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| § |
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secrets
David Pogue & Joseph Schorr
Macworld’s “Desktop Macworld’s “Secrets”
BOOKS Critic” Columnist Columnist
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2022 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/macworldmacsecre0000pogu
Readers love Macworld Mac Secrets
“T've just purchased your new edition of Mac Secrets from Amazon.com
in the States, and I had to drop you a line to say it’s the best! Brilliant
— thank you so much. And we LOVED your Microsoft spoof song on
the CD. Here’s a computer book I can actually understand.”
—Caroline Hartford, UK
“As a teacher who is the computer support person at our school, I
want to thank you for the great job you did on Mac Secrets 5th Edition! 1
use it constantly in supporting our eclectic herd of Macs. Just getting a
working copy of the MacLink translators made the book worthwhile,
not to mention all the great trouble-shooting tips. It was a wonderful
idea to put the text of the 4th edition on the CD-ROM as well, for those
of us with older Macs, who need information on System 7.5 and
earlier.”
—Matt Taylor, Beverly, MA
“You really have yourself in a box this time with the 5th Edition of
Macworld Mac Secrets. | received it promptly from the online book
outfit and without a doubt it is the best, most easily read, and
understandable Mac book I have ever been blessed with. The book
explains many items in and about the Mac that I took for granted but
did not fully understand, and that I could not correct when things went
wrong! YOUR problem is that I don’t think you can top this book.”
—Gershom Mailman, M.D.,
That Secrets book has been the most informative book I've ever read.
It’s so dog-eared, I’ve had to cover it entirely with duct tape to keep it
together. And ever since | got it, I've treated it like my own child, not
leaving it in the car alone, making sure I can see it at all times from my
desk, etc. You could tell it was written by a true Mac User. It’s the
mixture of humor, down-to-earthness, and pure simplicity. Anyway, I
love it.
—April A. Ackerman, San Jose, CA
A page-turner! I've been using Macs since the first little putty-colored
marvel, and I still find myself reading every word. A terrific
compendium of all the stuff you wish could remember when you need
it!
—Dale Lyles Newnan, GA
... and reviewers love it too!
“The best Mac book of the year.”
— Boston Computer Society
“Would you believe that a $50 book could improve your productivity more
than $500 worth of RAM? Believe it.”
—San Diego Mac Users’ Group
“The newly definitive Macintosh reference work, replacing the venerable
Macintosh Bible.”
—The Washington Post
“If you can only buy one book, you won0t be sorry if you buy this one.”
—TidBITS
“Mac SECRETS should ship with every Mac that is sold.”
—Quill Services Web Book Reviews
“ A gold mine of undocumented secrets.”
—Mac Professionals Book Club
Macworld Mac
Secrets, 5th Edition
David Pogue and Joseph Schorr
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2. IDG publishes more than 290 computer publications in over 75 countries. More than 90 million
tead one or more IDG publications each month. ag Ae
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hn Kilcullen 7” steven Berkowitz :
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IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. IDG Books Worldwide,
iors aoe .
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Computer Press.
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Comal vars 1995
Awards 1984
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Credits
Acquisitions Editor
Michael Roney
Development Editors
Katharine Dvorak
Steve Klett
Technical Editor
Dennis Cohen
Copy Editors
Tracy Brown
Eric Hahn
Christine Schultz-Touge
Project Coordinator
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Graphics Technicians
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Hector Mendoza
About the Authors
Graphics & Production Specialists
Mario Amador
Vincent F. Burns
Stephanie Hollier
Elizabeth Pauw
Chris Pimentel
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Quality Control Specialists
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Indexer
York Production Services
David Pogue graduated summa cum laude from Yale in 1985. After several
years conducting Broadway shows in New York, he began writing his back-
page column, “The Desktop Critic,” for Macworld magazine in 1991.
David is the author of Macs For Dummies, the #1 bestselling Macintosh book
since its publication in 1992—in all of its 17 languages and six editions. In
addition to the previous editions of Macworld Mac Secrets, he has also
authored or co-authored Magic For Dummies, Opera For Dummies, Classical
Music For Dummies, The iMac For Dummies, and PalmPilot: The Ultimate
Guide. He’s been profiled in USA Today and the New York Times, and on CBS’
“48 Hours” and MSNBC's “The Site.” You can reach David through his Web
Page (www.davidpogue.com) or via email (david@pogueman.com).
Joseph Schorr is a journalist and playwright. He writes the monthly “Secrets”
column for Macworld magazine and his plays have been produced at Yale, Off-
Off Broadway, and at Wolf Trap. A 1985 Yale graduate, he spent seven years
as a reporter with The Oregonian newspaper, and is currently a softw-ce
product manager in Portland, Oregon.
Joe co-wrote the original Macworld Mac Secrets while living in an absurdly
remote town in the White Mountains of Arizona, where he communicated
with the outside world solely via modem (address: schorr@earthlink.net).
Preface
Who Should Read This Book
There's no question that you'll get some good out of this book no matter how
much of a Mac expert you are. Heck, even if you throw away the book, the
accompanying 600MB of spectacular software will make you mighty glad you
picked it up.
But we may as well admit that this book completely skips over the basics of
using a Macintosh. If you don’t already know how to point and click, open
windows, insert a disk, use a menu, and open a control panel, we'd like to
recommend Macs For Dummies, an outstanding beginner's book from IDG
Books Worldwide. But because it was written by one of your present authors,
we won't even mention it. That would be a conflict of interest.
As a matter of fact, here are the terms we’re going to be tossing around
without any definition:
88 -key (command key), Apple menu, backup copy, click, control panel, cursor,
Delete key, desktop, double-click, File menu, floppy disk, folder, font, hard drive,
icon, K (kilobyte), keyboard, launch a program, MB (megabyte), menu, menu
command, monitor, mouse, numeric keypad, Option key, point, quit a program,
Return key, spacebar, scroll bar, System 7, title bar (of a window), Trash.
On the other hand, this book doesn’t go to the very technical ends of the Mac
universe, either. It doesn’t talk about programming in C language or using
DAL or hooking up to a mainframe. And we wouldn't tell you what you can
accomplish by going inside your Mac with a soldering gun— even if we knew.
This book is for everybody in the middle — everybody who's no longer
impressed by the way the Trash changes shape when something’s in it but
wouldn’t mind knowing how to change a file’s icon or beat Word 98 into
submission.
Secrets of This Book
The biggest secret to getting the most out of this book is understanding its
structure. Each topic is divided into halves. The first part is a general
discussion, like a miniarticle. It’s followed by the secrets: undocumented,
often never-before-published hints and tips for pushing your Mac to its max.
Macworld Mac Secrets, 5” Edition
Part by Part
Here’s how the primary book sections are broken down:
Part I: System Software Revealed unearths insider information about the free
software that came with your Mac — namely, the System software that fills
that Apple System CD-ROM or that mound of white System disks. But we
won't mention only the Finder (and aliases and labels and Trash and the
Desktop file), but also the important Installer, your control panels, your
Apple menu, and all those Apple Extras. And, best of all, this part identifies
all the System-folder clutter you can throw out.
Part II: Secrets of the Machine takes you into the actual mechanics of the Mac.
You won't go so far in that you'll need a degree in electrical engineering;
you'll just learn enough of the inner workings to be useful. This part, for
example, actually gives a decent explanation of how to use virtual memory. It
includes a Disk Chapter, a Memory Chapter, special coverage of the Power
Macs and PowerBook laptops, and a new section on USB, the new gadget-
connection technology introduced with the iMac. Chapters 12 and 13 even
contain detailed Mac-by-Mac model descriptions so that you'll know what
you bought, how it can be upgraded, and how much technology has marched
on since you bought your machine.
Part Ill: Application Secrets covers the programs you probably use in day-to-
day work: major players like AppleWorks (formerly ClarisWorks), Word,
Excel, and FileMaker, as well as software like ResEdit that can help make the
Mac more yours. This part is a whole book-within-a-book, with enough expert
insight to make you say “Wow” at least once per page.
Why We Wrote This Book
DP: Everybody who's ever worked with a Mac
already knows that you discard a file by moving its
icon to the Trash can, that you select text by dragging
across it, and that you end the day by choosing Shut
Down from the Special menu. The world doesn’t need
another book to define scrol! bar.
little-known user groups... The little animated
surprises that lurk inside commercial programs...
DP: The trick to connecting two Macs together with
a piece of phone wire or getting your PowerBook
safely through the X-ray machine or making your
icons invisible to prying eyes...
JS: ...at last, it's all been collected into one
substantial paperback written by a couple of former
JS: So when we started writing this book, we worked
college roommates.
from one simple, overarching concept: Under no
circumstances would we define scroll bar. DP: Is there anything else you think we should
DP: Instead, we decided to tell secrets: secrets
about how a Mac really works, secrets that software
programmers buried in programs but forgot to tell the
manual writer, secrets that answer some of the most
frequently asked (and seldom answered) questions
about Macintosh computing, secrets like how to
restore an ailing Mac to health.
JS: All those elusive, mystical $6-Option-Shift-Tab-
Question Mark key sequences that are whispered at
mention?
4S: Do the words free software mean anything to you?
DP: Good point. We've included an incredible stash of
Great programs on a CD-ROM at the er of the book.
JS: We were both sick of reading books that tell you
about some great software and then send you to your
local user group or store to find it. So we decided
from the outset that this book would be different. If
Preface ix
Part IV: The World Online makes its debut in this edition. Now that the Internet
has become an integral part of using the Mac — and an integral part of its
software — we thought we’d better start demystifying that mother of all
networks, too. Here you'll find chapters devoted to buying and understanding
modems; America Online; Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer;
writing your own Web pages; and dealing with e-mail (including junk e-mail).
Part V: Attachments is about everything you attach to your computer —
printers (and, therefore, fonts), scanners, digital cameras, CD-ROM and DVD-
ROM players, NuBus and PCI cards, and networks. At the end of this part is a
troubleshooting chapter that, among other things, contains our Rule of
Three: a troubleshooting trick that solves about 99% of typical mysterious
Mac crashes and odd behaviors.
Appendix: The Secrets Software describes the hundreds of programs that
come with this book.
Sidebars
Along the way, we intend to spice things up with special minitopics:
@ Each Answer Man sidebar contains an actual question asked by an actual
imaginary Macintosh user, and our actual attempt to answer it.
@ A Macintosh Secret has, we suppose, much in common with a regular Hint
or Trick or Tip. But to qualify for its own special sidebar, a Macintosh
Secret has to have particular juiciness, a surprising element, or special
pertinence to the discussion at hand.
we mention something you need, we included it with
the book.
