Chapter 1: Getting Started

With the advent of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, Mac users get a good view of both the future and the past. Innovative new features such as Mission Control combine with the Mac’s traditionally intuitive interface to provide a user experience that’s both new and comfortably familiar. Mac OS X 10.7 is still many times more powerful than older systems, completely modern, capable of handling the latest innovations in hardware, and as easy to use as any Mac system that has gone before. But Lion has a few surprises in store for you.

The starting point for any exploration of Mac OS X is the desktop: what you see when your Mac has finished starting up. The desktop is operated by a program called the Finder, and it’s a central location where you’ll gain access to your disks and their contents, move files around, and keep track of what your computer’s up to—sort of like a hotel or office building lobby. This section covers the basics of working with the Finder, as well as other functions that work the same no matter what program you’re using.