Piplup Does A Thing Mac OS

I remember getting my first Mac, I was excited and somewhat exhausted. Exhausted because I had just walked up 5 flights of stairs carrying my shiny new 27″ iMac. Never before had I touched a Mac, besides playing around with them at the Apple Store.

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For my previous computing experience I had only ever used Windows and was feeling fairly confident about switching to Mac. I mean it’s a computer, I know how to use Windows, and a Mac shouldn’t be that much different. Right?

Not 10 minutes after logging in for the first time, I found myself on Google asking how to install an app on Mac OS X. To anyone who’s used a Mac for a while now, installing an app is just common sense. To someone brand new, the little things can be somewhat confusing. Here’s is a list of top 10 things every new Mac user should know.

Apricity OS may not be exactly like macOS but it does have a slightly similar feel. Its GNOME based clean user interface and beautiful icon themes make it a stunning looking Linux distribution. MacOS lookalike or not, if one day you want to switch to the ‘Arch domain’, do consider Apricity OS among your options. The current Mac operating system is macOS, originally named 'Mac OS X' until 2012 and then 'OS X' until 2016. Developed between 1997 and 2001 after Apple's purchase of NeXT, Mac OS X brought an entirely new architecture based on NeXTSTEP, a Unix system, that eliminated many of the technical challenges that the classic Mac OS faced. Gestures on a Mac go beyond pinch zooming and rotating. You can configure your Mac, without any external apps, to do about anything with the use of multi touch gestures, like 2 finger scroll to browse tabs, 3 finger drag to select text, 4 finger pinch to run Launchpad, etc. All to be able to better navigate your Mac. Whenever Apple releases a new version of its operating system, it's freely available to download and install on any Mac that supports it. Windows 10 gets free updates, too, on a twice-a-year schedule. The Macintosh project began in 1979 when Jef Raskin, an Apple employee, envisioned an easy-to-use, low-cost computer for the average consumer.He wanted to name the computer after his favorite type of apple, the McIntosh, but the spelling was changed to 'Macintosh' for legal reasons as the original was the same spelling as that used by McIntosh Laboratory, Inc., an audio equipment.

#1 – Installing & Uninstalling Apps

Most commonly apps are installed on Mac OS X by simply dragging the downloaded file into the Applications folder. This is a big difference from Windows, and something that may at first be a little difficult to wrap ones head around for anyone new to Mac OS X.

For this example I’ll use Firefox. The process of installing it went like this:

Downloaded Firefox from the Firefox website (downloaded in .dmg format).
Opened (mounted) the .dmg file.
Dragged the Firefox icon into the Applications folder.
Ejected the Firefox .dmg file.

Mounted DMG

That may actually sound a little bit confusing, at least the .dmg part. It becomes a lot simpler if you just think of the .dmg file as a zip file, which when extracted shows the app. In fact it works a lot like a zip file as well, the downloaded Firefox .dmg file was just over 44 MB and the extracted (mounted) Firefox app was over 100 MB.

And then there’s the whole mounting and ejecting the .dmg. What’s that all about? When you mount a .dmg file it acts as if it were a portable external flash drive. As you can see from the adjacent screenshot it even adds itself to the sidebar right next to my actual external drives.

Once you are done installing your application, you simply eject the mounted .dmg as you would if it were an actually external drive (right-click on mounted .dmg and select eject) or eject it from the sidebar.

A Couple More Tips:

Not all apps are installed this way. Some apps (such as Parallels) use a setup wizard.
Apps downloaded from the Mac App Store install automatically without any manual setup process of any kind.
Apps don’t have to be dragged to the Applications folder to install. It can be any folder. If you don’t drag it to the Applications folder however it won’t be included in the Launchpad. Simply put, it’s recommended to just install apps to the Applications folder, that’s what it’s there for.
Apps with the .app extension don’t need to be installed. Even while it’s in its mounted state you can just open it. (it’s still recommended to drag them into the Applications folder though)

Uninstalling Apps

Uninstalling apps is really simple. See that trash bin located in your dock? Just drag the application you want to remove / uninstall to the trash bin.

A Couple More Tips:

Not all apps are uninstalled this way. Some apps (such as Parallels) use an uninstallation wizard.
Commonly small preference setting files and other minor files remain when you just drag on application to the trash bin to uninstall. If you want removed every detail of an app use AppCleaner.

#2 – No Need to Defrag

If you’ve switch from Windows to Mac OS X, then you should be pleased to hear you no longer need to defragment your computer. Yay!

