System Upgrades, Computer Updates, and Tech Tips

Wow!! It is so green outside!! I LOVE IT!!! 

Now that I am well on my way to getting my mobility back (still in process but better everyday,) I am loving the beautiful green hills that are Sonoma county at this time of year. When I look around and see the green hills, the daffodils and yellow mustard weed I just get happy - don't you? It must be the Irish in me. The amount of rain this winter has pretty much banished the drought in most parts of California but I sincerely hope everyone remembers that water conservation should still be a priority in this changing world of ours. 

It has become apparent to me over the last month, while we have been doing a lot of security audits, that many folks are still confused or unsure about the upgrade cycle of their computer(s) in relation to both hardware and software. Below is an article that helps you understand the reasoning behind and the process of keeping your computers upgraded. 

We are now looking towards Apple's spring announcements - a March event where we are expecting to see new / refreshed iPads and possibly iMacs and laptops is the rumor. I will keep you posted as more information (not rumors) is available.

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UPCOMING CLASSES
SAVE THE DATES!** 

*NEW* classes at Shutterbug Camera in Santa Rosa

iPhoneography

Wednesday, March 29th from 2pm - 5pm
-and-
Monday, April 17th from 10am - 1pm

• Do you want to know how to work with your photos on iPhone or iPad? How to shoot, import, acquire, organize, share, and edit.
• Having photos on your iPhone/iPad is great fun, but...
• How do you delete the ones you don't want?
• How do you share with friends and family?
• What about organizing...Can it be done?
• What is the difference between your iPhone/iPad camera and the photos app?
• Can you print from your iPhone or iPad?
• How do you print iPhone/iPad photos using Shutterbug's printing services?

This class will answer these questions and show you how to set up your iPhone/iPad so you are ready to have fun with your iOS.

#30094  Min. 6 Max.10
Cost -   $69.00

**Registration is not yet open. I will e-mail you when it does.

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UPGRADING YOUR MAC OS

I am currently recommending very strongly that anyone running ANY OS earlier than and including 10.9.5 to upgrade to either El Capitan - 10.11.5 (you will need help to acquire this) OR Sierra 10.12.3. IF you are running Mac OS 10.10.5 Yosemite, you will want to plan to upgrade before the end of this year. 

You can check the compatibility of your non-Apple software apps here at RoaringApps and the hardware requirements here. Please know you can contact us for an evaluation and help with this. 

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HOW LONG SHOULD MY COMPUTER LAST?

First a basic term clarification: 

• Upgrade refers to a major system (software) or hardware change. 
• Updates are the ongoing patches, versions, security updates, etc. That are offered throughout the year for all your software. 

Many people consider buying a new computer a pretty large financial outlay and expect their purchase to last a long time. 

The reality is the average lifespan of a desktop computer is about three to five years. Laptops slightly less if they are used as designed and truly mobile - if your laptop sits at your home/office most of the time then the three to five year rule applies. There are many variables that can reduce the life span though, such as how much you use it and how hard you push it, environmental heat and humidity and dust. So while you might have had, or know someone who has, a computer that has been working longer, this is the exception not the rule. For most of us, two things drive the need to replace a computer - it fails in some way and repair does not make financial sense OR more often we need new software or hardware to be able to do what we want/need to do.

 
Hardware is pretty basic.

If you treat your computer well by keeping it and the plugs and the area around it dust free, having the hardware work for more than three years is pretty typical. IF however you allow dust (enemy number one) to build up, your computer will slow down and potentially fail sooner. If your environment is unusually hot, cold or very damp you will also see issues with a computer before the four to five year mark. Hard drives (where your files are stored) - can fail or can get full but this is often a repair that is worth the few hundred dollars it costs. However this upgrade is much harder and often not an option for the newest Apple computers. Most computers can have the RAM - memory upgraded after a few years for a reasonable cost - BUT this too has changed with Apple's latest product releases. IF you are buying new, be sure to check and buy as much RAM and storage as you can afford because many new machines cannot be upgraded later. 

