Customizing Your Mac
- Taking Advantage of Custom Settings
- Moving the Dock Around
- Changing the Dock's Size
- Customizing the Dock's Behavior
- Changing the Way the Finder Works
- Changing Your Desktop Picture
- Changing Your Screen Saver
- Changing Your Login Icon
- Changing Your Mac's Language
- Adding Login Items
- Increasing Your Mac's Security
- Adding New Dashboard Widgets
- Making Your Own Widgets
- Creating Custom Network Locations
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
It’s your Mac—why not have some fun with it? There are myriad ways to make your Mac your own, from changing its desktop picture, its screen saver, and even your own login icon to changing the way the Finder works and responds to you. You can even change the Finder’s language to any of a couple dozen alternatives, including Asian languages, or you can set up your Mac to talk to you—and listen for your responses.
Your custom settings are associated with your login name, so they’re automatically put into effect each time you log in. When other users log in, their own settings are activated. That means a single Mac can offer each user a custom experience. Your custom settings can include useful preferences such as network locations and more fun preferences such as your desktop wallpaper.
In this chapter, you’ll learn how to customize the Finder, the Dock, the desktop, your screen saver, and your security preferences. You’ll also learn how to make your own Dashboard widgets—tiny custom programs that you can build from pieces of your favorite websites. If you move your computer around or switch networks a lot, you’ll benefit from the “Creating Custom Network Locations” task, which shows how to create custom location settings that change all your network preferences with a single click.
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