01-19-2005, 10:11 PM

I was at the Apple store today and they had a program called Desktop Buttons loaded on all the demo machines.

It places a group of buttons in a shaded oval in the middle of the desktop to launch programs. I cannot locate it anywhere.

I have a use for this on my grandparents computer so they can easily launch the 3 programs they use and they can't drag the icons around and only need a single click to run.

Anyone know where this can be found? Apple store employees had no idea.

Jerry

01-19-2005, 10:17 PM

I am pretty sure that it is a program that apple developed just for use on there computers in the store.

01-20-2005, 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by trpnmonkey41

I am pretty sure that it is a program that apple developed just for use on there computers in the store.

you could make them an apple script...

01-20-2005, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by GLJones

…I have a use for this on my grandparents computer so they can easily launch the 3 programs they use and they can't drag the icons around and only need a single click to run.…

You can accomplish (pretty much) the same environment using the restricted simple Finder.

Simplifying the desktop

You can simplify the desktop and Finder menus using Simple Finder. Simple Finder is a simplified version of the Mac OS X Finder with fewer menus and limited access to the items on your hard disk. Simple Finder makes your computer more secure because it restricts the access people have to your disks and applications. It's also ideal for people who need to use only a few applications or documents, such as children.

Simple Finder users see only three folders in the Dock: Documents, My Applications, and Shared. Any documents they create are saved to their Documents folder. The applications they see in My Applications are the ones you select for them in Accounts preferences. They can also access items you place in the Shared folder.

To turn on Simple Finder for a user account:

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Accounts.
If some settings are dimmed, click the lock icon and type an administrator name and password.
Click the user account, then click Limitations.
Click Simple Finder.
Deselect any applications you don't want the user to access, and add any other items that they need access to, or leave the default setting as it is.


IMPORTANT: Make sure Simple Finder is selected when you close the pane. If it isn't, the user may have a greater level of access to the computer than you'd like.

To get administrative access to the computer while this user is logged in to Simple Finder, you can choose Finder > Run Full Finder, and enter your name and password. (You'll only be able to make changes if your account has administrative privileges.) When you're done, choose Finder > Return to Simple Finder.