Macintosh PC vs. Mac Common Commands. Introduction. Common Commands. Dock. Finder

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1 Macintosh PC vs. Mac Common Commands Introduction This self-help document will show you how to perform comparable functions that are on a PC on a Macintosh computer. The tables below describe the PC command on the left and adjacent are the instructions used on the Mac. Please note that these commands may change depending on what operating system you are using. Common Commands Dock Taskbar - The area that occupies the lower portion of a Windows environment. All active (open and minimized) windows reside here and can be viewed/maximized by clicking on the windows Dock Similarly to the Taskbar, the Dock shows all active windows but also acts as the start menu for Windows. You can launch any application from the Dock and a small black dot will indicate if the there is an open/minimized window for that application. A divide line separates applications from the user s folders. Table 1 1. To launch an application from the Dock, click on the icon for that application. A black dot will appear under a program that is open/minimized. Clicking on that application will maximize the window. Figure 1 2. To add an application to the Dock, open the Applications folder and click and drag an application anywhere on the Dock. Finder My Computer or Computer Used to view all resources on your computers such as drives, file, folders, etc. Finder Similarly to My Computer, Finder is also used to view all resources on your computers such as drives, file, folders, etc. Table 2 OTS Publication: MAC15 11/01/2017 training@towson.edu Office of Technology Services 2017 Towson University This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. Details available at

2 1. To access Finder, click the Finder icon located in your Dock. Figure 2 2. The navigation window will open allowing you to view your hard drive, system folders, and documents. Once finished, click the red Close button in the upper left-hand corner. Figure 3 System Preferences Control Panel Allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls such as adding hardware, adding and removing software, and changing accessibility options. System Preferences Similarly to Control Panel, System Preferences allows users to modify key settings for each application. Table 3 1. To access System Preferences, click the System Preferences icon in your Dock. Figure 4 2

3 2. The navigation window will open allowing you to change desired system settings. Once finished, click the Close button. Figure 5 Applications Programs Used to identify software that is loaded on the computer. Applications - Similarly to Programs, Applications is used to identify software that is loaded on the computer. Table 4 1. To access applications that aren t located on your Dock, click the Applications folder. Figure 6 2. The Applications windows will open. Select an application by clicking on the application s icon. The application will temporarily appear in the dock. Figure 7 3

4 Alias Shortcuts A quick way to launch a program from the desktop instead of navigating to the Programs folder Alias Similarly to Shortcuts, an Alias is an icon that can be in two places at the same time. They take up virtually no disk space and you can have multiple Alias for one application, folder, or file. Table 5 1. To create an Alias, press and hold the control key (or right click if you have a newer Magic or Mighty mouse) and click on a file, folder, or application that can create an Alias. Figure 8 2. Click Make Alias. A duplicate icon will appear that can be relocated to any location on your computer. Menu Extras System Tray - Houses all temporary and stay resident programs (TSR) that are required to run in the background such as the System Clock, Network Access Icon and Virus Notifications. Menu Extras More frequently known as Menulets, the location for these is the top right hand side of the screen Table 6 1. To access menu extras, click any icon in the upper right-hand corner. Figure 9 Trash Can Recycle Bin - The depository for all items that have been deleted from the system. The recycle bin is manually emptied by the user. Trash Can Similarly to the Recycle Bin, the Trash Can holds all discarded files. Table 7 4

5 1. To use the Trash Can, Drag a file, folder, or application into the Trash Can located at the far right hand side of the Dock. Although items are removed from their physical location, they are never really deleted from the computer. Mac s have a secure empty trash feature found on the Finder toolbar. Figure 10 Spotlight Search - The search function will locate files, folders, and programs on the computer. Spotlight - A comprehensive tool that uses predictive text to locate and categorize items on the computer. Table 8 1. To use the Spotlight, click the magnifying glass on the menulet. Figure A search box will appear. Type in a phrase or keyword and immediate results are returned and categorized according to use and function. Figure 12 5

6 Get Info Properties A user can identify and set attributes for each file and folder. Get Info Similarly to Properties, Get Info identifies the properties of each file and folder. Table 9 1. To retrieve properties of a file, press and hold the control key (or right click if you have a newer Magic or Mighty mouse) on any file or folder. Figure Click Get Info from the drop-down menu. 3. An Info dialog box appears with information such as user permissions, size, and location. Figure 14 6