It’s important to keep the software on your Mac up to date. Apple releases security updates and software improvements from time to time. Some of these are critical updates that Apple recommends that you install. This process is easy if you use the Software Update application built into OSX.

When you install OSX the Software Update application is set to run weekly. The application works by going out onto the internet to Apple servers and downloading any software updates. Then, if updates are available you are presented with a dialog box requesting you to install the updates. Some of these updates may require you to reboot the computer.

To manually check for updates, click the Apple menu in the menu bar and select Software Updates. This will open the update dialog presenting you with a list of updates that are ready to install.

Software Update is configured through the System Preferences application. Select System Preferences and Software Update to configure the application settings. Through this settings dialog you can configure the frequency of updates and look at a list of installed updates in your system.

Keep your Mac healthy by running Software Update and you will have years of happy computing.

Today’s installment of Learning OS X features the application Spaces. Spaces allows you to organize your OS X desktop by grouping your applications into virtual desktops or “Spaces”. If you like to multitask then the Spaces application will help you organize your desktop into various contexts. In this example I create two Spaces, one for personal information management and one for web browsing.

Let’s begin by enabling Spaces. Click the System Preferences and select Expose and Spaces. This will open the Spaces configuration window. There are two buttons labeled Expose and Spaces. Make sure that Spaces is selected. Select the check box Enable Spaces to turn on Spaces.

The application allows you to configure a number of Spaces by adding and removing rows and columns. For this example, I will setup two Spaces.

In addition, you can assign specific applications to open on a specific Space. I am specifying Safari to open in Space two and the Address book to open in Space one.

There are keyboard shortcuts to easily switch between spaces. The default behavior that I use most frequently is the Control key plus the left and right arrows to switch between these spaces.

Close the System Preferences and try out your new Space. Open Safari and your Address book. You will see that they open on two different Spaces. Use the Control + Left Arrow and Control + Right Arrow to switch between the two Spaces.

Spaces is a great way to organize your desktop. If you have any interesting uses for Spaces tell us about it.

Here is a quick video showing you how icons in the menu bar can be moved and removed.

If you want to move the icons, hold down the command key while dragging the icons with your mouse. To remove an icon simply drag it to the desktop. Restoring an icon to the menu bar is handled by the application that provides the icon (i.e., the Time Machine preferences has an option to show an icon in the status area.)

When I first made the transition from Windows XP to OSX I was a bit confused about the Finder menu. To a Windows XP user, the Finder menu had the features of the start menu, an application menu and the tray notification area rolled into one. The menu bar is broken into two areas, on the left side are application menus, on the right side is a notification area.

The application menu shows the menu of the currently active application. When no application is running, the bar displays the Finder menu. If you are used to Windows XP this may take some getting used to. Windows XP application menus are typically displayed inside the running application window. If you are running an application and want access to the Finder menu, just click on the desktop.

The icons on the right side of the menu bar typically indicate the status of running programs. This is very similar to the tray notification area used by the Explorer in Windows XP. Applications can place an icon in this area to provide you with valuable feedback. Icons in this area also can have their own menus attached to them to allow quick access to common application functions.

When you take your Mac out of the box one of the first things you do is create a new user. The next time you boot your system, OSX will automatically log you into the desktop as the newly created user. This is a great feature for a single user system. Automatic logins are not a great feature if you are using a MacBook or have multiple users on your system.

It’s easy to disable the automatic login feature by using the System Preferences.

Click on your user name and select the Login Options button at the bottom of the list. Then, on the right hand side of the preferences window select Disabled in the list of Automatic Login options. Close the window when you are finished.