A note about hard drives: Also it is important to note that all iMacs today offer a choice of a standard HDD (spinning) hard drive, a Fusion drive (combines standard and SSD drive) or an SSD (solid state, doesn't spin) drive. The newest laptops only offer SSD drives. Why do you care? Simply put: SSD is faster. HDD (spinning drive) is bigger and "may" fail sooner because is spins. Fusion Drive uses both, and gives you a mix of speed and size. Apple's current OS's all run much better on an SSD drive BUT SSD drives are still quite expensive so if you need a lot of storage and still want speed go with a Fusion drive. 

Software is more of a moving target with every developer, including Apple, having different requirements.  

Mac OS - Apple releases a new operating system about once every 12-14 months. Once they release a new OS they typically drop support for an older OS - i.e. Last year Apple stopped releasing Security updates for Mac OS 10.9.5. This means that web browsers and email in 10.9.5 or earlier are now vulnerable to all that nasty stuff out there. We fully expect Apple to drop support for Mac OS 10.10 within the next few months.

Until the last few years this also meant the the newer OS's would require the newer hardware. This changed way back with 10.8 (Mt. Lion). Since Mt. Lion was released in July of 2012 Apple has not really changed the hardware requirements UNTIL the current OS release Sierra. BUT this does not mean you should install 10.12 - Sierra or even 10.11 - on a five +  year old machine. In fact attempting to can cause all kinds of issues, none of which are easy to fix. 

Third Party Software.

As you would expect, third party software ranges from software that runs on many generations of hardware and versions of the Mac OS - think Microsoft Office, Firefox, Flash, Adobe Reader to software that often requires a relatively new computer OR at least the latest Mac OS - most often this is financial software / web sites or the Adobe Creative Suite type software.

So how to think long term?

The time to make a decision about how long to keep a computer is when you buy a new  one. When I help a client decide what computer to buy, I ask many questions  about how they use the computer, how long they like/plan to keep a computer and what is on their wish list of how they might use the computer in the future. Then we look at options, factoring in budget, total storage, RAM (memory), and processor (speed) and I make the best recommendation. However, I always say that planning for a three to five year life is the best - think ahead like this and you will avoid many issues that crop up when using an older computer and have the budget in place to replace your computer in a timely fashion. A bonus? Moving from a three to five year-old computer running a relatively current OS is MUCH, MUCH easier and LESS EXPENSIVE than moving from a five + year old computer that has never been upgraded.
 

Another way to ensure the longevity of your computer is good maintenance -- We are once again offering out Spring Tune Up Special! (Read on for details.) 

During your tuneup we can offer advice on how to get your computers running Mac OS 10.11 (El Capitan) or 10.12 (Sierra) or advise on a new purchase. 

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SPRING TUNE UP SPECIAL!! 

90 MINUTES FOR $90 ~ SPRING TUNE UP*   

Your Spring Tune-Up includes:  

• Basic verification and repair (as possible) of your Mac OS operating system and hard drive. Updates to the same.
• Updating any third-party software you run. Removal of any questionable / outdated software.
• Verification andconsultation about your backups.
• Verification of syncing your iOS devices.
• Each appointment includes approximately 30 - 45 minutes of time for questions and/or training.

Call Today
707.573.9649 

to book an appointment with
Rob or John, our Design Solutions Tech/Trainers. 

* Offer does not apply to troubleshooting / diagnostics or major Mac OS upgrades. Appointments must be booked by 3/10/2017 and completed by 4/30/2017. Limited to the first 20 appointments.

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TECH TIPS 

iPhone - Saving Photos from Messages

If you take a photo using the camera icon within Messages (texting), it isn't automatically saved to your iPhone. If you take a photo you really like, you'll want to manually save it. It's nice that iPhone doesn't automatically save those photos so that you aren't accidentally taking up too much space or saving private photos meant only for the conversation. But if you send a photo you like, here's how to save it to the Photos app.  NOTE: you can use this same process to save an image someone sends you via Messages. 

- Once you send your photo touch and hold on the image in the Messages window for that conversation and you will see these options - choose Save

Mac OS - Stopping Automatic Audio in Safari

In Safari the default settings allow for some video to start playing as soon as a web page fully loads. This can be nice for some content BUT really annoying when you want to read an article and the video content is an ad. You can quickly stop the audio portion of the content by going to the address bar in Safari and touching on the blue speaker icon.

It is possible to completely disable any video from playing automatically in Safari - however - this will make is more complicated for you to get the video you do want and for most folks I do not recommend it. 

