The Mac Corner

Can You Tell Me...
So many questions. So little time. That sums up my experience teaching Mac users at CKCS. Over the past few years, I've taught classes on the Mac operating systems (Jaguar to Tiger) and using the Internet to AppleWorks and iPhoto.

There's never enough time to answer all of the questions that come up in class. We've encountered folks who've been using Macs for years but need help getting up to speed with a particular issue, as well as folks who've never turned on a Mac. We've helped students who were quite familiar with decades old Mac operating systems (remember System 7, OS 8 and 9, anyone), but sought help learning OS X (10).

With that in mind, here are some of the most common questions that students have asked me over the past few years. (Feel free to print this for future reference):

How can I tell which Mac operating system (OS) I have on my machine?
Click on the blue apple in the upper left-hand corner of your screen. In the drop-down menu, click on About This Mac. The box that opens will tell you which operating system you're running. Note: If you're using these operating systems...Mac OS X Jaguar (10.2); Mac OS X Panther (10.3); or Mac OS X Tiger (10.4), the apple will be blue. If you're running an old version of the Mac OS (System 7, OS 8 or OS 9), the apple will be rainbow colored. If you're running Mac OS X Leopard (10.5), the apple will be black.

What's the Finder?
The Finder is the software that keeps the Mac Desktop running. The Desktop is the blue texture or the picture or some other colorful background on your Mac's screen.

How can I tell how much RAM (random access memory) my Mac has?
Again, click on the blue apple in the upper left-hand corner of your screen. In the drop-down menu, click on About This Mac. The box that opens will tell you how much memory is installed.

My grandson bought a new Mac, my neighbor just bought a Mac and now I've bought one. What's going on?
This is one of the most common remarks, because Macintosh computers are selling faster than personal computers in general. In spring 2007, Apple announced that Macs were selling three times faster than the industry growth rate.

My son tells me there are no viruses, spyware, or adware attacking Mac OS X. Is this true?
Declan McCullagh, who reports for CNET News, says "Nearly all known spyware programs infect Microsoft Windows, not Apple's OS X operating system or other Unix or Linux variants." There are no known viruses, spyware, or adware infecting OS X through the Internet. Viruses are software that infect computers and do harm. Spyware is any sort of software that secretly records information about the Web sites you visit to what keys you type on your keyboard. Adware is software that displays ads, typically in pop-up windows. There is anti-virus software for the Mac, but it is typically used to destroy Windows viruses that a Mac user might receive. Macs can carry Windows viruses, but those viruses do no damage to the Mac.