DP: And not only shareware. We've also included
commercial software, from actual software companies
like Apple, Microsoft, Netscape, Berkeley Systems,
Extensis, MicroFrontier, DataViz, Westcode, Abbott
Systems, and Power On. And we've even thrown in a
couple of programs written especially for this book —
totally exclusive software. All of this adds up to a book
that delves into the inner workings of the machine, the
hardware behind the hardware, the raw code, the...
JS: Wait a minute, this isn’t going to be one of those
horribly dry, technical, IBM-style books that probes
the depths of programming and discusses things like
— like DIP switches, is it?
DP: DIP switches won't even be mentioned.
JS: So then why is there a “DIP switch” entry in the
index?
DP: Because you just said DIP switches. Once you
say it, it goes in the index. Now it's part of the book.
JS: Just because | said it.
DP: Yes! That's how indexes work. So, anyway, we
think this book will show you how to get the most
from your Mac and increase the...
JS: So if | say “DOS,” suddenly DOS is in the index?
DP: Right, so quit saying stuff like that. I'm trying to
finish this obligatory introductory section...
JS: What about AUTOEXEC.BAT? And COM1? And
RS-422 port?
DP: Stop it! Stop it!
JS: Just checking.
DP: Shail we begin?
JS: Let's.
Speed Tip
Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
® Case Histories are true stories from real life, reflecting the genuine agony
of trying to solve a computer problem as deadlines loom. Of course,
we've selected only stories with happy endings.
m True Facts, however, may not end happily. These are fun tidbits from the
world of high-powered Silicon Valley politics: tales of Apple intrigue or
Adobe warfare, and other trivia.
mw As you can imagine, writing a tightly integrated book like this is difficult
for one person. We found that it may even be tougher for two; sometimes
we (JS and DP) simply couldn’t agree. In those instances, you'll get both
sides of the story in the form of a Dialogue between your co-authors.
You'll hear the conservative, careful view (usually Joe’s) versus the devil-
may-care, it’s-under-warranty-anyway stance (usually David’s).
Finding the Good Parts
Finally, you'll find icons in the margin of this book. Here’s what they’re about:
Speed Tip icons are for people in such a hurry that they don’t even
have the time to scan our secrets for efficiency tips; these symbols
mark our time-saving tips.
CD icons let you know that, whatever the current discussion is about,
you don't have to go out and buy some program to make it work. The
software you need is on a CD-ROM, right at the back of this book.
Strange But True icons indicate an oddity we bet you didn’t know.
Even though the Mac is the world’s most self-explanatory computer,
there’s a lot of weirdness going on behind that plastic.
Worth Learning icons mark a technique most people don’t bother
with. But we, as seasoned veterans, have found a tip marked by this
icon particularly worth making part of your work routine.
Contest Winner icons alert you to secrets submitted by readers — the
best 50, in fact. These lucky 50 readers each received a free copy of
this book, just as you'll receive a copy of the Sixth Edition if we choose
your secret to publish (see the contest details later in this chapter).
Mac Basics icons debut with this edition. We're particularly proud that
IDG Books is still a full-steam producer of Macintosh books, even as
some of the more spineless publishers buy into the Wall Street Journal's
anti-Mac paranoia and abandon the market. The Mac Basics icon is
there as a welcome to new Mac Secrets readers — and to existing Mac
fans who may find surprising holes in their knowledge of what we
consider to be the fundamentals.
Mac OS 8 icons mark information specific to Mac OS 8 or later. So many
things changed in Mac OS 8 that we thought we'd point out these
dramatic changes.
Preface
Mac OS 8.5 icons denote coverage of the OS version that debuted just as
this book did: Mac OS 8.5 (and its subsequent decimal-point upgrades),
That bizarre arrow notation
As you read this edition, you'll notice frequent use of this notation: File>
Open. That's shorthand for “From the File menu, choose the Open command,”
This abbreviation style really pays off when you're asked to choose submenus,
as in “Choose Insert » Autotext © Normal,” and when you're supposed to open
anested folder (‘Open your System Folder Apple Menu Items folder”).
Why'd we incorporate this shorthand? Because we're all busy people, and
the book is long enough as it is.
What’s New in Secrets 5.0
As you know, computer years are like dog years — seven of them for one of
our years. This edition hit the shelves nearly two years after the previous
one; as a result, so many aspects of Macintosh life changed we had to
overhaul the thing — almost all 1,300 pages of it.
You'll find changes on almost every page. We're especially proud of our Mac
OS 8.5 (and later) coverage. You'll find new discussions of Mac OS 8 and 8.1;
the HFS+ hard drive-formatting scheme; digital cameras; the iMac, G3 Power
Macs, and G3 PowerBooks; USB devices; Photoshop 5, America Online 4, and
Microsoft Office 98; Word macro viruses; Outlook Express and Claris Emailer;
Netscape Navigator 4.x and Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x; Quark 4 and
PageMaker 6.5; G3 upgrade cards; AppleScript and MacsBug; and much more.
And we had to double-check every single secret to make sure it still works.
~ You might wonder what we cut to make way for all of this good new stuff.
*, \ The answer is: just about every remaining shred of System 7 and 7.1
_’ information. If your Mac still runs those operating systems that exited the
o scene in 1994, take joy from the fact that the cut material is still in the fourth
edition — which you've got on the CD-ROM that accompanies this book!
Finally, we overhauled the software that comes with this book. We've included
a delicious variety of commercial programs: OneClick, Action Files, You Don’t
Know Jack Lite, Color It, Extensis PhotoBevel, and MacLinkPlus are among
them — software you could purchase on your own for literally hundreds of
dollars. And we’ve included many times more hand-picked shareware and
freeware programs; you'll never have to go scampering to the Web to find
some useful utility we describe in the text.
You'll also find the complete text of this edition in electronic, searchable form
on the CD-ROM. You may find that Mac Secrets on a PowerBook is actually
easier to carry around than Mac Secrets itself. See the appendix for the
complete list and descriptions of the CD goodies.
xii
Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
You Asked For It
By far the most frequent suggestions we receive from readers are:
m “Give us an electronic, searchable edition!” You got it. The book in
your hands is also on the accompanying CD-ROM in an electronic,
searchable format. Now you can take Mac Secrets with you on your
PowerBook, too.
m “Keep the book updated!” That's the purpose of our free online updates
(see “Free Electronic Updates,” below) — and our Web page
(http://www.idgbooks.com/idgbooksonline/macsecrets).
mu “The book is too big! Sell it as separate volumes.” The publisher really
did consider this suggestion — for about 11 seconds. We were told that
this kind of packaging would jack up the cost of the book and prevent
bookstore browsers from checking the book out (because it would have
to be wrapped in plastic). Bummer.
And speaking of the feedback we get: send it on! (Our e-mail addresses are on
page vi.) Point out our mistakes, please, and send us the secrets you uncover,
and tell us how we could improve the next edition. We're secure people;
we're prepared to suffer the slings and arrows of reader feedback if it'll
produce a better book the next time around.
Free Electronic Updates
This may be the fifth edition, but you have to check the copyright page (that
10987... business) to see which printing you have. Every few months —
each time the publisher prints up a new batch — we update the material in
this book.
So we had a wacky thought: instead of just sending the updates to our editor,
why not post them on the Internet, where everybody can get at them? That’s
exactly what we’ve done. Each update document comes complete with page
numbers, so you can make your copy match the latest printings! To find these
free electronic updates, visit this book’s Web page at www.idgbooks.com/
idgbooksonline/macsecrets. This Web site lets you download our updates —
and much more: contest results, updated shareware programs, and more.
Get Your Next Edition Free, or Win $500
It’s the third annual Mac Secrets Mac secret contest!
This year’s contest
Send us the coolest undocumented features, buried treasures, power-user
shortcuts, authoritative corrections, ResEdit hacks, and secret About boxes.
If you send us one that hasn’t been published elsewhere, and we use it in the
Preface xiii
next edition of this book, we'll send you the sixth edition of Macworld Mac
Secrets at no charge when it’s published. We'll award 50 free books this way
(and, of course, we'll credit you in the book).
Furthermore, we'll once again award $500 to the absolute coolest, most
amazing undocumented secret we receive.
Send your entries by e-mail to david@pogueman.com or schorr@earthlink.net,
or, if you must, by U.S. mail to:
Mac Secrets Contest
IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.
919 E. Hillsdale Blvd. #400
Foster City, CA 94404
Last year’s contest
No joke: fully 60 percent of the entries in the secrets contest for the edition
in your hands were secrets that already appeared in the book! Another 20
percent were duplicated, alas — we've awarded the free books to the first
submission we received.
Of the rest, some were too trivial, too technical, or based on software that is
too old or too uncommon to appeal to our wide audience. Lots of these
secrets were terrific things to know, but were already well documented in the
software manuals. And 50, of course, were winners.
Once again this year, we didn’t receive any single secret that was so amazing
it merited the big $500 grand prize. Therefore, we've sent $250 to each of two
lucky gentlemen: Lubomir Stroetmann, for his submission of 20 absolutely fresh
and useful tricks; and Swedish reader Géran Svegler, who went so far as to write
special software (the extremely cool Hi-Res Map) to include on our CD. Lubomir
is from Denmark and Géran is from Sweden, which we assume is either (a) pure
coincidence or (b) a secret Scandanavian plot to take over the world.
Where to Get Apple Software
As you read this book, you'll encounter frequent references to Apple updates,
system patches, supplementary software, and so on. By far the simplest way
to get this free Apple software is to download it (see Chapter 25 to find out
how to get connected to the Internet or an online service).
m= On America Online: Use keyword: AppleComputer.
@ On the Internet: Download stuff from Apple’s software sites at
ftp.support.apple.com or ftp.info.apple.com.
Acknowledgments
The information in this book comes from many sources, the most important
of which is our army of loyal and articulate readers. Since the last edition
appeared, we received over 4,500 e-mail messages from readers around the
planet: tricks, tips, clarifications, news, and encouragement. We read and
replied to all of them — and used their input to shape the final product.
Over the years, various other knowledgeable, friendly Mac fans have left their
marks on the evolving book, too. Gene Steinberg and John Stroud contributed
several important chapters to the early editions. In this edition, you'll find a
new chapter on tackling Mac-Windows compatibility issues — a chapter
written by genius John Rizzo, who maintains the mac-windows.com Web site.
New, too, is the chapter on creating Web sites, which had substantial input
from Ted Alspach, and a chapter on America Online, drafted by Erfert Fenton.
We were thrilled to learn that once again, Dennis Cohen would be the book's
technical editor, which in this case involved not just catching our gaffes but
also contributing some astounding Mac secrets of his own. We’re also proud
to toast the various IDG Books editors who've shaped the book over the
years: Marta Partington (first edition), Andy Cummings (second), Jim Grey
and Joe Curran (third), Kevin Shafer (fourth), and Steve Klett and Katharine
Dvorak (this edition). Josh Bernstein and Stefan Anthony each made special
coverage possible — thanks dudes. Thanks, too, to IDG Books’ Mike Roney,
Walt Bruce, and John Kilcullen, who had the faith to keep producing great
Mac books at a time when wussier publishers were leaving the market.
