mac tips and tricks
May 19, 2005 4:24 AM Subscribe
What are your favorite Mac-only tips and tricks (like the instant-off / instant-on feature when you close the lid of an iBook) from which a switching Windows user would benefit?
quicksilver for this switcher.
Also, spring-loaded folders blew this Mac neophyte's mind. Drag a file over a disk or folder icon; keep the mouse button held in and watch what happens.
posted by neilkod at 5:18 AM on May 19, 2005
Also, spring-loaded folders blew this Mac neophyte's mind. Drag a file over a disk or folder icon; keep the mouse button held in and watch what happens.
posted by neilkod at 5:18 AM on May 19, 2005
power utilities from Mac OS Power Tools Book
Magical Mac OSX keys
essential OSX apps
essential apps from the Ask.mefi crowd
That should keep you busy for a week or two.
Pay particular attention to the keyboard tricks.
posted by filmgeek at 5:33 AM on May 19, 2005
Magical Mac OSX keys
essential OSX apps
essential apps from the Ask.mefi crowd
That should keep you busy for a week or two.
Pay particular attention to the keyboard tricks.
posted by filmgeek at 5:33 AM on May 19, 2005
Another hurrah for Quicksilver.
Notational Velocity.
Delicious Library. Really.
Spotlight is a much more useable search than the windows search option. You get meaningful, useful results very quickly.
Printing to PDF _without_ Adobe.
PDF bookmarking, annotation and highlighting.
Network configuration with Bonjour (née Rendezvous) was previously in the running, but it's now available for Windows.
Unicode. Automator, which is the gateway drug that leads to: Applescript.
Applecare.
posted by Crosius at 6:04 AM on May 19, 2005
Notational Velocity.
Delicious Library. Really.
Spotlight is a much more useable search than the windows search option. You get meaningful, useful results very quickly.
Printing to PDF _without_ Adobe.
PDF bookmarking, annotation and highlighting.
Network configuration with Bonjour (née Rendezvous) was previously in the running, but it's now available for Windows.
Unicode. Automator, which is the gateway drug that leads to: Applescript.
Applecare.
posted by Crosius at 6:04 AM on May 19, 2005
The "instant off" sleep mode is a feature you get on all non-Apple laptops as well, it's certainly not unique to the Macintosh.
Likewise, I have never seen Rendezvous/Bonjour autodiscover network services; I guess I've never been on a network with other Rendezvous devices (that's no surprise -- there are very few such).
In any case, I'll quote myself from one of the last switcher threads:
"There have been several questions along these lines, including a discussion of tips and best practices, and some game recommendations. There were a couple of other threads, including a much better discussion of software that I referred to several times after the purchase of my Powerbook, but I appear to have misplaced the bookmark."
posted by majick at 6:50 AM on May 19, 2005
Likewise, I have never seen Rendezvous/Bonjour autodiscover network services; I guess I've never been on a network with other Rendezvous devices (that's no surprise -- there are very few such).
In any case, I'll quote myself from one of the last switcher threads:
"There have been several questions along these lines, including a discussion of tips and best practices, and some game recommendations. There were a couple of other threads, including a much better discussion of software that I referred to several times after the purchase of my Powerbook, but I appear to have misplaced the bookmark."
posted by majick at 6:50 AM on May 19, 2005
No viruses, no virus scanner needed.
No spyware, no spyware scanner needed.
And they're pretty.
I advised someone just the other day that was going to be buying a new computer and wanted to know if she should get a PC or a Mac. I told her (basically) that unless you have specific software that you must have, that can only run under Windows, there's really no compelling reason to go either way. The majority of people will be concerned with the compatibility of things like MS Office files (no problem) and whether they can still do email/IM/web browsing without having to learn a whole new system (sure).
I encouraged her (and encourage others) to go to some retail stores and play with the machines. Block out an hour or two and just screw around with them. You'll probably be standing up, and in public, instead of sitting at home or in your office, but you can get a decent feel for how the computer works. This applies to operating system comparisons as well as hardware - even if you know you are going to get (for instance) a Windows laptop, go try out the different brands and models until you find one that you are comfortable with using. Don't pick one based solely on the brand name and specs. Or the operating system. Find out what you like, and use that.
posted by attercoppe at 6:53 AM on May 19, 2005
No spyware, no spyware scanner needed.
And they're pretty.
I advised someone just the other day that was going to be buying a new computer and wanted to know if she should get a PC or a Mac. I told her (basically) that unless you have specific software that you must have, that can only run under Windows, there's really no compelling reason to go either way. The majority of people will be concerned with the compatibility of things like MS Office files (no problem) and whether they can still do email/IM/web browsing without having to learn a whole new system (sure).
