First steps

Unpacking

There are two convenient handles on top of your Mac Pro. Use these to lift the machine carefully from the box. Place it on a firm surface where

• there’s room for ventilation below, behind and in front of your Mac Pro
• you can access the ports at the back
• the optical drive trays at the front are not obstructed

Place your monitor on a firm surface such as a desk, close enough to the Mac Pro to avoid problems when you connect the cable between them.

Please note: the only way of shutting down the Mac Pro and monitor completely is by removing the electric plugs from the sockets. Therefore, ensure you can easily reach the sockets.

Cords

Use the power cords to connect the Mac Pro and your monitor to the electric sockets. Run the monitor’s DVI (Digital Visual Interface) connecting cable to the back of your Mac Pro and connect it to one of the display ports. Some monitors have additional cables: connect these as necessary to the USB ports and FireWire 400 ports below the Mac Pro’s display ports.

If you intend to run a second monitor from your Mac Pro, use the additional DVI display port.

Some monitors may need adaptors. An Apple DVI to VGA (Video Graphics Array) Display Adaptor comes with your Mac Pro. If you have a monitor with an ADC (Apple Display Connector), you can buy an adaptor at http://store.apple.com/uk

Other connections

• Internet - Connect an Ethernet cable to one of the two gigabit Ethernet ports on the back of your
• Network - As above, but connect the cable to a network rather than a modem.
• Apple Keyboard - Connect this cable to one of your Mac Pro’s USB ports or to a USB port on the monitor. If you need it, there’s a USB keyboard extension cable included with your Mac Pro.
• Apple Mighty Mouse - Connect your Mighty Mouse cable to one of the USB ports either side of your keyboard.

Please note:

(i) There’s no need for an Internet or network cable if you’ve opted to have Apple’s AirPort Extreme wireless connection included with your Mac Pro.

(i) If you have an Apple Wireless Keyboard and Wireless Mighty Mouse, refer to the wireless manual for installation details.

Basic features

• seven USB 2.0 ports (two at the front; three at the back; two on the keyboard)
• two FireWire 800 ports (one at the front; one at the back)
• two FireWire 400 ports (one at the front; one at the back)
• headphone and speaker minijacks at the front
• optical digital audio input and output TOSLINK ports
• analogue stereo line-level input and output minijacks
• two 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45) interfaces
• Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)
• 16x SuperDrive optical drive with double-layer support (DVD±R; DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Software

Your Mac Pro operating system is Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard. This includes the following software:

• Time Machine
• Quick Look
• Spaces
• Spotlight
• Dashboard
• Mail
• iChat
• Safari
• Address Book
• QuickTime
• iCal
• DVD Player
• Photo Booth
• Front Row
• Xcode Developer Tools

Also included with your Mac Pro is iLife ’08 (this has iTunes; iPhoto; iMovie; iDVD; iWeb; GarageBand) and a set of install/restore DVDs.

Processing, memory, storage and graphics

Many people take advantage of the chance to customise and upgrade their Mac Pro. If you’ve opted for a standard model, however, you’ll have

• two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors
• 2GB (two 1GB) of 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM memory
• 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache of hard drive
• ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB graphics

Initial set-up

Switching on your Mac Pro

The power button is at the front of your Mac Pro. Push it once and then switch on your monitor.

Setup Assistant

Setup Assistant will start automatically. It will guide you through the process of setting up your user and email accounts, and your Internet connection. If you have another Mac computer and want to transfer your data, applications and files, Setup Assistant will show you how.

Customising your desktop

Use Apple > System Preferences on the menu bar to customise your desktop. If you need assistance, click Mac help and check “System Preferences”.

Sleep mode

If you intend to be away from your Mac Pro for just a short while, you can put it to sleep rather than shut it down using one of the following:

• click Apple > Sleep on the Menu Bar
• press the power button of your Mac Pro and click Sleep in the dialogue box
• click Apple > System Preferences, then Energy Saver and set the timer

To wake up your Mac Pro, you can choose between

• pressing the power button of your Mac Pro
• pressing any Apple Keyboard button
• clicking the Apple Mighty Mouse

Shutting down your Mac Pro

To shut down your Mac Pro, either

• click Apple > Shut Down, or
• press the power button and click Shut Down in the dialogue box

Please note:

(i) Don’t shut down your Mac Pro by unplugging it at the electric socket unless you have no other choice.

(ii) Always shut down your Mac Pro before you move it.

Quick Mac OS X guide

Operating system

Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard is the operating system of your Mac Pro and is pre-installed. Mac OS X controls your files, applications and connected devices, and has similar working principles to Windows.

Basic controls

The basic controls are the Apple Keyboard and the Apple Mighty Mouse. If you’re more familiar with Windows, you’ll find that you’ll need to use the keyboard and mouse fewer times to achieve the same results with Mac OS X.

Central features

The icons, layouts and navigation of the Mac Pro applications are straightforward. There are windows, menus, folders and shortcuts, plus four central features to help you be organised and productive:

• Desktop
• Dock
• Finder
• Menu bar

Desktop

This is the screen where you’ll normally start each time you switch on your Mac Pro. The first icon you’ll see (in the upper right corner) is the Macintosh HD (hard drive). Other HD icons will appear when you use different functions of your Mac Pro. Simply double click on an HD icon to see its files and applications.

Please note:

• use the Desktop to store folders, files, documents and pictures
• every time you connect a device to your Mac Pro, an appropriate icon appears on the Desktop
• if your Mac Pro has different users, Mac OS X provides a separate Desktop for each one
• the Desktop remains behind any applications you’re running

Dock

At the bottom of the screen there’s a row of icons known as the Dock. Use the Dock to access your most popular folders, windows and applications.

Note that when a window appears, there are three buttons in the upper left corner.

• To close the window, use the red button
• To minimise the window to the Dock, use the yellow button
• To maximise and minimise the window’s size, use the green button

Finder

The Finder is an icon on the far left of the Dock. Use it to manage and navigate your folders, drives and applications.

Menu Bar

The Mac OS X has just one menu bar. It appears at the top of your screen as a single line.

With the Menu Bar, you can:

• interact with a programme
• view, change and close applications and settings
• look at recent work
• log in or out
• start the sleep mode
• start the sleep mode
• switch off your Mac Pro

The Menu Bar changes according to your application and provides the items most relevant to it.

Connectivity

Your Mac Pro has seven USB ports and four FireWire ports. It also has two DVI ports; two Ethernet ports; four audio ports; and Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate EDR up to 3Mb/s.

As a result, your Mac Pro has significant capability to connect with a wide range of devices at the same time including

• cameras
• printers
• external hard drives
• modems
• iPhones
• iPods

The extensive range of pre-loaded peripheral drivers also means your Mac Pro will usually recognise your devices instantly.

Extra features

The Mac Pro is a computer built for customisation. You can easily add

• a second optical drive
• upgraded graphics cards
• further memory (up to 32GB)
• more power (two 3.0GHz or 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors)
• extra storage (up to 1TB in each of the four hard drive bays)
• AirPort Extreme wireless networking
• A Mac Pro RAID card with 256MB cache and 72 hour cache battery backup
• Apple Dual-Channel or Quad-Channel 4Gb Fibre Channel PCI Express Card

For further details of customisation, see http://store.apple.com/uk

For more user information, see Apple’s video tutorials

Also available with a student discount / as a refurbished product ...