Got an Apple iMac or MacBook? You need this book!
The No.1 guide to getting the best from El Capitan
pages of advice! • Master Mission Control • Discover Split View • All the updated Mac apps!
The No.1 guide to getting the best from El Capitan
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… to Apple’s latest innovation – meet El Capitan, the new and greatly improved version of OS X Apple has done it again! Hot on the heels of last year’s OS X 10.10 Yosemite, it has released the new OS X 10.11 El Capitan, which takes using a Mac to even greater levels of excellence. While the look and feel of El Capitan is very much like Yosemite (El Capitan is, after all, a particular rock formation in Yosemite National Park), there have been some important additions that make using a Mac easier than ever. Of particular note is Split View, a great new way of working with two apps at once, and there have been some important improvements in Mission Control that make it easier than ever to switch between your open programs and
Ultimate Handbooks are designed to give you a complete guide to a device or piece of software you own. We aim to help you get more from the products you love and we guarantee you’ll get the following from each book… ● A reference guide you can keep on your desk or next to your computer and consult time and time again
work more productively on your Mac. There are also great improvements in Photos, Spotlight and Notes, and Disk Utility has been updated. We cover all these innovations in the guide you hold in your hands. Apple has been busy in other areas since Yosemite was released, too. For example, there’s the new Apple Music service, which we cover in full here, and a brand new version of iTunes to play with. Apple’s iCloud service is also going from strength to strength, making it easier than ever to collaborate on documents with other people, and back your data up to the cloud. I hope you enjoy this guide to El Capitan, and it helps you to get more than ever out of using a Mac. OS X just keeps getting better and better. Graham Barlow, Editor
when you need to know how to do something or solve a problem
we’ll show you the best ways to do everything
● New skills you can take with you through your life and apply at home or even in the workplace
● Clear recommendations for other products, accessories and services you can use with your device or software to get the best possible results
● Expert advice to help you do more with your hardware and software – from solving new problems to discovering new things to try out,
● Advice you can take everywhere thanks to the free digital edition of this book – see page 178 for more details
How are we doing? Email techbookseditor@futurenet.com and let us know if we’ve lived up to our promises!
OS X El Capitan Handbook | 5
Welcome & Manifesto
Welcome!
OS X El Capitan | Contents 6 | OS X El Capitan Handbook
Get started
Meet Apple’s new OS and get your Mac set up 10 16 32 34 36 38
Meet El Capitan 75 hidden secrets of Apple’s new OS Set up your new Mac Migrate to El Capitan Migrate from Windows Dual boot with Boot Camp
The basics
Master the key elements of using a Mac and the new OS X 42 44 48 50 52 54 56 57 58 62 64 65 66
The El Capitan desktop Master the Finder Customise the Finder sidebar Discover OS X’s gestures Master Mission Control Arrange apps in Split View Manage your login items Launch apps quickly Using Notification Center Discover the Today view View files with Quick Look Discover the Dashboard Search with Spotlight
Setup & preferences Make OS X work for you 70 72 74 76 78 79 80 82 84
Setting up your desktop Alter the look of your Mac Setting OS X preferences Using iCloud with a Mac Set up iCloud keychain Manage user accounts Get more information about your Mac Enable El Capitan’s dark mode Manage multiple displays
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94
Master your mouse Set up your sound Using Bluetooth Set up a printer Network and sharing Share files Use airdrop Call and text forwarding Move tasks between devices Facebook integration
Mac apps
Find out about all the amazing apps that come with El Capitan
98 100 102 106 108 110 111 112 114 116 120 124 130 138 140 141 142
Browse the web with Safari Advanced features of Safari Master Mail’s new tricks Become an expert Mail Markup Make a date with Calendar Get from A to B with Maps Master OS X Reminders iCloud Drive Download great books Master the Notes app Get to know iTunes 12 Discover Apple Music Do more with Photos Discover the power of Preview More apps for your Mac Using the App Store Free apps for your Mac
