Macworld Mac OS 9 bible

919 Pages·2000·194.705 MB·English

by  Poole, Lon, Stauffer, Todd

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Macworld®
UQuick nps" columnist for Macworld Magazine,
UUIII:.
cohost of Disk Doctors on JEC Knowledge TV
Macworld®
Mac® 9 Bible
OS
Macworld®
Mac® Bible
9
OS
Lon Poole and Todd Stauffer
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About the Author
Lon Poole is the award-winning author or coauthor of over two dozen computer
books, including all seven editions of this book, four additional Mac books, and
numerous others. He is also the author of the popular "Quick Tips" column in
Macworld magazine and more than 50 magazine feature articles on Mac topics.
He has a B.A. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Lon lives in northern California with his wife and two sons. He enjoys hiking,
carpentry, and traveling.
Todd Stauffer is the author or coauthor of 20 computer books, including How to Do
Everything with your iMac, Macworld Mac Upgrade and Repair Bible, and Using Your
Mac. He's the writer and cohost of the Emmy-award winning "Disk Doctors"
program on the Knowledge TV network. Todd is also the "Upgrade Guy" columnist
and a contributing editor for MacCentral Online, as well as a contributor to
MacAddict magazine, CMP Tech Web, and Mac Tech Magazine, among others.
Todd has worked as a magazine editor, radio host, feature writer, and advertising
copywriter, all in technical fields. He received a B.A. in English Literature from
Texas A&M University. Todd lives in New York City.
Preface
A
ccording to popular legend, a Mac is so easy to use that you don't need to read
books about it. Alas, if only that were true. In fact, discovering all the power
that the Mac OS gives your computer would take months of exploring and
experimenting. Yes, exploring and experimenting can be fun. But do you really have
months to devote to your computer's operating system? Save your time for having
fun with games and multimedia, exploring the Internet, or maybe getting some work
done. Benefit from the experience of others (in this case, the author and his
collaborators). Read this book so that you can put the full power of the Mac OS to
work for you without a lot of poking around the Mac desktop.
Maybe you think you don't need this book because you have Apple's manuals and
onscreen help. It's true these are good sources of information. But the Macworld Mac
OS 9 Bible contains a great deal of information you won't find in the manuals or on
help screens. This book also provides a different perspective on subjects you may
not quite understand after reading the manuals. And because this book describes
the Mac OS completely, you can use it instead of Apple's manuals if you don't
happen to have them. (They tend to be rather thin these days, anyway.)
Who Should Read This Book
This book is meant for people who already know Mac OS fundamentals such as
choosing commands from menus, moving icons on the desktop, and selecting and
editing text. If you have spent more than a few days with any Mac OS computer, you
know how to do these things and are ready for what's inside this book.
Read this book to learn all about Mac OS 9-how to use it if you have it, and why
you should get it if you don't. Mac OS 9 is a feature-rich upgrade to the venerable
Mac OS, touted by Apple as the "Internet OS," and Mac OS 9 definitely has its share
of Internet-related upgrades. But there's a heck of a lot more that's changed in Mac
OS 9. Whether you're interested in learning the basics or ferreting out every last
detail in this latest release, this book will help you get the most from your sessions
with Apple's latest OS.
\1111 Preface
Whar s Inside
Macworld Mac OS 9 Bible covers all of Mac OS 9's features-new, updated, and
existing from previous versions-in six progressive parts:
+ Part I takes a quick look at the features of the Mac OS. Use it to get started
right away or to see the big picture. You get an overview of what's new in
Mac OS 9, what "hot" features have been added recently, and what features,
even though they've been around for a while, are essential tools in the Mac
user's arsenal.
+ Part II describes in depth what you encounter when you start using the Mac
OS. Windows, icons, and menus appear when you start up a Mac, but look
closely and you may find some new and useful aspects of these elements.
When you go beyond looking around the desktop, you can organize your
disks, folders, and files with the Finder. You get right to work by opening
programs and documents (including documents from Windows and DOS
computers), moving document contents around, and saving documents.
You learn to search your computer and the Internet using the much-hyped
Sherlock tool. You can modify the Mac OS appearance and behavior, and
you can get help onscreen when you need it.
+ Part Ill tells you how to use some important Mac OS capabilities. You learn
how to fine-tune the system by making changes in the special System Folder
and adjusting a multitude of settings in software control panels. You discover
how handy aliases can be. You learn to deal with fonts and typography, and
also learn to control printing. In this part you find out why the Mac OS
deserves its reputation as the multimedia leader among personal computer
operating systems. You also learn how the Mac OS makes it easy to explore
the Internet, including the Web and e-mail.
+Part IV takes you beyond the Mac OS basics-way beyond. You learn to be
comfortable with managing your Mac's memory. You learn how to set up a
