Are You Sure You Want to Shut Down Your Computer Now? dialog sports a check box option in OS X Yosemite: Reopen Windows When Logging Back In. If you select this check box, your Mac will start back up with the same windows (and applications) that were open when you shut down or restarted. I think that’s pretty darn sweet, but you can clear this option if that’s not what you want!

Most Mac users have been forced to shut down improperly more than once without anything horrible happening, of course — but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. Break the rules one time too many (or under the wrong circumstances), and your most important files will be toast. The only time you should turn off your Mac without shutting down properly is when your screen is completely frozen or when your system crashed due to a kernel panic and you’ve already tried everything else. (See Chapter 21 for what those “everything elses” are.) A really stubborn crash doesn’t happen often — and less often under OS X than ever before — but when it does, forcing your Mac to turn off and then back on might be the only solution.

A few things you should definitely not do with your Mac

In this section, I cover the bad stuff that can happen to your computer if you do the wrong things with it. If something bad has already happened to you … . I know, I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but see Chapter 21.

  • Don’t unplug your Mac when it’s turned on. Very bad things can happen, such as having your OS break. See the preceding section, where I discuss shutting down your system properly.

    Note that this warning doesn’t apply to laptops as long as their battery is at least partially charged. As long as there’s enough juice in the battery to power your Mac, you can connect and disconnect its power adapter to your heart’s content.

  • Don’t use your Mac when lightning is near. Here’s a simple life equation for you: Mac + lightning = dead Mac. ’Nuff said. Oh, and don’t place much faith in inexpensive surge protectors. A good jolt of lightning will fry the surge protector and your computer, as well as possibly frying your modem, printer, and anything else plugged into the surge protector. Some surge protectors can withstand most lightning strikes, but those warriors aren’t the cheapies that you buy at your local computer emporium. Unplugging your Mac from the wall during electrical storms is safer and less expensive. (Don’t forget to unplug your external modem, network hubs, printers, and other hardware that plugs into the wall as well; lightning can fry them, too.)

    For laptops, disconnect the power adapter and all other cables because whatever those cables are connected to could fry and fry your laptop right along with it. After you do that, you can use your laptop during a storm if you care to. Just make sure that it’s 100 percent wireless and cableless if you do.

  • Don’t jostle, bump, shake, kick, throw, dribble, or punt your Mac, especially while it’s running. Many Macs contain a hard drive that spins at 4,200 revolutions per minute (rpm) or more. A jolt to a hard drive while it’s reading or writing a file can cause the head to crash into the disk, which can render many — or all — files on it unrecoverable. Ouch!

    Don’t think you’re exempt if your Mac uses a solid-state drive with no moving parts. A good bump to your Mac could damage other components. Treat your Mac like it’s a carton of eggs, and you’ll never be sorry.

  • Don’t forget to back up your data! If the stuff on your hard drive means anything to you, you must back it up. Not “maybe.” Must. Even if your most important file is your last saved game of Bejeweled, you still need to back up your files. Fortunately, OS X Yosemite includes an awesome backup utility called Time Machine. (Unfortunately, you need either an external hard drive or an Apple Time Capsule device to take advantage of it.) So I beg you: Please read Chapter 19 now, and find out how to back up before something horrible happens to your valuable data!

    I strongly recommend that you read Chapter 19 sooner rather than later — preferably before you do any significant work on your Mac. Dr. Macintosh says, “There are only two kinds of Mac users: Those who have lost data and those who will.” Which kind do you want to be?

  • Don’t kiss your monitor while wearing stuff on your lips. For obvious reasons! Use a clean, soft cloth and/or OmniCleanz display cleaning solution (I love the stuff, made by RadTech; www.radtech.us) to clean your display.

    Don’t use household window cleaners or paper towels. Either one can harm your display. Use a soft clean cloth (preferably microfiber), and if you’re going to use a cleaner, make sure it’s specifically designed not to harm computer displays. Finally, spray the cleaner on the cloth, not on the screen.

Point-and-click boot camp

Are you new to the Mac? Just figuring out how to move the mouse around? Now is a good time to go over some fundamental stuff that you need to know for just about everything you’ll be doing on the Mac. Spend a few minutes reading this section, and soon you’ll be clicking, double-clicking, pressing, and pointing all over the place. If you think you have the whole mousing thing pretty much figured out, feel free to skip this section. I’ll catch you on the other side.

Still with me? Good. Now for some basic terminology:

  • Point: Before you can click or press anything, you have to point to it. Place your hand on your mouse, and move it so that the cursor arrow is over the object you want — like on top of an icon or a button.

    If you’re using a trackpad, slide your finger lightly across the pad until the cursor arrow is over the object you want.

  • Click: Also called single click. Use your index finger to push the mouse button all the way down and then let go so that the button (usually) produces a satisfying clicking sound. (If you have one of the optical Apple Pro mice, you push the whole thing down to click.) Use a single click to highlight an icon, press a button, or activate a check box or window.

    In other words, first you point and then you click — point and click, in computer lingo.

    If you’re using a trackpad, press down on it to click.

  • Double-click: Click twice in rapid succession. With a little practice, you can perfect this technique in no time. Use a double-click to open a folder or to launch a file or application.

