Contents
What is a Mac OS X Workstation?
This document introduces you to using the University's Macintosh (Mac)
OS X workstations in the Office of Information Technology (OIT)
Workstation at Maryland (WAM) computer labs. It covers basic concepts
and a few more advanced features on the Mac.
Macs can be used to run software stored on the hard drive. WAM Macs
connect to the Internet via a high-speed Ethernet connection.
Printed copy can be sent to a high-speed printer located in each lab,
but you must have a Terrapin Express Account and a Print Account in
order to print in WAM labs. See the document,
Printing from a WAM Computer.
Note: Access to WAM labs at the University is limited. You must
have a valid University ID to use the labs.
Where Can I Find One?
Where to Go to Use a
Computer, lists the hours and room numbers of the workstation labs at
the University.
WAM labs supporting Macs:
- Computer Space Science building - room 3332 Note: Access to
this OIT WAM lab is not allowed during instructional periods - see the
posted schedule for instructional and lab hours.
- McKeldin Library - room 1137
- Parking Garage 2 - room 0504
- Worcester Hall - room 0111
What Can I Do on the Mac?
The application software available in WAM lab OS X Macs includes, but is
not limited to: Adobe CS3, Fetch, Final Cut Pro, Firefox, Mathematica 5.2, MATLAB,
Office 2004, and Safari.
Setting Up
When you approach the Macintosh, you will see the Mac OS X window. Type
your WAM at the Name: field. Type your Directory ID password at the
Password: field. Click the Log In icon to begin using the
workstation. A bar with icons will appear at the bottom of the screen. This
is the Dock; it is used for launching commonly used applications. Other
applications may be launched by opening the Applications folder.
To open the Applications folder select Applications from the Go menu.
Getting Acquainted with the Macintosh
If you have never used a Mac before, read this section to
familiarize yourself. Information
about the Mac desktop environment can be found later in this
document in the Working on the Desktop section.
There is a mouse attached to your Mac. When you move the
mouse, the pointer on the screen moves in the
corresponding direction.
Moving the mouse pointer to the selection and pressing (clicking)
the mouse button allows you
to make menu selections, start applications, and manage documents
(files). In some situations,
you may need to move an object displayed on the screen
(represented as an icon). To move
something with the mouse, you drag it--move the mouse
pointer to the object, press and
hold the mouse button, move the mouse pointer to another position
on the screen (the outline or
shadow of the object will move with the pointer) then release the
button, leaving the object at
its new position.
The Menu Bar is the bar at the very top of the Mac
screen; it contains a list of the
menus available in the current application. To execute a command
in a particular menu, move the
mouse pointer to the appropriate menu name and click once. Move
the pointer to highlight your command, then click and release the mouse
button.
On the Mac keyboard, the Command key marked with an
apple  and cloverleaf  does nothing by
itself, but when used in
combination with other keys, it performs special commands. When
used in combination with a
number or letter key, it provides an alternative to using menus
to choose a command. For example,
in many applications the Command key pressed simultaneously
with the period (.),
cancels a procedure (such as printing).
The Option key is used in combination with other keys or
the pull down menus to modify
the action of (or the character represented by) that key. When
used with the 8 key, Option
produces the "bullet" character in most fonts.
Help and Information
Help can often be found in the Help menu, near the right
side of the menu bar. Most
software programs also add help options to the Help menu.
It's the first place to look for
help in any application
you're using.
Moving Around on the Mac
The OS X Macs in the WAM labs run MAC OS 10.4. This
environment allows more than one
application to run simultaneously (multitask). As an
example, you are able to run programs
such as Microsoft Word and Safari at the same time.
Many basic actions occur in the Finder. Actions such as
starting applications,
copying, moving and renaming files and folders all take place in
the Finder. Every file is
associated with the application which created it, so when you
double-click on a file you've
saved, it will open automatically. Newly created files appear in
the folder in which they were
saved.
The Dock is a shortcut for launching applications on
the hard
drive.
The only limit to the number of applications simultaneously
running on the Mac is the amount
of available memory. Quit applications when
you finish using
them. The memory they are using is then returned to the
system and made available for other
programs.
Starting an Application
To open an application which has a shortcut on the Dock,
place
the mouse pointer on the icon of the
application on the
Dock and click the mouse button once. Other applications
which do not have a shortcut in the
Dock may be launched by double clicking the corresponding
icon in
the Applications folder in the Finder. Once the application
has started up, you will see a small triangle below the icon
on the Dock.
When starting some applications a blank window appears with
the word Untitled in its title bar (top of window). You can
use this window to begin your
work immediately if you are starting a new file.
To retrieve an existing file, choose Open from the
File menu. A dialog
box will open to locate and open your file. If
you do not see your file, use
this dialog box to navigate to your disk. To do this, select the
folder of your choice from the list
on the left-hand side of the window. Files that are saved to the
folder appear on the
right-hand side of the window. Select the file you wish to open
from the list and click
Open. This should open your file in the appropriate
application.
At times, applications may stop responding. If this
occurs you may have to force the application to
quit. To force quit an application, click
on the Apple Menu in the upper left hand corner
of the screen and select Force Quit. A window
appears with a list of applications currently running appears.
Select the name of the application you wish to quit and then
click the Force Quit button. You will be prompted
to confirm your selection.
