Section 5 - Desktop
When you boot up a Macintosh, the desktop will
display the Menu Bar and at minimum the hard drive icon. (The
Hard Drive will be discussed in detail later in this tutorial.)
At the very top of the screen you will see a bar with words
and icons on it. This bar is called the Menu Bar. The Menu Bar
serves as the home base for all menus available to the user.
In the far left side of the dock, you will see an
icon that looks like a little face. This is
the Finder  .
The Finder and the Desktop are used interchangeably to refer to
the desktop management and file management systems. The Finder is always running when your computer is on.
The dock is positioned at the bottom of the screen by default. The dock is a customizable toolbar allowing you to open applications, documents, and other items you use frequently.
To open an application on the Dock, move the mouse pointer over the icon of the application and click once. A small triangle will appear under the icon in the dock to indicate this is an open application. In Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) you will see a small oval. In the above picture the Finder icon has a small triangle underneath it to indicating it is the only open application.
In the left-hand corner of the Menu Bar you will see the Macintosh Apple icon. This icon represents the Apple Menu. In Mac OS X, use the Apple menu to open System Preferences, change the way the Dock works, shut down, restart, and log out of your computer. It also allows easy access to recently used applications and documents.
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