Mac OS X is built on the powerful UNIX system and uses the Mac Journaled format. If any part of your hard drive is fragmented it automatically gets defragmented by the OS. Usually your Mac will wait until it’s idle before defragmenting anything that needs to be defragmented.

To Defrag or not to Defrag

Some would argue that defragmenting a Mac is actually necessary, and in some cases it may be. If you are interested in manually degramenting your Mac I’d recommend you check out either iDefrag or Stellar Drive Defrag.

For the purposes of this article though, I downloaded iDefrag and ran a test. It showed that I had 0.1% fragmentation. 835 out of 735,789 files on my computer were fragmented. That’s nothing to worry about, and most likely those files will be automatically defragmented the next time my Mac is idle.

#3 – Close Unresponsive or Crashed Applications

One of Apple’s slogans is “It just works”. Yeah… that’s not always the case.

It doesn’t necessarily happen often but sometimes applications just crash or freeze.

If you come across such a situation you can either right-click the application in the dock and select “Force Quit”. If the “Force Quit” option isn’t shown, hold down the “options” key and then right-click the application.

Alternatively if you are looking for something more like the Windows version of Ctrl – Alt -Delete, all you have to do is press Command – Options – Esc. This will bring up a small utility called “Force Quit Applications”. Just select the application you need to close and click the “Force Quit” button.

One more Tip:

If an application that used to work perfectly fine starts acting up, try repairing the disk permission. Instructions here: How to Format & Repair a Drive with Disk Utility

#4 – Minimized or Closed?

Close, Min and Max Buttons

For any new Mac user switching from Windows this may be somewhat confusing at first. In Windows, the buttons are located on the right hand side and the right button means close (quits app), middle button maximizes and the left most button minimizes. It works a little bit differently on a Mac.

The red button on a Mac doesn’t quit the app, it just hides it. The middle yellow button minimizes the open application to the dock and the green button maximizes the window.

To fully close an application, right-click it on the Dock and select “Quit”. Alternatively quit it from the menu bar or press “command – q” while viewing the app you want to quit.

A Couple More Tips:

Included in a few applications (such as Safari) on Mac OS X is the feature to make an app full-screen. The feature is located on the upper right of an application.
When an application is hidden and not actually closed you can tell by the indicator light under the application in the Dock.
Enable the indicator light if it isn’t already enabled by going to System Preferences -> Dock -> Enable “Show indicator lights for open applications”.

#5 – Find out everything about your Mac

System information is an app you can find in the Applications folder or by searching for it in Launchpad.

It stores all the information about your Mac. You can see how much memory you have, how many cores, hardware UUID, serial numbers and so much more.

If there is something you need to know about your Mac, down to what of applications are installed and even further down to see what versions of those apps have been updated then check System Information.

There is seriously a ton of information here.

#6 – The “fn” Key

“fn” Key is Awesome!

The “fn” key is useful and if you’re new to Mac you should definitely check it out.

For one it’s the default key used to activate Dictation & Speech on your Mac.

Secondly it’s used as a modifier key. Here’s a quick example of some of my favorites:

fn – delete: Deletes to the right instead of to the left.
fn – control – F2: Navigate the menu bar without the use of a mouse. Use arrow keys to maneuver and return key to select.
fn – F11: Moves all open applications and windows to the far side of the screen. This reveals the desktop and gives quick access to all the desktop icons and files.
The Shift, Control, Options and Command keys are also modifier keys.

Here are a whole bunch more awesome keyboard shortcuts you should definitely check out: Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

#7 – Manage Login Items

When installing new applications they sometimes like to register themselves to startup automatically every time you restart your Mac. The more items you have load up on start the longer your start up will take.

Because of this it’s important to manually manage this list. I like to keep it to its bear minimum as I like to have my computer always functioning at full speed.

If there is an app that you want to have automatically loaded on startup, click the “+” button and navigate to the app (usually stored in your Applications folder). To remove an app from the startup list, select it and then click the “-” button.

#8 – Quick View

How to Quick View

Quick view is probably one of my top 5 favorite features on Mac OS X, I use it constantly.

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Here’s how it works, you select a file and press the space bar. Simple, easy and fast.

This works for every file, and every folder. If it’s a picture it will show a large preview of the picture. If it’s a video it will play the video. If it’s a folder it will tell you the file size and number of files inside of it. If it’s a document it will preview the document.

In the above I mentioned it will preview the video, this however only works for supported video formats… which brings me to my next tip.

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#9 – Enable Support for all Video Formats

Perian is this awesome little app that enables video support for pretty much every video format that you’d ever really use. Once installed it resides in the System Preferences.

The great thing about Perian is, you install it, it works, and then you never have to see it or worry about it again. It’s a really simple and clean application, I can’t recommend it enough.