I encouraged her (and encourage others) to go to some retail stores and play with the machines. Block out an hour or two and just screw around with them. You'll probably be standing up, and in public, instead of sitting at home or in your office, but you can get a decent feel for how the computer works. This applies to operating system comparisons as well as hardware - even if you know you are going to get (for instance) a Windows laptop, go try out the different brands and models until you find one that you are comfortable with using. Don't pick one based solely on the brand name and specs. Or the operating system. Find out what you like, and use that.
posted by attercoppe at 6:53 AM on May 19, 2005
majick--I think it's the instant-on feature that's of note--open the lid, get to work, no getting through the XP wake-from-sleep screen.
posted by josh at 6:54 AM on May 19, 2005
posted by josh at 6:54 AM on May 19, 2005
The "instant off" sleep mode is a feature you get on all non-Apple laptops as well, it's certainly not unique to the Macintosh.
Really? I've never seen a Windows laptop that didn't have to go through some kind of minute-long hibernate/write-memory-to-disk process. Is it different these days?
posted by chrismear at 6:55 AM on May 19, 2005
Really? I've never seen a Windows laptop that didn't have to go through some kind of minute-long hibernate/write-memory-to-disk process. Is it different these days?
posted by chrismear at 6:55 AM on May 19, 2005
1. When in doubt, try drag-n-drop. Even as a longtime Mac user, I'm sometimes left scratching me head as to how to accomplish some tasks, and it's usually because the solution is too simple for me to think of it ("no, it must be more complicated than that!")
2. If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, hold down the shift key to scroll left/right.
3. Quicksilver changed my life.
4. If you "drink Apple's koolaid"-- by which I mean, use apps like iCal and Address Book religiously (or equivalents that work with their datafiles), you can get synergistic benefits from other apps that build on this stuff.
5. Keep all your personal files in your home folder. Keep all your apps in your Applications folder. Don't scatter stuff around the root of the hard drive or elsewhere.
6. Get used to the column view in the Finder--it is good.
7. When installing fonts, they should only go into /Users/[username]/Library/Fonts . There are two other font directories, but you're probably better off not messing with them.
(on preview) Attercoppe: there can be subtle discrepancies between the files created in Mac Office and Windows Office. Not necessarily a deal-breaker, but they do exist.
posted by adamrice at 7:05 AM on May 19, 2005
2. If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, hold down the shift key to scroll left/right.
3. Quicksilver changed my life.
4. If you "drink Apple's koolaid"-- by which I mean, use apps like iCal and Address Book religiously (or equivalents that work with their datafiles), you can get synergistic benefits from other apps that build on this stuff.
5. Keep all your personal files in your home folder. Keep all your apps in your Applications folder. Don't scatter stuff around the root of the hard drive or elsewhere.
6. Get used to the column view in the Finder--it is good.
7. When installing fonts, they should only go into /Users/[username]/Library/Fonts . There are two other font directories, but you're probably better off not messing with them.
(on preview) Attercoppe: there can be subtle discrepancies between the files created in Mac Office and Windows Office. Not necessarily a deal-breaker, but they do exist.
posted by adamrice at 7:05 AM on May 19, 2005
Folks, please differentiate between "hibernation to disk" a slower-to-wake power saving mode which the Mac can't even do, and "sleep," or "suspend to RAM," which both PC and Apple laptops do just fine. Yes, waking from hibernation is slow. This is why you should configure the lid switch to use sleep mode instead and assign the power button to hibernate.
Admittedly some PCs with especially poor APM/ACPI implementations occasionally take as much as 3 or 4 entire seconds to wake from sleep, but a properly configured PC with a non-buggy BIOS should pop up from sleep nearly instantaneously. This is not new. This feature has worked relatively well on most Windows portables for years.
The benefit that Apple provides is that, unlike with a PC notebook, you don't have to go into some control panel and configure it to behave this way. It's the (immutable) default.
Oh. On preview:
"5. Keep all your personal files in your home folder. Keep all your apps in your Applications folder. Don't scatter stuff around the root of the hard drive or elsewhere."
If you take nothing else away from this thread, take this! It's the best information offered so far.
posted by majick at 7:18 AM on May 19, 2005
Admittedly some PCs with especially poor APM/ACPI implementations occasionally take as much as 3 or 4 entire seconds to wake from sleep, but a properly configured PC with a non-buggy BIOS should pop up from sleep nearly instantaneously. This is not new. This feature has worked relatively well on most Windows portables for years.
The benefit that Apple provides is that, unlike with a PC notebook, you don't have to go into some control panel and configure it to behave this way. It's the (immutable) default.
Oh. On preview:
"5. Keep all your personal files in your home folder. Keep all your apps in your Applications folder. Don't scatter stuff around the root of the hard drive or elsewhere."