    Trackpad users: Press down on the pad two times in rapid succession.

  • Control-click: Hold down the Control key while single-clicking. (Also called “secondary” or “right-click.”)

    Trackpad users can either hold down the Control key while pressing down on the pad with one finger, or by pressing down with two fingers without holding down the Control key.

    Control-clicking — the same as right-clicking a Windows system — displays a menu (called a contextual menu). In fact, if you’re blessed with a two-or-more-button mouse (such as the Apple Magic Mouse), you can right-click and avoid having to hold down the Control key. (You may have to enable this feature in the Mouse System Preference pane.)

    Finally, if clicking your trackpad with two fingers doesn’t bring up the little menu, check your Trackpad System Preferences pane (see Chapter 5).

    If you have a Mac with a built-in trackpad or Apple Magic Trackpad, you can configure it to recognize a two-fingered tap as a right-click. (You may have to enable this feature in the Trackpad System Preference pane.)

  • Drag: Dragging something usually means you have to click it first and hold down the mouse or trackpad button. Then you move the mouse on your desk or mouse pad (or your finger on the trackpad) so that the cursor and whatever you select moves across the screen. The combination of holding down the button and dragging the mouse is usually referred to as clicking and dragging.
  • Choosing an item from a menu: To get to OS X menu commands, you must first open a menu and then choose the option you want. Point at the name of the menu you want with your cursor, press the mouse button, and then drag downward until you select the command you want. When the command is highlighted, finish selecting by letting go of the mouse button.

If you’re a longtime Mac user, you probably hold down the mouse button the whole time between clicking the name of the menu and selecting the command you want. You can still do it that way, but you can also click the menu name to open it, release the mouse button, drag down to the item you want to select, and then click again. In other words, OS X menus stay open after you click them, even if you’re not holding down the mouse button. After you click a menu to open it, you can even type the first letter (or letters) of the item to select it and then execute that item by pressing the spacebar or the Return key.

A menu remains open until you click something else. Go ahead and give it a try … I’ll wait.

The terms given in the preceding list apply to all Mac laptop, desktop, and tower systems. If you use a MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or Apple Magic Trackpad, however, there are a few more terms — such as tap, swipe, rotate, pinch, and spread — you’ll want to add to your lexicon. You can read all about them in full and loving detail in Chapter 5.

Not Just a Beatles Movie: Help and the Help Menu

One of the best features about all Macs is the excellent built-in help, and OS X Yosemite doesn’t cheat you on that legacy: This system has online help in abundance. When you have a question about how to do something, the Help Center is the first place you should visit (after this book, of course).

Clicking the Help menu reveals the Search field at the top of the menu and the Mac Help and New to Mac items. Choosing Mac Help opens the Mac Help window, as shown in Figure 1-5; choosing New to Mac launches Safari and displays a tour of OS X Yosemite.

Though the keyboard shortcut for Help no long appears on the Help menu, the same shortcut as always, Shift++?, still opens Help.

You can browse Help by clicking a topic in the Table of Contents and then clicking a subtopic. If you don’t see the Table of Contents, click the Table of Contents button as shown in Figure 1-5.

Figure 1-5: Mac Help is nothing if not helpful.

To search Mac Help, simply type a word or phrase in either Search field — the one in the Help menu itself or the one near the top of the Help window on the right side — and then press Return. In a few seconds, your Mac provides you one or more articles to read, which (theoretically) are related to your question. Usually. If you type menus and press Return, for example, you get 12 results, as shown in Figure 1-6.

Figure 1-6: You have questions? Mac Help has answers.

As long as your Mac is connected to the Internet, search results include articles from the Apple online support database.

Although you don’t have to be connected to the Internet to use Mac Help, you do need an Internet connection to get the most out of it. (Chapter 10 can help you set up an Internet connection, if you don’t have one.) That’s because OS X installs only certain help articles on your hard drive. If you ask a question that those articles don’t answer, Mac Help connects to the Apple website and downloads the answer (assuming that you have an active Internet connection). These answers appear when you click See All Help Results near the bottom of Figure 1-6. Click one of these entries, and Help Viewer retrieves the text over the Internet. Although this can sometimes be inconvenient, it’s also quite smart. This way, Apple can update the Help system at any time without requiring any action from you.

Furthermore, after you ask a question and Mac Help has grabbed the answer from the Apple website, the answer remains on your hard drive forever. If you ask for it again — even at a later date — your computer won’t have to download it from the Apple website again.

Click Search the Web (near the bottom of Figure 1-6) to launch Safari and perform a web search for the phrase you typed.

Here’s a cool feature I like to call “automatic visual help cues.” Here’s how they work:

  1. Type a word or phrase in the Help menu’s Search field.
  2. Select any item that has a menu icon to its left (such as the three items with “Trash” in their names in Figure 1-7).

    Figure 1-7: If you choose an item with a menu icon, an arrow points to that item in context.

    The automatic visual cue — an arrow — appears, pointing at that command in the appropriate menu.

Finally, don’t forget that most apps have their own Help systems, so if you want general help with your Mac, you need to first click the Finder icon in the Dock to activate the Finder, and then choose Mac Help from the Finder’s Help menu.