Upgrades, Policy Reminders, and More Tech Tips

TO UPGRADE OR NOT?

Sierra has been out for several months.
We are recommending upgrading to Sierra IF you meet the following requirements:**

1. At minimum an i5 Processor and 8 GBs of ram. (You can check via Apple Menu > About This Mac - both pieces of information will be there.)

2. Ideally** your computer is from 2011 or newer.

3. Ideally** your computer has an SSD (Solid State Drive), Flash drive (non-moving), OR a Fusion drive. Most recent laptops and now many iMacs have this type of hard drive. Sierra is truly designed to run on an SSD drive and performance noticeably suffers on a traditional spinning hard drive so you would want to add more ram (memory).

4. You have verified that all your non-Apple apps are compatible - you can check here: http://roaringapps.com.
 

** NOTE: Apple's requirements are drastically lower than what I have listed above - BUT it is our experience that folks who upgrade with less than what is listed above are not happy with the speed and performance of the upgraded system. 

So what if your computer doesn't meet "Ronnie's recommended" configuration?  
All is not lost - sometimes we can assist in getting your older machine upgraded in such a way that running Sierra is possible OR you can choose to run El Capitan which is a perfectly fine system that will run a bit faster. 

Remember if you are in doubt, just ask!!!

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POLICY REMINDERS

At least once a year I like to publish our basic policies related to both home/office visits and phone/remote support appointments. 

 1. Home and Office visits require a one hour minimum charge and then are billed in 15 minute increments for the remaining time. 

2. There is a flat $25 travel charge for all service outside of Santa Rosa city limits. Distances of over 45 minutes one way drive time may have an increased travel charge. 

3. Tech support phone calls / remote support appointments are billed as follows:

• 5-15 minutes: $25 flat fee
• 16 to 30 minutes: $50 flat fee
• Anything over 30 minutes will be charged at the regular hourly rate. To serve you best we prefer to schedule these calls in advance unless it is an emergency. 

4. We request that you honor our 24 hour cancellation/reschedule policy. If you do miss a scheduled appointment we will invoice you for one hour's time.

5. Payment is due at time of service* and we accept personal checks and all major credit cards. Our credit card processing is done through Square. 

*IF you do need to be invoiced for payment later, please let the office know when scheduling the appointment. 

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TECH TIPS 

iPhone - Searching for Objects in Photos

Photos in iOS 10 offers a way to search by the name of an object (just like the tip I gave for Sierra last month). 

To Search for Objects in the Photos App:

• In the Photos app, navigate to any of the main pages: Photos, Memories, Shared, or Albums.
• Tap the Search icon at the top right (magnifying glass).
• Some suggestions will pop up, such as One Year Ago, Favorites, etc. In the search bar, type the name of the object you're looking for and then press Search.

This results in a list of choices. For example I chose "coffee" and this is my result!

Mac OS Sierra - Autocorrect

For a long time we have had autocorrect built into the Mac OS and it works quite wellin native Mac apps such as Mail and TextEdit. With Mac OS Sierra, Apple tweaked the autocorrect with two new additions: 1. Capitalize words automatically and 2. Add period with double-space. 

In any OS you get to these settings via: 

Apple Menu > System Preferences > Keyboard > Text

Try it and see what options you have that you can control!

Update on MacBook Pro Review

REVIEW OF NEW MACBOOK PRO

Early last month my new MacBook Pro arrived - hurray!! It replaced my aging 2010 MacBook Pro and the timing was perfect. I love this new laptop. Apple has really thought out the design. While not massively different from earlier laptops at first glance, there are definitely major changes some of which are great, others not so much. I am not typically a fan of the 'first' generation or major revision of anything but I do think Apple has done a great job with this one. 

What I don't love

First let's get the "not liking so much" out of the way. Apple removed ALL the connector ports except the headphone jack and replaced them with USB C (Thunderbolt 3) ports. These ports are for everything from charging your laptop to connecting external devices (hard drives, monitors, projectors, etc.). This means that I had to buy all new adapters and of course add adapters where none were needed (i.e., to connect my Time Machine backup drive). Pretty much the pain in the neck it sounds like. But as more manufacturers begin to build USB C devices this will change.

My other big complaint is the price jump these devices took!!! Several hundred dollars - again, once we get past the first generation I'm sure we will see the price drop. 

