Beyond speed, the terminal offers more control and flexibility. For instance, if you want to view just the first 20 lines of a large log file, you can do so instantly with a single command.

While you can manually enter the commands to edit files in Terminal editors, in OS X you can set up a service to open files in a desired terminal editor from the Finder's contextual menu.

How to Execute a File in a MacBook Terminal. The operating system your MacBook runs, OS X, is built on top of UNIX, and Terminal provides you with access to the underlying UNIX system commands.

How to open the Terminal on a Mac There are two primary avenues you can use to get to the Terminal: the Applications folder in your Finder, or searching in Spotlight. Here's a quick run-through of ...