Datasheet

Part I: Introducing OS X Lion: The Basics

Shutting down properly

Turning off the power without shutting down your Mac properly is one of the

worst things you can do to your poor Mac. Shutting down your Mac improp-

erly can really screw up your hard drive, scramble the contents of your most

important files, or both.

If a thunderstorm is rumbling nearby, or you’re unfortunate enough to have

rolling blackouts where you live, you might really want to shut down your

Mac. (See the next section, where I briefly discuss lightning and your Mac.)

To turn off your Mac, always use the Shut Down command on the Ú menu or

shut down in one of these kind-and-gentle ways:

✓ Press the Power key once and then click the Shut Down button in the

Are You Sure You Want To Shut Down Your Computer Now? dialog.

✓ On keyboards that don’t have a Power key, press Control+Eject instead —

and then click the Shut Down button that appears in the Are You Sure You

Want To Shut Down Your Computer Now? dialog.

You can use a handy keyboard shortcut when the Shut Down button (or

any button, for that matter) is highlighted in blue and pulsating slightly.

Pressing the Return or Enter key is the same as clicking that button.

The Are You Sure You Want To Shut Down Your Computer Now? dialog

sports a new check-box option in Mac OS X Lion: Reopen Windows When

Logging Back in. If you check this box, your Mac will start back up with the

same windows (and applications) that were open when you shut down or

restarted. I think it’s pretty darn sweet! I’m happy to report that Lion is full of

such nice little improvements.

Most Mac users have been forced to shut down improperly more than once

without anything horrible happening, of course — 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 files will be toast. The only

time you should turn off your Mac without shutting down properly is when

your screen is completely frozen or when your system crashed due to a

kernel panic and you’ve already tried everything else. (See Chapter 20 for

what those “everything else”s are.) A really stubborn crash doesn’t happen

often — and less often under OS X than ever before — but when it does, forc-

ing your Mac to turn 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 20.

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