Datasheet

 Press the Power key once and then click the Shut Down button.
 On Apple Pro keyboards, which don’t have a Power key, press
Control+Eject instead and then click the Shut Down button that appears
(or press the Return key, which does the same thing).
Of course, most Mac users have broken this rule several times without any-
thing horrible happening — but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security.
Break the rules one time too many (or under the wrong circumstances), and
your most important file will be toast. The only time you should turn off your
Mac without shutting down properly is when your screen is frozen or when
your system crashed and you’ve already tried everything else. (See Chapter
19 for what those “everything elses” are.) A really stubborn crash doesn’t
happen often — and less often under OS X than ever before — but when it
does, turning your Mac off and then back on might be the only solution.
A few things you should definitely
NOT do with your Mac
In this section, I cover the bad stuff that can happen to your computer if you
do the wrong things with it. If something bad has already happened to you —
I know . . . I’m beginning to sound like a broken record — see Chapter 19.
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Part I: Introducing Mac OS X Leopard: The Basics
Eternally yours . . . now
Mac OS X is designed so you never have to shut
it down. You can configure it to sleep after a spec-
ified period of inactivity. (See Chapter 16 for more
info on the Energy Saver features of OS X.) If you
do so, your Mac will consume very little electric-
ity when it’s sleeping and will be ready to use just
a few seconds after you awaken it (by pressing
any key or clicking the mouse). On the other hand,
if you’re not going to be using it for a few days,
you might want to shut it down anyway.
Note: If you leave your Mac on constantly and
you’re gone when a lightning storm or rolling
blackout hits, your Mac might get wasted. So be
sure you have adequate protection (say, a
decent surge protector designed specifically for
computers) if you decide to leave your Mac on
and unattended for long periods. See the sec-
tion “A few things you should definitely NOT do
with your Mac,” elsewhere in this chapter, for
more info on lightning and your Mac. Frankly, if
I plan to be away from mine for more than a day,
I usually shut it down, just in case. But because
OS X is designed to run 24/7, I don’t shut it down
at night unless it’s dark and stormy.
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