Where is it?
You’re used to finding things in certain places on your machine but on a Mac the places are different. Here’s some help finding things. I’m going to go down the list on the left side of Windows Explorer and point out where you’ll find things in the Mac Finder.
Desktop: hurray it’s the same name in both systems. In the Finder it’s usually the first item under Places.
Local Disk C:, D:, etc. These hardware devices are similar except they are listed by name and without the letter. The default name for the boot disk in MacOS is Macintosh HD (corresponding to C:). All the hardware is listed in the Finder under Devices.
My Documents: This is called Documents on the Mac and is usually found under Places. (Note that you can move anything into and out of the Finder by dragging it, so yours may look different.) The actual folders are located in the following places (Windows: boot disk; Documents and Settings; username; My Documents. Mac: boot disk; Users; username; Documents)
Program Files: This folder is under the boot disk (usually C:) and it is where most of your programs are found. On the Mac it is called Applications and is usually found in Places. It is actually located under the boot disk just like in Windows.
Control Panel: on the Mac you access the same functionality via the System Preferences… which is under the Apple icon in the System Menu at the top left of your screen.
Media (Music, Pictures, Movies): in Windows these are under My Documents. On the Mac they are one level higher, under the folder associated with the username (so they are brothers to the Document folder instead of children).
System Files: in Windows these are in the Windows folder under the boot disk (usually C:). On the Mac (viewing through the Finder) they are in two folders found under the boot disk: System and Library. Actually there are many other system files but you need to be using the Terminal to see them (under root: / they are the directory names that do not start with capital letters)
My Network Places: This rather confusing hierarchy of machines in your workgroup and symbolic links to shared folders is much more simply displayed in the Mac in the Shared area on the left of the Finder.
Recycle Bin: It’s called the Trash on the Mac and is not in the Finder Places by default but you probably want to access via the user interface and not the Finder anyway. It’s icon is on the far right end of the Dock.