Finally, our gratitude gushes to those we wanted to spend more time with,
but couldn’t, while we were immersed in this project: Allison, for her
constant support; Alexandria and Zachary; the lovely Dr. Pogue, son Kelly,
and his upcoming sibling; our editors and friends at Macworld magazine; and
Bullwinkle the Wonder Dog.
The Good Stuff on the CD-ROM
The CD-ROM that comes with this book includes over 100 outstanding, hand-
picked shareware and freeware programs. Our gratitude and admiration go to
the programmers who were (a) talented enough to write these programs, and
(b) nice enough to give us permission to include them.
The CD-ROM with this book also comes with a number of commercial
programs — an even more remarkable inclusion. After all, if you ran a
software company, would you have enough security and faith to give away
your company’s crown jewels with a book like this?
But that's exactly what happened. The companies listed below have given us
actual, functioning, non-time-limited software to include on the CD with this
book. You get something great without having to pay for it. They hope you'll
Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
like the stuff so much, you'll buy more of their software, or upgrade to the new
versions. (Discount coupons to further entice you are in the back of the book.)
Here are the names of our friendly contacts at the participating software
companies:
Abbott Systems: Ken Abbott
Aladdin Systems: Jonathan Kahn, Jennifer Lyng
Binary Software: Charles Haspel
DataViz: Scott Thomas
MicroFrontier: Ed Jones, Keith Woodard
Nova Development: Roger Bloxberg, Gary Gonzales
Olduvai Software: Gabriel Foux
Power On Software: Bob Leeds
WestCode Software: Rob Renstrom, Mark Brooks
Contents at a Glance
URCHTPOWIOUSITG HES cesesisccraterceccesevcccscscscesceccecccsescaccescsececscesececccecaceceuccaeX¥
Part I: System Software Revealed ........::::scsccsssseee
Chapter 1: Your First Software: The Finder
Chapter 2: Finder Command Secrets ..
Chapter 3; Desk-Accessory World.......
Chapter 4: Control Panels and Extensions
Chapter 5: Enablers, installers, and Apple Extra
Chapter 6: The System Software Museum.
Partiil: Secretsiof thot Machine <......ccc::csscs:scatsectsnssedsscesssaed
Chapter 7: On, Off, and Everything in Between...
Chapter 8: The Disk Chapter. :
Chapter 9: Memory...
Chapter 10: Keyboards, Mice, and USB
Chapter 11: Monitors ...
Chapter 12: From 128K to Quadra: Mac to Mac
Chapter 13: The PowerPC Macs, Model by Model .
Chapter 14: PowerBooks Exposed «.....cnese
Part III: Application Secrets........sccccssccssesseeessceeesereesseeeee DOT
Chapter 15: Mac Application Basics ...
Chapter 16: Mac to PC and Back.......
Chapter 17: Word Processing.......
Chapter 18: Page Design.....
Chapter 19: Number and Data Crunching ..
Chapter 20: Graphics and 3D..........
Chapter 21: The ResEdit Chapter
Chapter 22: Utilities, Macros, and AppleScript.
Chapter 23: Speech, Movies, and Sound...
xviii Macworld Mac Secrets, 5” Edition
Part IV: The World Online.
Chapter 24: Mysteries of the Modem
Chapter 25: The Web, the Net, and Everything Online
Chapter 26: Getting the Most Out of America Online...
Chapter 27: Everything E-mail ....
Chapter 28: A Web Site—Making Crash Cours
Part Vi AttachiM@nts cecesncccers-on---ce. eeceeaesseecueee-aseuensesasen OS)
Chapter 29: Inside Fonts...
Chapter 30: Printing Secrets.
Chapter 31: Scanners and Di;
Chapter 32: CD-ROM, DVD, and Other Such Word:
Chapter 33: The SCSI Chain, IDE, and FireWire
Chapter 34: NuBus, PCI, and Other Slots..
Chapter 35: The Networking Chapter
Chapter 36: Troubleshootin;
Appendix: The Secrets Software.
Index..
Contents
GGIACO.nncunssssecrecersarsrttacsc:ssecsertiveceesiserteescucertartesrtemenertac
Acknowledgments .........2:cs0se0008
Part I: System Software Revealed
Chapter 1: Your First Software: The Finder ...
Finder: The Unknown Program
A Few Words about Icons
Selecting icons ..
Icon Secrets
Renaming icons
Icon Renaming Secrets .
The Truth about Finder Windows
Anatomy of a window ...
Mac OS 8 window stunts
Pop-up Window Secrets
Finder Window Secrets nen
The Point of Views: Lists, Icons, and Buttons
List, Icon, and Button View Secrets
Gapying Giles. scenes,
File Copying Secrets ...
Your First Database: The Desktop File ...
What's in the Desktop file
Curing a troubled Desktop file
Desktop File Secrets ..
Secrets of the Trash .
Trash Secrets
All about Aliases
Making an alias .
Finding the original file ..
More alias notes
Alias Secrets ...
Drag-and-Dropping Icons “
Macintosh Drag-and-Drop ..........
Macintosh Drag-and-Drop Secrets
Chapter 2: Finder Command Secrets ..............::sescseseseenseeen
The Apple Menu ..
Apple Menu Secrets
The File Menu
Print
_ Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
Move to Trash
Get Info
Label ....
Are labels useless?
Sharing .....
Make Alias ......
Add to Favorites
Put Away ..
Find ..
The Edit Menu .
Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear
Show Clipboard .
Preferences
The View Menu
as Icons, as Buttons, as List
as Window, as Pop-up Window
Clean Up, Arrange (Mac OS 8.x)
Reset Column Positions ......
View Options ..
The Special Menu
Eject Disk ....
Erase Disk
Clean Up (System 7.x) ..
Clean Up Secrets (System 7.x) «.
The Help Menu .....
Balloon Help
Apple Guide
Mac OS 8.5 Help
The Keyboard/International Menu :
Contextual Menus ...
ithe Application Menu
Mac OS 8.5 Application Palette Secrets
Hidden System Commands .....
Hidden System Software Command Secrets
Chapter 3: Desk-Accessory World........::ssscssesenseeseeseeseenseastseeseessesereeees DD
Welcome to the Desk Accessories 93
Apple System Profiler .
AppleCD Audio Player
AppleCD Audio Player Secrets
Automated Tasks.
Calculator .
Calculator Secrets
Chooser .....
Chooser Secrets
Control Panels ..
Connect To.
Favorites .... .
Find (Find File)
Find basics .
Find by Content (Mac OS 8.5) ..
Search the Internet (Mac OS 8.5) ..
Find File (and Sherlock) Secrets .
Graphing Calculator ..
Graphing Calculator Secrets
Internet Access
Jigsaw Puzzle ...
Jigsaw Puzzle Secrets
Key Caps ...
Key Caps Secrets .
Network Browser .........
Network Software Selector
Note Pad ....
Note Pad Secrets . weenee
Recent Applications, Documents, Servers
Remote Access Status
Scrapbook .... 28
Scrapbook Secrets 128
SimpleSound .....
Stickies ...
Stickies Secrets
Shut Down ...
Chapter 4: Control Panels and Extensions ........
The Control Panels ....
What's a control panel, anyway?
Appearance (Mac OS 8.0 and 8.1) .
Appearance Control Panel Secrets
Appearance (Mac OS 8.5)
Apple Menu Options ...
Apple Menu Options Secrets ..
AppleTalk ..
AppleVision Setup ..
At Ease Setup .....
At Ease Secrets
ATM ..
Auto Power On/Oft
AutoRemounter
Button Disabler
CloseView
Color .
Color Control Panel wen
ColorSync or ColorSync System Profile .
Control Strip ..... e :
Control Strip Secrets
Changing the Strip: before Mac OS 8.5
CPU Energy Saver ——
Date & Time ..
Date & Time Secrets
Desktop Patterns
Desktop Patterns Secrets ..
Desktop Pictures
Desktop Pictures Secrets ..
Contents XXi
xii Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
Dial Assist ..
Easy Access ...
Editor Setup ..
Energy Saver 1.0
Energy Saver 2.0 (and related files)
Energy Saver Secrets ....00.00.00000
Energy Saver and G3 PowerBooks ..
Express Modem .
Extensions Manager ..
Extensions Manager Secrets
File Exchange ......
File Exchange Secrets ..
File Sharing .........
File Sharing Monitor
File Synchronization
General Controls (7.5 and later) ..
General Controls (pre-System 7.5)
Infrared ..
Internet ..
Keyboard ..
Labels ...
Launcher .....
Launcher Control Panel Secrets
Location Manager .....
Location Manager Secrets
Mac OS Easy Open (Sich Easy iss)
MacLinkPlus Setup .
MaeTCP ........
MacTCP DNR
Map :
Map Secrets ..
Memory
Memory Control Panel Secrets ..
Monitors .......
Monitor Secrets ..
Moden ...
Modem Control Panel Secrets
Monitors & Sound
Mouse
Network
Numbers ......
Password Security
PC Exchange ..
PC Setup ......
PC Setup Secrets
Performa
Pointer Mode ..
Power Macintosh Card
PowerBook ..
PowerBook Display ..
PowerBook SCSI Disk Mode ..
PowerBook Setup .
PowerTalk Setup
Contents
PPP
QuickTime Settings
Remote Access ....
Screen ...... .
Sharing Setup
Sound ..
Sound Control Panel Secrets
Sound & Displays
Speech
Speech Setup
Startup Disk .
TCP/IP .
este
Token Ring
Trackpad ......
Users & Groups .
Video
Views
Web Sharing
WindowShade .....
Extensions One by One ..
All about shared libraries
The extensions themselves ...
The Ultimate Extension-Linking Guide
Chapter 5: Enablers, Installers, and Apple Extras ....
The System Folder Folders
Appearance
Apple Data Detectors .......
Apple Menu Items folder ..
Application Support
ColorSync Profiles .....
Contextual Menu Items folder
Control Panels folder .....
Control Panels (Disabled)
Control Strip Modules folder
Desktop PrintMonitor documents
Extensions folder .... i
Extensions (Disabled) folder ..
Favorites folder .... .
Fonts folder ...
Help folder ....
Internet Search Sites
Launcher Items folder
Preferences folder .
MS Preference Panels
PrintMonitor Documents folder
Scripting Additions
Scripts
Shutdown Items folder ......
Shutdown Items (Disabled)
Speakable Items folder ....
xxiv
Macworld Mac Secrets, 5” Edition
~ ice
Startup Items folder ..
Startup Items (Disabled) .....
Loose in your System folder
All About Enablers ......