Advanced
Back up your Mac, recover lost files and much more! 156 158 160 162 163 164 166
Back up with Time Machine Never lose your work again Recover from major problems Secure your Mac Automate repetitive tasks Get started with Disk Utility Become an Apple Genius
OS X El Capitan Handbook | 7
OS X El Capitan | Contents
Contents
Meet Apple’s new OS and get your Mac set up 10
Meet El Capitan Find out what’s new in OS X 10.11 El Capitan
16
75 hidden secrets of Apple’s new OS Jump straight into the best new El Capitan features
32 Set up your new Mac Get started with the latest OS X 34 Migrate to El Capitan Make the move with Migration Assistant. 36 Migrate from Windows If you’re transferring from a PC there’s a Windows Migration Assistant too… 38
Dual boot with Boot Camp Turn your Mac into a dual-booting machine
OS X El Capitan Handbook | 9
Get started | Contents
Get started
Get started | Welcome to El Capitan
get started | Welcome to El Capitan
Welcome to El Capitan
The latest OS X offers the perfect combination of simplicity and power The all-new, all-singing, alldancing, OS X 10.11 El Capitan is here – and you’ll love it! Like its predecessor, OS X 10.10 Yosemite, it continues the theme of Californian place names: El Capitan is the name of a rock formation situated within Yosemite National Park. Also like Yosemite, this new version can be downloaded for free from the Mac App Store. (Find out about upgrading from an older Mac or migrating from a Windows PC on page 34 onwards.)
If you have an iPad or an iPhone, you’ll be right at home with El Capitan’s freshlooking interface, which takes many a cue from iOS – in fact, as of their 2015 releases, all three of Apple’s operating systems (watchOS being the other) use the same system font – a custom one called San Francisco. Where Yosemite was criticised for its sometimes overzealous application of transparency effects, Apple has toned them down to make El Capitan even more pleasant to look at and use.
Probably our favourite improvements in this version are the improvements to managing how your apps are laid out on the screen. Mission Control does a much better job of directing you to whatever window you need to work in with just a simple gesture on your trackpad or mouse and then a click. Even OS X’s full-screen mode is massively improved with the ability to display two apps alongside each other: allocate all the available screen space to the apps on which you need to focus and shove all other distractions aside.
El Capitan’s interface has a fresh, clean look with a new system font, a couple of new desktop backgrounds, and simplified icons to provide a real ‘easy on the eyes’ experience.
Maps can provide you with directions that use public transport, though only for select locations, such as London.
10 | OS X El Capitan Handbook
El Capitan even borrows a trick from the iPhone and iPad, enabling you to simply swipe on emails to deal with them.
El Capitan’s Notification Centre provides three different ways to sort notifications.
Like other recent versions of OS X, El Capitan is available from the Mac App Store as a free upgrade.
OS X El Capitan Handbook | 11
Get started | Welcome to El Capitan
Welcome to El Capitan | get started
Get started | Welcome to El Capitan
get started | Welcome to El Capitan
MISSION CONTROL
This is OS X’s zoomed-out view of all the documents and other windows that you’ve opened. It lays things out in a much clearer fashion in El Capitan, and features new shortcuts for managing and merging apps – including the allnew Split View!
UPDATED See page 52 for more
split view
This is one of our favourite new features in OS X. Previous versions enabled you to focus on a task by switching an app to full-screen mode – but you could only see one app at a time. Now you can put two of them side by side, which is helpful when you need to research a subject – try it out by pairing Safari and El Capitan’s much improved Notes app.
NEW
See page 54 for more
We love the improvements to Mail in El Capitan, which make it more comfortable to use in full-screen mode. When you need to refer to another message, perhaps to copy and paste, you no longer have to save the one you’re already working on as a draft. Simply click outside of its window to stash it at the bottom of the screen – and you can have several emails on the go thanks to support for tabs in the message window.
Updated See page 102 for more
12 | OS X El Capitan Handbook