For a Mac user, Mac OS X is like coming home from college and finding out that your parents have converted your bedroom to an office. Here are some hints about where to find the features you once knew. Apple has moved or replaced some; the company may yet restore those labeled “Missing.” Features that are gone forever are labeled “Eliminated.”
| Mac OS 9 Feature | Where It Is in the Mac OS X Beta |
| About This Computer | Missing. To find out your system software version, choose About This Mac from the Desktop menu. For memory stats on running programs, go to the Applications: Utilities folder and open ProcessViewer. |
| Appearance control panel | Missing — but you can apply a picture to your desktop by choosing Desktop & Dock Preferences from the Desktop menu, then clicking on the Desktop tab. To change colors, click on System Preferences in the Dock and go to the General tab. |
| Apple DVD Player | Missing. |
| Apple menu | Missing, but the Dock has some items once in the Apple menu, and dragging items into the Dock is a lot like adding items to the Apple menu. |
| AppleCD Audio Player | Music Player. |
| Balloon help | Eliminated. |
| Chooser, Desktop printers | Now called Print Center, it’s in the Applications: Utilities folder. |
| Command-shift-3 (for screenshots) | Open the Grab application in the Applications: Utilities folder, go to the File menu, and choose to make your screenshot a Selection (command-shift-A), a Window (command-shift-W), a Screen (command-Z), or a Timed Screen (command-shift-Z). |
| Command-drag to scroll window | Option-drag. |
| Control panels | Click on System Preferences in the Dock. Some control panels are absent from the beta. |
| Desktop clippings | Missing. You can still create such clippings in the Classic environment, but OS X programs can’t accept them. |
| Disk First Aid | Now called Disk Utility in the Applications: Utilities folder. |
| Disk icons | Removables like CDs and Zip disks can show up on the desktop. If you want an alias of your hard drive on the desktop, you must put it there yourself: Choose Computer from the Go menu or click on the Computer icon in the Finder, then command-option-drag your hard drive icon to the desktop. |
| Draggable window edges | You can drag from the top edge, but not the sides. |
| Drive Setup | Incorporated into the Mac OS X Installer. |
| Encrypt command | Missing. |
| Extensions | Inaccessible. |
| File Sharing | In the Sharing pane, which you reach by clicking on System Preferences in the Dock. |
| Fonts folder | In the System: Library: Fonts folder, but you can no longer double-click on a font file to see what the font looks like. |
| Get Info | Show Inspector under the File menu. |
| Graphic Calculator | Missing. |
| Key Caps, Calculator | In the Applications folder. |
| Keychain Access control panel | In the Applications: Utilities folder. |
| Multiple Users control panel | In the Applications: Utilities folder. |
| Pop-up windows | Eliminated. |
| Preferences folder | Nonexistent as we know it, but click on System Preferences in the Dock for some features. |
| Restart command | Present as a button in the log-in panel — choose Quit from the File menu to log out, and the panel will appear. |
| Quit command | No longer in the File menu of your programs; now in the Application menu. |
| Scrapbook, Note Pad | Missing. |
| Script Editor | In the Applications: Utilities folder. |
| Sherlock | On the Dock. |
| Shutdown Items | Missing. |
| Simple Finder | Eliminated. |
| SimpleSound | Missing. |
| SimpleText | Now called TextEdit, it’s in the Applications folder. |
| Startup Items | Click on System Preferences on the Dock; click on Login; click on Add under the Login Items tab. |
| Stickies | In the Applications folder. |
| TCP/IP, AppleTalk | Click on System Preferences on Dock; click on Network. Note that the AppleTalk default is inactive. |
| Web Sharing control panel | Click on System Preferences on Dock; click on Sharing; turn on FTP access for each item you want to share; then enable it using Show Inspector. |
| Zoom box | The green dot in the upper-left corner of a window. |