What I love

What I love - the Touch Bar!!!! Wow!!! at first I was a bit skeptical that Apple was giving us a bar at the top of the keyboard instead of a touch screen but having used PC's with touch screens and now this Touch Bar, I'm in love. It makes so much sense to be able to type and simply reach a finger up to the Touch Bar to correct the spelling of a word, insert a smiley, adjust my volume up/down, send an email and so much more. I am still learning all the uses for the Touch Bar. Right now it is primarily only Apple Apps that use this technology but as more Apps are developed to take advantage of the Touch Bar, I believe it will become indispensable. Even better, it incorporates Touch ID so I can unlock my laptop or pay with Apple Pay using just my fingerprint. Slick! 

The keyboard is great but a tad noisy. I love the easy touch of the keys and find I am typing faster and with fewer errors (I am a very good typist). They do make a tapping sound as you type but it's not that bad. The trackpad is huge - I thought is would be real pain with errors caused by inadvertent touches but this is not happening at all. The extra "real estate" of the trackpad is great for using gestures when needed but honestly I'm using the Touch Bar more often. 

So to sum it up I think the new MacBook Pro is a great new laptop for Apple and definitely a buy IF you need one right now. However, if it is not critical that you replace or buy a laptop right now, I would wait for the next generation and hopefully lower prices. 

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TECH TIPS

iOS 10 - Magnifier Short Cut

How often do you find yourself wishing that the text, numbers, or an item you are looking at was a bit larger? Especially the 'fine print' or customer service number on a card! This tip turns your iPhone into an easy-to-use magnifier. I love this and use it all the time.

Here's how:

• On your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch open Settings > General > Accessibility. 
• Scroll all the way to the bottom of Accessibility and tap on Accessibility Shortcut and choose Magnifier.
• Now when you triple-click the Home button on your device, the Magnifier will appear.
• Just point your camera at whatever you want to see better!

Mac OS Sierra - Searching Photos

In Mac OS Sierra, Photos got a substantial upgrade including a very robust method of searching by description, i.e., I can search my Photos library for beaches and almost all my photos of beaches show up - very impressive and somewhat scary in its accuracy.  You can try searching for pie, flowers, birds and so on. Whatever objects you think might be in your library. This expanded search is available due to what they are calling "Computer Vision" which is a fancy term for artificial intelligence or AI. 

The New MacBook Pro!!

NEW MACBOOK PRO

Apple's hugely hyped product announcement on October 27th gave us a mixed bag of good and bad. The bad first: If you have been waiting for updates to iMacs, MacPro's, MacMini's and/or iPads you will be disappointed. Apple did not update any of these products. What doesn't disappoint however is the brand spanking new, cutting edge MacBook Pro's that Apple announced. 

Touch Bar
Apple has completely revamped their flagship laptops - removing the function keys and giving them a "Touch Bar" that interacts with the screen, allowing Touch ID and direct interaction with on screen software that can take advantage of the technology. It's Apple's belief that most folks don't use the function keys as designed anyway!

Hardware and Connectivity
These new laptops also sport a much lighter, thinner form factor, wider gamut retina display, and a substantial overall boost in the hardware that affects speed and performance. Apple once again leads the "let's change the connections" charge - they have removed all ports except 4 USB-C and one headphone jack. This will require the purchase of adapters IF you plug in current hardware such as an external mouse, hard drive, display or keyboard. But USB-C allows for charging, display output, fast data transfer of connected drives, and connecting just about anything else with the right adapter(s).

Price
And one more thing... all this comes with a hefty price increase - the starting point for a 13" MacBook Pro is $1799 and $2399 for the 15" - Wow!! Since my current laptop is over 6 years old, I will most likely be ordering one of these laptops before the end of the year but for now here is a great article from CNET about the new machines.

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UPGRADES: YES OR NO?

Mac OS Sierra - DO NOT INSTALL
It is currently a "hold off, please do not install" - why?? Sierra is shaping up to be a very good OS upgrade BUT as always until it has been out awhile, we recommend holding off on installing it so the third party peripheral and software manufacturers can catch up. Right now there are documented issues with ScanSnap products, some Quicken versions, Adobe CC, and so forth. This is normal and not unexpected. We fully expect to be giving a green light on Sierra before the end of the year. Apple's Photos 2.0 (only available in Sierra) is great and I too am anxious to get working with it. Patience will serve us well. 

iOS 10  
I am giving iOS 10.0.2 a 'GO' for installing. This update has some fun new features which John mentions below and a complete list is available here. As always be sure you backup your iPhone completely before you upgrade. 