Note: You may also force quit applications by pressing the
Command, Option, and Esc keys simultaneously.
Saving a Document
It is wise to save your work frequently during your computing
session. If the machine
malfunctions, the power supply is interrupted, or an error occurs
in the software itself, you
will lose any work that has not been saved. It is recommended that
you save your work on other
media. The Mac OS X computers in the WAM labs are equipped with
CD-R/DVD burners which you
could use to save data.
Another way to save files is to use the storage area in your
WAM account. You will see a folder on the Desktop labeled home.
Anything saved in the home folder is saved to your WAM account
and is accessible from any WAM computer. Note: Any work saved anywhere else (Desktop)
will be deleted once you logout.
To save your work in a new document, choose Save as...
from the File menu. A dialog box will open; type a name for the
file in the
Save As: field. Use the Where:
pull-down menu to choose where you wish to save your file. You
may also select where to save files from the list on the left hand
side of the window. Make your selection and then click the Save
button. You can then continue work
on that document, open a new or different document, or quit the
application.
To save an existing file, select the Save from the
File
menu.
To make a new (backup) copy of your document, use Save
as... and give the file a different name. You will then have two
identical copies of your
work saved with two different names. Each time you finish working
on a document for that session, you
should be sure to save both the copy you are working on and use
Save as... to save a
backup.
Using Keyboard Shortcuts
Use the Command key in combination with
other
keys as a shortcut method of
selecting a command. When you pull down a menu, shortcut commands
are shown as commands preceded
by a cloverleaf () symbol.
Working on the Desktop
To get to the desktop, move from the current application and
select Finder from the
Dock, then click Finder. The desktop is a
workspace that is analogous to
what sits on a desk surface. It is the overall arrangement of menu
bars, windows, icons, and
documents that you see on your screen. You can move things around,
open, resize, and close
windows, and throw things away (eject a CD, delete a
document),
thus controlling how your area looks.
The menu bar across the top of all applications is also
used on the desktop. It gives
a selection of commands that can be executed from the desktop.
A window is the rectangular working area on the screen
that appears when you start an
application or open a document, folder, or disk. You may have more
than one window open at once.
To close a window, move the mouse pointer to the small
red circle (left button) in
the upper left corner of the window and click once.
To resize a window, move the mouse pointer to the small
box in the lower right corner
of the window; hold down the mouse button and drag to the size
that you want. You may also click
the small green circle (right button) in the upper left corner to
change the size of the
window.
To move a window, place the mouse pointer on the
window's title bar while holding down the mouse
button, drag the window to a new location.
A folder holds files, applications, or other folders.
It is used to
organize information and is analogous to directories or
subdirectories.
A document is a data or text file created by an
application program. The letter or
paper that you create with a word processor is a document.
An application is an executable program that performs
some task. Word processors,
spreadsheets, databases, and graphics programs are
applications.
An icon is a graphic representation of an application,
disk, document, or folder.
To select an application, document, or folder, etc.,
move the mouse pointer to the
icon representing that application or document and click on it
once.
To open an application, document, or folder,
double-click the icon. This launches the application which created the
document
and opens the document. If
you see a dialog box indicating that the document cannot be
opened, open the application used
to create it and open the document from within the application.
You can also drag
the icon of the document to the icon of the creator application,
when the application's icon
highlights, release, and the application will launch and open the
file.
Deleting Files with Finder
To delete a file or folder, drag the folder/file icon to the
Trash. Then select the Empty Trash command from the
Finder menu.
CAUTION: This operation cannot be undone.
Connecting to a Host Computer
To connect to a host computer, click once on the Finder
icon. A window appears, click once
on the Applications icon at the top of the window.
Double-click the Utilities folder. In the Utilities folder
you will find two applications that will allow you to make connections to
WAM and Glue: Terminal and X11. Terminal is
best for running text-only applications such as pine, vi, emacs, or pico.
X11 is best for running applications that use an X environment with
a graphical interface, such as Eclipse, Mathematica, Matlab, or SAS.
To begin using Terminal with SSH:
- Double-click the Terminal icon to launch the application.
- A Terminal window will appear with a command prompt.
- At the prompt, type in ssh your-login-name@wam.umd.edu or
ssh your-login-name@glue.umd.edu and press Return.
- You will be prompted to type in your WAM or Glue password.
- Once you successfully login, a WAM or Glue command prompt will
appear and will be ready to launch text-only applications.
To begin using X11 with SSH:
- Double-click the X11 icon to launch the application.
- An X11 window will appear with a command prompt.
- At the prompt, type in either xhost +wam.umd.edu or xhost
+glue.umd.edu and press Return.
- At the prompt, type in ssh -X your-login-name@wam.umd.edu or
ssh -X your-login-name@glue.umd.edu and press Return.
- You will be prompted to type in your WAM or Glue password.
- Once you successfully login, a WAM or Glue command prompt will appear
and you will be ready to launch graphical applications.
Note: For more information on using X Windows applications,
see:
http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/documents/4/4637/.
Finishing Your Work
To log out, click once on the apple icon in the upper left hand corner of
the screen and select Log Out.... A window will pop up and ask
Are you sure you want to quit all applications and log out now?,
click the Log Out button.
Warning: Any files not saved to the home folder on the Desktop will be deleted once you logout.
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