Why Enablers exist
The enabler is born
The System File Itself ..
Apple Extras and Apple Leftovers
Apple Extras ....
On your system CD
Older system-software versions
The System-Software Installer
Why use the Installer .....
Step 1: Start up from the CD
Step 2: Run the Installer (Mac OS 8.x) .
Step 2: Run the Installer (System 7.5-7.6)
What the components are
System 7.0-7.1 notes .
Installer Secrets
Switching between System Versions .
Two different disks .....
‘Two different disks (occasional method)
One disk
The Great Invisible-File Collection .
Chapter 6: The System Software Museum..........:::s:sssessenserssenereenersetee QOD
The Jurassic Era: System 1.0-4.2
System 1.0
System 1.1
System 2.0
System 3.0
System 3.1
System 3.2
System 3.3
System 4.0
System 4.1
System 4.2
The Victorian Age:
System 6.0.2
System 6.0.
System 6.0.8
System 7.0 ..
System 7.0.1
System 7.1
System 7 Pro (System 7.
System 7.1.2
System 7.1.2P
System 7.1.3
System 7.5 .. .
System 7.5.1 (System 7.5 Update 1.0) 308
System 7.5.2 eae corr
System 7.5.3 (System 7.5 Update 2.0)
System 7.5.31 .. :
System 7.5.3 Revision 2
System 7.5.3 Revision 2.1
System 7.5.4
System 7.5.5
Copland: The OS That Wasn't
System 7.6
System 7.6.1
Mac OS8 ....,
Mac OS 8.1
Mac OS 8.5
Rhapsody and Next .
Carbon and Mac OS X
Performa System-Software Annex
Part Il: Secrets of the Machine .........ccccsccssencesenssesensesenens S22
Chapter 7: On, Off, and Everything iin Between.......:ccsscssscssereseseesssssens S29
Power On .... qi
The ADB Bus ..
How to turn on the Mac when there's no keyboar«
The Startup Sequence .
The startup chimes
ROM: the hidden software ...
Why the Mac needs a System file
The startup continues ..
The Chimes of Death
What else takes so long
The search for a good system
The first programs to run: enablers .
More startup software: extensions and control panels
Extensions and control panels: how they load .
Your personalized loading order ‘
Drivers: sometimes invisible, always vital
Icon row .....
The Ultimate Startup-Keys List
Startup Secrets ....
Beyond the Startup Sequence .
Startup Items
Shutting Down ....
The cycle of last chances .
Shut Down Secrets .
The Restart (Reset) Switch
Where is it?
What is it?
Sleep Modes
System sleep
Hard drive sleep
Monitor sleep —and saving power
Conte nts XXV
xxvi Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
Chapter 8: The Disk Chapter ....
Disk Basics ...
Sectors, tracks, and blocks
The great wasted-space conspiracy
The changing-file-size syndrome
What's a volume? ...
HFS+ (Mac OS Extended Format)
Should you upgrade your drive to HFS+?
How to upgrade to HFS+
Hard Disks ......
Two things dor t want to think about—but shoul
The device driver ...
All about IDE ....
How to update your hard-disk driver
Interleave .....
The Secrets hard-drive maintenance schedule ..
Hard Drive Secrets
File fragmentation
Defragmenting Secrets
Partitions ....
Why partition?
Why not to partition ..
How to partition a hard drive .....
Partitioning for smaller block sizes
Your hard drive's secret partitions .
Reformatting
Floppy Disks ..
How they work .....
The obligatory “floppies-are-fragile" discussion
The end of the floppy drive? ..
Floppy Disk Secrets
Removable Disks ..
Removable-Disk Secrets ..
Chapter 9: Memory.
RAM: the Chips .
Where your memory goes
What to do about a RAM shortage
How to buy SIMMs/DIMMs .
Types of DIMMs ..
Installing memory .
RAM: for Programs .
The two out-of-memory messages
Three different memory sizes per program
The Finder's memory partition
See where your memory’s going .
RAM Doubler to the rescue
RAM Doubler Secrets ..
A calm discussion of memory fragmentation .
Memory leaks —and shared libraries
The Disk Cache
Setting the Disk Cache ...........0004 ae Serene: ociesennaer reseecrraerscena 408
i CO Contents
The correct disk cache Size...
RAM Disks: High-Speed Imaginary Drives
What's wrong with RAM disks .
Where a RAM disk comes from
RAM Disk Secrets ..
Virtual Memory: Instant, Free RAM
How it works ...
How to turn on virtual memory
Virtual Memory Secrets
Chapter 10: Keyboards, Mice, and USB ........
About the ADB Chain .
What to plug in ...
About the ADB power ..
USB Hits the Mac .
The Keyboard ....
A Few Odd Keys and What They Mean
The Option key .
The Power key
A word or two about Caps Lock ..
A guide to the strange keyboard symbols
Keyboard Secrets ...
The Mouse, Trackball, and Trackpad ....
Journey to the interior ...
Cleaning the mouse or trackball ..
Mouse alternatives
Ergonomics Basics ...
aecenennnnn SOD
+435
435
436,
436
437
438
440
440
44]
441
Chapter 11: Monitors .............
Monitor Basics ... FACE EAL
How a CRT works .
Flicker .
About VRAM
Deeper colors, bigger screen: more VRAM needed ..
How much VRAM do I need? °
Switching modes
Grayscale ....
A Word About DPI
How big is your monitor — really? ...
Multisync (multiple-scan) monitors
Multiple Monitors .
Arranging the monitors in space
Which monitor is this? ........
Specifying the startup monitor
Selecting the main monitor
Monitor Secrets ....
Chapter 12: From 128K to Quadra: Mac to Mac...........
Coming to Terms
More specs .....
More Secrets
Macworld Mac Secrets, 5” Edition
Compact Macs
SE/30 Secrets ..
The Mac Il Series
A lfx Secret ....
Mci Secrets ..
The LC Series
The Centris/Quadra Line
Portable Macs ..... Feats
The Only Upgrade Guide You'll Ever Need ..
Chapter 13: The PowerPC Macs, Model by Model ....
The PowerPC Chip ........
All about emulation
Look and feel .
Get your chips straight ...
Power Macs, Model by Model
Laptop Power Macs ...
PowerPC Mac Secrets
Macintosh Clones: Here and Gone ..
The clones arrive
Apple backs out ...
PowerPC and the Future .....
Chapter 14: PowerBooks Exposed .....
A Little History
The Screen ..
Passive-matrix, dual-scan, and SFT screens
Active-matrix and TFT screens
PowerBook Screen Secrets
Working from a Wall Outlet
The battery gauge ..
Power-outlet Secrets ..
Tales of the Trackpad
Trackpad secrets ...
Working from a Battery .
Meet your battery .
Charging batteries
The memory effect .
Battery-swapping notes
Conserving battery power
Battery Secrets
The Four-Hour Charge (RAM-Disk) Trick
Choosing the right size for the RAM disk ..
Creating the RAM disk ..
Loading up the RAM disk
Putting the RAM disk in charge
Trashing your hard drive ...
PowerBook RAM-Disk Secrets
Sleep Mode ...
Sleep versus restart ...
How much time you have ..
Contents xxix
Sleep Secrets ..
Getting Info In and Out .
Of CD-ROMs, Zips, and floppies .
Transferring files from a PowerBook to another Mac
Keeping track of which files are current .
Making presentations .
Using the fax/modem ...
Aword or two about printing
PowerBook Printing Secrets
Traveling with the PowerBook
In the Airport ..
Security on the road
Inflight silliness ...
Duo Notes—and Newton Stunts
Part Ill: Application Secrets.
Chapter 15: Mac Application Basics ....
Types, Creators, and Besa sales:
Creator codes ..............
Type codes —
How nematic creator codes alfect you
Changing type and creator codes .
Type and Creator Code Secrets ..
Which Copy Will Launch?
Which copy on your system ..
Which version of the program .
How the Mac Multitasks ..........
Modern Multitasking
Hazards of Multitasking
Memory management ..
Not knowing which program is open .
Multitasking Secrets
Publish and Subscribe
Why hasn't it caught on?
The basics of Publish and Subscribe ..
Publish and Subscribe step-by-step
Editing the subscriber ......
Controlling when editions are updated
Subscriber options ....
Multitasking Pro; OpenDoc ..
Save, Save As, Revert .
Save and Revert .
Save As ..
A visual tour of the Save box
Save/Open Dialog Box Secrets
Save and Open File 2000: Navigation Services .
New Open/Save Dialog Box Secrets
Stationery ... ; .
Ten Macintosh Application Basic Techniques .
XXX Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
Chapter 16: Mac to PC and Back ....
PC Disks ...
PC floppies
PC CD-ROM:
PC Disk Secrets
Converting PC Files for the Mac ..
Category 1: No conversion necessary
Category 2: Let your application do the conversion
Category 3: Convert the document yourself ....
Category 4: Save as a simpler, intermediary format .
How to open a PC document ..
Cross-Platform File-Conversion Secrets ...
Exchanging Graphics with Windows Users .
Cross-Platform Networking
A Protocol Primer ......
Putting PCs on a Mac Network
Macs on PC networks .......-.:..0+
Connecting to Windows NT Server
Sharing files with AppleShare IP and Web Technology
Running Windows Programs on a Mac .
Software PC Emulators ........ :
VirtualPC/SoftWindows Speed Secrets
Using PC Peripherals on the Mac
Monitors .
Keyboards, Mice, and Joysticks
USB Devices
Scanners ......
Printers
PCI Cards
Chapter 17: Word Processing..........
A Few Words About Word Processing
Universal Word Processing Secrets
Microsoft Word ..
Customizing menus
Adding keyboard shortcuts ..
Customizing Word Toolbars
Styles and style sheets .
AutoCorrect, AutoText, and the Glossary ..
Templates and Settings files
Microsoft Word Secrets ....
Word Macros: The Menu-Changer’s Workaround
WordPerfect .
WordPerfect Secrets .
Nisus, WriteNow, MacWrite Pro
AppleWorks/ClarisWorks ...
AppleWorks/Claris Works Word Processor Secrets
SimpleText: The ReadMe Machine ..
SimpleText Secrets ccssvss0
Contents Xxxi
en Ne = a
Chapter 18: Page Design........sssssssssssssssesssssessesererereneneeeterereeseenereeens TOL
Page-Layout Principles ....
Two font families, three at most
Page grid ...
In defense of th
Break up the text
Use rules ...
Reverse type
Widows and orphans
INGET aes ee
How to start a paragraph
Watch those line lengths .
Keep your eyes open
PageMaker
PageMaker Secrets
QuarkXPress ......
Measurements palette ..
Document palette ..
QuarkXPress Secrets
Page Design and the World Wide Web ..
