pc2mac.org - Switching from a PC to a Mac

The Dock which by default is along the bottom of the screen has much the same functionality as the Task Bar in Windows (which also starts along the bottom).

Let’s work our way across the task bar in Windows and compare functionality.

1. the START button: Only Microsoft can come up with a button called start that one uses to stop the computer. I am happy to say that the Mac isn’t so illogical. There is a lot under the start button, so we’ll dive down into that:

• log off, turn off computer (then Stand By, Turn Off, Restart): Under the Apple menu (the icon that looks like an apple on the far left of the menu bar) are Sleep (same as Stand By), Restart, Shutdown (same as Turn Off), and Logout. It’s one button click shorter (no second dialogue box) and you get all the same functionality with the exception of Hibernate.
• recently run applications (left half): on the Mac these are found under the Apple menu in a submenu called Recent Items and includes applications, documents, and servers all nicely organized
• important places (top right): my documents, my pictures, my music, etc. For these one would go to the Finder on the Mac (first icon in the Dock)
• control panel: System Preferences under the Apple menu
• help: the Help menu item. On the Mac it is context sensitive based on the current application, so for generic help you probably want to be in the Finder
• search: Spotlight which is a lot nicer than search in Windows. You can click on its icon at the far right of the Menu Bar or more easily type Command-Spacebar.
• run: run the Terminal application to get access to command line Unix which is a hundred times more powerful and useful than the scaled down version of DOS which is now available through Windows only for backwards compatibility.
• All Programs (bottom of the left side): on the Mac you would run the Finder and go to Applications under Places in the left sidebar

2. the Quickstart icons: one click access to popular applications. By default there are only three visible plus a menu for more. The left side of the Dock in Mac OS starts with 15 icons for built-in applications and you can add applications to the Dock just by dragging their icon there. (You can also remove applications by dragging the icon away from the dock.) So this is a much more accessible way to run your favourite applications.

Furthermore when you run an application that isn’t in the dock, its icon is placed there so it is also like the middle part of the task bar in Windows where running applications can be found.

3. the tasks part of the Task Bar showing running applications (the large middle portion of the bar): this functionality is divided into 2 parts on the Mac. As was mentioned above when an application is running its icon will be added to the left side of the Dock if it wasn’t there before. You can click on the icon like in Windows to switch to that application and the context menu (right button if you have a 2 button mouse or Command-click) offers commands such as quit and hide. However, if you minimize a window it will go to the right side of the Dock (there is a dashed line separating the two sides) and can be resumed along with its application by clicking on it.

4. startup utilities and the clock (right side): on the Mac these are on the right side of the Menu Bar at the top of the screen.

There are a couple of things on the Dock that are different than Windows:

• Stacks: to the right of the divider (and next to minimized applications) are the stacks. By default you get a stack for Documents and one for Downloads but you can add any folder you like. So it is a shortcut way to get to documents versus applications.
• the Trash Can: which is the same as the Recycle Bin in Windows which is located on the Desktop usually at the bottom right (so would be in the same vicinity as the right end of the Dock by default).

On bad feature in Windows that especially hits novices is the ability to resize and move the taskbar with the mouse. Everyone does it by mistake and you will often see really wide taskbars along the sides of people’s computers and they have no idea how it got that way or how to get it back to the way it was.

I don’t think you can do this on the Mac. If you put the mouse over the divider and drag up and down with the mouse you can change the size of the icons in the Dock but it is fairly obvious what you are doing and easy to control. If you click the second button you will get a useful menu allowing you to change the location of the Dock and its other properties. A much better design.