Chapter 3: Using Panther More Efficiently

Overview

A car may actually have only three basic controls — a steering wheel, brake pedal, and accelerator pedal — but how you use those controls makes a big difference! It is the same with the basic controls within Mac OS X. Anyone can use the dock to launch or switch between applications, but there is hidden power there that can also help you work more efficiently with Panther and your applications. The same holds true for keyboard shortcuts, the Finder window, and the Go menu.

One new feature in Panther deserves a special mention: I have been very impressed by Expos , which can literally save you dozens of keystrokes or mouse clicks a day if you run a large number of applications simultaneously. With Expos , you press a single key and click the application window that you want. In this chapter, you will find out how to configure this great efficiency feature.

In this chapter, I demonstrate some of the tricks that can help you speed through your daily tasks on your Macintosh. You will find tips on adding your favorite applications, items, and Web sites to the dock, and I will show you how to resize the dock and move it to a new position on your desktop. You will also learn how to specify which applications should start automatically when you load certain types of CDs or DVDs. This chapter also covers how to set your Mac to start or shut down automatically at certain times and how to allow other users to access your computer without your having to log out.