Chapter 19: Number and Data Crunching...........ccscsesseceseseneeesenenenereneeeT 29
Spreadsheet Basics ....
Excel Secrets (and Claris Works) ..
Quicken
Quicken Secrets «.
FileMaker and ClarisWorks
FileMaker/Claris Works Secrets
Chanter: 2O-1Grannics amir) ..cccsureccccesesancccaecrscosntsrescearscereusecarseecass TOs
File Formats ...
PICT files .
TIFF files
JPEG files .
EPS files ..
GIF files ......
Startup screens .
PDF (Acrobat) files
Types of Graphics Programs
Painting ..
Editing high-resolution bitmaps ......
General Painting Secrets
Adobe Photoshop (and Color It)
Photoshop Secret:
Drawing ... ‘
Drawing program advantages .
Selecting and grouping multiple objects ..
Universal Drawing Program Secret:
PostScript Drawing Programs
Paths and wireframes ...
Faster, more reliable printing .
Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
Universal PostScript Drawing Secrets
FreeHand Secrets. =
Illustrator Secrets
3D Graphics .........
QuickDraw 30 .....
Chapter 21: The ResEdit Chapter
What Is ResEdit?
How to Use ResEdit .
The Peril Factor
A primer in customizing menus
Adding a keyboard equivalent in Finder 7 or 8
Customizing dialog boxes : cei
Editing individual dialog-box elements .
ResEdit Secrets ..
Top Ten ResEdit Pranks F
Chapter 22: Utilities, Macros, and AppleScript
Hard Disk Repair and Recovery Software ....
Disk Utility Secrets
Virus Protection .
Where viruses live
Software protection
The AutoStart Worm
Macro Software .....
Macro Software Secrets ...
The OneClick Crash Course ..
Recording the macro .
Cleaning up the macro
Further info ...
OneClick Secrets .
The AppleScript Crash Course
The AppleScript basics
Is it scriptable?
Your first AppleScript
Debugging your script ..
How to trigger an AppleScript
What to do with AppleScript ..
Screen Savers and Screen Grabbers
Screen savers ....
Screen grabbers
Compression Software
Segmenting files ...
Disk Images, DiskCopy, and ShrinkWrap .
ShrinkWrap/DiskCopy Secrets .
CanOpener: the Great Retriever
MacsBug: Weird Land of the Coder
How to use MacsBug .
MacsBug Secrets ..
Extension Managers ..
Extension Manager Secrets
ooeeee BOT
Contents xxxiii
Chapter 23: Speech, Movies, and Sound .........sssescssrsssssstsssesseseesrsee 869
A Mac Digitized-Sound Primer .
How to record sounds ...
What to do with sounds
Sound Secrets.
Music with MIDI
Sequencing ....
What you need
MIDI Secrets...
QuickTime Movies
How to record your own movies
QuickTime Digitizing Secrets .....
How to play back and edit movies .
What good is it?
QuickTime Secrets.
QuickTime VR . 94
QuickTime VR Secrets 895
Mac Meets TV ...
Bringing TV to your Mac
Bringing your Mac to TV
Speech |: The Mac Talks .
Text-to-Speech Secrets
Speech II: The Mac Listens
What you can say to the Mac .
Speech Secrets .....
Rartel¥: ies World Ontit@c.esccsrccseccccreccasreceorencorecerssencsneesSO)7
Chapter 24: Mysteries of the Modem
Hardware
Modem speeds
The truth about 56K Modems
Other modem shopping tips
Standards and protocols ... Canine Rasesen
Handshaking: two modems get acquainted
Beyond the modem: ISDN, Cable Modems, ASDL
Enter ISDN
ASDL, SDSL
Cable modems ..
The Software
Connecting to the Internet or online services
Going online without the Internet
How your Mac talks to a modem
The modem initialization string .
Telecom Secrets
Mac as Fax ..
How to fax .....
Fax Modem Secrets ..........
XXxiv_ Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
ievieseers=exs2 a>
926
Chapter 25: The Web, the Net, and Everything Online....
What's on the Internet ......
Getting online I: Finding an Internet account
The Internet via AOL
Getting online Il: Preparing your Mac .
Getting online Ill: Dialing ..
Getting offline: Hanging up
Internet Connection Secrets ..
Getting Around: Internet Addresses and URLs ..
Where to Go on the Internet
Newsgroups 5
The World Wide Web ...
A World Wide Web warning
Web browsers ......
Web Browser Secrets ...
Turn your bookmarks into your home page
Launch your browser without dialing
Bookmark secrets ........
The cheapskate’s bookmark manager: the Finder
The Mac-wide bookmark manager: Mac OS 8.5 ..
The mouse-click contextual menu
Drag-and-drop multimedia ..
Internet Explorer Secrets
Netscape Secrets ....0..
Where to Go on the Web
Chapter 26: Getting the Most Out of America Online 961
Mastering the Basics ..
Making it past the busy signal
Surf AOL via the Internet .
Elevator buttons: Keywords
The Favorite Places management guide
America Online Secrets .
Chapter 27: Everything E-mail ....
Anatomy of an E-mail Message
The Mac Secrets Guide to E-mail Etiquette .
E-mail programs ...
E-mail Software Secrets ..
The Attachment-Nightmare Guidebook
Why you can’t open attachments
How to fix It
Attachment-Opening Secrets
Spam and How to Nuke It ..
Filtering .......
Spam-Killing Secrets ..
Chapter 28: A Web Site-Making Crash Course...
Create Your Web Pages
Welcome to HTML ..
WYSIWYG design programs
Designing your Web page .
The Web-Page Building Cookbook
Creating a table
Create a link ..
Add a graphic .
Add a color panel down the left side
Bulleted lists .... 1004
Adding a counter 1004
HTL Secrets
Secure Web Space
Send the Web Pages to Your Web Space
Keep Your Pages Updated
Part V: Attachments .........sccsssrocsseeenerseee
Chapter 29: Inside Fonts
The Evolution of Mac Fonts
Font format #1: bitmapped fonts
Font format #2: PostScript fonts
ATM .....
ATM Secrets ...
Font format #3: TrueType
Font format #4: GX fonts ...
Working with muitiple font formats
Why screen fonts still exist even with ATM
Why screen fonts still exist even with TrueType
Which font version is that? ...
Installing, Removing, and Moving Fonts
How to install a font
How to remove a font
How to copy a font to another disk
Font Secrets ...
Why Text Prints with Jaggies
Style Variations .
Style variations for bitmapped fonts
Style variations for PostScript font:
How to apply bold and italic ....
Other styles and Multiple Masters
Other derived styles ..
The Non-Typographer’s Guide to Type
Proportional fonts
Spaces between sentences
Don’t use underline style ..
Use tabs, not spaces ..
Em dashes .
En dashes
Special spaces ..
Leading
Tracking ..
Kerning
Contents XXXV
XXXVI Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
Ligatures ....
Hyphenation
Fractions
Ellipses
Curly quotes ...
When to use dumb quotes . :
The Option-key character set
Option Key Secrets
Font Futures .
Chapter 30: Printing Secrets ....
How Printing Works .....
Dot-matrix printers
Inkjet printers .
Laser printers .
Color printers
Imagesetters .....
General Printing Secrets
Canceling a printout
QuickDraw Printing .....
QuickDraw versus PostScript
The StyleWriter series .
StyleWriter Secrets ..
The Truth About PostScript
PostScript fundamentals
PostScript fonts .
PostScript printing
The PostScript Printer Driver .
LaserWriter 8: PostScript Level 2
PostScript Level 3
PostScript (LaserWriter 8) Printing Secrets ....
Desktop Printing ....
Desktop Printing 2.0 Secrets
QuickDraw GX ..
PostScript Printer Guidebook ..
Background printing .....
The messages you see during printing
What a difference RAM makes
Desktop Printer Utility (Apple Printer Utility, LaserWriter Utility)
Naming the printer ....
Printing a PostScript file .....
Downloading a new font to the laser printer
Remembering the font: the printer’s task
Finding your printer's fonts ..
PrintMonitor/Desktop PrintMonitor
Color Separations
Secrets of the Service Bureau ..
Service bureau checklist
PostScript files and PDFs
Service Bureau Secrets
Printing Troubleshooting ..
When the printout doesn’t match the screen
Contents XXxxvii
Font and graphics problems
General printer errors ..
Complex printing errors ..
Poor printout quality ....
1097
1098
1099
Chapter 31: Scanners and Digital Cameras
How liworks ce.
Hooking Up Your Scanner
Color Scanning .....
Which Scanner to Buy
Other kinds of scanners
Choosing a Resolution
Scanning Secrets
All About OCR
How OCR software works
Faxes and OCR .....
The end of spell-checking?
OCR Secrets ..
Digital Cameras .
The good and bad of digital
Buying a digicam
Printing digital pictures
Chapter 32: CD-ROM, DVD, and Other Such Words 1117
CD-ROM Basics ..
The speed issue ..
The great “8X, 16X, 24X” myth
How a CD works .
What to Do with 600MB ......
Getting Your CD-ROM Up and Running
PhotoCb ..
Make Your Own CDs
CDR ..
CD-RW
The DVD .
Playing DVD movies on your Mac
CD-ROM Secrets .. es
Chapter 33: The SCSI Chain, IDE, and FireWire ........sccersssesssereeeeree L129
The Importance of Drivers
The Three Rules of SCS!
Rule #1: Termination
Rule #2: SCSI addresses
Rule #3: Cabling ..
The Great SCSI power-off myth
SCSI Secrets ......
SCSI Troubleshooting
Spotting the symptoms
Solving the problems .
Beyond SCSI ....
Fast, Wide, and Ultra ...
Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
IDE: Cheaper, Sooner, and Less Flexible 1142
FireWire
‘The digital video revolution
Beyond video
1144
Chapter 34: NuBus, PCI, and Other Slots ..........++5 eatsneasvecsvseek hao
NuBus Cards .... 1145
The big idea .. 1145
PDS Cards ... 1146
‘The PCI Revolution 1146
Why PCI? 1147
PCI futures . 1147
How to Install a Card 1147
Losing charge .... L148
The board meeti 1148
Removing the card . 1149
Chapter 35: The Networking Chapter
The Wiring Setup .
Wiring setup 1: Local Talk
Wiring setup 2: Ethernet .
Wiring setup 3: Token Ring
File Sharing Basics
The Software Setup: File sharing for one .
Setting up the PowerBook
Setting up the desktop Mac
File synchronization ..... ae
The Software Setup: File Sharing for an Office
Step 1: Set up the AppleTalk Control Panel.
Step 2: Set up the File Sharing control panel
Step 3: Set up Users & Groups .
Step 4: Sharing specific folders
Sharing Command Secrets
Step 5: Logging on to Other Macs
File-sharing Secrets ...
