Where Is Everything?

Mac OS X places many items in new locations, so new users can easily get lost. Here are where some of the common items are.

Network connections and file sharing

Access AppleTalk and Windows TCP/IP servers via Go ‚ Connect to Server or via the shortcut z +K. You'll get a list of server domains that, in turn , contain available servers. Click the server you want to access, and you'll then be prompted for the user name and password, and finally for the specific drive to open .

Set up access to users on other computers ‚ Mac and Windows ‚ via the Accounts and the Sharing control panels. Accounts sets up the users who have access, and Sharing sets up the allowable connections (such as AppleShare, now called Personal File Sharing, and Windows File Sharing) and security settings. Note that anyone set up as a user via the Accounts control panel has both network access rights and login rights to the Mac itself ‚ the user can log on to the Mac at startup ‚ because Mac OS X doesn't care whether the connection is over the network or physically from the Mac. (This is similar to how Windows XP handles user access.)

Printers

Apple has buried its printer controls in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder, which is on the drive on which you installed Mac OS X. The Print Center utility is shown in Figure E-7. Here, you choose active printers and install new ones. Mac OS X comes with drivers for some popular printers, but you'll likely need an installation program from your printer vendor (either on a CD that came with it or via download from the manufacturer's Web site).

Figure E-7: The Print Center utility.

When you add a printer, you'll get a Printer List dialog box that has a pop-up menu of connection types (such as USB, Firewire, and IP). Choose the appropriate connection, and after a few seconds, Mac OS X will show a list of printers. Figure E-8 shows an example.

Figure E-8: The Printer List dialog box displays when you add printers.

Applications

Applications are typically installed in the Applications folder, but they can also be installed in any folder (however, doing so can confuse product updaters, so leave applications in the Applications folder). Typically, Mac OS X applications will be in the Applications folder, but your Mac OS 9 applications will remain wherever you installed them ‚ and you can continue to run them from those locations.

Startup applications ‚ ones you want to run every time you launch Mac OS X, such as the Palm handheld synchronization software or a font manager ‚ are managed through the Login Items control panel. Note that some applications automatically install as startup applications, while others do not.

Fonts

Fonts can exist in several places, which is sure to confuse many new Mac OS X users. Here are the key locations for Mac OS X applications:

• Fonts folder in the Library folder. You should place fonts here that you want all users to have access to. Just drag them in, whether PostScript, TrueType, or Open Type.

• Fonts folder in the user's Home folder's Library folder. Any fonts dragged here will be available only to that user.

• Fonts folder in the System folder's Library folder. Apple places the default fonts for Mac OS X applications here. You can add fonts here as well by dragging them, but I recommend you leave this folder alone.

  Any fonts installed in the Mac OS X folders will not be available to Mac OS 9 applications. You need to also maintain fonts in the System Folder's Fonts folder ‚ note that the Mac OS 9 folder name is System Folder while the Mac OS X folder name is simply System ‚ or use a Mac OS 9 font manager such as Adobe Type Manager.

  It can be confusing enough to have both a Mac OS X and a Mac OS 9 environment on the same system, but it can get even more confusing if you also keep your old Mac OS 9 setup (which I recommend in case something goes horribly wrong when you install Mac OS X). In that case, you'll have your original Mac OS 9 System Folder, the Mac OS X System folder for Mac OS X, and a separate System Folder containing the version of Mac OS 9 that Mac OS X runs Mac OS 9 applications in. Make sure all fonts used are placed in all Fonts folders that you might use ‚ Mac OS X, the Mac OS 9 used by Mac OS X, and the original Mac OS 9 that you may occasionally start up from instead of Mac OS X.

  Tip ‚  

  If you use a third-party font manager such as DiamondSoft's Font Reserve or Extensis's Suitcase, your fonts can be installed anywhere as long as you have told the Font Manager where they are stored. These programs can autoactivate fonts as needed for both Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 applications, and I strongly recommend you invest in one. (Adobe has no plans to release a Mac OS X version of Adobe Type Manager or Adobe Type Reunion.)

Another source of confusion for new Mac OS X users is the operating system's nonsupport of Multiple Master PostScript fonts. The Multiple Master format lets programs modify fonts on the fly, such as creating a semibold version from a bold typeface. But the format never took off or got widespread adoption, so Mac OS X is essentially killing off the format. That means that Mac OS 9 applications running under Mac OS X can use Multiple Master fonts, but native Mac OS X applications such as InDesign CS cannot. That can cause problems when opening older InDesign, PageMaker, or QuarkXPress documents with Multiple Master fonts in InDesign CS. So, you'll need to replace the Multiple Master fonts with PostScript or OpenType fonts. If you created instances of Multiple Master fonts ‚ such as a semibold ‚ don't worry: When those instances are saved or exported as their own font files, they're no longer Multiple Master fonts and should work just fine under Mac OS X.