One More Tip: Are you using Quicktime to play your downloaded videos? If you are, be sure to check out MPlayerX, it’s a far superior video player, and it’s free.

#10 – Enable Right Click on Magic Mouse and Trackpad

I can’t imaging having to use a computer without the ability to right-click things. By default in order to emulate right-clicking you have to hold down the Control key while clicking on an item. I’m actually surprised this isn’t enabled by default. If you want to enable right-click like any sane person would want to, go to System Preferences -> Mouse -> Point & Click -> “Enable Secondary click”.

It’s the same process for a Trackpad. Go to System Preferences -> Trackpad -> Point & Click -> “Enable Secondary click”.

One More Tip: Remember this location in System Preferences, it’s a great way to check on the battery life of your Magic Mouse and Trackpad and even your Keyboard (System Preferences -> Keyboard).

Oh, and if you’re interested in learning more about your Mac then you should definitely subscribe to new posts from AppDucate. This website is called “AppDucate – Educating the Mac and iOS user”, it’s kind of what we do here.

I’d love to hear from you guys, what’s some of your favorite and absolutely must know tips that you use on your Mac?

To use a keyboard shortcut, press and hold one or more modifier keys and then press the last key of the shortcut. For example, to use Command-C (copy), press and hold the Command key, then the C key, then release both keys. Mac menus and keyboards often use symbols for certain keys, including modifier keys:

On keyboards made for Windows PCs, use the Alt key instead of Option, and the Windows logo key instead of Command.

Some keys on some Apple keyboards have special symbols and functions, such as for display brightness , keyboard brightness , Mission Control, and more. If these functions aren't available on your keyboard, you might be able to reproduce some of them by creating your own keyboard shortcuts. To use these keys as F1, F2, F3, or other standard function keys, combine them with the Fn key.

Cut, copy, paste, and other common shortcuts

Command-X: Cut the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard.
Command-C: Copy the selected item to the Clipboard. This also works for files in the Finder.
Command-V: Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app. This also works for files in the Finder.
Command-Z: Undo the previous command. You can then press Shift-Command-Z to Redo, reversing the undo command. In some apps, you can undo and redo multiple commands.
Command-A: Select All items.
Command-F: Find items in a document or open a Find window.
Command-G: Find Again: Find the next occurrence of the item previously found. To find the previous occurrence, press Shift-Command-G.
Command-H: Hide the windows of the front app. To view the front app but hide all other apps, press Option-Command-H.
Command-M: Minimize the front window to the Dock. To minimize all windows of the front app, press Option-Command-M.
Command-O: Open the selected item, or open a dialog to select a file to open.
Command-P: Print the current document.
Command-S: Save the current document.
Command-T: Open a new tab.
Command-W: Close the front window. To close all windows of the app, press Option-Command-W.
Option-Command-Esc: Force quit an app.
Command–Space bar: Show or hide the Spotlight search field. To perform a Spotlight search from a Finder window, press Command–Option–Space bar. (If you use multiple input sources to type in different languages, these shortcuts change input sources instead of showing Spotlight. Learn how to change a conflicting keyboard shortcut.)
Control–Command–Space bar: Show the Character Viewer, from which you can choose emoji and other symbols.
Control-Command-F: Use the app in full screen, if supported by the app.
Space bar: Use Quick Look to preview the selected item.
Command-Tab: Switch to the next most recently used app among your open apps.
Shift-Command-5: In macOS Mojave or later, take a screenshot or make a screen recording. Or use Shift-Command-3 or Shift-Command-4 for screenshots. Learn more about screenshots.
Shift-Command-N: Create a new folder in the Finder.
Command-Comma (,): Open preferences for the front app.

Sleep, log out, and shut down shortcuts

You might need to press and hold some of these shortcuts for slightly longer than other shortcuts. This helps you to avoid using them unintentionally.

Power button: Press to turn on your Mac or wake it from sleep. Press and hold for 1.5 seconds to put your Mac to sleep.* Continue holding to force your Mac to turn off.
Option–Command–Power button* or Option–Command–Media Eject : Put your Mac to sleep.
Control–Shift–Power button* or Control–Shift–Media Eject : Put your displays to sleep.
Control–Power button* or Control–Media Eject : Display a dialog asking whether you want to restart, sleep, or shut down.
Control–Command–Power button:* Force your Mac to restart, without prompting to save any open and unsaved documents.
Control–Command–Media Eject : Quit all apps, then restart your Mac. If any open documents have unsaved changes, you will be asked whether you want to save them.
Control–Option–Command–Power button* or Control–Option–Command–Media Eject : Quit all apps, then shut down your Mac. If any open documents have unsaved changes, you will be asked whether you want to save them.
Control-Command-Q: Immediately lock your screen.
Shift-Command-Q: Log out of your macOS user account. You will be asked to confirm. To log out immediately without confirming, press Option-Shift-Command-Q.