When No One's Home: Remote Access
Remote Access Secrets
Expanding the Net .......
General Networking Secrets ..
What Else a Network is Good For
File servers
Print servers
E-mail ..
Net modems
Fax servers
Program linking
PowerTalk, R.LP. ..
Open Transport Arrives ..
Network Troubleshooting
AppleTalk troubles ..
Other common problems and solutions .
Contents XXxix
Mac OS 8.5 and the Network Browser 1186
Chapter 36: Troubleshooting .
Principles of Troubleshooting
Aword about troubleshooting ..
More troubleshooting ..
The Secrets Rule of Three .....
Step 1: Start up with the Shift key
Step 2: A clean reinstall of the System ..
Step 3: Unplug the SCSI chain
Other things to try ..
Avoiding Troubles in the First Place
The Mac Secrets Error-Message Table ..
DS Errors ..
Negative Error Codes
Details on the most common error messages
Oddities on the Screen ......
Generic icons ......
Shimmering monitor ..
Black @ menu ....
Finder changes don't stick ......
No Mac icon on the System Folder .
Startup Troubles
The Sad Mac icon ..
Especially long startup times
The blinking question-mark icon at startup
Crashing on startup ...
Twilight Zone theme, car crash, or four notes
Disk Troubles ....
Hard disk troubleshooting .
All floppy disks show up locked ..
File, Desktop, and Icon Troubles
Can’t empty the Trash ..
Keyboard Ailments
Dead key .....
Crazy slow typing
When All Else Fails ..
seeeeeneeeL 187
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1188
1188
1188
1189
1189
1193
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1199
1200
1203
1204
1207
1208
1208
1209
1209
1209
1209
1209
1211
1211
pi2i2
Appendix: The Secrets Software .......cssssssesssseseeeees
What You've Got Here ..
Disclaimer .....
How the CD-ROM Is Organized
The Secrets Software Described ..
Action Files 1.1P ..
Anagrams
Apeiron
AppDisk .
Apple Spec Database
AppleScript Uti
AppSizer .
Macworld Mac Secrets, 5" Edition
Avara ..
BeHierarchic 1222
Big Picture .. 1223
Biorhythms 1223
Brian's Sound Tool ..
Cache-22
CanOpener 1224
Chiral ..... , 1224
Clean Install Assistant 1224
Clip Jokes 1225
Clockometer .....
Color It!
Conflict Catcher 8 Demo
Control Strip modules
CGOIVIEWS «cs
DemoGod ....
DeskPicture ..
Desktop Patterns (Wraptures)
Desktop Picture Gallery
Disinfectant
DiskTracker
DragAnyWindow
DragClick
DropStuff : 2
Dvorak Keyboard Layouts
eDOC
Escape Velocity
Extensis PhotoBevel
EZNote ....
FileTyper .....
Finder View Settings ..
FinderPop ..
FlashtIt
Font-O-Rama!
Fraction Fonts
EeePEP ......
GoMac .....
Googol Eyes .....
GraphicConverter
GURU
Harry .
Hi-Res Map
Holiday Lights
HTML Vocabulary ...
Icon, Sound, Clip Art Samplers
Internet Explorer
Kaleidoscope
Label Secrets Pro .
Mac Libs ....
Mac Secrets Ultimate Bookmark List
Mac Secrets, Electronic Edition .......
Contents
Mac Start-up Sound Collection
MacLinkPlus ..
MacsBug ....
Maelstrom
MIDI files for Chapter 23 .
Mouse Jolt
Movie2Snd
Navigator Button editor
Netscape Navigator .....
Olduvai Font Sampler
OneClick ....
OT/PPP Strip
Outlook Express .
Pogue's Song Spoofs
PopChar Pro ..
PowerPC Check
Program Switcher
QuickPop ...
QuickTime 3 ..
QuickTime VR Movies .....
Quiet Start
RAMometer
ResEdit Templates .
Scraplt Pro
SCsiProbe ..
ShareDraw
ShrinkWrap. ............
SimpleText Color M
Slot Info ..
SmartKeys .
Snapz Pro
SndSampler
Square One Lite
Startup Doubler
Stuffit Expander
Swoop
TechTool
Tex-Edit Plus
Typelt4Me ..
Ultra Recorder .
Unmountlt .
WormScanner
X-Words Deluxe
You Don't Know Jack Lite ..
Zipit .
ZTerm
lenu
WHGGK cc seyecessnnsnnessccecserasuncensaevanscdusvevesesansererscersnrennsenne LO
xli
Part |
System Software Revealed
Chapter I: Your First Software: The Finder
Chapter 2: Finder Command Secrets
Chapter 3; Desk-Accessory World
Chapter 4: Control Panels and Extensions
Chapter 5: Enablers, Installers, and Apple Extras
Chapter 6: The System Software Museum
Chapter 1
Your First Software: The Finder
La —a
In This Chapter
» Icons: Moving, renaming, and making them invisible
® Window and list-view shortcuts, and undocumented features
b> Mac OS 8 specialty features: Pop-up windows and spring-loaded folders
» The Desktop File: What it is, how to see it, and how to slim it down
} Aliases: What they are and how to use them
® Mastering the Trash
Details on Macintosh drag-and-drop
Finder: The Unknown Program
Do you remember the first program you ever ran on the Macintosh? We do. It
was the Finder. The Finder is the program that displays your familiar startup
world: the Trash can, icons, folders, and the Desktop.
Most people don’t immediately think of the Finder as a program. After all, you
don’t double-click an icon to launch it, as you would with, say, Photoshop.
And there’s no Quit command in the Finder, as in other programs. The Finder
is just always there, waiting as your home base, whenever you exit your other
programs.
Nonetheless, the Finder is a program. Yes, it runs automatically when you
turn on the Mac, but you can quit the Finder — and launch it again. It even
shows up in the Application menu, along with any other programs you're
running (see Figure 1-1).
Hide Finder
Hide Others
Show Alt
Hide Finder:
Hide Others
&MoviePlayer
@Simpletext W Microsoft Word
Figure 1-1: The Finder on the Application menu (at the right side of the menu bar), in Mac
OS 8 (left) and Mac OS 8.5 (right). '
The Finder is pure utility software: You don’t actually do work there (in the
sense of earning a living). Its functions all relate to managing your stuff:
organizing, renaming, discarding, copying, and opening your documents,
disks, and programs.
A Few Words about Icons
Before the Finder can perform any of its tasks, you must indicate which files
you want to move (or rename, or discard, or whatever) by selecting their
icons. Selecting something by highlighting its icon is the cornerstone of the
entire Macintosh way of life. It’s the Macintosh interface.
Interface? What interface?
Ever wonder what the three dots (the ellipsis . . . ) information from the user before the
mean when you see them in a menu item? operation executes. The ellipsis character
doesn't simply mean that a dialog box or
window will appear. For example, in the
Finder File menu, the Get Info command
doesn't have an ellipsis character and
shouldn't. When you select a Finder object
and choose Get Info, a window appears
displaying information about the object.
The window appearing simply completes
the command.”
Oh, yeah? Then how come the About this
Computer command (or, on older Macs, About
This Macintosh) in the — menu has an ellipsis?
All it does is bring up an info window, too!
Ah, well, Maybe they licensed that command
from Microsoft.
Find File...
Summary Info...
Quit 0
Here's what Apple's own interface bible,
Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines
(Addison-Wesley, 1992), has to say:
“The ellipsis character (. . .) after a menu
item means that the command needs more
Chapter 1: Your First Software: The Finder
Selecting icons
In the days before System 7, there was only one way to highlight an icon: by
using the mouse. Today, you have a wealth of efficient keyboard shortcuts for
selecting specific items. (When we say “System 7” or “7.x” in this book, by the
way, we mean “7-point-anything.” When we say “System 7.5,” we mean
“System 7.5-point-anything-or-7.6-point-anything.” “Mac OS 8” generally
means “8.0 or 8.1,” and so on.)
(eas Here’s an example of a typical maneuver that demonstrates the power of
ignoring your mouse. Suppose that yesterday you were working on a document
called Valentine’s Party Invite, but you don’t remember the folder in which you
put it. You press 88-F (the shortcut for choosing Find from the File menu). The
Find dialog box appears. You type valen and press the Return key.
In a moment, you’re shown a list of every file on your hard drive whose name
contains those letters. By pressing the up-arrow or down-arrow keys, you
highlight the precise file for which you were looking. When your file is
selected, you press 8-0 to open the file for editing. During this entire process,
you never had to move your hands from the keyboard to use the mouse.
Similarly, in a messy folder full of icons, you can highlight a specific file icon
without even being able to spot it —just type the first few letters of the file’s
name. That’s especially handy when you want, for example, to add or remove
Fonts from your system. With the System Folder open, just type FO to
highlight the Fonts folder and then press 88-O to open it. You've navigated
through the clutter and confusion of the System Folder with just a few
keystrokes.
Figure 1-2 shows some other keys you can press to select icons within a
single window.
items, 1.468 available
Shift-Tab
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Figure 1-2: The arrow keys highlight adjacent icons. The Tab key finds the next icon in
alphabetical order. You can press Shift-Tab to highlight the previous icon in the alphabet. If
you type a letter, you'll jump to the icon whose name begins with that letter (or the next
letter alphabetically).
Part I System Software Revealed
To select a group of icons, press Shift and click each one in succession. To
exclude a highlighted icon from a group, Shift-click it again. Of course, you
can also select groups of icons by drag-enclosing them (see Figure 1-3). You
can even select more than one icon in a window without using the mouse
(read about Easy Access in Chapter 3).
After you've drag-selected icons as shown in Figure 1-3, by the way, don’t
forget that you can select additional groups of icons (or deselect some of the
ones you already highlighted) within the same window by Shift-dragging or
Shift-clicking them. And for more far-flung selections, use the Find command
(see Chapter 3).
[ia
22 items, 1.468 available
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Figure 1-3: As you drag in a diagonal line, any icon even touched by the dotted-line selection
rectangle gets selected. (This procedure works in list views, too.)
as After icons are selected, you can move all of them as a unit by dragging any
Speed Tip one of them.
So who cares about avoiding the mouse? Efficiency fans, primarily. Every
time you have to stop your work at the keyboard while one hand reaches for
the mouse, you stop your flow of thinking (and typing). As you become more
familiar with your Mac, you'll use the mouse less and get your work done
more quickly.
But you can do much more with icons than just select them, as our first
batch of Macintosh secrets clearly explains.
