Mac OS X 10.6: Customizing the desktop

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Customizing the desktop

There are several ways to give your desktop—the background area of your screen—a custom look.

Changing the background

Using the Desktop & Screen Saver pane of System Preferences, you can change the color or pattern of the desktop, or use one of your favorite photos as a background.

Changing the screen background▸

Changing button, menu, and highlight colors

Using the Appearance pane of System Preferences, you can choose a new color for the overall appearance of your desktop. The color you select affects buttons, menus, windows, and highlighting.

Changing button and highlight colors▸

Choosing what’s on the desktop

Normally, icons for disks and other devices are displayed on your desktop. These icons include hard disks, CDs, and any servers connected to your computer.

If you like, you can specify which types of icons are displayed on the desktop.

Choosing what’s displayed on the desktop▸
Finder preferences▸

Setting up a screen saver

Using a screen saver is another way to personalize your computer. Using the Desktop & Screen Saver pane of System Preferences, you can choose one of the many screen savers that come with Mac OS X.

Using a screen saver▸
Last Modified: Aug 6, 2013
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