Just as in Windows, there’s a handy keystroke for switching from one open program to another: the ⌘-Tab keystroke (Figure 4-6).
Figure 4-6. Apple calls this row of open program icons a “heads-up display,” named after the projected data screen on a Navy jet windshield that lets pilots avoid having to look down at their instruments.
You can use this feature in three different ways, which are well worth learning:
If you keep the ⌘ key pressed, each press of the Tab key highlights the Dock icon of another program, in left-to-right Dock order. Release both keys when you reach the one you want. OS X brings the corresponding program to the front. (To move backward through the open programs, press Shift-⌘-Tab.)
If you leave the ⌘ key pressed, you can choose a program by clicking its icon with your mouse or by pressing the or keys.
A single press of ⌘-Tab takes you to the program you used most recently, and another, separate ⌘-Tab bounces back to the program you started in.
Imagine, for example, that you’re doing a lot of switching between two programs, like your Web browser and your email program. If you have five other programs open, you don’t want to waste your time ⌘-Tabbing your way through all the open programs just to get back to your Web browser.
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