Icon Secrets a
Make icons jump neatly into position . . . or not
@& Mac OS 8 has a View View Options command. (In case you missed this in our
8) Introduction to this book, that shorthand notation means “From the View menu,
choose View Options.”) That command is the successor to the Views control
panel in Systems 7 through 7.6.
pen tn Erne
fll
Chapter
Your First Software: The Finder
Anyway, as described in more detail in Chapter 2, this command (or control
panel) enables you to specify that all your Finder icons should fall into points on
a neat, invisible grid (see Figure 1-4). Here’s the tip: If you press the 38 key
while you drag an icon, you can set the icon down anywhere, even if it’s not in a
grid-defined position. (Technically, the Mac only cares whether or not the 88 key
is being pressed when you release the mouse. You don’t really have to press
the key all the time you're dragging.)
_ = Gl Apple Menu Items
22 items, 1.468 available
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Op At Aver EPO Isconnect Remote Access
SB Aeo aD Ati Ployer hind
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Figure 1-4: Even in a Small Icon view like this, the Finder aligns the icons in a grid — or not.
It's up to you.
If the grid option isn’t turned on, the 8 key has the opposite effect. It makes
the icon you dragged jump into grid position.
If, like most people, you don't have the Finder grid permanently turned on, keep
the 36 key in mind when you want to put a couple of icons exactly side-by-side.
When you set each icon down while the 8 key is pressed, they'll jump into
perfect horizontal alignment.
Change windows but keep your icons highlighted
You probably think that when you select a bunch of icons, any click in another
window deselects them all. Even clicking in a window's title bar deselects all
highlighted icons. Does that mean that you can never bring another window to
the front without losing your selection?
No, you can do it—if you're running System 7-point-anything. Click the scroll bar
or the info strip (where it says Name, Size, and so on) of the other window. Your
icons in the first window stay selected.
(Evidently Apple didn’t place a high value on this rarely-used feature; it got
scrapped in Mac OS 8.)
7
Part I: System Software Revealed
Replace an icon
Replacing an icon isn't really much of a secret anymore, but it’s worth repeating in
case you missed it. The bottom line: you can create your own icons for any file,
folder, or disk. Imagine etching your initials onto a folder, reducing the size of the
icons for unimportant files, and making your hard drive icon look like Neil Diamond.
Here's how to do it. First, highlight the icon you want to replace. Choose File>
Get Info. When the Get Info box appears, click the icon in the upper-left corner
(see Figure 1-5). Choose Copy from the Edit menu to copy this original icon to
the Clipboard.
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Figure 1-5: The first steps to replacing an icon: First, select the icon (left); then choose Get
Info and click the icon in the dialog box that appears; then copy it.
To customize the icon, launch a painting program —-Color It, included on the
Mac Secrets CD-ROM, is a great choice.
Choose Paste from the Edit menu so that the original icon appears where you
can edit it (see Figure 1-6).
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Figure 1-6: Paste the original icon into a painting program (left side of the window). Doctor it
up (right). Copy it again and paste it back into the Get Info window of your file, disk, or folder,
Now, using the painting tools, create a replacement icon. Doctor the original, or
just use the original as a size guideline and create something completely new.
Try not to paint an icon larger than the size of a real icon, which is 32 pixels
(screen dots) square. (If you create an image that’s too large, it'll be squished
unartistically into a 32-by-32 space when it’s pasted as an icon.)
Speed Tip
Chapter 1: Your First Software: The Finder
When you're finished, copy the new icon. Go back to the original icon’s Get Info
box, click the icon, and paste the replacement. ([If it's too big, the Mac shrinks it
to fit the square box, sometimes with lousy results.) That’s it! You replaced the
original icon.
If you're using color and you discover that the color leaks out of your new icon,
go back into the painting program. Enclose any light-colored part of the icon with
a dark outline. (Or just enclose the entire icon in a solid-outline square.)
Repaste this modified icon into the Get Info box.
If you're not artistically inclined, instead of doing your own artwork, you could
simply copy one of the professionally drawn icons we've included on the Mac
Secrets CD-ROM. Copy the icon out of its Get Info box, then paste into the Get
Info box of your target file.
P.S.—The Mac won't let you change certain icons using the Get Info method:
any open document icon; the special ones used for the System, Control Panels,
Apple Menu Items, Extensions, and Startup Items folders; and the Trash. You,
however, as the sawyy owner of this book, can change these icons, using
ResEdit. Check Chapter 21 for details.
P.P.S.— Some programs — notably AppleWorks/ClarisWorks — restore a
document’s original icon every time you save the document. Rats.
Keyboard-only icon replacement
If you're going to do a Jot of icon-replacing — and we hope you do—try this little-
known secret. Open the Get Info box for the file whose icon you want to change.
Instead of actually clicking the existing icon, you can just press Tab. !f you follow
this idea to its logical conclusion, you now see how it’s possible to copy an icon
onto a different file without ever touching the mouse: select an icon (by typing
letters), Get Info on it (88-1), select its icon (by tabbing —twice, if you're in Mac
OS 8.5 or later), copy the icon (88-C), close the Get Info window (88-W), select
another icon (by typing letters), Get Info, tab, and paste (88-V) the icon into its
new location.
Electronic Post-it notes
Use the method described in the previous tip to replace a folder’s icon with a
plain white square you copied from a graphics program. A floating piece of text
appears (the file’s name) with no icon attached.
You can use this idea for all kinds of interesting effects. For example, you can
use it to give a Desktop folder a two-name title (see Figure 1-7, top). Or, handier
still, you can duplicate this doctored folder endlessly. Just make sure that you
give each copy a new folder name, such as Meet Jennifer at noon today. Then
leave these notes strewn about your Desktop as little reminders (see Figure 1-7,
bottom)—a quicker, low-tech version of the Stickies program.
Part I: System Software Revealed
Speed Tip
i)
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Figure 1-7: Using empty folders with invisible icons, you can make pieces of text seem to
float on your Desktop.
Select icons in a list view
Selecting a group of icons in a list view is easy. Drag the cursor in any direction,
starting anywhere. Each item in the list turns black as you move the cursor, and
you have ’em.
Here's the oft-ignored secret: To select an icon in a list view, you don’t have to
click on its name or icon. You can click on any component of the listed
file info—the date, version number, size, whatever. Likewise, you can drag-
select over any portion of the listed information to grab a group of icons (see
Figure 1-8).
4/20/98
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Figure 1-8: You can drag or select icons by any portion of their “rows” in a list view.
Make any file invisible
You can make any file—folder, document, or application — completely disappear
from your Desktop. (This procedure isn’t the same as making just its icon
disappear, which you can do using the secret described earlier.)
There's a good reason most people don't hide their icons regularly: It takes speciar
tools. Fortunately, we've provided you with the ideal tool: FileTyper, included on the
CD-ROM with this book. Drag the file or folder you want to make invisible onto the
FileTyper icon. Click Invisible, and then Change. The deed is done.
=
Speed Tip
Chapter 1: Your First Software: The Finder
To reverse the procedure, launch FileTyper. Choose File © Get Info. All files and
folders, invisible or not, show up in the dialog box. Select and open the one you
want to make appear, turn off the Invisible checkbox, and click Change.
The nice thing about an invisible document is that you can still open it from
within a program. You can open an invisible Word file by using Word's Open
command, for example; the invisible document shows up in the Open File list
box just fine.
To launch or not to launch a
program or document icon
You can use one of several ways to open a program or document icon that’s
staring you in the face in the Finder: Double-click it, select it, and press 8-0,
and so on.
There's only one way, however, to stop a document or program from opening
after you launch it: Press 86-period. Fast. And repeatedly. If you press this
keystroke just after launching a document or program, you go right back to the
Finder as though you never opened a thing.
Renaming icons
In System 6— maybe you're too young to remember — renaming file icons
was too easy. When a file, folder, or disk was highlighted, anything you typed
replaced the icon’s name. All it took was a finger, a stack of papers, or a cable
pressing continuously on a key while an icon was highlighted, and you wound
up with an icon named QQQQQQQQ.
Apple engineers came up, therefore, with a new method of renaming icons
under System 7, in which it’s almost impossible to rename a file accidentally.
§ /f the icon is already selected, press Enter or Return to make the “renaming
rectangle” appear around the existing file name. Type the new name.
(Figure 1-9 shows an icon before and after the renaming rectangle appears.)
i. ff.
Figure 1-9: You can only rename a file when its “renaming rectangle” is visible, as shown on
the right. You don’t have to delete the old name first; just start typing.
@ /f the icon isn’t selected, click the file name itself. After a moment — the
moment of inactivity called the rename delay—the rectangle appears,
signaling you that it’s okay to type the new name.
fal
12
Part I: System Software Revealed
MACINTOSH SECRET
The Last Easter Egg
An Easter egg, of course, is a credits screen
hidden in software, buried by the programmers
in such a way that only the savvy (or the Mac
Secrets reader) knows how to trigger it.
Apple has been quietly removing some of the
best Easter eggs from its system software (see
Chapter 6 for a listing of some of the greats).
Why? Because (so the theory goes) the bosses
don’t know about (and can’t test) the Easter eggs,
Easter eggs are inherently destabilizing. That's a
problem for a company that wants to make the
most stable operating system in the world.
One Easter egg, however, survives in the system
software—and we didn't even know about it
until this edition, even though we had
unwittingly written about it three editions ago!
Our original write-up said:
You need a native-PowerPC-code, “thread-
manager savvy” application (the Thread
Manager is an extension that permits a
certain degree of true multitasking, such as
initializing a disk in the background).
Launch it while pressing the B and E keys
—and you'll get a rolling list of credits.
Years passed. We forgot all about it— even
when we réad that as of Mac OS 8, the Finder
itself was now thread-manager-savvy!
It took free book winner Patrick Thompson to
point out that our Easter egg secret of Mac
Secrets, 2nd Edition, was now available to
anyone with a Power Mac!
“I'm not claiming | discovered it,” he modestly
wrote us, “I'm just saying | know that native-
code, ‘thread-manager savvy’ applications aren't
that widespread. The other day, while re-reading
this section, | got to thinking, “Hey .. . isn’t the
new OS 8 Finder threaded and native? Let’s see
.»» “I gave it a shot, holding down the B and E
keys while my system booted—and, lo and
behold, a tiny box filled with scrolling credits
appeared on my screen! Neat little list of credits
and jokes, but you have to read fast.”
Sometimes we astonish even ourselves.
Icon Renaming Secrets
Surviving the rename delay
First, here’s why the rename delay exists. Everyone knows that you double-click
an icon to launch it. But you may not realize that you can even double-click the
file’s name to open the icon. And that’s why there’s a pause between your first
click and the moment the renaming rectangle appears. The Mac is waiting to
make sure that you’re not going to click again. In other words, it makes sure
that you really meant to click just once (to edit the file’s name) and not twice (to
launch the file).
a!
Learning begin typing the new name.
