Working with Mac OS X Windows

Windows are the Finder component you use to see exactly what's stored on your Mac. They are also used in most every application you interact with: Documents have their own windows, application and System Preferences display information in windows, and alerts and other dialogs that pop up on your screen are in windows, too. Windows are such an integral part of navigating around your Mac that you couldn't survive without them, unless you wanted to take the time to learn Unix and type cryptic commands to get to your applications and documents.

Tiger, just like earlier versions of Mac OS X, has a hierarchy of folders that hold the files and applications you use every day. Knowing how to navigate your hard drive to find stored files and folders is important, so let's start by taking a look at how Mac OS X handles file management. If you are an experienced user, feel free to jump ahead to another topic.

Finder Windows

The Finder lets you move around your hard drive and open, close, and delete files and applications graphically so that you don't have to memorize cryptic commands. Pretty much everything you do in the Finder involves various windows. To open a new Finder window, double-click your hard drive icon or press Command-N, or from the Finder choose File > New Finder Window.

Knowing the components of a Finder window is important for efficiently navigating through your system, and Apple has done a good job of designing windows so that you can use them effectively. Let's take a quick look at the components that make up the Finder window (in fact, all Mac OS Xsavvy applications use similar conventions).

The upper left corner of each Finder window has three colored buttons, each with its own function (Figure 1.4):

• The red Close button closes a window but doesn't quit the application. A dot in the middle of the close button indicates a file that hasn't been saved.

• The yellow Minimize button minimizes a window and moves it to the Dock. Click the window's icon in the Dock to maximize the window.

• The green Zoom button switches between the default window size and the last-used window size.

• The clear Toolbar control toggles between showing just the close, minimize, and zoom buttons, and showing additional tools. In a Finder window, those tools include buttons that control icon views, the Spotlight search tool, and any other items you add. In other applications, the Toolbar control shows and hides document-specific tools such as rulers and tab markers.

• The Resize control sits at the window's bottom right corner. Drag it to resize a window.

  Figure 1.4. A Finder window is the portal to your Mac's files. Most windows, both Finder and application, have common features like buttons to close and minimize the window.

  

These buttons also show up in most applications' document windows, and they work just the same with a few exceptions. Some applications quit when you click the close button, and Apple is one of the worst offenders. System Preferences, Disk Utility, and GarageBand, among others, all quit when you click the red close-window button.

The Toolbar

The toolbar is a navigational device that sits at the top of every Finder window. It is designed to give quick access to commonly used items and can be customized with Finder functions, such as ejecting discs and burning CDs (Figure 1.5).

Figure 1.5. The toolbar is command central for Finder windows. From here, you can close, resize, or minimize a window, as well as change its view options and even search for files.

Tip

To remove a button or icon from the toolbar without opening the Customize Toolbar dialog, just Command-drag the item out of the toolbar. It will disappear in a puff of smoke.

Customizing your toolbar

To modify the toolbar contents, click View > Customize Toolbar. You can add or remove any icon, including those for applications, servers, and files. Here's how:

1.	Double-click your hard drive or press Command-N to open a new Finder window.
2.	Choose View > Customize Toolbar.
3.	Drag any application, document, or folder icons from another open Finder window into the toolbar in any order you want (Figure 1.6). Figure 1.6. You can drag icons from the Customize Toolbar dialog to the top of the Finder window to add them to your toolbar.
4.	To add other buttons, like Burn, Delete, or Eject, drag them from the Customize Toolbar dialog onto the toolbar. Dragging buttons in the toolbar rearranges them, and dragging icons out of the toolbar removes them.
5.	Click the Done button once your toolbar is set up the way you want.

If, for some reason, you don't want to see the toolbar at all, remember that clicking the toolbar control in the top-right corner of a Finder window will hide it. To get the toolbar back, just click the toolbar control again.

At the far right of the toolbar is a search field that you can use to search your hard drive with Spotlight. If you are unfamiliar with Spotlight, don't worry: There is a section about it later in the chapter.