If you take nothing else away from this thread, take this! It's the best information offered so far.
posted by majick at 7:18 AM on May 19, 2005
I dunno, on my campus none of the windows laptops can come up from sleep in less than 10 seconds. Sure, the screen turns on instantly, but it takes a while for the OS to be open for business. It's long enough that people won't just pop it open to check something - you only open it when you're prepared to wait. Everyone has a Dell here, so maybe that's it? I don't have any experience with other PC laptop mfgs.
posted by heresiarch at 8:20 AM on May 19, 2005
posted by heresiarch at 8:20 AM on May 19, 2005
Also, spring-loaded folders blew this Mac neophyte's mind. Drag a file over a disk or folder icon; keep the mouse button held in and watch what happens.
posted by neilkod at 5:18 AM PST
Just to let you know, this works in Windows as well.
posted by shinynewnick at 8:34 AM on May 19, 2005
posted by neilkod at 5:18 AM PST
Just to let you know, this works in Windows as well.
posted by shinynewnick at 8:34 AM on May 19, 2005
Exposé rocks!
I just got a friend to switch and what absolutely blew him away was how easy it was to upgrade the OS from 10.3 to 10.4. The Archive and Install option includes an option to migrate your user profile. It worked perfectly.
posted by glyphlet at 9:19 AM on May 19, 2005
I just got a friend to switch and what absolutely blew him away was how easy it was to upgrade the OS from 10.3 to 10.4. The Archive and Install option includes an option to migrate your user profile. It worked perfectly.
posted by glyphlet at 9:19 AM on May 19, 2005
Windows should not be maximized to fill the screen. They should only be as big as the data they need to show. MSWindows users often like to tab between maximized windows. Luckily, OS X makes this harder, because the zoom button usually doesn't maximize. But still, don't do it. You should always have some desktop in view, and you should be able to switch applications merely by clicking windows.
Learn how to use the command line, and learn basic Unix tricks.
Don't install stupid haxies and kernel extensions and plugins and so on and so forth unless you really, really, need them. They are individually harmless but they add up.
posted by yesno at 9:27 AM on May 19, 2005
Learn how to use the command line, and learn basic Unix tricks.
Don't install stupid haxies and kernel extensions and plugins and so on and so forth unless you really, really, need them. They are individually harmless but they add up.
posted by yesno at 9:27 AM on May 19, 2005
You should always have some desktop in view, and you should be able to switch applications merely by clicking windows.
This is not necessary if you put an alias to the user desktop in the Dock or make a keyboard command open the Desktop folder, both which I do.
Don't install stupid haxies and kernel extensions and plugins and so on and so forth unless you really, really, need them. They are individually harmless but they add up.
Bah. As good as it is, stock Mac OS X is just not enough. Play! Play with new software! But be prepared to troubleshoot.
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:45 AM on May 19, 2005
This is not necessary if you put an alias to the user desktop in the Dock or make a keyboard command open the Desktop folder, both which I do.
Don't install stupid haxies and kernel extensions and plugins and so on and so forth unless you really, really, need them. They are individually harmless but they add up.
Bah. As good as it is, stock Mac OS X is just not enough. Play! Play with new software! But be prepared to troubleshoot.
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:45 AM on May 19, 2005
My favorite Mac-only trick is that I haven't had to reboot for about 5 months, I think.
posted by 4easypayments at 9:49 AM on May 19, 2005
posted by 4easypayments at 9:49 AM on May 19, 2005
Window management bothered me at first on a mac, and it's still frustrating when I see non-powerusers struggling with it. Command-Tab and Command-Shift-Tab work like Alt-Tab in windows. Use them. Quicksilver can also reveal items that are already open, so it could be faster in some cases.
Exposé is fantastic. Open up a bunch of apps, and hit F9. Every window becomes visible on screen. That's pretty damn cool, isn't it? Hover over a window with the mouse to get the App/Document name and click to restore that window to the front, or, use the arrow keys to navigate them and the spacebar to select. Perhaps handier than this is the F10 function. When activated, the screen area behind your current window goes dark, and all of the windows for the current application are paned out onto the screen. Navigate through them with arrows or the mouse as before, but the best part is pressing tab and cycling through this view with all of your open applications. If you press F9 and then hit tab, it will do the same thing. F11 is also damnably useful. Press it, and every window slides out of view to reveal the desktop. You'll use this reflexively after a download to the desktop has completed.
But, seriously, Quicksilver. It's sex and a half.
posted by rfordh at 10:46 AM on May 19, 2005
Exposé is fantastic. Open up a bunch of apps, and hit F9. Every window becomes visible on screen. That's pretty damn cool, isn't it? Hover over a window with the mouse to get the App/Document name and click to restore that window to the front, or, use the arrow keys to navigate them and the spacebar to select. Perhaps handier than this is the F10 function. When activated, the screen area behind your current window goes dark, and all of the windows for the current application are paned out onto the screen. Navigate through them with arrows or the mouse as before, but the best part is pressing tab and cycling through this view with all of your open applications. If you press F9 and then hit tab, it will do the same thing. F11 is also damnably useful. Press it, and every window slides out of view to reveal the desktop. You'll use this reflexively after a download to the desktop has completed.
