TMO Quick Tip - Leopard's Built-in Trackpad Tutorials

by , 7:30 AM EDT, June 6th, 2008

The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro support enhanced trackpad controls to move through albums, zoom in to images, and more. If you aren't sure how to use those new multi-finger gestures, you don't have to look any farther than System Preferences because Leopard includes video-based demos that explain just how each gesture works.

If you have a Mac laptop that supports the new multi-finger gestures, you can see how to use each one by doing this:

• Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
• Select the Keyboard & Mouse Preference Pane.
• Click the Trackpad tab.

Learn trackpad gestures from the Keyboard & Mouse Preference Pane.

Selecting a trackpad gesture from the list on the left displays a video showing how to use that specific gesture. This works even for gestures that aren't checked as active.

Keep in mind that only recent MacBook Pro models support the new multi-touch gestures, so if you don't see the videos on your Mac, it doesn't support that feature.

The Keyboard & Mouse Preference Pane makes it easy to learn how to use the gestures the new trackpads are capable of, which means you'll be able to use your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro more efficiently.

Jeff Gamet is TMO's Morning Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.

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