Welcome2Mac: Menu Items

Welcome2Mac is The MacTipper Blog's weekly tip where all the people new to Apple's latest operating system can get Mac tips to help them better use Mac OS X.

In this week's Welcome2Mac, we're going to take a look at the menu items in the menu bar.

The menu items in the menu bar provide you easy access to various features in Mac OSX. For example, you can use the sound menu item to adjust the volume, the airport menu item allows you to change wireless networks, and the clock menu item shows you the time.

Customizing Menu Items
While the menu items are not generally customizable, you can customize some of them. The most customizable menu item I know of is the clock. To customize the clock menu item, click on it and select "Open Date & Time…" Other customizable menu items include the battery info and input menu.

Moving and Removing Menu Items
It is quite simple to move and remove menu items. To move the menu item, hold down the Command key and drag the menu item left or right. To remove the menu item, hold the Command key and drag it away from the menu bar. When you let go of the mouse button, it should vanish in a "poof" of "smoke".

Adding Menu Items
While you can add menu items from their respective preference panes or applications, there is a much simpler way of finding the various menu items. In Finder, go to:

/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/

and look for the menu item you want. Keep in mind that not all of these work. For example, the CPU menu item is not yet finished and is missing the majority of its features. However, they are all clearly labeled and it is much easier going here than it is to go to the individual preference panes and look for the appropriate check boxes.