But, seriously, Quicksilver. It's sex and a half.
posted by rfordh at 10:46 AM on May 19, 2005
4easypayments: Not installing the security updates then, are you? ;)
The only time I have to reboot is when I have to install a security update. Which is irritating, but, oh well.
posted by litlnemo at 11:26 AM on May 19, 2005
The only time I have to reboot is when I have to install a security update. Which is irritating, but, oh well.
posted by litlnemo at 11:26 AM on May 19, 2005
Personally, I always thought the ability to get international characters with "dead keys" (i.e. typing ú with option+E then U instead of Alt+whatevernumberitis) was a huge advantage for the Mac, and one that's been around for decades on the Mac. Why do Windows people put up with Alt-number codes?
posted by wanderingmind at 11:27 AM on May 19, 2005
posted by wanderingmind at 11:27 AM on May 19, 2005
Also, spring-loaded folders blew this Mac neophyte's mind. Drag a file over a disk or folder icon; keep the mouse button held in and watch what happens....
Just to let you know, this works in Windows as well.
Really? Not on my Win2K machine. Did they enable it on XP? Are we talking about the same thing?
My favourite feature: File type-association is a property of files themselves, and not some global registry of .extensions. What does this mean to you and me? The html file I create in my favourite text editor opens in that editor when I click on it, but the website I downloaded to view later opens in my browser. Contrast this to windows, where every new graphics editor I install takes control of all my saved images.
Oh yeah, and drag and drop installs / uninstalls. This isn't just mouse-candy. When I buy a new machine, all I have to do is connect the new computer to the old one with a firewire (or ethernet) cable, then copy my applications folder, and my home folder over. With one swift drag, my new computer looks exactly like my old one. Sweet.
posted by Popular Ethics at 1:11 PM on May 19, 2005
Just to let you know, this works in Windows as well.
Really? Not on my Win2K machine. Did they enable it on XP? Are we talking about the same thing?
My favourite feature: File type-association is a property of files themselves, and not some global registry of .extensions. What does this mean to you and me? The html file I create in my favourite text editor opens in that editor when I click on it, but the website I downloaded to view later opens in my browser. Contrast this to windows, where every new graphics editor I install takes control of all my saved images.
Oh yeah, and drag and drop installs / uninstalls. This isn't just mouse-candy. When I buy a new machine, all I have to do is connect the new computer to the old one with a firewire (or ethernet) cable, then copy my applications folder, and my home folder over. With one swift drag, my new computer looks exactly like my old one. Sweet.
posted by Popular Ethics at 1:11 PM on May 19, 2005
No, spring-loaded folders do not work on XP either. Well, it works in Explorer.exe, in the Folders tree browser on the left, but Explorer.exe sucks.
posted by kindall at 1:49 PM on May 19, 2005
posted by kindall at 1:49 PM on May 19, 2005
Hardware hack for suspend on lid close:
Lift the keyboard.
Take out the little silver magnet. (it's only held there by itself)
Put the keyboard back.
No more suspend on close/wake on open. Use hot-corners or the apple menu to sleep.
posted by Crosius at 2:50 PM on May 19, 2005
Lift the keyboard.
Take out the little silver magnet. (it's only held there by itself)
Put the keyboard back.
No more suspend on close/wake on open. Use hot-corners or the apple menu to sleep.
posted by Crosius at 2:50 PM on May 19, 2005
...have it always suspend when I close the lid? This is unnecessary. Don't give me that "heat buildup" story, either, because the laptop will run while the lid is closed, if you hook up a mouse, keyboard, and monitor.
Certain Apple laptops (I think just the msot recent generation of PowerBooks?) can operate with the lid closed, but auto-sleep-on-close feature goes back many years before that functionality was available. So whether it's necessary or not depends on which model you happen to have. For example, when active, my iBook runs hot (hard drive sensor consistently reads 125-130 F) even with minimal processor usage. That temp drops down to a stable 85 F after a bit of sleep. Necessary. Whereas the PowerBook housings are supposed to be much better at dissipating heat (the store demo models certainly feel cooler than), so necessity there may be less.
On preview: Crosius, neat trick
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 2:55 PM on May 19, 2005
Certain Apple laptops (I think just the msot recent generation of PowerBooks?) can operate with the lid closed, but auto-sleep-on-close feature goes back many years before that functionality was available. So whether it's necessary or not depends on which model you happen to have. For example, when active, my iBook runs hot (hard drive sensor consistently reads 125-130 F) even with minimal processor usage. That temp drops down to a stable 85 F after a bit of sleep. Necessary. Whereas the PowerBook housings are supposed to be much better at dissipating heat (the store demo models certainly feel cooler than), so necessity there may be less.
On preview: Crosius, neat trick
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 2:55 PM on May 19, 2005
Whups. My iBook still goes to sleep when the lid-latch engages if the magnet is removed.