We suggest that you don’t bother waiting out the rename delay. If you've clicked
an icon’s name, you can make the renaming rectangle appear instantly just by
moving the mouse —even a little twitch — or by pressing Return. Then you can
Chapter 1: Your First Software: The Finder
ee
Speed Tip
The Mac’s wacky alphabet scheme
The Mac alphabetizes things a little bit oddly, in that spaces and symbols come
before letter A. And 10, believe it or not, comes before 3 (see Figure 1-10).
| Dd QQ chapter 2
Dd QA Chapter 1 i D G chepter =
D QQ Chapter 12 Dd CY Chapter 4
DCA Chapter 13 1 DQ] chapter 5
D CU chapter 2 i > CY Chapter 6
D CY Chepter's a > O chester 7
~! > CY Chepter 6
Figure 1-10: The Mac, apparently, can’t count. As you can see at left, it believes that the
number 10 comes before 2 (left). Use this secret to solve the problem (right).
To make a file appear first in an alphabetical list (in a list-view window, for
example), type a space at the front of the name. To make the number 3 come
before the number 10, therefore, put a space before the 3.
Incidentally, one symbol the Mac absolutely does not let you use when you name
an icon is the colon (:). (That's because the Mac treats the colon as a “where is.
this file filed?” indicator. Use the Get Info command on a file on your hard drive
some day and you'll see what we mean —the file, as far as the Mac is.
concerned, is on “Macintosh HD:Backup:Recent Projects:.”)
When you're in the Finder, if you type a colon as part of a file name, the Mac
substitutes a hyphen (-) without even so much as a by-your-leave.
Renaming is just like word processing
The Edit menu’s Cut, Copy, and Paste commands (and their keyboard equivalents)
work while you’re editing a file name. That's useful when you're naming a bunch of
files, for example, in a row “Koyaanisqatsi 1,” “Koyaanisqatsi 2,” “Koyaanisqatsi
3,” and so on. Just copy Koyaanisqatsi to the Clipboard. Then, each time a file’s
name is highlighted for renaming, press 98-V to paste the word, and type the rest
of the file name (the digit, in this case).
Other typical Mac word-processing techniques work, too. You double-click a word
to select it (instead of dragging through it), and highlighted text gets instantly
replaced by anything you type (so that you don't have to delete the old file name
before typing a new one).
14
= a
Speed Tip
Part |: System Software Revealed
If you begin typing a new name and suddenly realize that you're renaming the
wrong icon, just press 88-Z, the Finder's Undo command. The icon’s original
name reappears. Alternate method: If, while typing in the new name for a file,
you change your mind, press Delete until the entire name is gone. Then press
Return —the original name reappears.
The power-user’s arrow keys
Suppose you've just clicked an icon name. The renaming rectangle is ready; the
file name is highlighted.
Now suppose you just wanted. to add a word to the end of that file's name.
Instead of using your mouse and a microscope, painstakingly trying to plant the
cursor at the end of the rectangle, just press the right-arrow or down-arrow key.
You'll deposit the insertion-point cursor at the very end of the file name. (The
Jeft-arrow or up-arrow key pops the cursor at the beginning of the file name.)
The down-arrow and up-arrow keys are particularly useful because they make your
insertion point leap to the end (or beginning) of the name, even if it’s in the middle
of the existing file name—the name doesn’t have to be highlighted. (When the
insertion point’s in the middle of the name, on the other hand, the left-arrow and
right-arrow keys simply move it one character at a time, forward or backward.)
Deactivating the renaming rectangle
We've already told you how to activate a selected icon’s renaming rectangle:
Press Enter or Return. Now we'll tell you how to deactivate it, so that your icon is
still selected, but you're no longer in renaming mode: Press Return or Enter again.
And why would you want to do this? To select another icon without using the
mouse. (If you tried to select another icon from the keyboard with the renaming
rectangle active, you'd just end up renaming the currently selected icon.)
We should point out that there is one way to select another icon without first
deactivating the renaming rectangle: Press Tab. This key always moves you to
the next icon in alphabetical order, even if the current icon’s name is selected
for renaming.
A really amazing re-alphabetizing secret
Over and over again, in this book and others, you'll be told to put spaces in front
of your icons’ names if you want them to rise to the top of an alphabetical list. For
example, a file called Zebra will come before one called Aardvark, as long as you
put a space in front of the Z. You can put that trick to particularly good use in your
Apple Menu Items folder, so that you can put your @ menu names in any order.
Trouble is, you can see those spaces. Your icons’ names look stranger and
stranger the more spaces you put in front of the actual names. Here’s a much
better way,
a
co
Chapter 1: Your First Software: The Finder
Open the Note Pad. Press Return, thus creating a blank line. Select the blank
line and copy it. Now click the name of the icon—the one you'd like to appear
first alphabetically — in readiness for renaming it. Press the left-arrow key to
move the cursor to the beginning of the file's name.
Now paste that invisible Return character you copied. The existing name seems
to disappear; just press Enter, and it returns.
Incredibly, your renamed file now appears first in any alphabetical file list, but it
doesn't look any different!
Furthermore, a file with two blank Returns at the beginning of its name comes
before one with only one Return; a file with three appears even before that . . .
and so on. April Fool’s Day stunt: Use the blank-Return technique to make all
the files in your System Folder appear in reverse alphabetical order. Amaze your
friends!
Caution: This trick befuddies programs that refer to linked files. For example, a
Quark or PageMaker document won't print with graphics files whose names
you've doctored this way.
Renaming files en masse
You won't find yourself in this predicament often, but you will find yourself there
someday: You've got a folder full of files that you'd like to rename in some
consistent way. For example, suppose you've just finished creating all 1,294
Web pages for your breathtaking site —but you discover that Windows people
need every file to end in .htm instead of .htm/. Don't tell us you're going to
delete the last letter individually 1,294 times!
Fortunately, you don't have to. Plenty of shareware programs will do that job for
you — and even some commercial programs, such as OneClick (which is
included with this book). Using an add-on OneClick palette like File Tools (also
included), changing the names of huge scads of files in one stroke is a piece of
cake. (See Chapter 22 for instructions on using OneClick.)
The longest file name
Everyone knows that the longest Mac file name is 31 letters. But what’s the
longest file name measured horizontally? \t’s 31 of the infinity symbol, which
you produce by pressing Option-5. It looks like this: 00 oc cc ee 0 20 c0 e9 20 ea 20 oo
100 00.00 00 00 60 00 60 00 09 60 00 00 00 co c0 co co c0, That's a very long file name. Keep
that in mind the next time you're trying to create special visual effects on your
Desktop . . . or making bar bets.
15
16
Part I: System Software Revealed
CASE HISTORY
The saga of the deadliest file name
In previous editions of this book, we pointed out
with perverse pleasure the five-letter file name
that would trash your hard drive. And that name
was: .Sony.
We pointed out that the Mac’s operating system
believes files beginning with periods to be
drivers, those invisible programs that run your
disk drives, serial ports, and other jacks. If a file
name begins with a period, the Mac can
Potentially get confused and treat that file as a
device driver instead of a plain old data file. As it
turns out, .Sony is the name of the driver that
controls your floppy drive! If you gave a file that
name, we said, the Mac may try to address it as
though it’s a floppy drive—and hard drive
corruption would result.
Well, chaos poured down on us. The nasty
e-mails began. “Your irresponsible journalism,”
went one, “has cost our school system
thousands of dollars in consultant fees. Because
you published the .Sony secret, our junior-high
students have named files on every hard drive
that way, and our entire System 7 network
crashes constantly. Next time, think before you
publish.”
Another: “I want you to know that your book
has caused tragedy and destruction in my
neighborhood. Somebody apparently uploaded a
file to my BBS named .Sony. And before | had a
chance to stop it, 352 people downloaded it.
Because of your ill-advised publishing of that
fact, hundreds of people in my area are now
experiencing system problems. | hope you're
Satisfied.”
But just as we were starting to feel worried, we
got one final message that made it all seem
worthwhile. Manny Vera of Sony Corporation
had spotted our secret. And according to Sony
engineers, we had been 100 percent accurate in
our report— except for one little detail. Apple
and Sony had patched that particular booby-trap
in System 7!
In other words, the system problems
experienced by those unhappy e-mail writers
had nothing to do with the Sony secret. As
System 7 users, they were probably having
garden-variety extension conflicts.
We learned from that episode why this country
has more lawyers per capita than any other in
the world.
—s
The Truth about Finder Windows
Ah, windows. No aspect of any computer has been the subject of so much
attention —and so much litigation. Xerox, the developer of the concept of
movable, overlapping panes to display computer information, sued Apple for
ripping off the idea. And then Microsoft created Windows, and Apple sued
Microsoft.
But heck, that'd be like Kleenex suing Puffs. You just can’t keep a great idea
down, and now windows have cropped up on every computer from NeXT to
the Apple Il.
Chapter 4: Your First Software: The Finder 17
Window-manipulation skill is particularly necessary in the Finder, when the
mere act of opening your Extensions folder requires you to open three
windows (hard drive, System Folder, Extensions). If you're not careful, your
screen will clutter up with so many windows you can’t get any work done.
Window management is becoming so important, in fact, that Apple has made
window-manipulation a key focus of each system-software upgrade since
System 6.x. The WindowShade feature first appeared in System 7.5, in which a
double-click on a window's title bar “collapses” the window (see Chapter 4);
draggable window edges and pop-up window tabs debuted in Mac OS 8; and
title-bar icons first showed up in Mac OS 8.5.
Anatomy of a window
A schematic drawing is worth a thousand words — that’s what our mothers
always told us. Here in Figure 1-11, then, is the complete list of doodads and
Nec Bais places to click in a standard Macintosh window.
Close Info Title Title-bar Window Column Column
box strip. bar icon name header divider
co (| | |__-——Zoom box
== system Folder = ay
Collapse box
34 items, 1.4GBaveiloble
| | Sort-order button
Kind - =
folder TS6MB 675/9(4)
D GR Apple Menu items folder 66MB 6/5/9fe
b Cy Application Support folder zeroK 6/3/3{e) — Vertical scroll box
D CG Browser Plug-ins folder 387k 6/5/91
@ Cipboera file 65K Today
D LY Colorsyne Profites we
DG Contextual renu items
4) — Vertical scroll bar
DEQ Contros Paneis ;- Window edge
Trees +— Scroll arrow
s
l ! Resize box
88-drag area —_ Horizontal Horizontal
scroll bar scroll box
Figure 1-11: The complete list of places to click ina Mac OS 8.5 window.
m Close box—Click here (or press 8-W) to close the window. Option-click
(or press Option-38-W) to close all Finder windows.
§ Info strip— Shows how much space is left on your hard drive, the
number of items in this window, and so on. If there’s a tiny Trash icon at
the left end (Mac OS 8.x), you're looking at a window whose folder is in
the Trash at the moment. (Obviously, Figure 1-11 is a fake—we only
rarely put our System folder in the Trash.)
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