macOS Sierra For Dummies. Bob LeVitus
Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу macOS Sierra For Dummies - Bob LeVitus страница 5

Название: macOS Sierra For Dummies

Автор: Bob LeVitus

Издательство: John Wiley & Sons Limited

Жанр: Зарубежная образовательная литература

Серия:

isbn: 9781119280675

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ very little electricity when it’s sleeping and will usually be ready to use (when you press any key or click the mouse) in a few seconds. On the other hand, if you’re not going to be using it for a few days, you might want to shut it down anyway.

       Note: If you leave your Mac on constantly, and you’re gone when a lightning storm or rolling blackout hits, your Mac might get hit by a power surge or worse. So be sure you have adequate protection – say, a decent surge protector designed specifically for computers – if you decide to leave your Mac on and unattended for long periods. See the section “A few things you should definitely not do with your Mac,” elsewhere in this chapter, for more info on lightning and your Mac. Often as not, I leave it on when I’m on the road so that I can access it from my laptop via remote screen sharing. So, because macOS is designed to run 24/7, I don’t shut it down at night unless the night happens to be dark and stormy.

      One last thing: If your Mac is a laptop and will be enclosed in a bag or briefcase for more than a few hours, turn it off. Otherwise, it could overheat – even in Sleep mode.

A few things you should definitely not do with your Mac

      In this section, I cover the bad stuff that can happen to your computer if you do the wrong things with it. If something bad has already happened to you … I know, I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but see Chapter 20.

      ❯❯ Don’t unplug your Mac when it’s turned on. Very bad things can happen, such as having your OS break. See the preceding section, where I discuss shutting down your system properly.

      Note that this warning doesn’t apply to laptops as long as their battery is at least partially charged. As long as there’s enough juice in the battery to power your Mac, you can connect and disconnect its power adapter to your heart’s content.

      ❯❯ Don’t use your Mac when lightning is near. Here’s a simple life equation for you: Mac + lightning = dead Mac. ’Nuff said. Oh, and don’t place much faith in inexpensive surge protectors. A good jolt of lightning will fry the surge protector and your computer, as well as possibly frying your modem, printer, and anything else plugged into the surge protector. Some surge protectors can withstand most lightning strikes, but those warriors aren’t the cheapies that you buy at your local computer emporium. Unplugging your Mac from the wall during electrical storms is safer and less expensive. (Don’t forget to unplug your external modem, network hubs, printers, and other hardware that plugs into the wall as well; lightning can fry them, too.)

      For laptops, disconnect the power adapter and all other cables because whatever those cables are connected to could fry and fry your laptop right along with it. After you do that, you can use your laptop during a storm if you care to. Just make sure that it’s 100 percent wireless and cableless if you do.

      ❯❯ Don’t jostle, bump, shake, kick, throw, dribble, or punt your Mac, especially while it’s running. Many older Macs contain a hard drive that spins at 5,200 revolutions per minute (rpm) or more. A jolt to a hard drive while it’s reading or writing a file can cause the head to crash into the disk, which can render many – or all – files on it unrecoverable. Ouch!

      

Don’t think you’re exempt if your Mac uses a solid-state drive with no moving parts. A good bump to your Mac could damage other components. Treat your Mac like it’s a carton of eggs, and you’ll never be sorry.

      ❯❯ Don’t forget to back up your data! If the files on your hard drive mean anything to you, you must back up. Not maybe. Must. Even if your most important file is your last saved game of Bejeweled, you still need to back up your files. Fortunately, Sierra includes an awesome backup utility called Time Machine. (Unfortunately, you need either an external hard drive or an Apple Time Capsule device to take advantage of it.) So I beg you: Please read Chapter 21 now, and find out how to back up before something horrible happens to your valuable data!

      

I strongly recommend that you read Chapter 21 sooner rather than later – preferably before you do any significant work on your Mac. Dr. Mac says, “There are only two kinds of Mac users: Those who have lost data and those who will.” Which kind do you want to be?

      ❯❯ Don’t kiss your monitor while wearing stuff on your lips. For obvious reasons! Use a clean, soft cloth and/or OmniCleanz display cleaning solution (I love the stuff, made by RadTech; www.radtech.us) to clean your display.

      

Definitely do not use household window cleaners or paper towels. Either one can harm your display. Use a soft clean cloth (preferably microfiber), and if you’re going to use a cleaner, make sure it’s specifically designed not to harm computer displays. Finally, spray the cleaner on the cloth, not on the screen.

Point-and-click boot camp

      Are you new to the Mac? Just figuring out how to move the mouse around? Now is a good time to go over some fundamental stuff that you need to know for just about everything you’ll be doing on the Mac. Spend a few minutes reading this section, and soon you’ll be clicking, double-clicking, pressing, and pointing all over the place. If you think you have the whole mousing thing pretty much figured out, feel free to skip this section. I’ll catch you on the other side.

      Still with me? Good. Now for some basic terminology:

      ❯❯ Point: Before you can click or press anything, you have to point to it. Place your hand on your mouse, and move it so that the cursor arrow is over the object you want – like on top of an icon or a button.

      If you’re using a trackpad, slide your finger lightly across the pad until the cursor arrow is over the object you want.

      ❯❯ Click: Also called single click. Use your index finger to push the mouse button all the way down and then let go so that the button (usually) produces a satisfying clicking sound. (If you have one of the optical Apple Pro mice, you push the whole thing down to click.) Use a single click to highlight an icon, press a button, or activate a check box or window.

      In other words, first you point and then you click – point and click, in computer lingo.

      If you’re using a trackpad, press down on it to click.

      ❯❯ Double-click: Click twice in rapid succession. With a little practice, you can perfect this technique in no time. Use a double-click to open a folder or to launch a file or application.

      Trackpad users: Press down on the pad two times in rapid succession.

      ❯❯ Control-click: Hold down the Control key while single-clicking. (Also called secondary-click or right-click.)

      Trackpad users can either hold down the Control key while pressing down on the pad with one finger, or by tapping the trackpad with two fingers without holding down the Control key.

      If tapping your trackpad with two fingers didn’t bring up the little menu, check your Trackpad System Preferences pane (see Chapter 5).

      Control-clicking – the same as right-clicking a Windows system – displays a menu (called a contextual or shortcut menu). In fact, if you’re blessed with a two-or-more-button mouse СКАЧАТЬ