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Did They Tell You About the Option Key?

2009-02-03 12:50 PM Category General Mac | Beginner | Intermediate
There is a “magic” key on your Macintosh keyboard. Have you ever seen it? It sits in the bottom row of keys, but it doesn’t say Magic. Instead, it is labeled Option.

While this little key sits quitely between the Control and Command keys, you may not have discovered its hidden powers.
There is a “magic” key on your Macintosh keyboard. Have you ever seen it? It sits in the bottom row of keys, but it doesn’t say Magic. Instead, it is labeled Option.

While this little key sits quitely between the Control and Command keys, you may not have discovered its hidden powers.

For example, if you want to quit an application, you can click and hold on its icon in the dock. You will see a popup menu appear like this:

Dock_Popup


If you hold down the option key, you will see that Force Quit has replaced Quit:


Dock_Popup_Option


Another example is the AirPort icon in the Menu Bar. With the Option key held down, you get information about the wireless network you are using:

AirPort AirPort Option


These changes even take place in the menus of the Finder and some applications:

Finder


Do some exploring. You may be surprised at the options that are available using this key!

--Pat


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