ALSO - be sure your iOS device can run iOS 10 and remember IF your device is more than a year or two old, any new OS will run slower. Apple increases the hardware requirements every time they release a major update. 

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TECH TIPS
 

iPhone / iPad - iOS

Did you know that every time you open an App on your iPhone/iPad it stays open and running in the background until you quit it? All these running programs take up battery life and processor time so quit them often!

Here's how:

• Double-click the Home button. This will bring up the Multitasking Screen showing you all the applications that are currently running (see screen shot to the left).
• Swipe Up on the page icon for any open App and slide it off the screen to close it completely. 
• You can swipe across your screen to see all your open Apps or quickly switch to a different App by tapping its page icon.

macOS - Yosemite (10.10.5 and later)

If you have heard me speak about the Mac over the last few years, you will know I have an issue with Apple's interface redesign that hides buttons until you mouse over them.

When Apple released Yosemite, they removed the button that gave us access to the address book / contacts for emails... Grrrrrrr.... But lo and behold what I didn't discover until much later is that the access to your Contacts is still there - it's just hidden until you place your cursor on the To:, Cc:, or Bcc: line as if you were going to type. If you look to the far right of this line, you will see a tiny blue + sign (see screen shot to the right). When you click it, you will see your Contacts list like this - you can access your groups and contacts from here. Click on a name and the screen slides down slightly and you can click on the email address to add it as a recipient.

iPhone 7 and iOS 10

RONNIE'S MUSINGS

Apple's new releases were major last month. iOS 10, iPhone 7 & 7+ and Mac OS Sierra (10.12). Some of our team loves to be in on the first round and even testing the beta versions of Apple's newest software. While I never recommend my clients follow this path of beta installs!!!!, it is great to have a team willing to share their thoughts of Apple's latest and greatest software and hardware. See below for John's take on the iPhone 7, iOS 10, and upgrade recommendations. The upgrade to Mac OS Sierra also hits hardware hard - Apple has finally increased the hardware requirements for Sierra and most computers from 2010 and older will not run it. It is hard to tell exactly which devices from 2010 will run Sierra - in my case my 2010 laptop is on the "okay" list until we look further and it is one revision too early. So when the time comes we can help you decide whether your computer can be upgraded or if you would be better off buying a new computer. 

Apple has spent the last few years focusing on their iOS hardware and in my opinion done a disservice to their computer using faithful. Many of the current computers in the Apple lineup haven't seen a hardware upgrade in over a year. Except for the MacBook, their laptop lineup is woefully out of date especially for the MacBook Pros!! This website shows the upgrade cycle of all Apple Products. Hopefully Apple has a laptop revision in the works - Rumor is saying that this month we will see some new hardware - my fingers are crossed. 

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UPGRADES: YES OR NO?

Mac OS Sierra

It is currently a "hold off, please do not install" - why?? Sierra is shaping up to be a very good OS upgrade BUT as always until it has been out awhile, we recommend holding off on installing it so the third party peripheral and software manufacturers can catch up. Right now there are documented issues with ScanSnap products, some Quicken versions, Adobe CC, and so forth. This is normal and not unexpected. We fully expect to be giving a green light on Sierra before the end of the year. Apple's Photos 2.0 (only available in Sierra) is great and I too am anxious to get working with it. Patience will serve us well. 

iOS 10  

I am giving iOS 10.0.2 a 'GO' for installing. This update has some fun new features which John mentions below and a complete list is available here. As always be sure you backup your iPhone completely before you upgrade. 

ALSO - be sure your iOS device can run iOS 10 and remember IF your device is more than a year or two old, any new OS will run slower. Apple increases the hardware requirements every time they release a major update. 

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iPhone 7 and iOS 10  - By John Wentworth

I picked up my iPhone 7 on Friday and here are a few quick thoughts!

