Switching From Windows to Mac (3 page)

The next part of the setup is Find My Mac (which you need iCloud for); this is a great feature that lets you see where your Mac is from your Internet browser; if it’s been stolen it also lets you wipe away all of your content.

After agreeing to the terms, you’ll be taken to the Time Zone selection. After that you are asked if you want to enable the iCloud Keychain. What’s the iCloud Keychain? Basically, this stores passwords in the cloud so you can use them on any device.

Next, decide if you want to send diagnostics and usage data to Apple; this all for statistical purposes to help Apple make their software and hardware better, but it’s entirely up to you. It won’t slow your computer down if you do decide to do it—it’s all done in the background. After this step you decide if you want to register your installation with Apple.

Finally, you are ready to start using your Mac!

The keyboard?! I know what you’re thinking: a keyboard is a keyboard! Well, sort of. While it is true that you could use a Windows keyboard on a Mac, there are keyboards (including the one that’s free with your Mac or built into your MacBook) that are specifically designed for Mac.

There are not a lot of differences; below are the four main ones.

On a Windows keyboard, there is a button that looks like a Windows flag called the Windows Button. There’s no sense putting a Windows button on a Mac keyboard, so where the Windows button normally is, you’ll find the Apple button, which doesn’t look at all like an apple! It actually looks like this
(⌘
); it’s more commonly known as the Command Button—though some people also call it the Clover Key and Pretzel Key.

On a Windows keyboard, the backspace button is a ‘Backwards Delete’ key and the delete button is a ‘Forward Delete’ key (removing the space immediately after the cursor). On a Mac keyboard, the backspace key is labeled ‘Delete’ and is in exactly the same location as the Windows backspace key. Most Mac keyboards don’t have a Forward Delete key anymore, though larger ones do—it’s called “Del->”. If you don’t see it, you still can use forward delete by hitting the FN button (button left corner of your keyboard) and Delete button.

Aside from the already mentioned right clicking (or lack thereof), Windows and Mac mouses work about the same.

The mouse and trackpad are both missing the scroll button typically found on a Windows mouse. To scroll up and down or side to side, just move two fingers up and down or left and right. It’s basically the same way you scroll on an iPhone or iPad except that you use two fingers instead of one.

If you have the latest MacBook (anything newer than March 2015—but not the MacBook Air) then you will have a brand new feature called Force Touch; Force Touch is something you’ll soon see on iPhones, iPads and pretty much every new Apple device—it’s actually already on the Apple Watch. So what is it? It measures how much pressure you are giving the trackpad—if you tap down on your trackpad over an icon or image, and then press all the way, it will show you a preview of it.

The biggest difference between a Windows and Mac mouse is that a Mac mouse use something called Gestures. These can all be customized by going to “System Preferences” and “Mouse” or “Trackpad” but below is an overview of default gestures.

Note: Some of these gestures only work with a Magic Trackpad—not a Magic Mouse.

• Tap with three fingers on a word - brings up a dictionary of that word (note: does not work in all programs).
  
• Right Click - Click with two fingers.
  
• Zoom in or out - Pinch with two fingers (does not work on all programs)
  
• Smart Zoom (automatically zooms in) - Double tap with two fingers (does not work with all programs)
  
• Rotate - Rotate with two fingers (does not work with all programs)
  
• Swipe between two pages - scroll left or right with two fingers.
  
• Toggle between full-screen apps - swipe left or right with four fingers
  
• Bring up Notification Center - Swipe left from the right edge of your mouse with two fingers.
  
• Bring up Mission Control - Swipe up with three fingers.
  
• App Expose - Swipe down with three fingers.
  
• Bring up Launchpad apps - Pinch with thumb and three fingers.
  
• Show the desktop - Spread with your thumb and three fingers.
  

Hopefully by now your files are transferred, you’ve completed the initial start up, and you have a pretty picture on your desktop. At last, you are ready to use your computer!

The desktop is where you’ll be spending much of your time, so let’s take some time getting to know it.

The first thing you should notice is that it’s really not that much different from Windows—it’s a vast space that you can either leave empty or fill with icons or documents.

One of the most noticeable differences between Windows and Mac on the desktop is the top menu bar. I’ll be referring back to this menu bar throughout the book, but right now what you need to know is this bar changes with each program that you open, but some of the features remain the same. The little apple, for instances, never changes—clicking on this will always bring up options to restart, shut down, or log out of your computer. The little magnifying glass at the far right is also always there. Any time you click on that, you can search for files, emails, contacts, etc. that are on your computer.

At the top right, you’ll see several “menulets,” which include Bluetooth, wireless connectivity, volume, battery, time and date, the name of the account currently logged in, Spotlight, and Notifications, as well as other assorted third party icons (if installed).

As this book continues, we’ll refer back to this part of the menu part.

Windows has a taskbar on the bottom of the screen, and Mac has a dock; the dock is where all your commonly used applications are.

If you see a little dot under the icon, then the program is currently open. If you want to close it, then click the icon with two fingers to bring up the options, and then click Quit.

Removing a program from the dock is pretty simple—just drag the icon to the trash and let go. This will not remove the program—it only removes the shortcut. Finder, Trash, and Launchpad are the only programs that you cannot remove.

If you want to add a program to the dock, then open it; when the icon appears on the dock, click with two fingers, then go to Options and select Keep in Dock.

At the right end of the Dock is the Trash. To delete a folder, file or application, drag the item to the Trash, or right click the item and select Move to Trash from the pop-up menu. If you want to eject a disk or drive, such as an iPod or USB flash drive, drag the volume into the Trash. As the volume hovers over the trash, the icon morphs from a trash can to a large eject button. Release the mouse, and your volume will be safely ejected and can be removed from the computer. To empty the trash, right click (click with two fingers) on the Trash icon in the Dock, and select Empty Trash.