Are you new to the Mac? MacMost has more than 1,400 free tutorials that can help you get up to speed quickly. Here is a collection of videos hand-picked to help those who are using a Mac for the first time.
Getting Started
Xcode 12 builds Universal apps by default to support Mac with Apple Silicon, often without changing a single line of code. Designed for macOS Big Sur. Xcode 12 looks great on macOS Big Sur, with a navigator sidebar that goes to the top of the window and clear new toolbar buttons. Mac OSX Tutorial updated Mar 05 '06. OE5 Tutorial updated Mar 20, '05. Mac OS8-9 Beginner's Tutorial updated Jan 18, '05. Tips & Tricks updated Dec 30, '04. Mac Pages Software Graphics & UI Troubleshooting Tutorials. Did you just get an iMac, iBook, Power Mac G5 or new to the Mac OS?
First, get a tour of the Mac keyboard. Then, learn about the many different ways to launch apps on your Mac. Your Mac also comes with a large collection of apps pre-installed which can handle most basic computer tasks. One of the key techniques you should know about right away is how to bring up context menus, and there are also a few other key things you should master.
The 4 Mac Techniques You Need to MasterWorking With Files, Folders and Documents
The Finder is the environment you use to view your files and folders. Learn a variety of techniques to help you manage your stuff, such as selecting multiple items and opening tabs in the Finder. But on a Mac you don’t need to return to the Finder to rename or move documents, you can do that while editing. You can also revert to earlier versions of documents.
Understanding Document VersionsSafety and Security
No matter which computer or devices you use, you should always keep security in mind. On a Mac it is easy to set strong, unique password for each website and service you use. If someone else needs to use your Mac, they should have their own account you should only give them access to the Guest Account.
As for malware, Apple has you covered with built-in anti-virus and a way to protect yourself against installing something that would harm your Mac. MacMost has a free course and eBook on Mac security.
Another thing you should do is to set a lock screen message so that if you lose your Mac and someone finds it, they can get it back to you.
Using Safari
The Mac’s default web browser is Safari. It is fast, energy-efficient and good with security and privacy. Learn how to go to sites and perform searches. When reading articles, use the reader view. If a tab in Safari has a video or sound playing, you can mute it. Learn other key Safari web-browsing techniques.
Safari Web Surfing TechniquesMacMost Beginner’s Guides
These short videos focus on a single topic for those who are new to using a Mac.
A Beginner's Guide to Mac Display PreferencesA Beginner's Guide To Organizing With Folders On Your Mac
A Beginner's Guide to Mac Scroll Bars
A Beginner's Guide to Resizing Mac Windows
A Beginner's Guide To Renaming Files
A Beginner's Guide to the Mac Maps App
A Beginner's Guide to the Mac Trackpad
A Beginner's Guide to Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
A Beginner's Guide to Status Menus
A Beginner's Guide to Getting Started With Time Machine
A Beginner's Guide To the Desktop Folder
A Beginner's Guide to Previewing Files On Your Mac
A Beginner's Guide to Mac Context Menus
A Beginner's Guide To the Mac App Switcher
A Beginner's Guide to the Mac Cursor
A Beginner's Guide to Sending Images In Email Messages
A Beginner's Guide to Mac User Accounts
A Beginner's Guide to the Mac Downloads Folder
A Beginner's Guide to Mac Notes
A Beginner's Guide to Mac Modifier Keys
A Beginner's Guide to TextEdit
A Beginner's Guide to the Mac App Store
A Beginner's Guide to Web Searching
A Beginner's Guide to Windows and Tabs
A Beginner's Guide to Drag and Drop On the Mac
A Beginner's Guide to Siri On the Mac
A Beginner's Guide to the Red, Yellow and Green Window Buttons
A Beginner's Guide to Copy and Paste
A Beginner's Guide to Finder Views
A Beginner's Guide to Mac Reminders
A Beginner's Guide to Desktop Backgrounds
A Beginner's Guide to System Preferences
A Beginner's Guide to LaunchPad
A Beginner's Guide to the Mac Trash
A Beginner's Guide to Mac Spotlight
A Beginner's Guide to the Mac Menu Bar
A Beginner’s Guide to the Mac Dock
A Beginner's Guide to Mission Control
More Mac Tips
Hungry for more? Learn how you can quickly open recent files and access frequently-used files. Find out how to take screen shots. And see how you can uninstall apps.
