New to Mac? A short tour for Windows and Linux users

Where things are, the keys you’ll use most, and how macOS differs from what you know.

You don’t need to become a Mac expert to build iOS apps. These basics cover most of what you’ll do.

Where things are

• Terminal is your command line (in Applications → Utilities). Over SSH you’re already in it.
• Finder is the file manager. Your files live in /Users/dev, shown as ~.
• Spotlight finds and opens anything: press ⌘ Space and type, for example, “Xcode”.
• The default shell is zsh; your settings go in ~/.zshrc or ~/.zprofile.

Keys you’ll use most

On a Mac, ⌘ Command does most of what Ctrl does on Windows:

• ⌘ C / ⌘ V: copy and paste
• ⌘ Tab: switch apps
• ⌘ Q: quit an app (closing the window doesn’t)
• ⌥ ⌘ Esc: force quit a frozen app

Using Screen Sharing from a PC? Your VNC viewer decides which PC key acts as ⌘; look in its keyboard settings.

Apple silicon

Your Mac has an Apple M-series (ARM64) chip. Download Apple silicon or “arm64” builds of tools when there’s a choice. A few older tools need Rosetta, Apple’s translator for Intel apps:

sudo softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license

Install command-line tools with Homebrew, the Mac’s package manager.