Mac Os X 10.4 Tiger (Visual Quickstart Guides)

The Finder & Desktop

The Finder is a program that is part of Mac OS. It launches automatically when you start your computer.

The Finder provides a graphic user interface called the desktop (Figure 1) that you can use to open, copy, delete, list, organize, and perform other operations on computer files.

This chapter provides important instructions for using the Finder and items that appear on the Mac OS X desktop. It's important that you understand how to use these basic Finder techniques, since you'll use them again and again every time you work with your computer.

Tips

• You never have to manually launch the Finder; it always starts automatically.

• Under normal circumstances, you cannot quit the Finder.

• If you're new to Mac OS, don't skip this chapter. It provides the basic information you'll need to use your computer successfully.