Help Desk Practical Mac Page Two

Help: Practical Mac: 2 of 8

1. Use Keyboard Shortcuts: Keyboard "Shortcuts" allow you to waste less time mousing around the screen to select menu commands. That's a practical way to increase your productivity!

You activate shortcuts by pressing a specific key while simultaneously holding down one or two others (called "modifier" keys). The most popular modifier key is the COMMAND ("Apple") key, but SHIFT, OPTION and CONTROL are also used as modifiers. Below are some of the most common shortcuts, with the modifier key(s) you hold down shown in RED. (NOTE: All keyboard shortcuts available in your applications will be shown next to the name of each command in the various menus. Also, be aware that some of the Finder shortcuts listed below are available only in MacOS 8+. )

Shortcuts available in MOST software application:

COMMAND+S = SAVE the current document

COMMAND+SHIFT+S = SAVE AS

COMMAND+C = COPY selected objects to the clipboard

COMMAND+X = CUT selected objects and store in the clipboard

COMMAND+V = PASTE what is in the clipboard

COMMAND+A = Select ALL objects or text in the active window

COMMAND+O = OPEN an existing document or folder

COMMAND+N = Create a NEW document or folder

COMMAND+Z = UNDO the last operation

COMMAND+P = PRINT the current document

COMMAND+W = Close the active WINDOW

COMMAND+? = Usually opens the HELP files

COMMAND+SHIFT+B = Make selected text BOLD

COMMAND+SHIFT+I = Make selected text ITALIC

COMMAND+Q = QUIT the active application

Shortcuts available only in the FINDER:

COMMAND+OPTION+W = Close ALL Finder WINDOWS

COMMAND+Delete = Move selected file(s) to the TRASH

COMMAND+M = MAKE an alias of the selected file(s) or folder(s)

COMMAND+R = Show the ORIGINAL file an alias represents

COMMAND+I = Show the file or folder's INFORMATION

COMMAND+D = DUPLICATE a file or folder

COMMAND+Y = PUT AWAY a disk (Eject from the computer)

COMMAND+SHIFT+3 = Take a picture of the desktop

2. Keep Your System Folder Simple: It's easy to "customize" how your Mac operates by installing freeware and shareware extensions and control panels. They're nifty. They're fun. And many are even helpful.

But, each time you place one of these little wonders in your system folder, you increase the likelihood of bombs, freezes and system errors. Why? Because any new control panels or extensions you install might conflict (duplicate the action of, or compete for RAM space) with one of the others already in your System Folder. For that reason, our practical advice regarding Extensions and Control Panels is to remember the old business acronym: K.I.S.S. - "Keep It Simple Stupid!" That's good advice for your System Folder.

NOTE: If you have many Extensions and Control Panels that are required by the hardware or software you've installed, you might want to purchase Casady & Green's Conflict Catcher utility software to help keep them under control and prevent conflicts.

3. Partition Larger Hard Drives: "Partitioning" your drive (making ONE device behave like TWO hard drives) helps your Mac perform faster, use its storage space more efficiently, reduces wear and tear on the drive mechanism and can help organize your files. (Example: You might install your System Software, Applications, Fonts and Utilities on one partition, and store all data files on a second partition.) Partitioning is most beneficial with drives that are larger than 1.5 GB (gigabytes). Apple's Drive Setup Utility makes it easy. But remember to always use the NEWEST version of Drive Setup available from Apple.

NOTE: You can only partition a drive by completely reformatting it, a process which erases everything on your drive. Don't try this on a spur of the moment. We recommend you partition your drive during an annual Clean Sweep.

NOTE 2: The new Macintosh HFS+ drive formatting option provides the same speed and storage efficiency benefits, but not the reduced-wear or organizational benefits provided by partitioning. In addition, many older software versions are not fully compatible with HFS+.

4. "Hand-Me-Ups" Can Save Your Company Money: We don't know where or when it started, but computers have become the newest office status symbol. Allocating computers on this basis, however, is rarely a good use of corporate assets.

In the "real world," it's usually the hardworking secretaries and graphic designers who do the most complex computing work, and would benefit most from newer, more powerful computers. Managers, on the other hand, tend to spend more time on relatively simple tasks like word processing, spreadsheets and email.

Although this advice may not fit your corporate philosophy (or - dare we say it - your personal ego) we recommend that you make every effort to place the most powerful machines where they will provide the greatest overall benefit to your company... regardless of who the user is. Then, as new machines are purchased, use the older computers as "hand-me-ups" for corporate managers! It's a far more practical strategy.

