The Finder lets you move around your hard drive and open, close, and delete files and applications graphically so that you don't have to memorize cryptic commands. Pretty much everything you do in the Finder involves various windows. To open a new Finder window, double-click your hard drive icon or press Command-N, or from the Finder choose File > New Finder Window.

Knowing the components of a Finder window is important for efficiently navigating through your system, and Apple has done a good job of designing windows so that you can use them effectively. Let's take a quick look at the components that make up the Finder window (in fact, all Mac OS Xsavvy applications use similar conventions).

The upper left corner of each Finder window has three colored buttons, each with its own function (Figure 1.4):

The red Close button closes a window but doesn't quit the application. A dot in the middle of the close button indicates a file that hasn't been saved.

The yellow Minimize button minimizes a window and moves it to the Dock. Click the window's icon in the Dock to maximize the window.

The green Zoom button switches between the default window size and the last-used window size.

The clear Toolbar control toggles between showing just the close, minimize, and zoom buttons, and showing additional tools. In a Finder window, those tools include buttons that control icon views, the Spotlight search tool, and any other items you add. In other applications, the Toolbar control shows and hides document-specific tools such as rulers and tab markers.

The Resize control sits at the window's bottom right corner. Drag it to resize a window.

Figure 1.4. A Finder window is the portal to your Mac's files. Most windows, both Finder and application, have common features like buttons to close and minimize the window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These buttons also show up in most applications' document windows, and they work just the same with a few exceptions. Some applications quit when you click the close button, and Apple is one of the worst offenders. System Preferences, Disk Utility, and GarageBand, among others, all quit when you click the red close-window button.