* Does not apply to the Touch ID sensor.

Finder and system shortcuts

Command-D: Duplicate the selected files.
Command-E: Eject the selected disk or volume.
Command-F: Start a Spotlight search in the Finder window.
Command-I: Show the Get Info window for a selected file.
Command-R: (1) When an alias is selected in the Finder: show the original file for the selected alias. (2) In some apps, such as Calendar or Safari, refresh or reload the page. (3) In Software Update preferences, check for software updates again.
Shift-Command-C: Open the Computer window.
Shift-Command-D: Open the desktop folder.
Shift-Command-F: Open the Recents window, showing all of the files you viewed or changed recently.
Shift-Command-G: Open a Go to Folder window.
Shift-Command-H: Open the Home folder of the current macOS user account.
Shift-Command-I: Open iCloud Drive.
Shift-Command-K: Open the Network window.
Option-Command-L: Open the Downloads folder.
Shift-Command-N: Create a new folder.
Shift-Command-O: Open the Documents folder.
Shift-Command-P: Show or hide the Preview pane in Finder windows.
Shift-Command-R: Open the AirDrop window.
Shift-Command-T: Show or hide the tab bar in Finder windows.
Control-Shift-Command-T: Add selected Finder item to the Dock (OS X Mavericks or later)
Shift-Command-U: Open the Utilities folder.
Option-Command-D: Show or hide the Dock.
Control-Command-T: Add the selected item to the sidebar (OS X Mavericks or later).
Option-Command-P: Hide or show the path bar in Finder windows.
Option-Command-S: Hide or show the Sidebar in Finder windows.
Command–Slash (/): Hide or show the status bar in Finder windows.
Command-J: Show View Options.
Command-K: Open the Connect to Server window.
Control-Command-A: Make an alias of the selected item.
Command-N: Open a new Finder window.
Option-Command-N: Create a new Smart Folder.
Command-T: Show or hide the tab bar when a single tab is open in the current Finder window.
Option-Command-T: Show or hide the toolbar when a single tab is open in the current Finder window.
Option-Command-V: Move the files in the Clipboard from their original location to the current location.
Command-Y: Use Quick Look to preview the selected files.
Option-Command-Y: View a Quick Look slideshow of the selected files.
Command-1: View the items in the Finder window as icons.
Command-2: View the items in a Finder window as a list.
Command-3: View the items in a Finder window in columns.
Command-4: View the items in a Finder window in a gallery.
Command–Left Bracket ([): Go to the previous folder.
Command–Right Bracket (]): Go to the next folder.
Command–Up Arrow: Open the folder that contains the current folder.
Command–Control–Up Arrow: Open the folder that contains the current folder in a new window.
Command–Down Arrow: Open the selected item.
Right Arrow: Open the selected folder. This works only when in list view.
Left Arrow: Close the selected folder. This works only when in list view.
Command-Delete: Move the selected item to the Trash.
Shift-Command-Delete: Empty the Trash.
Option-Shift-Command-Delete: Empty the Trash without confirmation dialog.
Command–Brightness Down: Turn video mirroring on or off when your Mac is connected to more than one display.
Option–Brightness Up: Open Displays preferences. This works with either Brightness key.
Control–Brightness Up or Control–Brightness Down: Change the brightness of your external display, if supported by your display.
Option–Shift–Brightness Up or Option–Shift–Brightness Down: Adjust the display brightness in smaller steps. Add the Control key to this shortcut to make the adjustment on your external display, if supported by your display.
Option–Mission Control: Open Mission Control preferences.
Command–Mission Control: Show the desktop.
Control–Down Arrow: Show all windows of the front app.
Option–Volume Up: Open Sound preferences. This works with any of the volume keys.
Option–Shift–Volume Up or Option–Shift–Volume Down: Adjust the sound volume in smaller steps.
Option–Keyboard Brightness Up: Open Keyboard preferences. This works with either Keyboard Brightness key.
Option–Shift–Keyboard Brightness Up or Option–Shift–Keyboard Brightness Down: Adjust the keyboard brightness in smaller steps.
Option key while double-clicking: Open the item in a separate window, then close the original window.
Command key while double-clicking: Open a folder in a separate tab or window.
Command key while dragging to another volume: Move the dragged item to the other volume, instead of copying it.
Option key while dragging: Copy the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.
Option-Command while dragging: Make an alias of the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.
Option-click a disclosure triangle: Open all folders within the selected folder. This works only when in list view.
Command-click a window title: See the folders that contain the current folder.
Learn how to use Command or Shift to select multiple items in the Finder.
Click the Go menu in the Finder menu bar to see shortcuts for opening many commonly used folders, such as Applications, Documents, Downloads, Utilities, and iCloud Drive.

