Guy Hart-Davis - iMac Portable Genius

iMac Portable Genius, 4th Edition

Guy Hart-Davis

iMac Portable Genius, 4th Edition

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Copyright 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-118-42063-8

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Guy Hart-Davis is the author of several other computer books, including iLife 11 Portable Genius, iWork 09 Portable Genius, Teach Yourself VISUALLY iMac 2nd Edition, Teach Yourself VISUALLY Mac mini, and Teach Yourself VISUALLY iPhone 5.

Credits

Senior Acquisitions Editor

Stephanie McComb

Project Editor

Katharine Dvorak

Technical Editor

Paul Sihvonen-Binder

Copy Editor

Lauren Kennedy

Editorial Director

Robyn Siesky

Business Manager

Amy Knies

Senior Marketing Manager

Sandy Smith

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher

Barry Pruett

Project Coordinator

Katherine Crocker

Graphics and Production Specialist

Andrea Hornberger

Quality Control Technician

Rebecca Denoncour

Proofreading

Kathy Simpson

Indexing

Potomac Indexing, LLC

This book is dedicated to Rhonda and Teddy.

Acknowledgments

My thanks go to the following people for making this book happen:

Stephanie McComb for asking me to write this edition of the book.

Katharine Dvorak for shaping the outline and running the editorial side of the project.

Paul Sihvonen-Binder for reviewing the book for technical accuracy and making many helpful suggestions.

Lauren Kennedy for copyediting the book with a light touch.

Andrea Hornberger for laying out the book in the design.

Kathy Simpson for scrutinizing the pages for errors.

Potomac Indexing, LLC for creating the index.

Introduction

Your iMac is a wonderful computer.

Apple keeps improving the iMac, making each generations screen larger, its hardware faster, its housing sleeker, and its peripherals more attractive so theres a good chance your iMac is a beautiful monster with a 27-inch screen, more gigabytes of RAM than you have fingers, and a clutter-free wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.

I need hardly add that your iMac is running OS X Mountain Lion, the most powerful and easy-to-use operating system available today. Nor that OS X is gorgeous to look at.

So its up to you to make the most of your iMac and OS X. To do that, you need the knowledge this book delivers. Heres just a taste of what youll learn:

Make OS X look and feel the way you want it to. Set up the Dock with the icons for the applications you need, choose where to position it, and teach it how to behave. Choose the desktop picture you want and a suitable screen saver. Make the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad work your way, and get OS X to use the sounds you prefer.

Set up your iMac up for everyone to use. Learn about the five types of user accounts OS X offers, and put them to good effect on your iMac. Set up a separate user account for each user, apply Parental Controls to those users who need them, and turn on the Guest account if you require it. Share your song files and photo files easily with other people who use your iMac.

Tweak the Finder so that it works your way. Use the Finders four different views like a pro, and customize each of the views to suit your needs. Manage application windows, full-screen applications, and extra desktops slickly and smoothly using Lions new Mission Control feature. Tap the Spotlight search feature so that you can find every file you need within seconds.