Problem scenario
Using a Mac computer your mouse becomes lost or you have an application that is open (based on the black dot underneath its icon), but you cannot find the application. Your computer thinks the application is open, but it is not. What should you do?
Solution
Is your laptop connected to another monitor? If an HDMI cable is connected to the laptop and that monitor is off or hidden,
Question
Can an Apple Magic Keyboard work with a Windows computer?
Answer
Yes. An Apple Magic Keyboard will work with a Windows 10 desktop/laptop. It is plug and play too. We tried it with the USB cable initially. After that the wireless functionality was normal. (We tried this in December of 2020.) You can buy a Magic Keyboard here.
Problem scenario
You are using a Mac and you want an environment variable to be configured. What should you do?
Solution
Problem scenario
Using a MacOS, you are trying to run a command (e.g., a “java” command) from the Terminal utility (character prompt). You get the message “No Java runtime present”, and the command fails. What should you do?
Solution
Using the GUI, download the .dmg file from here.
Once it is downloaded, double click it. Follow the menu steps (Continue ->
Problem scenario
You are using a familiar application on a Mac. You cannot find a basic command button or menu option. What should you do?
Solution
At the very top of your screen, outside of the application itself, there is a ribbon. There should be drop down menu options specific for the application.
We find that some problems are caused because of time pressure.
Problem Scenario
You are using Apple Mail. You want to scroll up and down to see the senders and subjects of emails. You cannot find the vertical scroll bar. What should you do?
Solution
Increase or decrease the window’s vertical length by clicking and holding a horizontal edge of the window with the mouse and moving the edge in one direction.
Problem scenario
You want to minimize all your Mac applications to view the desktop only. But you are using a non-standard keyboard. With a Microsoft keyboard (or some non-Apple keyboard), how do you see the desktop on a Mac?
Solution
Hold Fn and tap F11. (With a normal Mac keyboard, holding Command and tapping F3 works.)
Problem scenario
You have a Mac laptop. You have connected a separate monitor. To get your mouse one the screen, you have to move the direction of the mouse in a different direction relative to the physical location of where you see this external monitor. You have to commit to memory where to move the mouse. You want the external monitor to be mouse-reachable in the direction that it is in front of you.
Question
Why did Apple call one of their computers the Macintosh?
Answer
It was based on a type of apple that you eat (e.g., golden delicious, Fuji, etc.). It would have been called the McIntosh, but there were legal reasons for adding the letter “a”. To read more about how the name was chosen, see this page.
Question
What is an SDET and where did the term originate?
Answer
The book How We Test Software at Microsoft says that the formal title for a software tester at Microsoft is “Software Development Engineer in Test, or SDET” (page 23). This SDET acronym (free of punctuation) was adopted in 2005 (page 24 of the above referenced book).