Can anyone else get back to me if the magnet-removal prevents sleeping on their machine?
posted by Crosius at 3:05 PM on May 19, 2005
Can anyone else get back to me if the magnet-removal prevents sleeping on their machine?
posted by Crosius at 3:05 PM on May 19, 2005
Target Disk Mode -- makes your Mac look like a hard drive on another Mac
Smart Folders (Spotlight) -- search function that keeps updating in realtime; redefines how you organize your files
Bonjour -- "Zero-config" networking. There's a version for Windows now, so it may not qualify as Mac-only
xGrid -- Network utility for clustered computing. May not be useful to you if you don't write your own software.
smart ethernet -- When doing a direct connection of two Macs with ethernet, the Macs can figure out the physical layer and don't need a crossover cable. May be available on Windows by now.
adamrice, majick -- what's your reason to keep all documents in the Home folder? I scatter mine all over the place and now I wonder if I'm missing something.
posted by joaquim at 3:22 PM on May 19, 2005
Smart Folders (Spotlight) -- search function that keeps updating in realtime; redefines how you organize your files
Bonjour -- "Zero-config" networking. There's a version for Windows now, so it may not qualify as Mac-only
xGrid -- Network utility for clustered computing. May not be useful to you if you don't write your own software.
smart ethernet -- When doing a direct connection of two Macs with ethernet, the Macs can figure out the physical layer and don't need a crossover cable. May be available on Windows by now.
adamrice, majick -- what's your reason to keep all documents in the Home folder? I scatter mine all over the place and now I wonder if I'm missing something.
posted by joaquim at 3:22 PM on May 19, 2005
"what's your reason to keep all documents in the Home folder?"
Because it's a hell of a lot easier to just back up the /Users directory (or move it to another system, or rsync it across multiple systems, or whatever...) than it is to chase a bunch of user junk down from all over the system. Managing data this way is counterintuitive to old school (singleuser OS) Mac users for whom the entire disk was considered a sort of home directory, yet second nature to Unix users.
I also keep all non-Apple installed applications in my home Applications folder, for the same reasons of manageability.
Spotlight partially mitigates the usability advantage of keeping things in your home directory, but it doesn't change the system management aspect.
posted by majick at 4:35 PM on May 19, 2005
Because it's a hell of a lot easier to just back up the /Users directory (or move it to another system, or rsync it across multiple systems, or whatever...) than it is to chase a bunch of user junk down from all over the system. Managing data this way is counterintuitive to old school (singleuser OS) Mac users for whom the entire disk was considered a sort of home directory, yet second nature to Unix users.
I also keep all non-Apple installed applications in my home Applications folder, for the same reasons of manageability.
Spotlight partially mitigates the usability advantage of keeping things in your home directory, but it doesn't change the system management aspect.
posted by majick at 4:35 PM on May 19, 2005
Yeah, I don't get that either, joaquim. OS X's insistence on shoving all my stuff into the one little folder it has delegated for my use is one of the changes that really irritated me when moving from OS 9, but I have never noticed any ill effects resulting from my refusal to play along. I pretty much ignore the home folder and organize my files on the root level just like I have always done, and it works fine.
posted by Mars Saxman at 4:38 PM on May 19, 2005
posted by Mars Saxman at 4:38 PM on May 19, 2005
"the Macs can figure out the physical layer and don't need a crossover cable. May be available on Windows by now."
Actually, just about every NIC made since the mid-90s has been capable of this, Mac, PC, or otherwise.
Target disk mode, by the way, is tremendously useful and elegantly implemented. Instead of booting the disk, it turns the entire machine into a Firewire hard drive. This feature alone can save your bacon -- and it makes migrating to another Macintosh a snap. It's also a great way to share files when you're on the go.
posted by majick at 4:45 PM on May 19, 2005
Actually, just about every NIC made since the mid-90s has been capable of this, Mac, PC, or otherwise.
Target disk mode, by the way, is tremendously useful and elegantly implemented. Instead of booting the disk, it turns the entire machine into a Firewire hard drive. This feature alone can save your bacon -- and it makes migrating to another Macintosh a snap. It's also a great way to share files when you're on the go.
posted by majick at 4:45 PM on May 19, 2005
joaquim, Mars: if you keep all your files in your own directory, then when you buy a new Mac, and boot it for the first time, and it asks if you want to disk-mode your old Mac and copy all your files and user prefs over, you'll be happy, instead of sad.
And if you ever create a non-admin user on your Mac, so you can let a friend or co-worker use it, they won't be able to read all your secret shit, because your ~/Documents folder isn't world-executable, but folders you create at the root normally are.
posted by nicwolff at 7:52 PM on May 19, 2005
And if you ever create a non-admin user on your Mac, so you can let a friend or co-worker use it, they won't be able to read all your secret shit, because your ~/Documents folder isn't world-executable, but folders you create at the root normally are.
posted by nicwolff at 7:52 PM on May 19, 2005
Target disk mode ... turns the entire machine into a Firewire hard drive. This feature alone can save your bacon -- and it makes migrating to another Macintosh a snap.
