It’s been a long time since we went through the dramatic transition from Mac OS 9 to
the more complicated and graphically rich world of OS X. Many of you reading this
have never known a Mac interface that wasn’t actually OS X (pronounce that “oh-ess
ten” to sound cool). The biggest change when Apple switched operating systems was
that every machine then gained multitasking and multiuser capabilities.
What you might not have realized, however, is that it was the underlying operating
system itself that changed in the update to OS X, and that you now have a tremendously
powerful OS that can run thousands of open source applications downloaded free from
the Net, along with a command-line interface that makes even the most complex tasks
a breeze.
If you want to learn the key phrases, beneath OS X lies an operating system called Unix
(pronounced “you-nicks”): specifically, UC Berkeley’s BSD Unix and the Mach kernel,
a multiuser, multitasking operating system. Being multiuser means OS X allows multiple
users to share the same system, each with their own settings, preferences, and separate
area in the filesystems, secured from other users’ prying eyes. Being multitasking means
OS X can easily run many different applications at the same time, and if one of those
applications crashes or hangs, the entire system doesn’t need to be rebooted. Instead,
you just force quit the application that’s causing the “Spinning Beach Ball of Death” (you
know, when the mouse pointer turns into a spinning color wheel that just won’t stop
rotating) and either relaunch it or proceed with your work in other apps.
Think your Mac is powerful now? Author Dave Taylor shows you how to get much more from your system by tapping into Unix, the robust operating system concealed beneath OS X’s beautiful user interface. Mountain Lion puts more than a thousand Unix commands at your fingertips—for finding and managing files, remotely accessing your Mac from other computers, and using a variety of freely downloadable open source applications. Take a friendly tour of the Unix command line and 50 of the most useful utilities, and quickly learn how to gain real control over your Mac.
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Get your Mac to do exactly what you want, when you want
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Make changes to your Mac’s filesystem and directories
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Use Unix’s find, locate, and grep commands to locate files containing specific information
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Create unique "super-commands" to perform tasks that you specify
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Run multiple Unix programs and processes at the same time
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Install the X Window system and get a quick tour of the best X11 applications
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Learn how to take even greater advantage of Unix on your Mac