Tip

Load the toolbar with Finder functions you use but can't remember the keyboard shortcuts for, like Eject and Delete, or functions that don't have a keyboard shortcut, like Burn. Adding the Path button gives you a pop-up menu that shows exactly where a selected file, folder, or application is on your hard drive.

Changing views

Tip

Icon view is handy if you need to quickly scan through a folder full of images, since each image's icon is usually a thumbnail representation of the graphic. Column view is useful for navigating through your hard drive since it creates a visual path showing where you came from.

Just below the colored buttons in a Finder window's upper left corner are Forward and Back buttons that let you navigate through the window, as you do in a Web browser. To the right of these sit the View buttons. Each button lets you view the contents of a Finder window in a different way. Three different View styles are available:

• Icon. This style displays the contents of a Finder window as icons that you can drag around in any order and position as you like. If you want to change the default icon size for a Finder window, select View > Show View Options. From there, you can also change the default text size for icon names and move the icon-name label from its default location under each icon to the side. Checking "Snap to grid" forces icons to align into neat little rows and columns when you drag them. The keyboard shortcut for Icon view is Command-1.

• List. This style displays the contents of a Finder window as a list. Use each folder's disclosure triangle to either show or hide its contents. List view also shows additional file information like file modification dates, file size, and document type. To sort items, click the column headings. You can sort by name, modification date, size, or kind. Click a column heading twice to reverse the sorting order. The keyboard shortcut for List view is Command-2.

• Column. This easy-to-navigate view shows exactly where you are on your hard drive (Figure 1.7). For newcomers to Mac OS X, Column view is a great way to learn where files go. Selecting a folder shows its contents in a new column. Click on a document to preview it, and see its size, creation, and modification dates. If the document is a movie or sound file, you can even watch or listen to the preview. Columns can be resized by dragging the control that looks like two parallel lines at the bottom of each column divider. The keyboard shortcut for Column view is Command-3.

  Figure 1.7. Column view shows the contents of your hard drive organized in neat columns. As you work your way deeper into folders, new columns appear to show you what's inside.

  

The Sidebar

The sidebar is a static tool for accessing commonly used folders, files, and disks from Finder windows (Figure 1.8). Unlike the toolbar, it also shows up in open and save dialogs. Your hard drive, iPod, CDs and DVDs, external hard drives, network volumes, and iDisk all appear in the sidebar by default. You can drag files, folders, and applications into the sidebar for one-click access, and drag items out when you no longer need them. The contents of the sidebar don't change as you launch or quit applications.

Figure 1.8. The sidebar keeps track of every disk that's connected to your Mac. You can also use it to hold the files and folders you work with all the time.

Setting Finder-Window Defaults

When you open a Finder window, the default view is set to the Icon mode. If that's not your style, there are a couple of ways to set your own default Finder-window view.

From the Finder's Preferences:

1.	Click on your Desktop so that the Finder is the frontmost application.
2.	Choose Finder > Preferences.
3.	Click the General button, and then check "Open new windows in column view" to set each new window you open to display in columns (Figure 1.9). Figure 1.9. Use the Finder's preferences to change how Finder windows behave, control what types of disks appear on your Desktop, and force all windows to open in column view.

To hide items from the Desktop, like hard drives, servers, or removable media, just uncheck the types of disks you don't want to see under "Show these items on the Desktop." Your disks will still show up in the sidebar in Finder windows.

To change the default location you see when opening a new window, choose the folder you want to open from the "New Finder windows open" pop-up menu. This is useful if you always want to open a folder that holds all of your client files or current projects.

If the sidebar shows more disk types than you'd like, do this:

1.	Click the Sidebar button.
2.	Uncheck the types of disks you would rather not see. If you don't have a .Mac account, there's no need to see iDiskApple's online equivalent of a hard drivein the sidebar, so feel free to uncheck it. If you don't connect to other computers on a network, uncheck Network, too.

You can also set default Finder window views manually.

