Tips
Drag & Drop in Mac OS X
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 | Tips | No Comments
One of the features that makes Mac OS X so user-friendly is the ability to drag & drop. On your Mac you can drag and drop files, icons and selections of text. I did a survey of the common drag & drop functions that make using a Mac a pleasure. Here’s what I came up with.
The Dock
Your Mac is equipped with a cool application launcher called “The Dock.” It’s the area at the bottom of the screen where a bunch of icons sit. Adding and removing icons from the dock is a snap. It’s as easy as dragging and dropping. If you need to add an application icon, grab it and drag it to the dock. Once you release the mouse it attaches to the dock. When you find that you don’t need certain icons on your dock, removing them is as easy as dragging them off the dock and letting go of the mouse. Pooh! They just disappear. Remember that removing the icon from the dock does not delete the program from your computer. Should you do this unintentionally, you can go back to your Applications folder and find the program icon you removed.
Trash
Getting rid of unwanted files is no more involved then dragging them to the Trash bin in the dock. This also works for ejecting CD’s and disk images. If you accidentally move the wrong file to the Trash, not all is lost yet. You can recover the file by clicking on the Trash and dragging it out. However, once you empty the Trash, it’s over. The file is gone and only specialized software can attempt to get it back.
Moving Files
Changing the location of files on your Mac is as easy as placing icons on the dock or moving files into the Trash. Just grab the file you want to move and drag it over the folder you want to place it in. When you let go the file will be copied to the new location and removed from where it was.
Activating a Web Link
Some applications support hyper links so that you can click on a web link in that application and a browser will launched taking you to the site. But say you’re using an application that does not support hyper links, what do you do then? Not to worry. All you need to do is highlight the link and drag it to a browser icon in the dock or an open browser window. And you will be taken to that site. This works with Safari, Mac’s native browser, as well as Camino and Firefox.
Looking-up Words
Mac OS X comes with a built-in dictionary and thesaurus. If you’re not sure what a word means while surfing the web or reading a text document, you’re in good company. Highlight the word and drag it over the Dictionary icon in your dock. If the Dictionary is already open it will display the word’s definition. This trick works only if Dictionary has been already opened. But it’s still a handy feature.
Storing Text Bits
Have you ever wanted to store a quote from an article you were reading online? One method to do this is to open TextEdit or Word and copy and paste the text. However, if you’re using Mac OS X (10.4 or later) you can store a portion of the text without opening another program. All you need to do is highlight the text you want to keep and then drag it to your desktop. The text clipping will be stored in a file on the desktop. By double clicking on the text clipping you will be able to read the contents as well as copy and paste it into another document.
This is definitely not an exhaustive list of what you can do in OS X by dragging and dropping. I hope this gets your appetite wet enough to play around and discover other things you can do using this technique. What other things have you done in Mac OS X by dragging & dropping?
Commonly Used Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
Friday, September 28th, 2007 | Mac Resources, Tips | No Comments
A great way to save time when using your Mac is to use keyboard shortcuts. Below, I’ve listed 27 commonly used keyboard shortcuts. You can find additional ones in the System Preferences under Keyboard & Mouse. In addition, Apple has a more extensive list of keyboard shortcuts on their website.
Bold Selected Text ……………………………… Command + B
Capture Portion of Screen to a File ……….. Command + Shift + 4
Capture Screen to a File ………………………. Command + Shift + 3
Close Tab/Window …………………………….. Command + W
Copy ………………………………………………… Command + C
Cut …………………………………………………… Command + X
Find & Replace ………………………………….. Command + F
Force Quit …………………………………………. Option + Command + Esc
Get Info …………………………………………….. Command + I
Italicize Selected Text ………………………….. Command + I
New Tab ……………………………………………. Command + T
New Windows ……………………………………. Command + N
Open …………………………………………………. Command + O
Paste …………………………………………………. Command + V
Preferences ………………………………………… Command + ,
Print ………………………………………………….. Command + P
Quit …………………………………………………… Command + Q
Save ………………………………………………….. Command + S
Select All …………………………………………… Command + A
Toggle Open Applications ……………………. Command + Tab
Toggle Open Windows in Application …… Command + `
Underline Selected Text ………………………. Command + U
Undo ………………………………………………… Command + Z
View All Windows …………………………….. F9
View Application Windows …………………. F10
View Dashboard ………………………………… F12
View Desktop ……………………………………. F11
The nice thing about keyboard shortcuts on a Mac is that most shortcuts perform the same task across the system. So, you only need to learn them once and you can apply them in just about any application.
Which keyboard shortcuts are your favorite? Are any of the above listed shortcuts new to you? Do you know of any that I missed? Please share with me in the comments.
Caring for Your Mac’s Battery
Thursday, September 20th, 2007 | Tips | No Comments
Do you ever worry about the life of the battery on your Mac notebook? Are there ways to prolong battery life and optimize its performance? Yes, there are ways to care for the batter of your Mac to prolong its life and maximize its efficiency.
First thing to do when you purchase a Mac laptop is to calibrate the battery. Usually, instructions for doing this are included in the user’s guide. Calibration helps to ensure that the battery operates at maximum capacity.
There are several things you can do to prolong the charge of the batter while your Mac is in use. First, it helps to turn off services you’re not using. I’m referring to things like Bluetooth and AirPort. Each of these take energy even if they are not in active use. Both can be turned off from the task bar if you have the corresponding icons there. Further, you can dim the screen, lower the volume and close applications that you’re not using.
