Macintosh - Beginner's Guide

Basic Terms
Graphical User Interface	The Macintosh communicates with the user through a graphical interface, which is made up of icons, menus, dialog boxes, and pointers
Iconic User Interface	The Macintosh way of communicating with the user is iconic in the sense that it lets you control it by pointing at, moving and manipulating icons which are little graphical symbols depicting folders, files, and programs
Icon	Icons are little graphical symbols (small boxes) that can, but not necessarily, have identifying names. Icons can represent many things, including, computer disks (devices that store information), programs, documents, folders and files
Computer Disks	Devices that store information, e.g., floppies, hard drives, optical disks, CD-Roms
Application Programs	Groups of instructions that tell the computer what to do, e.g., Eudora
Documents	Like paper documents, but created with a program on the computer and stored in its memory and on computer disks
Folders	Hold documents, programs, etc. A folder on the computer is very much like a folder in your desk cabinet, with a name that indicates what contents it has
Files	Any collection of information on a computer disk or in computer's memory (or on a computer disk) that's grouped together and called by a name. A file can be an application program or a document
Pointer	What you point at icons (or characters) with. There is a whole slew of pointers, left leaning arrow, I-beam, paint brush, etc.
Pointing user Interface	The Macintosh can be called this, since what you are doing, in most cases is pointing, rather than typing commands
The Hot Spot	Only one part of the pointer, called the hot spot, actually points. On the arrow pointer, the hot spot is the tip. If just the tip of the arrow is in something, then you are pointing at it; if all the arrow except the tip is inside, then you are not pointing at it.
Mouse	You typically control the pointer with a Mouse (which to some looks like a mouse, hence the name). Sometimes you also control the pointer with the arrow keys located on the keyboard
Windows	To see what's in an icon, you open it -- by pointing to it and clicking the mouse button twice in rapid succession. This is called double-clicking. (be sure not to move the mouse between clicks or the computer will interpret it as two separate clicks and not a double-click.). As a result of this action the Macintosh opens up a window displays more icons (in case of a folder) or, in the case of a file or an application program, the applications main window. You can also use the File Menu and Short Keys (if any are assigned) to open.
Dialog Boxes and Alerts	The Macintosh facilitates control for the user through dialog boxes, for instance, the dialog box that appears when you issue the command, Save As..., from the File Menu, or the one that shows the status of a copy to/from a floppy disk. The Macintosh also uses Alerts which can be warning messages when something goes wrong, or can be simply alerts (like the one you get when you receive new mail on Eudora) that notify the user of a specific action that took place
Cutting, Copying, Pasting and the Clipboard	The Clipboard, in its simplicity, is Macintosh personified. It is a temporary holding place for material that you can cut or copy from one place so you can paste it in an another place. When you put something in the Clipboard, the Clipboard's current contents are replaced (that it, it can hold one thing at a time). When you shut off the computer, the Clipboard's contents disappear.
The System Folder	The System Folder is where the Mac looks for the basic software that tells it how to operate: the System file, the Finder, the Clipboard, etc. The System Folder is treated specially by the Mac: to remind you of that, its icon has a little picture of a Mac on it. You can modify certain aspects of the System Folder yourself, by adding or removing fonts, sounds and specialized programs called extensions and control panels
The Desktop	A basic program that comes with the Mac (called the Finder ) creates a gray/color area that covers the screen. Since most of what you do on a Mac would be done on top of a desk if you did not have a computer, this gray area is called the desktop. The Desktop contains the hard drive (the device the Mac is running off of), a floppy (if there is one in the floppy drive), any programs, documents you put there, and the Menus.
Menu Bar	A line of words across the top of the Desktop. Exploring the menu bar is often a good way to educate yourself
Menu Titles	The words in the Menu Bar, which in most cases do what they say they do but not always!
Pull-down menus	Menus pull down (sometimes pull-up as well) when you point at them by holding down the mouse button.
Finder Menus	The Finder is the basic program that is the first to execute when you start your computer - it is where you arrive upon startup (unless you have specified other startup items)
The Apple Menu	Located at the left corner of the menu bar on the desktop. The first item on it always tells you about the software you're using. If you are in the Finder (that's where you will be if you've just started up your Mac), choosing this command tells you what version of the system software you're using, who wrote it, how much space it takes up in the Mac's memory, etc. (it also tells you what model your Mac is). When you are using another program than the Finder, you get similar information about that program. Other than  About This Macintosh  (or About This Program ), all the items on the apple menu are programs that let you control what you see on the screen and how your Mac works, or handy little programs called desk accessories that come with your Mac.
The File Menu	All programs have a File Menu. Many of the commands in a program's File Menu are different from that of the Finder's. In the finder one uses the file menu to create new folders, find files, make aliases, duplicate (make copies of) files, establish sharing privileges, open folders etc.
The Special Menu	You shutdown and restart the computer, empty trash, eject disk (floppy, CD-Rom, or Optical) etc. from this menu
The View Menu	Lets you choose how you want to view the contents of a folder, by icon, small icon, name, date etc.
The Label Menu	Lets you assign colors to folders (red for hot, orange for essential, blue for cool etc.)
The Application Menu	Lets you switch between applications. The application that is in the foreground has a check mark in front of it. To switch to a different application you simply select it from the menu
The Help Menu	You can turn on or off Balloon help from this menu. Balloon Help is a very useful way of getting help on specific commands in an application. Some Application programs like Microsoft Word add their own Help command to this menu that you can readily activate when needed
Keyboard Commands	Luckily (for the Mouse can be cumbersome and repetitive) you don't have to use the Mouse to execute commands on the Macintosh. The Macintosh's Finder (and most other programs) comes with some pre-defined keyboard shortcuts that execute commands, that otherwise, you'll have to use the Mouse for. In addition, using utility programs like Now Utilities one can assign any combination (some key combinations already in use by the Finder are not allowed) of keys to any menu command
New	Command + N
Open	Command + O
Save	Command + S
Print	Command + P
Quit	Command + Q
Undo	Command + Z
Cut	Command + X
Copy	Command + C
Paste	Command + V
Select All	Command + A
Selecting, clicking and dragging	Selecting is the single most important concept for understanding how Mac software works. The two basic principles are: You always have to select something before you can do anything with it. Another way to remember this is first select, then affect. Fact:Trying to do something when nothing is selected, or with something different from what you think is selected, is the cause of 90% of the confusion people have when learning how to use Mac. Selecting, in and of itself, never alters anything - So don't be afraid or shy to select something - it is what you do afterwards that you should be careful with
How do you select?	Pointing at and clicking the mouse once till its dark. Clicking on it again de-selects it. Clicking twice in rapid succession opens it.
How do you drag?	Point, press the mouse button, hold it down, and move the mouse. Then release
Selecting more than one item	Hold down the shift key and click on the contiguous items you want to select, or, starting in the upper left hand corner, draw a rectangle around the items that you want to select, or click on the non-contiguous items that you want to select by holding down the command (apple) key
Ejecting Floppies
Dragging	Dragging to Trash (Trash is a folder of special kind - you put things there you want to delete),
Special Menu	Selecting Eject Disk from the Special menu
Short Keys	Command (apple) + E, or Command (apple) + Y
Manually	If all else fails you may forcibly eject a floppy by inserting the end of a paper clip into the hole near the floppy drive door and pushing on the eject spring in there