• How to use PCSS Self Service. It can install printers and/or software for you! Check out the eBooks section!

     

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    Hello and welcome to your new laptop! It's got the latest version of macOS and it's got additional software to help you  get the software you need. Down here in your dock there is a torch that has the PCSS self-service. If you do not see this in your dock, up here in your menu bar there should be a torch and it has access to the PCSS self service. 

    When self-service launches it's going to display a bunch of icons that launch different pieces of information. It can install software add dock items to your dock. 

    It can even give you information; for example, right here it says "Why are some of the items shown in sepia?". When I click the "show me" it's going to pull up a dialogue box that's going to give me the information that I requested. When I'm finished reading it, I can click okay.  I've got information here.

    You'll notice there's more results than I'm seeing. I can actually click back and forth to see more. There's another way to see more as well. If you click the green item, it will maximize this and bring this up full screen.

    Another way is to simply grab it up here by the title bar, and Scoot it up. Go down here to the bottom corner, click here, and expand it out...

    And what that question answered was ... well let's look at "Brother Iprint&Scan"... There's an install button and the sepia one says "Brother Iprint&Scan in my dock". So some software, when you install it, doesn't put an icon in your dock. Brother Iprint&Scan is a classic example.  It will install it to your Applications folder, but then you have to hunt that thing down to launch it. If you find this sepia icon, you can click it after this installs, and it will add it to your dock! And then you don't have to go hunt this thing down!

    Other applications, like vcast sender, when they install, they actually put the icon in your dock. You'll notice that mine says reinstall; that's because I've already installed vcast sender. You'll notice ActivInspire just says install. When I click on it, it loads the software, puts a dock item, and finishes up. Sometimes it takes a while for software to install, and you may see a swirling as it is installing.

    Over here on the side, you'll notice that we're on Home. There's a browse section (in the main application window), and you'll see a browse section here (on the side). You can either use the side navigation or this (main) navigation. If you
    choose, for example... if I click on document camera software, I'm in document camera software, and the browse section
    (on the side) has taken me to the document camera software so that if I wanted to go down here to help tools, I can click here (on the side). You can either go back home, click the browse there, or use the gray browse navigation on your side going back to the home folder.

    You'll notice that there are some bookmarks down here at the bottom. If there are more results than are available to show on the screen, you'll see this arrow, and you can click on it, and it allows you to navigate from the right to the left, and then you can bring up whatever you need. 

    And so if I wanted to launch class link, I click this and it will actually open up that site in my browser. My browser is set to Safari, so it's opening up the site in Safari. If your browser is Firefox or Chrome, it would open up in those browser options.

    Finally, I want to mention one other area up here at the top. There's a search bar. If you know there should be software that you used to have on your old Mac but I don't see it... now you can actually search for stuff! So if I type in VLC, it shows me VLC and it shows me the add the icon to the dock. Just like Brother Iprint&Scan, VLC dumps it in the Applications folder and keeps it hidden away. If you really rely on this, and want it in your dock, then you would want to add the icon after you installed VLC. You can simply click that, and clear it out, go back home. Now this works even if you're in a category: for example, if I click on, let's say, "document camera" and I just want to search for Elmo. Okay you'll notice I've got two... but they're the same thing, it's "Elmo's image mate in the cloud". Elmo doesn't actually install software anymore, they just take you to a web page, and you have to use their software there.

    Again click the X. You can go Home, you can browse, you'll notice all the document camera software showing up. Now this should give you a good idea how you can use PCSS self-service to browse, click, and get the very things you need so that your teaching is successful.