These are just several tips on caring for the battery of your Mac. Ed Shepard at Barkings! has done a great job of putting together a more extensive piece on battery care for the Mac. Check out his post, “The Love and Care of Lithium-based Batteries,” for more detail and further references to Apple Support articles.
What strategies do you use to prolong the charge of your battery?
Mac 101 – System Preferences: Personal Settings – Part 1
Sunday, August 26th, 2007 | Mac 101, Tips | No Comments
Today I will cover the first four groups of settings under the Personal category in System Preferences. These are Appearance, Dashboard & Exposé, Desktop & Screen Saver and Dock. Each of these groups allows you to control an aspect or two of the way your operating system looks and functions. Let’s begin with Appearance.
Appearance
As the name of this group indicates, here you can change the way windows, menus and scroll bars appear. First off you can change the overall look of buttons, menus and windows. Your choices are Blue or Graphite (a grayish looking color). Next you can select the highlighting color for selected text. Here you have several more options of colors, ranging from graphite to purple.
Beside changing the color of menus and buttons, you can also change some settings on the appearance of scroll bars. You can select the placement of scroll arrows and the action when clicking in the scroll bar. Here is where you can also activate smooth scrolling. I have this option deactivated because scrolling is smooth enough by default. Plus, when smooth scrolling is activated it requires your computer to work a little harder when you scroll. Further you can select the number of recent items to show on various recent item lists. And finally, you can select the font smoothing style. Mine is set to automatic, which works best for the main display. You may want to modify this setting if you’re using an additional display with your laptop or desktop.
Dashboard & Exposé
In Dashboard & Exposé you have two main settings. First, this is where you can set different functions of screen corners. For example you can set your bottom right corner to activate the screen saver. So, when you place your mouse in that corner the screen saver will immediately activate. Second, here you can modify the shortcut keys for activating Dashboard, clearing the open windows to view the desktop, as well as viewing all windows and application windows.
Desktop & Screen Saver
This one is pretty self-explanitory. This is where you modify the background on your desktop and set a screen saver. Your Mac comes with a set of images preloaded by Apple. You can also use images from your iPhoto library as background for the desktop. Beside these options, you can select a folder on your hard drive to use as a source of images. You can also have the background change automatically at a predetermined interval.
Your Mac comes with a set of screen savers. You can select them in this section of System Preferences. You can also use your iPhoto library as a screen saver. Pictures from iPhoto will be displayed as a full-screen slide show if you choose to use this option. Here you can set how long the computer needs to be idle before the screen saver comes on.
Dock
There are several options for the Dock. You can modify the size of the dock and the amount of magnification when you place your mouse over it. You can deactivate magnification completely, if you find it bothersome. In addition, you can select where the dock should sit. It can be placed along the bottom, where it usually is by default, it can also be placed along the right or left edge of the screen. If you prefer to have the dock out of your way, you can set the dock to automatically hide.
I will address the last 3 groups of settings under the Personal category in the next post as we continue to explore the Mac OS X Systems Preferences. Please return soon for the next edition of Mac 101. You can also sign up for email delivery to receive new content from this blog in your Inbox.
Next Lesson:
Mac 101 – System Preferences: Personal Settings – Part 2
Mac 101 – System Preferences: Intro
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 | Mac 101, Tips | No Comments
I would like to introduce a new series of posts on this blog called Mac 101. This series will take you through different aspects of using the Mac. To begin I will explore the Systems Preferences. Mac is a personal computer. To make your Mac personal you need to know how to customize system settings. Through System Preferences you can adjust a variety of settings to make your Mac OS X look and function the way you’d like.
How do I find System Preferences?
System Preferences can be accessed in two ways. You should have a System Preferences icon sitting in your dock. You can also access System Preferences through the Apple icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Overview
Before we dig deeper an overview of System Preference is in order. System Preferences is organized in five sections – Personal, Hardware, Internet & Network, System and Other. Each of these categories provides several groups of settings that can be adjusted to your liking. Through the next several Mac 101 lessons we will explore each category and the settings that are available for your modification. As an introduction, I will highlight the essential functions of each of the categories. As you explore along with me, I encourage you to make this a hands-on experience. The best way to learn your Mac is to take the mouse in hand and browse through the settings, folders and applications on your computer.
Personal Settings
In the Personal Category of the System Preferences you can adjust settings that will alter the general Appearance of the operating system, the functionality of Dashboard & Expose, the desktop background and screen saver. Further you can adjust the way the Dock functions and looks. Here is where you can set language preferences, security and Spotlight settings.
Hardware
In the Hardware category you can adjust settings that control the way they physical parts of the computer function, such as the display, optical drive, keyboard and mouse. You can also adjust settings for printer & fax, sound, Bluetooth and how your computer uses energy.
Internet & Network
In the Internet & Network category you can set preferences for .Mac, your network, QuickTime and sharing. For now I’ll leave it at that. Nice and short.
System
I think by now you’re catching on that for the most part these categories are well labeled. In the System category you have settings that alter the way the operating system functions. Here we can create and manage user accounts, set the time and date, tell the system when to check for updates and so on.
Other
This category is for all those settings that did not come with your Mac by default. As you can see I have three settings groups in this category on my computer. You may have a complete different set of settings in the Other category. This will depend on what system utilities you have installed on your Mac. I will discuss the settings that I have on my Mac later when we get to this category.
This should be enough for starters. In Part 2 of the Mac 101 series on System Preferences we will concentrate on the settings in the Personal category. Check back soon for the next installment of Mac 101 or subscribe to email delivery and receive new content from this blog in your inbox.
Next Lesson:
Mac 101 – System Preferences: Personal Settings – Part 1
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