Molly Flynn of Muska & Lipman Publishing in Cincinnati, Ohio informs us that M&L's latest book, iMac FYI, is now shipping. This book answers 99 of the most frequently asked questions iMac users have.
Top 10 iMac Tips
Excerpted From iMac FYI by Martin C. Brown Muska & Lipman Publishing
Learn how to use the keyboard
Although the mouse is a vital part of the iMac, there are quicker ways of performing certain operations that don't rely on the mouse. Your iMac will use the same keyboard commands in nearly all applications:
Apple-O - Opens an existing file
Apple-N - Creates a new file
Apple-P - Prints the currently open file
Apple-S - Saves the currently open file
Apple-Q - Quits an application
Learn how to use the keyboard and mouse
If you hold down the Control key while clicking on the mouse, you'll bring up a contextual menu; this gives you extra options according to your task. For example, when you click a file it will let you make an alias of that file. If you want to create an alias of a file in another folder, hold down Option and Apple while dragging the file or folder to the folder where you want the alias. If you want to get rid of that message when emptying the trash, hold down Option while selecting the menu option.
Changing your Appearance
The Appearance control panel controls all sorts of different aspects about your iMac's appearance. Everything from the picture or color used for your desktop to the fonts used to display the menus and information in the Finder is controlled through that panel.
Make some simple Backups
Nobody likes losing files -- especially if it's a latest project or a new novel! The easiest way to backup the important documents on your machine is to use the Synchronize control panel; create a new folder on a removable disk and then set the synchronization between the folder you want to back up and the folder on the removable drive. If you don't have access to a removable drive, check out Apple's iTools (http://www.apple.com/iTools), which provides storage for your files on a server at Apple, along with Web site space and an e-mail account.
Quick tricks for diagnosing problems
If you're suffering from strange crashes or freezes, then try the following:
Rebuild your desktop: Restart your iMac and hold down Option and Apple until you see the prompt
Run Disk First Aid: There's a copy installed in the Utilities folder of your new iMac
Using sleep and shutdown
If you don't like waiting for your machine to start up each time you want to use it, then put your machine to sleep instead. This switches your iMac into a low power mode that uses less electricity and switches off the monitor. Recovering from sleep takes about 10 seconds, compared to the minute or so it takes to boot up normally. To put your machine to sleep, select Sleep from the Special menu in the finder, or use the power key and click the Sleep button.
Improving DVD playback
Do you like watching movies, but dislike the jumps? Then try the following:
• Switch off file sharing
• Give more memory to the DVD Player
• Don't leave applications that you are not using open while playing CDs
• Switch off auto-spelling and correction in word processors, or auto-recalc in spreadsheets
Getting quick access to applications and documents
The Recent Applications and Recent Documents menus in the Apple menu give you quick access to the last 10 applications or documents that you opened. If this isn't enough for you, then you can increase the numbers using the Apple Menu Items control panel. If want to disable the entries, set the values to zero.
If you want to create your own custom application menu, then just create a new folder in the Apple Menu Items folder that contains aliases to all the applications you want to use.
Protecting your files from other users
You can use the Multiple Users control panel to set up individual users on your iMac. Each user will have their own set of preferences and their own Documents folder to store their files. Each user is secure; unless they want to share items with other users, they wont have access to any of your files. Better still, you can set it up so that your account can only be opened using your voice!
Playing games against other iMac users
If you want to play a game head-to-head with a user on another iMac, then you can connect the two machines together using a simple cross-over Ethernet cable, available from your local computer store. Plug each end into the Ethernet port on your iMac and you should just be able to start playing. Just make sure you practice!