You know you want these applications! They turn your iMac into a digital hub for practically every kind of high-tech device on the planet, including DV camcorders, digital cameras, portable music players, tablets, and even smartphones.Chapters 13 through 16 of this book focus on the four major applications that accompany your iMac: Music & TV, Photos, iMovie, and GarageBand.
Apple’s productivity applications: Apple’s powerful office productivity applications can be downloaded for free from the App Store. You can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations within Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. (It’s much like that Other Office Suite from those guys in Redmond, but you didn’t hear that from me.) Chapters 17–19 show you the basics of producing great documents with these three applications.Figure 1-3 illustrates a flyer under construction in Pages.
FIGURE 1-3: Pages is a great tool for home and office.
Looking forward to fun on the Internet
What is a computer without the Internet? Apple gives you great tools to take full advantage of the online world, right out of the box:
Web surfing: I use the Safari web browser every single day. It’s faster and better designed than other browsers (although I might be biased). Safari includes tabbed browsing and offers shared bookmarks with your iOS devices through iCloud.If tabbed browsing and shared bookmarks sound like ancient Aztec to you, don’t worry. Chapter 8 is devoted entirely to Safari.
Web searches: Siri (your voice-activated assistant) can search the entire Internet for stocks, movie listings, and business locations.
FaceTime: An easy way to videoconference with someone using another Mac, or even with those using iOS devices like the iPhone and the iPad, is through FaceTime. You’ll find more on FaceTime in Chapter 12.
Messages: Messages lets you use your iMac to chat with others around the world for free via the Internet — by keyboard, voice, or (with your iMac’s built-in FaceTime HD web camera) video! More on Messages appears in Chapter 12. Always wear a shirt when videoconferencing.
Email: Soldier, Apple’s got you covered. The macOS Mail application is a full-featured email system, complete with defenses against the torrent of junk mail awaiting you. (Imagine a hungry digital saber-toothed tiger with an appetite for spam.) Send pictures and attached files to everyone else on the planet, and look doggone good doing it.
Applications that rock
Dozens of useful applications are included with macOS. I mention the most important of them in later chapters, but here are three good examples to whet your appetite:
Calendar: Keep track of your schedule and upcoming events, and even share your calendar online with others in your company or your circle of friends. Figure 1-4 illustrates Calendar in action.
DVD Player: Got an external optical drive for your iMac? Put all that widescreen beauty to work and watch your favorite DVD movies with DVD Player! You have all the features of a typical stand-alone DVD player, too, including a spiffy onscreen control that looks like a remote.
Contacts: Throw away that well-thumbed collection of fading addresses. The macOS Contacts application can store, search, and recall just about any piece of information on your friends, family, and acquaintances. You can use the data you store in your Contacts in other Apple applications that are included with Monterey, such as Apple Mail and Messages.
FIGURE 1-4: Hey, isn’t that Calendar running on your iMac? You are iTogether!
Would you like to play a game?
“All productivity and no play …” Hey, even a hard-working person like you enjoys a good challenging game, so you can look forward to playing chess on your iMac right out of the box. Ah, but this isn’t the chessboard your dad used! Play the game of kings against a tough (and configurable) opponent — your iMac — on a beautiful 3D board. Heck, your iMac even narrates the game by speaking the moves!
Stuff You Oughta Buy Right Now
Your new aluminum supercomputer may need an additional purchase or two — but fear not, we’re not talking any outrageous expense here. I always recommend the same set of stuff for new PC and Mac owners. These extras help keep your new computer clean and healthy (and some make sure you’re happy as well):
Surge suppressor or uninterruptible power supply (UPS): Even an all-in-one computer like your iMac can fall prey to a power surge. I recommend one of these:A basic surge suppressor with a fuse can help protect your iMac from an overload.A UPS costs a little more, but it does a better job of filtering your AC line voltage to prevent brownouts or line interference from reaching your computer. A UPS also provides a few minutes of battery power during a blackout so that you can save your documents and safely shut down your iMac.
Screen wipes: Invest in a box of premoistened screen wipes. Your iMac’s awe-inspiring 5K Retina display can pick up dirt, fingerprints, and other unmentionables faster than you think. Make sure your wipes are especially meant for flat-panel monitors or laptop computer screens.
Blank optical discs and USB flash drives: Many folks still consider an optical drive important, so if you’ll miss watching DVD movies and importing/recording audio CDs, I’ll bet you’ve already bought an external drive — and you’ll need blank discs for recording music, video, and data. USB flash drives come in many different capacities, and your iMac treats a flash drive just like a traditional external drive. If your iMac is equipped with USB 3.0 ports, I recommend that you buy a USB 3.0 drive; they’re significantly faster than the older 2.0 drives. Looking for even more speed? Perhaps your iMac doesn’t have USB 3.0 ports? If you want the absolute best performance from an external drive, super-fast Thunderbolt 3/USB-C SSD drives are also available, but they’re pricey.
Cables: Depending on the external devices and wired network connectivity you’ll be using, these are:A standard Ethernet cable (for wired networks or high-speed Internet)Thunderbolt or USB cables for devices you already have Most hardware manufacturers are nice enough to include a cable with their products, but there are exceptions, especially USB printers. Shame on those cheapskates!
A wrist rest for both your keyboard and mouse: You might have many
