MacinSpot

Finder is provides a way to get around on your computer. This is what you can use to navigate through your existing files and folders. Apple has made Finder super easy to use and it is the one application on your dock that you can’t really quit. The icon looks like this(located by default on the far left side of the dock):

When you click this icon two things will happen, if you are in another program, you will notice at the very top on the menu bar, “Finder” will appear indicating you are now using Finder:

and a new window will pop up similar to this:

Whatever you were doing before you clicked the Finder icon will not be jeopardized in anyway shape or form.

As you can see across the top of the window, there are four buttons grouped together:

These will change the way you view icons throughout Finder. The one on the far left is a darker gray indicating that it is the current view, which is to view the contents of the current folder by icons. If we hit the next one over, we can view the contents of this folder in a list view:

The next one over to the right is by columns:

This is handy and I tend to like this view if I am moving back and forth between folders a lot. If you click the very top folder, “Applications,” you will notice that the list of applications show up in the second column over:

The last view type is called “Cover Flow” which is new to Leopard. This basically gives you a preview of the contents within each file.

You can quickly scroll through images and movies with this view to find what you are looking for by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard. Alternatively, to change the view you can click on the “View” menu and click on one of the View as choices at the top of the menu.

You will notice at the top in the middle of the next picture, a gear icon with an arrow pointed downward.

This is an action menu. You can create a new folder or label files, or copy and paste files from this menu. This menu will even let you delete files by moving them to the trash.

You will have to select a file if you wish to manipulate it, such as moving it to the trash or copying before hitting the gear menu. This menu can be handy sometimes though.

You will also notice at the bottom of the screen shots above, there is what is called a “Path Bar.” Look at the window below:

If you notice at the bottom of this window it says “Leopard > Applications” and all this is doing is showing me where on the system I am. To activate this “Path Bar” go up to the View menu on the menu bar at the very top and click “Show Path Bar.”

Also in this menu you will notice “Customize Toolbar…”

If you select this option, you will get a window that pops down much like this:

You can drag what you want on the toolbar by clicking and holding down. I added the “New Folder” and “Path” buttons to my menu bar as well as changing at the very bottom, “Icon Only” to “Icon and Text.” I click done and my changes were applied:

Now instead of having to use the action menu to create a new folder, I can just click the new icon I added.

One last thing before I finish up. The Finder has what is called a Home folder for you to work out of. This is a place for you to store all of your stuff and it is divided up for you to keep your stuff organized.

On the side bar under places you will find an icon, possibly with your username next to it, that you can click on and it will bring you to the list you see in the first column. You will see already created folders for you to use such as, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures, Public, and Sites. The other few folders you see in my Home folder I have created myself. Some are pretty self explanatory, like the Desktop folder, this is all the items that are on your desktop. Anything you save to the desktop will be stored here. To keep your desktop clean though, you might try saving your pictures in the pictures folder, you music in the music folder and so on. If you point FireFox and Safari to download files items to the Downloads folder then you won’t have to worry about filling up your desktop with stuff you have downloaded. Leopard comes with a stack on the right hand side of the dock next to the trash bin called, downloads, this stack points to that folder. Public, and Sites I wouldn’t worry too much about. Public is a way to share files and folders with other users and Sites is used to store websites offline. Also, you may be asking what the Library folder is. You really shouldn’t need to use that folder. This is where applications store preferences for you. This way, if there are multiple users using the computer, all of which have their own user account, they can have their own preferences without interfering with one another. The Mail application is a prime example of this. Your Mail gets saved in this Library folder. If someone else uses this computer with their own username and password, they can setup Mac Mail with their own preferences.

The Home folder is a great organizational tool set. Use it and you may find a clutter free desktop awaits you. I hope this information has been helpful. Though some of this does not apply to Tiger, I am posting this article in both as much of it does pertain to Tiger. Just remember that Tiger does not have Cover Flow, nor does it have Stacks.