Understanding Mac OS X - Newbie

M

MMak

Registered
I've been using Mac OS X for around 4 months now, but I'm still clueless of where to store some of my files and why there are duplicate folders.

Let me know if I'm doing right. All applications, I install them in a folder called "Applications" under "Macintosh HD" (root?). All of my personal files are stored in "Documents" under "Macintosh HD". When I open "Macintosh HD", I have a folder called "Users" and in this folder, it has a folder under my name. And in this folder, it has another "Documents" folder. What's the difference between these two "Documents" folder?

Same as for installing fonts. Where should I install my fonts? Under "Macintosh HD>Library>Fonts" or in my "Macintosh HD>Users>MyName>Libary>Fonts" folder?

Thanks in advance.

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15" G4 Powerbook Titanium, 1GHz, 1GB Ram, Mac OS 10.2.8
 
The directory root > Documents (where root is the highest level of your hard drive) is for common documents, or stuff that you don't mind sharing with other users (if you have any). The same goes for root > Applications.

root > Users > yourname is for storing documents that are only accessible to your user account and any other admins your computer might have. Documents in there will be available only to you.

Granted, this is a bit much if you're the only person using the computer, but it's better to be a step ahead by having an OS ready for multiple users than one that doesn't handle them well.

As for fonts, the same goes. root > System > Library > Fonts is for system fonts and you should not do anything to this folder. root > Library > Fonts is available to all users on your computer; you should generally put fonts here if you're the only person using the computer. root > Users > yourname > Library > Fonts, as you can probably guess, is for fonts that are available only to that user. root > System Folder > Fonts will contain your OS 9 fonts, if you have OS 9 installed.

Anything else?
 
I know it's 7 years later, but thanks for this straightforward answer. I've been wondering something like the same thing for a while.
 
Wow. Quite the
exclamation.gif
.

Would recommend the Missing Manual series for switchers to Macs and general Mac knowledge written for people who are not Gurus.

--J.D.
 
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