1. I went with the Plus, the larger model. I've stuck with the smaller version for the last few years, thinking that the Plus would be too large for my needs. After looking at how I use my iPhone, I decided that the benefits of a much larger screen would outweigh the inconvenience. So far, I think I was right. Reading, browsing the web, and using my iPhone as a GPS in the car have all become much more pleasant than before. I'm unable to type with one hand, as I was able to on the smaller phone, but that's about the only downside.
    
2. The loss of the headphone jack is a shame, but hasn't been too bad so far. An adapter is in the box, and extras are $9 at the Apple Store. If you only have a single pair of headphones, I'd say that leaving the included adapter attached to your headphones will probably work out well for you.
    
3. This thing is fast, fast, fast! I'm coming from an iPhone 6S, which is just last year's model. The 7 still feels quicker in tasks like browsing and switching between apps. Benchmarks say that it's faster than any MacBook Air ever released - that's really something!
    
4. Storage sizes have been doubled from past years. This is great news for those of you who have purchased the smallest-capacity phone: since the least-expensive phone now comes with 32GB, you'll be far less likely to run out of space.
    
5. I haven't been able to test out the new camera, but I'll be going on vacation shortly, and it'll get a workout. All of the example photos that I've seen online make it look like this is a great bump from prior years.
    
6. Battery life is amazing. I haven't had to worry about it once since I got it.
    

iOS 10
I've also been using iOS 10 since it went into beta a few months ago. I've been happy with it - it's a refinement of iOS 9, so if you're comfortable with iOS 9, you should be just fine with 10. 

Lock Screen
The most noticeable change is to the lock screen: swiping left will no longer take you to the passcode screen, but to a list of widgets. This has been great for checking my calendar, the weather, and the like. 

Ronnie's Thoughts
Apple also drastically changed the way email/Mail appears on screen. This is especially noticeable on an iPhone. Now your threaded conversations are all in one list with gray separators. It takes some getting used to but I think this is a good change. Apple has already updated iOS 10 twice so the current version is 10.0.2 - 
the .2 update fixed some major headphone issues I was having.

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iPhone / iOS TIP
 

Apple's Health App allows you to register as an organ donor!

In the Health app on iPhone, you can create a Medical ID with important information in the case of an emergency. Your Medical ID can be accessed from the emergency dial screen without unlocking your iPhone. When creating your Medical ID card, you'll have the option to sign up as an organ donor with Donate Life America's organ donation registry. 

Here's how:

1. Tap on the Health App icon and click on Create Medical ID (add as much or as little info as you want)
2. As you're creating your Medical ID, you will reach a page with the option to sign up as an organ donor.
3. Click on "Sign Up"
4. Enter the registration information, then tap Continue. Make sure all your information is correct then tap Complete Registration with Donate Life.
5. When you open the Health app and tap Medical ID from here on out, you will see the heart and title Organ Donor. Scroll to the bottom of your Medical ID in the Health app if you need to edit your organ donation registry or if you would rather sign up after setting up your Medical ID in the Health app. 

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NEW REMOTE SUPPORT HAS ARRIVED!!   

We are so excited!!!!  We have now thoroughly tested our new remote support software and will begin using it immediately. 

The company is Splashtop and the software we have licensed from them is their SOS Support. The biggest benefit of this software is how easy it is to activate and use. If you schedule a remote appointment Jillian will send an email with a link to be activated when you are on the phone with your tech. 

This software is very safe and secure and does not allow any sort of unattended access - you must be in front of your computer for us to connect to it remotely. 

So what type of appointments can a remote be used for? 
We can do most types of training via remote, troubleshooting printer software, updating and/or cleanup of third party software, helping with installs of new software (other than major OS releases or those that require a restart) and much more. 

Remote pricing is as follows: 
5-15 minutes $25 flat fee
16 to 30 minutes $50 flat fee
Anything over 30 minutes will be charged at the regular hourly rate

How to Customize Your DOCK

THE DOCK 

The Dock is the bar of icons that sits at the bottom (by default) or side of your screen. It allows you to quickly access frequently used programs (apps/software) and files or folders.

The items in the dock only require a single click to open. So if you want to access your Email you click on the postage stamp icon. For Photos you click on the rainbow flower, music notes for iTunes, etc.