Another cool thing is the Migration Assistant that comes with new Macs and with 10.4. Hook up your old Mac in Firewire Target Disk Mode, start up the Migration Assistant on the new Mac, it copies over all your accounts, your apps, your docs, etc. and turns your new machine into a clone of your old one. (But it keeps anything new on the new machine too.)
Also, IP over FireWire can be pretty cool for ad hoc networking with other Mac-heads, because you only need the one cable instead of having to carry a FireWire cable and an Ethernet cable.
Fast user switching. Sure, Windows XP does this too, but it doesn't rotate the whole screen as if on the face of a cube to reveal the new user's session.
posted by kindall at 10:38 PM on May 19, 2005
Another cool thing is the Migration Assistant that comes with new Macs and with 10.4. Hook up your old Mac in Firewire Target Disk Mode, start up the Migration Assistant on the new Mac, it copies over all your accounts, your apps, your docs, etc. and turns your new machine into a clone of your old one. (But it keeps anything new on the new machine too.)
Also, IP over FireWire can be pretty cool for ad hoc networking with other Mac-heads, because you only need the one cable instead of having to carry a FireWire cable and an Ethernet cable.
Fast user switching. Sure, Windows XP does this too, but it doesn't rotate the whole screen as if on the face of a cube to reveal the new user's session.
posted by kindall at 10:38 PM on May 19, 2005
OS X's insistence on shoving all my stuff into the one little folder it has delegated for my use is one of the changes that really irritated me when moving from OS 9
See, this is not really something that should be any inconvenience at all, because a hierarchy rooted on your home folder can be just as deep as a hierarchy rooted on your hard disk (i.e., both can be infinitely deep). It is the same number of clicks to get to either one from the Finder sidebar, and if you're a keyboard type of person, it requires fewer keystrokes to get to your home directory than to the root of your hard disk in the Finder. Just throw an alias to your home folder on your desktop and pretend it's a hard disk.
Which reminds me of another nice Mac feature: aliases. They're like shortcuts on Windows, but they don't break when you move the target file. In fact, aliases are actually data structures, not disk files; the aliases you can make in the Finder are merely files that contain this type of data structure. Since they are data structures, apps can use them internally to keep track of where files are. So if an app's preferences have a place to select a template folder or something, the app can use an alias so it will know where the templates are even if you move the folder they're in. The Mac has had this since System 7, which came out in 1991. Windows still doesn't have it. (OS/2 had something like it, though.) You want fun, write an AppleScript that refers to a file in the form 'alias "Path:to:file"', save and close the script, move the file, and re-open the script. The script is automatically updated with the new path to the file.
posted by kindall at 10:48 PM on May 19, 2005
See, this is not really something that should be any inconvenience at all, because a hierarchy rooted on your home folder can be just as deep as a hierarchy rooted on your hard disk (i.e., both can be infinitely deep). It is the same number of clicks to get to either one from the Finder sidebar, and if you're a keyboard type of person, it requires fewer keystrokes to get to your home directory than to the root of your hard disk in the Finder. Just throw an alias to your home folder on your desktop and pretend it's a hard disk.
Which reminds me of another nice Mac feature: aliases. They're like shortcuts on Windows, but they don't break when you move the target file. In fact, aliases are actually data structures, not disk files; the aliases you can make in the Finder are merely files that contain this type of data structure. Since they are data structures, apps can use them internally to keep track of where files are. So if an app's preferences have a place to select a template folder or something, the app can use an alias so it will know where the templates are even if you move the folder they're in. The Mac has had this since System 7, which came out in 1991. Windows still doesn't have it. (OS/2 had something like it, though.) You want fun, write an AppleScript that refers to a file in the form 'alias "Path:to:file"', save and close the script, move the file, and re-open the script. The script is automatically updated with the new path to the file.
posted by kindall at 10:48 PM on May 19, 2005
OK, I see the argument for the Home folder. It looks like my setup makes that practice less than optimal for me, but I'll suggest it to friends. I generally keep my data scattered all over an external RAID, so that's why I don't use the Documents folder. My wife has her own computer and I keep an extra system available in the guest house, so there's not much call to let someone use my system.
majick, I didn't realize that auto-sensing was that ubiquitous. It's not worked for me before on PCs, so it hasn't occurred to me to try it lately. Thanks for the heads up.
I forgot one thing in Tiger that I think is really cool: RSS feed as a screen saver.
posted by joaquim at 11:13 PM on May 19, 2005
majick, I didn't realize that auto-sensing was that ubiquitous. It's not worked for me before on PCs, so it hasn't occurred to me to try it lately. Thanks for the heads up.