simple network of computers, share your files with others on the network,
and use their shared files. You get to know how any Mac can speak and how
most can listen. This part of the book also introduces AppleScript and teaches
you how to use it to automate repetitive tasks.
+Part V presents many ways to make the most of the Mac OS. You'll find
that the accessory programs included with the Mac OS come in handy on
occasion. If they're not enough, you'll find a chapter devoted to describing
low-cost software utilities you can use to enhance the Mac OS. Two more
chapters reveal over 100 Mac OS tips and secrets. Another chapter guides
you through troubleshooting procedures.
+ Part VI details how to upgrade or install the Mac OS, including how to install
a clean copy. You see how the various recent Mac OS versions compare and
what their requirements are, so you can decide whether to stick with the
version you have or to upgrade it. You find out how to get ready to install, and
you can follow step-by-step instructions for installing everything on your Mac
OS 9 installation CD-ROM.
.
Preface J)(
In addition to these six parts, this book includes a glossary filled with those terms
you're bound to encounter in a tome like this, including quite a few that Webster
hasn't gotten around to, yet.
If you read this book from front to back, you will find that some information appears
in more than one place. In particular, everything that Part I covers in summary
appears elsewhere in the book in more detail. Also, some of the tips and secrets in
Chapters 27 and 28 appear first amidst relevant subject matter throughout earlier
chapters. This duplication is intentional and is meant for your benefit.
Conventions Used in This Book
This book makes use of established conventions in an effort to help guide you
through the material.
Mac OS version references
As you may have realized from reading this preface, this book uses the term Mac OS
to include all versions of the Macintosh operating system, also known as the system
software, unless a specific version number is stated (such as Mac OS 9). When you
see a range of version numbers, such as Mac OS 8-9, the topic under discussion
applies to all versions in the stated range. While all topics discussed pertain to Mac
OS 9, we'll occasionally toss in a reference to earlier Mac OS versions to place things
in the proper historical context.
Apple named earlier versions of the operating system System instead of Mac OS.
You may notice occasional references in this book to System 7.5.5 and earlier. Just
remember that Mac OS and System are two terms for the Mac operating system.
Sidebars
Certain discussions in this book are expanded with sidebars. These are shaded
boxes that contain background information, expert tips and advice, areas where
caution is needed, and other helpful information.
Feedback, Please
The author and publisher appreciate your feedback on this book. Please feel free to
contact us, care of IDG Books Worldwide, with questions or comments. (JOG Books
Worldwide, Inc.; 919 E. Hillsdale Boulevard, Suite 400; Foster City, CA 94404)
Acknowledgments
W
hen you're going to write a book of this size about a subject as deep and
wide as the Mac OS, you can't be shy about asking for help. We have many
people to thank for their contributions to this book. Lon Poole, who was sole author of
the previous six editions of this book, would like to thank Todd Stauffer for preparing
this edition, including writing several new chapters and extensively revising the
others. Many other people contributed to earlier editions of the book, and their work
lives on in the Macworld Mac OS 9 Bible. David Angell and Brent Heslop researched
and wrote first drafts of material that appears in Chapters 14, 21, and 22 in this book.
Nancy Dunn and Rita Lewis helped reorganize and update an earlier edition of the
book, and much of their work survives in Chapters 15, 16, 17, and 23. Tom Negrino
compressed information about the entire Internet into what is now Chapter 10. Derrick
Schneider applied his AppleScript expertise to Chapter 24. Roxanne Gentile put
together the first collection of utility software in Chapter 26. Rob Terrell wrote drafts
of material that now appears in Chapters 30 and 31. For the previous edition of this
book, Seth Novogrodsky wrote Chapter 29 and revised the material that now appears
in Chapters 3 and 24. Katherine Ulrich updated what are now Chapters 12, 25, and 26.
And Suzanne Courteau updated the tips in Chapters 27 and 28. We most gratefully
acknowledge all their contributions.
We also want to express our appreciation to the editorial and production teams at IDG
Books Worldwide, whose diligence made all the difference. In particular, Dennis Cohen
as technical reviewer did a great job of filtering out technical impurities. We also want
to thank Mike Roney and Sara Salzmann for urging us onward. In addition, we want to
thank Kathi Duggan, who for the third time has done a splendid job as development
editor. (Believe us, you are glad she went over this book before you did.)
Lon wishes to express his gratitude to his wife, Karin, and sons, Adam and Ethan,
for their support of his earlier work on which this book is based.
Todd would like to thank Donna Ladd for putting up with the late nights and
annoying alarm clocks while this revision was being written. Also, thanks to
Leo and Arno Jakobson for the space, equipment, and moral support that
made it possible for Todd to actually sit and write in the midst of a chaotic
move to New York.