I would like to introduce a new series of posts on this blog called Mac 101. This series will take you through different aspects of using the Mac. To begin I will explore the Systems Preferences. Mac is a personal computer. To make your Mac personal you need to know how to customize system settings. Through System Preferences you can adjust a variety of settings to make your Mac OS X look and function the way you’d like.
How do I find System Preferences?
System Preferences can be accessed in two ways. You should have a System Preferences icon sitting in your dock. You can also access System Preferences through the Apple icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Overview
Before we dig deeper an overview of System Preference is in order. System Preferences is organized in five sections – Personal, Hardware, Internet & Network, System and Other. Each of these categories provides several groups of settings that can be adjusted to your liking. Through the next several Mac 101 lessons we will explore each category and the settings that are available for your modification. As an introduction, I will highlight the essential functions of each of the categories. As you explore along with me, I encourage you to make this a hands-on experience. The best way to learn your Mac is to take the mouse in hand and browse through the settings, folders and applications on your computer.
Personal Settings
In the Personal Category of the System Preferences you can adjust settings that will alter the general Appearance of the operating system, the functionality of Dashboard & Expose, the desktop background and screen saver. Further you can adjust the way the Dock functions and looks. Here is where you can set language preferences, security and Spotlight settings.
Hardware
In the Hardware category you can adjust settings that control the way they physical parts of the computer function, such as the display, optical drive, keyboard and mouse. You can also adjust settings for printer & fax, sound, Bluetooth and how your computer uses energy.
Internet & Network
In the Internet & Network category you can set preferences for .Mac, your network, QuickTime and sharing. For now I’ll leave it at that. Nice and short.
System
I think by now you’re catching on that for the most part these categories are well labeled. In the System category you have settings that alter the way the operating system functions. Here we can create and manage user accounts, set the time and date, tell the system when to check for updates and so on.
Other
This category is for all those settings that did not come with your Mac by default. As you can see I have three settings groups in this category on my computer. You may have a complete different set of settings in the Other category. This will depend on what system utilities you have installed on your Mac. I will discuss the settings that I have on my Mac later when we get to this category.
This should be enough for starters. In Part 2 of the Mac 101 series on System Preferences we will concentrate on the settings in the Personal category. Check back soon for the next installment of Mac 101 or subscribe to email delivery and receive new content from this blog in your inbox.
Next Lesson:
Mac 101 – System Preferences: Personal Settings – Part 1