I forgot one thing in Tiger that I think is really cool: RSS feed as a screen saver.
posted by joaquim at 11:13 PM on May 19, 2005
It just works.
Lots of people are saying "Windows does that too". I used to be one of those people. But the difference is, on the mac, you actually use these little tricks and stuff.
* My powerbook lid gets opened and closed freely. At first I thought it was 'silly' to sleep when all i was doing was moving upstairs or something. But not now that I have come to trust it. It works. All my previous laptops (xp,2k,linux) had 'quirky' autosleep, so i turned it off. Plus, showing off my uptime at school is just too fun! 10.4.1 was my last reboot.
* Drag-drop doesn't feel like a hack, and is used much more by third-party developers. I actually used 'drag-drop snipits' the other day for the first time. Windows has a similar feature, but since only 1 in 1000 of the apps support it (office...), it didnt work out.
* Fitts law, damnit. Jam your mouse in a generally upwards direction and click. Chances are a menu will pop up on osx. Now slide left or right to bring up the correct one. This alone has reduced my menu navigation times drastically. Windows makes you click a tiny hot-spot. And XP is I think the first Windows that even uses Fitts on the start button (correct?)
* Attention to detail by third party devs. So much quality software. Signal to noise is crazy-high.
There are lots of things like this. Windows has a lot of these features, but there is a critical mass thing going on. If a feature is half-baked (for compatability reasons, or whatever) or if it is not universal, then I tend not to use it as much.
posted by clord at 1:18 AM on May 20, 2005
Lots of people are saying "Windows does that too". I used to be one of those people. But the difference is, on the mac, you actually use these little tricks and stuff.
* My powerbook lid gets opened and closed freely. At first I thought it was 'silly' to sleep when all i was doing was moving upstairs or something. But not now that I have come to trust it. It works. All my previous laptops (xp,2k,linux) had 'quirky' autosleep, so i turned it off. Plus, showing off my uptime at school is just too fun! 10.4.1 was my last reboot.
* Drag-drop doesn't feel like a hack, and is used much more by third-party developers. I actually used 'drag-drop snipits' the other day for the first time. Windows has a similar feature, but since only 1 in 1000 of the apps support it (office...), it didnt work out.
* Fitts law, damnit. Jam your mouse in a generally upwards direction and click. Chances are a menu will pop up on osx. Now slide left or right to bring up the correct one. This alone has reduced my menu navigation times drastically. Windows makes you click a tiny hot-spot. And XP is I think the first Windows that even uses Fitts on the start button (correct?)
* Attention to detail by third party devs. So much quality software. Signal to noise is crazy-high.
There are lots of things like this. Windows has a lot of these features, but there is a critical mass thing going on. If a feature is half-baked (for compatability reasons, or whatever) or if it is not universal, then I tend not to use it as much.
posted by clord at 1:18 AM on May 20, 2005
Mac OSX hints Daily hints & tips from the very basic to Un*x Druid.
MacInTouch Latest Mac news & tips on almost anything Mac-related. Scroll down for the meaty stuff...
posted by i_cola at 3:55 AM on May 20, 2005
MacInTouch Latest Mac news & tips on almost anything Mac-related. Scroll down for the meaty stuff...
posted by i_cola at 3:55 AM on May 20, 2005
Whatever F11 is called (may just be part of Exposé) where you can access the icons on your desktop without minimizing programs one by one. When I download something I can just hit F11 and it moves every window off to the side so I can see my desktop and access my icons. Whenever I use a Windows machine I get frustrated without F11.
Can Windows "hide" programs (command h)? I guess it would be minimizing, but I love having something open that doesn't take up space on my desktop.
posted by scazza at 1:16 PM on May 20, 2005
Can Windows "hide" programs (command h)? I guess it would be minimizing, but I love having something open that doesn't take up space on my desktop.
posted by scazza at 1:16 PM on May 20, 2005
(I think you can hide everything but the desktop in Windows by holding down that "Windows logo" key and pressing D. But it's been a while.)
Hmm, off the top of my head...
I like how, when you plug in the iBook (and I assume the PowerBooks) you can tell by the color of the little ring on the plug whether your machine is charging (ring is light-orange) or fully charged (ring is green). Also handy for telling if the outlet you're plugged into has power.
The little "I'm sleeping" LED on the iBook that fades in and out while the machine is closed.
Things like Growl which give you translucent pop-up-video-like alerts when the song changes in iTunes, or you get new email.
iPulse is cute in a The Death Star has cleared the planet... way, but I think I'd need a faster machine with a second monitor to find it useful. It's a little circular icon that shows, by means of colors and dots, and piecharty lines what's going on with your machine.
GmailStatus which sits in your menubar and shows the number of unread emails in your Gmail box.
Peripheral Vision which give you translucent pop-ups for when you join a network, plug in a drive, a mouse, et cetera. Useful for knowing when wireless goes down.