1.	Close every open Finder window.
2.	Open a new Finder window and then set the view type you want: Icon, List, or Column view.
3.	Drag the bottom right corner of the window to size it the way you want, and drag the window to where you want it to appear on the Desktop.
4.	Close the window.

From then on, double-clicking your hard drive will open a new window with your custom settings. You can do the same with a folder; just be sure to double-click the folder for which you want to create default view settings before making any changes.

Since you can add and remove objects from the sidebar so easily, it's a great place to keep items you want to get to quickly but won't need for an extended period of time. This is where I keep my current-project folders.

The top part of the sidebar is reserved for your hard drive, removable disks, and network connections. All removable disks and network volumes have an Eject icon to the right of their names. This is a convenient way to eject disks, since you don't have to go to the Desktop and drag the disk to the Trash. If you like keyboard shortcuts, select the disk you want to eject and press Command-E.

The Dock

The Dock is a dynamic tool, unlike the sidebar and toolbar (Figure 1.10). The Dock lives on one of the edges of your Desktop. Use it to hold aliases of applications, folders, and files that you use all the time. Currently running applications, as well as the Trash, also live in the Dock.

Figure 1.10. The Dock uses black triangles to show you which applications are running. Keeping your commonly used applications in the Dock saves you time, since you can launch them with a single click instead of navigating through your hard drive first.

To add an item, just drag its icon into the Dock. To remove an item, drag its icon out of the Dock and it disappears. Open applications stay in the Dock, even if you try to remove their icons. Some Dock icons are interactive and change based on what their associated program is doing. For instance, Photoshop filters show a progress bar when rendering.

Folders in the Dock act like pop-up menus. This is a great time-saver if you spend a lot of time working with projects that are grouped together in one folder. For example, group current client projects in a folder, and then drag the folder to the Dock. When you click and hold the folder icon, all of your client projects are available from a pop-up menu regardless of what application you are using (Figure 1.11). Then you can navigate to a subfolder, select your document, and release the mouse button to open it.

Figure 1.11. Drag folders that you use all the time into one folder and drag it to the Dock. When you click and hold the folder's icon, a pop-up menu appears that lets you navigate through all of the folders inside, and open documents or applications.

If you click and hold an application icon, a pop-up menu shows you all of the application's open documents, along with options to quit or hide the application, keep its icon in the Dock all the time, and always open the application when you log in to your Mac.

Changing Dock preferences

You can control how the Dock behaves through the Dock preference pane (Figure 1.12) in System Preferences. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences, and then click the Dock icon.

Figure 1.12. Use the Dock preferences to hide the Dock and move it to the left or right side of your display, keeping it out of your way when not in use.

Tip

If you are like me, the Dock gets in the way far too often. I moved my Dock to the left side of my Desktop and turned hiding on because it always was in the way when I scrolled through InDesign documents. I lost a lot of time moving my pointer down to the bottom right of a document window so that I could scroll up or down, only to have my Dock pop up in the way just in time for me to accidentally click on GarageBand or iTunes. Many designers put the Dock on the right side so that it doesn't interfere with application toolbars. Experiment to see what works for you.

A faster way to change the Dock settings is to Control-click the Dock's divider bar between applications and documents (Figure 1.13). The pop-up menu lets you turn hiding and magnification on or off, move the Dock's position onscreen, and set the minimize effects, and it gives you quick access to the Dock preferences.

Figure 1.13. Control-click the dividing line between applications and the Trash in your Dock to open a menu that shows you the Dock preferences.

Open Files with the Dock

Sometimes Tiger's ability to open documents with the application that created them can turn out to be exactly what you don't want. Let's say, for example, that you have an HTML file that always opens in Adobe GoLive when double-clicked, but this time you want to open it in Safari. Just drag the document icon onto Safari's icon in the Dock, and the document will immediately open in your Web browser. You can also use Get Info to change the default application for opening specific file types. To learn more about Get Info, check out Chapter 8.

Dock, Sidebar, or Toolbar: Which Is Better?