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Copyright 1998, 5-Minute Mac Consulting, Wampum, Pennsylvania, USA

Help: Practical Mac: 2 of 8
1. Use Keyboard Shortcuts: Keyboard "Shortcuts" allow you to waste less time mousing around the screen to select menu commands. That's a practical way to increase your productivity! You activate shortcuts by pressing a specific key while simultaneously holding down one or two others (called "modifier" keys). The most popular modifier key is the COMMAND ("Apple") key, but SHIFT, OPTION and CONTROL are also used as modifiers. Below are some of the most common shortcuts, with the modifier key(s) you hold down shown in RED. (NOTE: All keyboard shortcuts available in your applications will be shown next to the name of each command in the various menus. Also, be aware that some of the Finder shortcuts listed below are available only in MacOS 8+. ) Shortcuts available in MOST software application: COMMAND+S = SAVE the current document COMMAND+SHIFT+S = SAVE AS COMMAND+C = COPY selected objects to the clipboard COMMAND+X = CUT selected objects and store in the clipboard COMMAND+V = PASTE what is in the clipboard COMMAND+A = Select ALL objects or text in the active window COMMAND+O = OPEN an existing document or folder COMMAND+N = Create a NEW document or folder COMMAND+Z = UNDO the last operation COMMAND+P = PRINT the current document COMMAND+W = Close the active WINDOW COMMAND+? = Usually opens the HELP files COMMAND+SHIFT+B = Make selected text BOLD COMMAND+SHIFT+I = Make selected text ITALIC COMMAND+Q = QUIT the active application Shortcuts available only in the FINDER: COMMAND+OPTION+W = Close ALL Finder WINDOWS COMMAND+Delete = Move selected file(s) to the TRASH COMMAND+M = MAKE an alias of the selected file(s) or folder(s) COMMAND+R = Show the ORIGINAL file an alias represents COMMAND+I = Show the file or folder's INFORMATION COMMAND+D = DUPLICATE a file or folder COMMAND+Y = PUT AWAY a disk (Eject from the computer) COMMAND+SHIFT+3 = Take a picture of the desktop 2. Keep Your System Folder Simple: It's easy to "customize" how your Mac operates by installing freeware and shareware extensions and control panels. They're nifty. They're fun. And many are even helpful. But, each time you place one of these little wonders in your system folder, you increase the likelihood of bombs, freezes and system errors. Why? Because any new control panels or extensions you install might conflict (duplicate the action of, or compete for RAM space) with one of the others already in your System Folder. For that reason, our practical advice regarding Extensions and Control Panels is to remember the old business acronym: K.I.S.S. - "Keep It Simple Stupid!" That's good advice for your System Folder. NOTE: If you have many Extensions and Control Panels that are required by the hardware or software you've installed, you might want to purchase Casady & Green's Conflict Catcher utility software to help keep them under control and prevent conflicts. 3. Partition Larger Hard Drives: "Partitioning" your drive (making ONE device behave like TWO hard drives) helps your Mac perform faster, use its storage space more efficiently, reduces wear and tear on the drive mechanism and can help organize your files. (Example: You might install your System Software, Applications, Fonts and Utilities on one partition, and store all data files on a second partition.) Partitioning is most beneficial with drives that are larger than 1.5 GB (gigabytes). Apple's Drive Setup Utility makes it easy. But remember to always use the NEWEST version of Drive Setup available from Apple. *NOTE*: You can only partition a drive by completely reformatting it, *a process which erases everything on your drive*. Don't try this on a spur of the moment. We recommend you partition your drive during an annual Clean Sweep. *NOTE 2: The new Macintosh HFS+ drive formatting option provides the same speed and storage efficiency benefits, but not the reduced-wear or organizational benefits provided by partitioning. In addition, many older software versions are not fully compatible with HFS+. 4. "Hand-Me-Ups" Can Save Your Company Money*: We don't know where or when it started, but computers have become the newest office status symbol. Allocating computers on this basis, however, is rarely a good use of corporate assets. In the "real world," it's usually the hardworking secretaries and graphic designers who do the most complex computing work, and would benefit most from newer, more powerful computers. Managers, on the other hand, tend to spend more time on relatively simple tasks like word processing, spreadsheets and email. Although this advice may not fit your corporate philosophy (or - dare we say it - your personal ego) we recommend that you make every effort to place the most powerful machines where they will provide the greatest overall benefit to your company... regardless of who the user is. Then, as new machines are purchased, use the older computers as "hand-me-ups" for corporate managers! It's a far more practical strategy.
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HOME . SERVICES . HELP DESK . RESOURCES . WHY MAC . CREDENTIALS
Copyright 1998, 5-Minute Mac Consulting, Wampum, Pennsylvania, USA