You can see what applications are open and running by looking for a small black dot below the applications icon in the dock. If you press and hold on the application's icon you will get a pop up menu such as the one below (L) from Safari. This popup will show you what windows are open for that single application, it will also allow you to quit the application and depending on the application you may see other choices. If you click on the word "Options" will see another pop out (R) and you will be able to tell an application to "keep in dock" by clicking on the words. Note:  you can also tell the application to open when you turn on the computer from here.

Customizing Your Dock

The Dock keeps application icons on the left side. Folders, documents, and minimized windows are kept on the right side of the Dock. If you look closely, you can see a vertical separator line that separates these two sides. You can customize how the icons in the dock are arranged by just dragging an icon to another location The Trash and the Finder are fixed icons that cannot be moved - they will always present at each end of the Dock.

You can customize how the Dock behaves and where it lives by going to the Apple Menu > System Preferences > Dock. OR by holding the Control Key down while clicking on the separator line on the right most side of the Dock.

Adding and Removing Dock Items

The Left Side of the Dock
If you want to add an application to the Dock, click the Launchpad (rocket ship) icon in the Dock or go to your Applications folder. Then, drag an app icon from the Launchpad or folder to the Dock. The icons in the Dock move aside to make room for the new item.

The Right Side of Your Dock
This is where you can put frequently used files or folders or where minimized application windows land. You put an icon for a file or folder on the Dock by dragging it directly to the right side - the Dock will "open" a space for you. NOTE: When you add a folder or file to the Dock, it is only a link to the original item. If you move the original, the link will be broken and if you remove an icon from the Dock, the original stays put.

To remove an item from the Dock, drag its icon several inches or more off the Dock and wait a couple seconds - you will see the word "remove" appear. Then release the icon and it disappears. When you remove an item from the Dock it doesn't permanently remove it from your computer. If you want that item back in the Dock, locate the app, file, or folder in the Finder or Launchpad, and simply drag it back into the Dock.

Minimizing Windows

If you minimize a window (click the round, yellow button in the upper-left corner of any window), the window slides down into the Dock. It stays there until you click its icon to bring up the window again.

Folders in the Dock

By default on a new computer, the Dock contains an icon for both your Downloads and Documents folder - to change the way these folders (or any you add) appear and behave, hold the Control key and click (or right click) on the icon in your Dock for downloads and you will see a popup menu like this.You can easily change the sort option to your preferred method of sorting items. You can also change how the icon appears (I prefer folders) when you click on it. You can also choose how to display folders in the Dock. You can either view them as a folder icon, or as a stack. Stacks display a folder's contents as a fan or grid when you click them in the Dock.

The Trash

The right most icon on your Dock is the Trash (its icon looks like a waste basket). Drag any documents, folders or items you no longer want to the Trash remove them. 

When you move something to the Trash, you still haven't completely deleted it. You can click the Trash icon in the Dock to see what it contains. When you're ready to permanently delete files or folders that you've dragged to the Trash, click and hold the Trash icon in the Dock and choose Empty Trash.

If you drag a disk or other mounted volume to the Trash, it changes to an eject icon to let you know that this action ejects or removes the item rather than erasing or deleting it.

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Calendar Tip - handling 'tentative events'

If you really want to transition to a digital calendar but are having trouble figuring out how to handle 'tentative events', this is a great idea from reader Dick G.

"Often, particularly for "distant future dates", an activity is only semi-confirmed initially and I am holding a specific date pending further confirmation of details. 

I find it helpful to preface the name of the activity with a "?" symbol to remind me it is a tentative date. I use up to three "?" to define how tentative the event is on the schedule. 

As details are confirmed, I remove or reduce the "?"'s preceding the calendared event. It helps to separate "soft plans" from "hard plans." It is analogous to "penciling in" an event on a paper calendar." 

Thanks Dick for another great tip!!

How to Use THE FINDER

BACK TO BASICS

One of the great benefits of my job is that I get to look toward new technology, but sometimes we need to be reminded that not all computer users have the same skill set. Our clientele varies from folks who are learning to navigate email and the web, to business professionals who rely on their computers day in and day out. This fact is also what makes this business so interesting. Since school starts this month, it is the perfect time to introduce a new section to this newsletter: "Back to Basics". I hope you like it!

THE FINDER - WHAT IT CAN DO FOR YOU!!  

The Finder starts up automatically when you first open your computer - its interface encompasses your desktop, the menu bar and the dock among other things. 

