What's new or different in OS X v.10.3?

This documentation is intended for users who felt comfortable or were experienced working with Macs running OS 9. If this is the first time you're working with a Mac, you might want to look at the Intro to Macintosh documentation instead.

Return to Welcome to OS X v.10.3

Logging into OS X v.10.3

In OS X, you can set up multiple accounts on a computer, allowing additional people to use the computer without getting access to each other's personal files or information. In order to take advantage of the new security, college-owned Macs running OS X require you to login in order to use the computer. You can find out more information about Multiple Accounts and logging in by referring to the login documentation.

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OS X v.10.3 Windows

There are four buttons on the title bar of OS X v.10.3 windows:

	The red button on the left closes the window. If the window is a document, it closes the active document (and will prompt you to save if you have not already). This is not the same as quitting the application itself. To quit the OS X application itself, you will have to go to the menu with the application name and select Quit [application name], or press APPLE + Q on the keyboard. Leaving many applications open at once might lead to memory problems, so please remember to close out of applications properly when you are done.
	The yellow button minimizes the window and sends it down to the Dock. To bring the minimized window back up to the desktop, click once on the icon of the minimized window on the right side of the Dock.
	The green Zoom button expands or contracts the window size depending on its current and former position on the screen.
	The button in the upper right-hand corner now shows or hides the toolbar at the top of a window.

 

In the Finder in OS X v.10.3, there are two main sections in the window, along with a toolbar at the top. At the left is the sidebar, which contains shortcuts to the Desktop, Home, Applications, and other areas of the computer for ready access. At the right, the window displays any files and folders, while the left portion contains Network, Macintosh HD, and any connected network servers, CDs, and zip disks. Many of these folders can be found on the desktop and you can customize by dragging items to the sidebar.

	Navigates back to the previous window or folder level, much like the back button works in an Internet browser.
	Navigates to the next window or folder level, like in an Internet browser.
	The three View buttons allow you change the view characteristics of the window to icon, list, or column.
	The action menu provides actions that are sometimes difficult to access. They are context-based and will change depending on the object selected.
	Shortcut to your Home area.
	Shortcut to OS X Applications folder.
	Allows you to search your computer for a folder or file.

The sidebar can be customized. You can add items you use frequently and remove items that you don't. To customize the sidebar, drag items to the sidebar and drag them off where they will disappear in a puff of smoke.

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System Preferences - the new Control Panels

The Control Panels in OS 9 are now called System Preferences. To access the System Preferences, choose Apple Menu > System Preferences... This is where you can find preferences for Date/Time, Energy Saver, Network (formerly called AppleTalk and TCP/IP), and Classic. By clicking on the item you want to change, you will be taken to a new window that will bring up the preferences. To go back to the main System Preferences window that shows all the System Preferences, click on the Show All button located in the upper left hand corner of the window.

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Home Folder

Every user account on your computer will have its own home directory (folder) with the information secured from other users on your computer unless they are administrators. To get to your home directory, click on the Finder icon on your dock, click on the Go menu, and select Home.

By default, your files will be saved in folders in your home directory. The type of file you are working on will determine which folder in the home directory it will save to by default. For example, a word document will be saved in the Documents folder in the home directory, and a music file you listen to in iTunes will be saved in the Music folder in the home directory. You can create your own folders and subfolders to organize your files efficiently. We strongly recommend you store all your personal files inside your home directory where they will be most secure. However, the Public and Sites folder by default are accessible from other accounts. It is possible to modify the folder permissions so that they become inaccessible if necessary.

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The Dock

Instead of the OS 9 Apple Menu, OS X uses the Dock (usually located across the bottom of the screen) to hold the aliases to some applications and utilities, the Trash and open applications and windows.

Black triangles below application icons indicate an application is open. Hovering your mouse over an icon in the Dock displays the name of that item.

The Finder will always be listed in the Dock because it is necessary to be open in order for you to use the Desktop.

Dock Structure

The Dock is divided into two parts by a vertical line. The left-hand side of the Dock shows application icons, and the right-hand side shows file and folder icons as well as the Trash. To change the order of the items on your Dock, simply click and drag the icons to their desired order. The applications will stay on the left and the files and folders will stay on the right.

The Dock can be resized to stretch the entire length of the screen or to shrink down towards the center of the bottom of the screen. To resize the Dock, click and drag the vertical line dividing the applications from the files and folders. The cursor will become a resizing tool, and the Dock can be enlarged or shrunk by moving the mouse up and down.

To modify the Dock preferences, go to the Apple Menu > Dock. There, you can choose to hide the Dock, change its location on the screen, and access other Dock preferences by choosing Dock Preferences.

Opening an application

To open an application, file, or folder, you need to click on the icon in the Dock only once. Applications launched from the Applications or Applications (Mac OS 9) folders which are not stored on the Dock, will have an application icon appear on the Dock only while the application is open. A black triangle will appear beneath the application icon, indicating the application is open. Pressing and holding the mouse button over an icon on the dock produces a pop-up menu with various functions, including Show in Finder and Quit.

Aliases in the Dock

To add an application, file, or folder permanently to the Dock, open the application by double-clicking on the icon in the Applications or Applications (Mac OS 9) folder. When the application finishes opening and has an icon in the Dock, press and hold the mouse button over the icon in the dock. A pop-up menu will appear with the option to Keep in Dock. Select it and the item will remain in the Dock whether the application is open or not. Remember that the icon in the Dock is only an alias to the actual application, utility, folder or file.

