You use software called a web browser to view content on the Internet. There are many types of web browsers. Windows bundles Internet Explorer with their operating system. Apple’s OS X is no exception. Apple bundles the Safari web browser.
Safari let’s you view content on the Internet. From time to time, you may wish to download and install new software. This brief video shows you how you do this.
When you download software it is saved in a Downloads folder by default. Downloads is found in your home directory and it is also placed in the Dock as a stack. After a files finishes, click the stack to reveal the software you just downloaded.
The Dock is the application launcher provided by the Finder.
The Finder generally sits at the bottom of the screen. However, it doesn’t have to remain there. The Dock can be configured to display on the left or right sides of the screen. It can also be animated to provide feedback when something happens.
This can happen easily by using the System Preferences application. The following video demonstrates how to make the Dock behave the way you want it to.
User management is a great feature in OSX. The System Preferences allows you to easily add and remove users. In an earlier post, we discuss how to add users. This follow-up video shows you how to easily delete a user from the system.
One of the things that I like about OSX is the multi-user feature. Windows XP supports multiple users however in order to ensure that everything runs ok, each users is typically set to Administrator. This is a very dangerous thing to do.
OSX on the other hand allows you to specify limited accounts for daily users. These Standard Users can do everything one would expect to do with a PC except damage!
Adding new users is accomplished through the System Preferences. This video will show you how to do it.
Make sure that you create separate accounts for each system user. This will give them their own environment to work in without fear that they will do damage to other users files. Your users will be happy and you will be happy not having to worry that you’ll be called in to fix system problems.
iWork the Apple office suite includes the word processor Pages. This office suite is included as a trial version in all of the new Mac systems. I encourage you to support Apple with this product. It’s superior to Microsoft Office in many ways.
However, Office and Word are still the heavy weight champions of office suites. Operating with them is essential for any program that hopes to compete. Many people ask “How do I save Pages files as Word documents”. It’s really pretty easy to do this. The video tutorial below walks you through the steps.
As you can see, saving files in Word format is a simple matter of using Pages export feature. This is especially useful if your children need to move files back and forth between home and school. If you have any other questions about Pages or tips for using it better, let us know.