The smiley face icon appears in the dock and all your desktop files appear. Within a few more seconds, any extra programs that need to start up do so and sometimes their icons appear on the Apple Menu bar or in the dock. When I teach classes  I tell my students to think of the Finder as their secretary. 

It can open a window, create a folder, file that folder, and take out or empty the trash. But it can do so much more! (This article is excerpted from Apple's Knowledge Base.)

Open Windows and Files
To open a window and see the files on your Mac, switch to the Finder by clicking the Finder icon (pictured above) in the Dock. Switching to the Finder also reveals any Finder windows that might be hidden behind the windows of other apps.

When you see a document, application, or other file that you want to open, just double-click it.

L - R: icon view, list view, 
column view or cover flow

Change how files are viewed in windows
Once a window is open, you can decide how to view the files that appear. If you prefer to view your files as an alphabetical list instead of as icons, choose View > as List from the Finder menu bar, or use the View buttons at the top of the window. 

Use the Sidebar in Windows
The sidebar in Finder windows contains shortcuts to some of Apple's recommended options, your Favorites, devices such your hard drives, and more. Like items in the Dock, items in the sidebar open with just one click.

To change the items in your sidebar, choose Finder > Preferences from the Finder menu bar, then click Sidebar at the top of the preferences window. You can also drag files into or out of the sidebar.

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USE FOLDERS

To Create a folder:

1. Click where you want the folder to appear, such as on the desktop or in another window.
2. Choose File > New Folder from the Finder menu bar.
3. This works for folders, not documents. To create a document for use in a particular app, open that app, then use its File menu to create a new document.

To move a folder or file into another folder:

1. Drag the item onto the closed folder.
2. Or double-click the folder to open it, then drag the item into the folder window.

To change the name of a folder:

1. Click the folder once to select it.
2. Press the Return key on your keyboard, type a new name, then press Return again.

Some folders can't be renamed including these:

• Applications: Your apps (programs) go in this folder.
• Desktop: Your Desktop folder and your desktop provide two ways of viewing the same files, so anything that you put in the Desktop folder also appears on your desktop.
• Documents: When you use an app to create and save a new document, the app might save your document here. You can save documents wherever you want, or move them to other folders after saving them.
• Downloads: Safari and other apps save downloaded files to this folder.
• Music, Pictures, and Movies: Some apps store their libraries of music, pictures, or other media in these folders, though the items in a library might be available only within its app. For example, to see the pictures or movies you imported into Photos, open the Photos app.
• Other folders that come with your Mac

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TECH TIPS

MAC OS: Print to PDF

I often get asked how to share a document created on a Mac with others OR how to create a printout of a web page or other hard to print item. Apple has provided the solution via the Print to PDF option available right in the Print dialog:

• Open the document, web page, or file you want to print to a PDF
• Click the File menu and select "Print", or just hit Command+P
• Look for the "PDF" button in the lower left corner, click on that pull-down menu, and select "Save as PDF"
• Click "Save" in the save dialogue box, and save the file to whatever location you want (Documents is default).

Locate the resulting document in the Finder or with another app; it'll appear as a unique PDF file, and no, it will not overwrite or alter the origin file it was created from. You will notice there are many other options (what you see will vary based on installed software). 

What I love most about this method is that if you are trying to print something like a web page that isn't behaving, once you turn it into a PDF you can then choose what pages to actually print OR even better, simply store the PDF on your computer and save ink and the trees!  Try it and let me know how you like it!

iPhone / iPad Tip- from newsletter reader Dick G:

Dick travels a lot and needs to take his medications with him - this is a great solution to how to carry all your medication documentation in a compact format (I'm quoting Dick below): 

1. I just used an Aspirin bottle to illustrate here but a prescription bottle, properly framed in the viewfinder and held steady will yield a perfectly useful copy of the important information on each prescription product you use. 
2. You could also email that photo to a pharmacy if that became necessary. I also photograph the actual document that comes with the prescription. On my iPod phone it is secure and very convenient.

NOTE: A big issue is to properly frame and focus the camera on the close up exposure. It is pretty simple. This was a flash exposure taken on a piece of printer paper for a background. I sense that officials are becoming more concerned for traveling with meds without proper accompanying prescription documentation.