To remove an unwanted item from the Dock, drag the item off the Dock. The icon will then disappear in a puff of smoke. Note that dragging the item off the Dock does not delete the item; instead, it removes the alias from the Dock.

The Trash

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Apple Menu

The OS X v.10.3 Apple Menu works much like the OS 9 Special and Apple Menus combined without the applications. All applications usually located in the Apple Menu have moved to the new Application folder. Applications can also be accessed by using the Dock. The Apple Menu is where preferences and settings can be modified, and where users can log in and out, restart or shutdown their computer. Use About this Mac to find out what version of the Operating System the computer is running, the processor speed, or RAM.

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Running OS X Applications

Programs designed to run in OS X, are sometimes called 'Native' OS X applications. The term, native, distinguishes applications designed to run in OS X from OS 9 applications which need to run in Classic mode - often called Classic applications.

Click here for information on how to run applications (Native OS X or Classic applications).

To quit out of a frozen application (either OS 9 or OS X), go to the OS X Apple Menu and select Force Quit... Choose the frozen application in the dialog box and click Force Quit. You will not need to restart your computer after forcing an application to quit. The OS 9 key command (APPLE + OPTION + ESC) will also bring up the Force Quit dialog box.

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Classic

One of OS X's most significant new features is the Classic environment where applications run in an OS 9 environment. These applications are known as classic applications. Classic has to be running in order for classic applications to function.

Classic will start automatically when you open any OS 9 application. You do not need to open it separately, although you can if you choose to do so from the Classic preferences in the System Preferences.

To have Classic start automatically when OS X starts:

1. Go to the Classic preferences pane by going to the OS X Apple Menu > System Preferences > Classic.
2. The Classic preferences window will appear.
3. Check Start up Classic on login to this computer.
4. Quit System Preferences by going to the System Preferences menu > Quit System Preferences.

When using Classic applications, you will notice the menu bars and window properties revert back to the way they looked in OS 9. You can find some more information about Classic mode by clicking here.

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Running Classic Applications

Classic applications are programs which were designed to run in OS 9, but which still run in Classic Mode on your OS X v.10.3 computer.

Classic applications are separated from the OS X applications in your Macintosh HD. All of the Classic Applications are stored in the Applications (Mac OS 9) folder.

Information Services provides a tremendous amount of on-line documentation for most of the Classic applications on your computer. For more information on using various applications, visit the main Computing documentation.

Click here for information on how to run applications (OS X or Classic applications).

To quit out of a frozen application, go to the OS X Apple Menu and select Force Quit... Choose the frozen application in the dialog box and click Force Quit. In addition, the OS 9 key command (APPLE + OPTION + ESC) still works to bring up the Force Quit dialog box.

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Setting up a Printer

To set up a printer in OS X, you now use the Printer Seup Utility instead of the Chooser or the Desktop Printer Utility, which do not exist in OS X. To set up a printer in the Printer Setup Utility, launch the Printer Setup Utility from the dock. If you can't find the Printer Setup Utility icon in the dock, click once on the desktop and go to the Go menu > Utilities > Printer Setup Utility. If you have not set up a printer and try to print, the Printer Setup Utility will automatically appear so you can set up a printer. A printer set up in OS X will also work for Classic applications unless you are using an earlier version of OS X than OS 10.2. Click here for more information about setting up your printer.

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How do I connect to servers like NTM and Alice?

1. Click on the Finder icon in the dock.
2. In the Apple Menu Bar, click on the Go menu > Connect to Server...
3. A Connect to Server window will appear. If you know the name of the computer you want to connect to, in the Server Address field, type in smb://computername, where computername is the name of the Windows computer you want to connect to. For example, if you wanted to connect to NTM, you would type: smb://ntm.
4. Click Connect.
5. A dialog box will appear in the top left that says Connecting to Server. Another dialog box will appear in the center of the screen that says SMB/CIFS Filesystem Authentication. In the SMB/CIFS Filesystem Authentication dialog box, fill in the information for the fields.
6. Type your username and domain account password. Make sure the Workgroup says Wellesley.
7. Click OK to connect to the computer.
8. A dialog box will appear in the center named SMB Mount. It will include a drop-down list of shared folders you can connect to. Click on the blue double-arrow to display the list and select a share to connect to.
9. Click OK.
10. An icon should appear on the desktop for each share you connected to.
11. To connect to more shares on the same computer you will need to go through the process again.
12. To disconnect from the shares, drag the icon from the desktop to the trash. The trash will change into an disconnect icon.

 

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Removable Disks

Using one disk on multiple platforms or multiple Macintosh operating systems

Disks opened on Windows computers or in OS 9 as well as in OS X will have additional files or folders. Below is a table with files that may appear when using disks on various computers with different operating systems.

Disks opened in OS X and afterward opened on a computer with OS 9, may have duplicates of their files or folders with a period and underscore before the file name. For example, if you have a file named Assignment, the duplicate copy would appear as ._Assignment.

Since these files will be re-created every single time you switch between operating systems or from Windows to a Mac, it is best to ignore them.

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• Rebecca Levine
• Information Services
• Date Created: December 16, 2003
• Last Modified: April 28, 2004
• Page Expires: July 1, 2005