Document shortcuts

The behavior of these shortcuts may vary with the app you're using.

Command-B: Boldface the selected text, or turn boldfacing on or off.
Command-I: Italicize the selected text, or turn italics on or off.
Command-K: Add a web link.
Command-U: Underline the selected text, or turn underlining on or off.
Command-T: Show or hide the Fonts window.
Command-D: Select the Desktop folder from within an Open dialog or Save dialog.
Control-Command-D: Show or hide the definition of the selected word.
Shift-Command-Colon (:): Display the Spelling and Grammar window.
Command-Semicolon (;): Find misspelled words in the document.
Option-Delete: Delete the word to the left of the insertion point.
Control-H: Delete the character to the left of the insertion point. Or use Delete.
Control-D: Delete the character to the right of the insertion point. Or use Fn-Delete.
Fn-Delete: Forward delete on keyboards that don't have a Forward Delete key. Or use Control-D.
Control-K: Delete the text between the insertion point and the end of the line or paragraph.
Fn–Up Arrow: Page Up: Scroll up one page.
Fn–Down Arrow: Page Down: Scroll down one page.
Fn–Left Arrow: Home: Scroll to the beginning of a document.
Fn–Right Arrow: End: Scroll to the end of a document.
Command–Up Arrow: Move the insertion point to the beginning of the document.
Command–Down Arrow: Move the insertion point to the end of the document.
Command–Left Arrow: Move the insertion point to the beginning of the current line.
Command–Right Arrow: Move the insertion point to the end of the current line.
Option–Left Arrow: Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word.
Option–Right Arrow: Move the insertion point to the end of the next word.
Shift–Command–Up Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the document.
Shift–Command–Down Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the document.
Shift–Command–Left Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the current line.
Shift–Command–Right Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the current line.
Shift–Up Arrow: Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line above.
Shift–Down Arrow: Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line below.
Shift–Left Arrow: Extend text selection one character to the left.
Shift–Right Arrow: Extend text selection one character to the right.
Option–Shift–Up Arrow: Extend text selection to the beginning of the current paragraph, then to the beginning of the following paragraph if pressed again.
Option–Shift–Down Arrow: Extend text selection to the end of the current paragraph, then to the end of the following paragraph if pressed again.
Option–Shift–Left Arrow: Extend text selection to the beginning of the current word, then to the beginning of the following word if pressed again.
Option–Shift–Right Arrow: Extend text selection to the end of the current word, then to the end of the following word if pressed again.
Control-A: Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
Control-E: Move to the end of a line or paragraph.
Control-F: Move one character forward.
Control-B: Move one character backward.
Control-L: Center the cursor or selection in the visible area.
Control-P: Move up one line.
Control-N: Move down one line.
Control-O: Insert a new line after the insertion point.
Control-T: Swap the character behind the insertion point with the character in front of the insertion point.
Command–Left Curly Bracket ({): Left align.
Command–Right Curly Bracket (}): Right align.
Shift–Command–Vertical bar ( ): Center align.
Option-Command-F: Go to the search field.
Option-Command-T: Show or hide a toolbar in the app.
Option-Command-C: Copy Style: Copy the formatting settings of the selected item to the Clipboard.
Option-Command-V: Paste Style: Apply the copied style to the selected item.
Option-Shift-Command-V: Paste and Match Style: Apply the style of the surrounding content to the item pasted within that content.
Option-Command-I: Show or hide the inspector window.
Shift-Command-P: Page setup: Display a window for selecting document settings.
Shift-Command-S: Display the Save As dialog, or duplicate the current document.
Shift–Command–Minus sign (-): Decrease the size of the selected item.
Shift–Command–Plus sign (+): Increase the size of the selected item. Command–Equal sign (=) performs the same function.
Shift–Command–Question mark (?): Open the Help menu.

Other shortcuts

For more shortcuts, check the shortcut abbreviations shown in the menus of your apps. Every app can have its own shortcuts, and shortcuts that work in one app might not work in another.

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Apple Music shortcuts: Choose Help > Keyboard shortcuts from the menu bar in the Music app.
Other shortcuts: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Shortcuts.

Learn more

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Create your own shortcuts and resolve conflicts between shortcuts
Change the behavior of the function keys or modifier keys