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Type NOTEPAD into the Run Line and press Enter. The Notepad text editor opens.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T e c h n o f i l e
That 'other' way to run programs: Using the handy type-it-yourself command


Oct. 31, 2004


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, The Post-Standard

   Quick quiz: Name four ways to run a program on your Windows PC.
   Everybody knows that you can double click a program icon on the desktop or click the same icon in the Start Menu. A third way some of you might know is to go into the actual Program Files folder and double click on the program's executable file.
   The fourth way languishes in obscurity. But everyone who uses Windows has it. Even Mac OS X users have the same sort of thing.
   It's called "Run" on Windows. On Macs, it's called "Open." "Run" and "Open" can do the same thing a launch icon does. They can run a program, open a file or even, in some cases, open a folder. And there's a lot more they can do. You might be surprised to find out how powerful these two commands are.
   I'll explain the Windows method first.
   Normally, to use "Run," you open the so-called "Run Line" in your Start Menu and type the name of the program you want to run. Then you press the Enter key. You can get the Run Line to pop open by clicking "Run" in the Start Menu or by pressing Win-R.
   An example makes this clear. Type NOTEPAD into the Run Line and press Enter. The Notepad text editor opens.
   Other examples: Type CALC and press Enter. The Windows Calculator shows up on the screen. (Its real name, to Windows, isn't "Calculator." It's "Calc." Microsoft likes to keep program names short.) Or type MSCONFIG and press Enter to get Microsoft's Windows configuration utility to run.
   You can do this for a lot of programs. Try these names: FREECELL, CDPLAYER, SOL, DEFRAG, WORDPAD and COMMAND.
   But "Run" works for folders, too. Try "My Documents" (using quotes around the name) or, simply, C: (no quotes needed).
   Better yet, "Run" is ideal for going to a Web site when you don't already have a Favorite or bookmark for that site. Press Win-R, type the name of the site and press Enter. Try it with www.syracuse.com or www.microsoft.com.
   On a modern Macintosh, "Open" is so close to "Run" in the way it works that you'll have no problem at all if you switch from Windows to a Mac. The main difference: There's no "Run Line" (or "Open Line") in the menu, so you merely open a command window to type into. The command window on an OS X Mac is called Terminal, which you'll find in the Utilities folder inside the main Applications folder.
   With a Terminal window open, type OPEN DESKTOP and press Enter. A folder showing your desktop contents will open. Type OPEN PICTURES to tell the Mac to open your Pictures folder.
   Move to the top level your Mac file system using the "cd /" command (without the quotes). (Don't forget to press Enter to execute all commands, of course.) Then enter the Applications folder by typing "cd Applications" (again, without the quotes). "CD" means "change directory" and the "/" symbol indicates the root level of the file system, which seems upside down when you realize that it's the top level. Geeks are funny that way.)
   Now you can run applications using the "Open" command. To get the Macintosh Calculator to open, type "open Calculator.app" (without the quotes). For Safari, the superb Apple Web browser, type "open Safari.app" (again, without the quotes). Try these applications, too: iTunes.app, TextEdit.app, Mail.app and Preview.app. Remember that you will need to use quotes around names that have spaces, such as Apple's DVD Player.app. Your Mac won't know what it is unless you quote the entire name.