The toolbar, Dock, and sidebar all serve similar purposes, so how do you choose which one is right for you? I recommend using a combination for maximum efficiency.

Start with the Dock. Put the applications you use most often there, so that you can launch them with one click. You can also open documents quickly by dragging them onto their respective application icons in the Dock. This is a good place to keep folders with lots of subfolders inside, such as a Clients folder.

Now move on to the sidebar. Put the folders for your current projects there so that they are available whenever you are in an application's Open or Save dialog. As you finish projects, drag their folders out of the sidebar and replace them with your next project.

Finally, the toolbar. I store icons for utilities I don't use very often there, like Disk Utility, and Finder function icons like Burn, Eject, and Actions. Remember: The toolbar is available only when you have a Finder window open.

In a nutshell, use the Dock for more general items, such as applications and major folders; the sidebar for more specific items, like current projects; and the toolbar for items that get occasional use and Finder-related functions.

Window Management with Exposé

Another feature of Finder windows is Exposé. This is a fantastic tool for locating a specific window when you have a jumble of open applications and windows. With one keystroke, it neatly arranges all open windows so that you can access what you need without having to drag anything around. Here are the function keys:

• F9 tiles all the open windows on your Desktop for easy viewing (Figure 1.14). Every window aligns itself so that you see a thumbnail view of all of your documents.

  Figure 1.14. Exposé: Use the F9 key to tile all the open windows on your Desktop.

  

• F10 tiles all the open windows for the application you are currently using. Try opening several new documents in any application, and then press the F10 key. You'll see each document align, letting you see everything you are working on.

• F11 moves all the open windows out to the edges of your display so that you can quickly get to your Desktop to open other files, folders, or disks. The gray border around the edge of your Desktop lets you know that Exposé is doing its job. Press F11 again, and all of your windows slide back to their original positions.

Tip

PowerBook and iBook users: Your function keys behave a little differently. Since several of them are pre-assigned to laptop-specific functions, such as changing your screen's brightness and changing the speaker volume, you need to hold down the Fn key while invoking Exposé. The Fn key sits at the bottom left corner of your keyboard.

Picture having several windows open while working on a new promotional flyer for a client. You need to modify an image in your layout, but you can't locate its window. Press F9 to organize your open windows so that you can easily see all of your documents. Click on the window you need, and it springs to the front and becomes the active window.

F10 comes in handy when you have several windows open in an application and want to find a specific document quickly, or compare different graphics. For example, I often have several versions of the same graphic open in Photoshop and want to compare them side by side. Instead of using my mouse to drag windows around until I can see all the documents, I just press F10, and all the images line up neatly for me. I prefer Exposé to Photoshop's Tile Windows option because it hides the application palettes and highlights each window's name as I roll my pointer over it.

I also use this trick to compare documents in InDesign. If I'm working on a corporate-identity package, I can quickly compare business cards with letterhead and envelopes by letting Exposé line up everything for me.

F11 saves me time every day because I typically have at least ten applications running with open windows. I use this when I need to get to the Desktop quickly to access files, folders, CDs, and my hard drive.

Tip

If you used F9 when you really meant to use F10, you don't have to click on a window or the Desktop to get out of Exposé. Instead, just invoke the Exposé view you want by using the other function key. This is a quick way to jump between Exposé views.

The Dashboard & Exposé preference pane lets you change the default keys for controlling Exposé (Figure 1.15). Many programs use the F9, F10, and F11 function keys for their own purposes, and Exposé interferes with them. Just change Exposé's default keys via the pop-up menus, or even choose the dashit's the last option in the menu listto disable Exposé completely.

Figure 1.15. The Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts pop-up menus on the Dashboard & Exposé preference pane let you reassign the keyboard shortcuts if they interfere with other applications, or disable Exposé completely.

You can assign hot corners to Exposé using the Dashboard & Exposé preference pane. Use the pop-up menus to assign the different Exposé functions to specific corners of your Desktop, and then move your pointer to those corners to invoke Exposé.