Chapter 1

OS X El Capitan 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 (Mac) 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 El Capitan includes several new features that make using your Mac easier and dozens of improvements under the hood 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 El Capitan successfully.

If you've been using OS X for a while, most of the information in this chapter may seem hauntingly familiar; a number of features that I describe haven't changed from previous 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 El Capitan from an earlier version of OS X, you might want to peruse the article on installing and reinstalling El Capitan in full and loving detail, found at www.dummies.com/extras/osxelcapitan.

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 and security
• 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 and save it in a file. 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 the 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 El Capitan 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.

The Mac advantage

Most of the world's personal computers use Microsoft Windows (although more and more people are switching to the Mac). But you're among the lucky few to have a computer with an OS that's intuitive, easy to use, and (dare I say?) fun. If you don't believe me, try using Windows for a day or two. Go ahead. You probably won't suffer any permanent damage. In fact, you'll really begin to appreciate how good you have it. Feel free to hug your Mac. Or give it a peck on the disc drive slot (assuming that your Mac has one; most, including the MacBook, MacBook Air, and Mac mini at this writing, don't). Just try not to get your tongue caught.

As someone once told me, "Claiming that OS X is inferior to Windows because more people use Windows is like saying that all other restaurants serve food that's inferior to McDonald's."

We might be a minority, but Mac users have the best, most stable, most modern all-purpose operating system in the world, and here's why: Unix, on which OS X is based, is widely regarded as the best industrial-strength operating system on the planet. For now, just know that being based on Unix means that a Mac running OS X will crash less often than an older (pre-OS X) Mac or a Windows machine, which means less downtime. Being Unix-based also means getting far fewer viruses and encounters with malicious software. But perhaps the biggest advantage OS X has is that when an application crashes, it doesn't crash your entire computer, and you don't have to restart the whole computer to continue working.

By the way, since the advent of Intel-powered Macs a few years ago, you can run Windows natively also on any Mac powered by an Intel processor, as I describe in Chapter 17. Note that the opposite isn't true: You can run Windows on your Mac if you like, but you can't run OS X on a Dell or HP (or any other computer not made by Apple) without serious hacking (which is technically illegal anyway).

And don't let that Unix or Windows stuff scare you. It's there if you want it, but if you don't want it or don't care (like most of us), you'll rarely even know it's there. In fact, you'll rarely (if ever) see the word Unix or Windows again in this book. As far as you're concerned, Unix under the hood means your Mac will just run and run and run without crashing and crashing and crashing. As for Windows, your Mac can run it if you need it; otherwise, it's just another checklist item on the list of reasons Macs are better.

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 whitish 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...