How To Uninstall AppsGetting Help
The Help menu in any App will give you access to keyboard shortcuts, help you locate menu commands, and view app documentation. You can also download MacMost’s keyboard shortcut PDF if you like shortcuts.
If you have a problem with your Mac, Apple has terrific customer support. You can take your Mac to the Genius Bar in any Apple Store for free help, advice and as the first step in any repair.
Want even more help getting up to speed? MacMost has a general course on using macOS Mojave. It includes 60 video tutorials, with more than 7 hours of video instruction. You can get it for 25% off the regular price here: https://macmost.com/online-course-the-guide-to-macos-mojave.html.
Also, check out this MacMost book with 101 Mac Tips. It is available for about 8 bucks.
With an all-new design that looks great on macOS Big Sur, Xcode 12 has customizable font sizes for the navigator, streamlined code completion, and new document tabs. Xcode 12 builds Universal apps by default to support Mac with Apple Silicon, often without changing a single line of code.
Designed for macOS Big Sur.
Xcode 12 looks great on macOS Big Sur, with a navigator sidebar that goes to the top of the window and clear new toolbar buttons. The navigator defaults to a larger font that’s easier to read, while giving you multiple size choices. New document tabs make it easy to create a working set of files within your workspace.
Document tabs.
The new tab model lets you open a new tab with a double-click, or track the selected file as you click around the navigator. You can re-arrange the document tabs to create a working set of files for your current task, and configure how content is shown within each tab. The navigator tracks the open files within your tabs using strong selection.
Navigator font sizes.
The navigator now tracks the system setting for “Sidebar icon size” used in Finder and Mail. You can also choose a unique font size just for Xcode within Preferences, including the traditional dense information presentation, and up to large fonts and icon targets.
Code completion streamlined.
A new completion UI presents only the information you need, taking up less screen space as you type. And completions are presented much faster, so you can keep coding at maximum speed.
Terminal Bash Language Mac Tutorials For Beginners
Redesigned organizer.
An all-new design groups all critical information about each of your apps together in one place. Choose any app from any of your teams, then quickly navigate to inspect crash logs, energy reports, and performance metrics, such as battery consumption and launch time of your apps when used by customers.
Mac Computer Basics For Beginners
SwiftUI
SwiftUI offers new features, improved performance, and the power to do even more, all while maintaining a stable API that makes it easy to bring your existing SwiftUI code forward into Xcode 12. A brand new life cycle management API for apps built with SwiftUI lets you write your entire app in SwiftUI and share even more code across all Apple platforms. And a new widget platform built on SwiftUI lets you build widgets that work great on iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Your SwiftUI views can now be shared with other developers, and appear as first-class controls in the Xcode library. And your existing SwiftUI code continues to work, while providing faster performance, better diagnostics, and access to new controls.
Universal app ready.
Xcode 12 is built as a Universal app that runs 100% natively on Intel-based CPUs and Apple Silicon for great performance and a snappy interface.* It also includes a unified macOS SDK that includes all the frameworks, compilers, debuggers, and other tools you need to build apps that run natively on Apple Silicon and the Intel x86_64 CPU.
Updated automatically
When you open your project in Xcode 12, your app is automatically updated to produce release builds and archives as Universal apps. When you build your app, Xcode produces one binary “slice” for Apple Silicon and one for the Intel x86_64 CPU, then wraps them together as a single app bundle to share or submit to the Mac App Store. You can test this at any time by selecting “Any Mac” as the target in the toolbar.
Test multiple architectures.
On the new Mac with Apple Silicon, you can run and debug apps running on either the native architecture or on Intel virtualization by selecting “My Mac (Rosetta)” in the toolbar.
Multiplatform template
New multiplatform app templates set up new projects to easily share code among iOS, iPadOS, and macOS using SwiftUI and the new lifecycle APIs. The project structure encourages sharing code across all platforms, while creating special custom experiences for each platform where it makes sense for your app.
Improved auto-indentation
Swift code is auto-formatted as you type to make common Swift code patterns look much better, including special support for the “guard” command.
StoreKit testing
New tools in Xcode let you create StoreKit files that describe the various subscription and in-app purchase products your app can offer, and create test scenarios to make sure everything works great for your customers — all locally testable on your Mac.
Get started.
Download Xcode 12 and use these resources to build apps for all Apple platforms.