Audio Hijack Pro for recording streaming audio. Saving things like This American Life to MP3 so you don't have to be tied to an internet connection to listen.
PhotoGrid is handy for quickly getting an idea of the images in a folder/volume.
HTTPMail, allowing the Mail.app to grab your Hotmail dietpenismortgage spam as well as those emails from the few friends who changed to using your Gmail address yet.
The ability to have Mail.app grab your Gmails.
Expose! So useful. I've just recently changed the prefs so I can mouse to the upper-left hand corner to hide all apps, mouse to the upper left to show all open windows. Not having to take you hand off the mouse is nice.
I find that I use command-tab a lot. It brings up a swanky translucent horizontal bar of the currently running apps. Tab to the app you want and let go of the command key. Also, if you press Q while the app is highlighted it will quit the app for you. Useful for quickly quitting apps you forgot were open in the background or what-have-you. (I think this feature was added in Panther - OSX 10.3)
Chopper, a great freeware game with souped-up graphics and sound -- perfect for meeting all of your Apple ][ Choplifter! needs. And www.emulation.net for your emulation needs (running old Apple/Atari/arcade games).
And props to Apple for the iBook. My fourth machine, my third Mac, and the best I've owned. A great little machine.
posted by blueberry at 12:52 AM on May 21, 2005
Hmm, off the top of my head...
I like how, when you plug in the iBook (and I assume the PowerBooks) you can tell by the color of the little ring on the plug whether your machine is charging (ring is light-orange) or fully charged (ring is green). Also handy for telling if the outlet you're plugged into has power.
The little "I'm sleeping" LED on the iBook that fades in and out while the machine is closed.
Things like Growl which give you translucent pop-up-video-like alerts when the song changes in iTunes, or you get new email.
iPulse is cute in a The Death Star has cleared the planet... way, but I think I'd need a faster machine with a second monitor to find it useful. It's a little circular icon that shows, by means of colors and dots, and piecharty lines what's going on with your machine.
GmailStatus which sits in your menubar and shows the number of unread emails in your Gmail box.
Peripheral Vision which give you translucent pop-ups for when you join a network, plug in a drive, a mouse, et cetera. Useful for knowing when wireless goes down.
Audio Hijack Pro for recording streaming audio. Saving things like This American Life to MP3 so you don't have to be tied to an internet connection to listen.
PhotoGrid is handy for quickly getting an idea of the images in a folder/volume.
HTTPMail, allowing the Mail.app to grab your Hotmail dietpenismortgage spam as well as those emails from the few friends who changed to using your Gmail address yet.
The ability to have Mail.app grab your Gmails.
Expose! So useful. I've just recently changed the prefs so I can mouse to the upper-left hand corner to hide all apps, mouse to the upper left to show all open windows. Not having to take you hand off the mouse is nice.
I find that I use command-tab a lot. It brings up a swanky translucent horizontal bar of the currently running apps. Tab to the app you want and let go of the command key. Also, if you press Q while the app is highlighted it will quit the app for you. Useful for quickly quitting apps you forgot were open in the background or what-have-you. (I think this feature was added in Panther - OSX 10.3)
Chopper, a great freeware game with souped-up graphics and sound -- perfect for meeting all of your Apple ][ Choplifter! needs. And www.emulation.net for your emulation needs (running old Apple/Atari/arcade games).
And props to Apple for the iBook. My fourth machine, my third Mac, and the best I've owned. A great little machine.
posted by blueberry at 12:52 AM on May 21, 2005
Response by poster: Thanks everyone... all this stuff is much appreciated and *exactly* what I was looking for. The iBook is ordered and on its way...
posted by humuhumu at 2:37 PM on May 21, 2005
posted by humuhumu at 2:37 PM on May 21, 2005
I generally keep my data scattered all over an external RAID, so that's why I don't use the Documents folder.
But you can! Just replace the Documents folder with an alias to the RAID volume called "Documents". Best of both worlds! Or, do this with your whole home directory, to RAID-protect your Library, Music, &c. as well.
posted by nicwolff at 8:24 PM on May 21, 2005
But you can! Just replace the Documents folder with an alias to the RAID volume called "Documents". Best of both worlds! Or, do this with your whole home directory, to RAID-protect your Library, Music, &c. as well.
posted by nicwolff at 8:24 PM on May 21, 2005
Hey, do you all know that the Command-Tab and Exposé keyboard commands are still available while you're dragging a file from the Finder? That's handy.
posted by nicwolff at 8:26 PM on May 21, 2005
posted by nicwolff at 8:26 PM on May 21, 2005
Liteswitch X makes Command-Tab much more powerful. You can drag onto the application icons, hide/show/quit/force-quit with a keystroke, and more.
posted by nicwolff at 8:46 PM on May 21, 2005
posted by nicwolff at 8:46 PM on May 21, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by qwip at 5:15 AM on May 19, 2005