Join Rob Griffiths and various Macworld experts in this hand-picked cornucopia of tips for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. You'll find basic tips for any Mac user as well as power-user tweaks that use incantations in Terminal—and sometimes AppleScript—to go way beyond the basics. Along with an excellent collection of navigation tips—with interesting ideas for using Spaces, the Dock, Exposé, and more—you'll find tips on system-wide features like keyboard shortcuts and Snow Leopard's new text expansion option, and printing and networking.
The ebook particularly covers Safari (disable in-browser PDF viewing), Mail (remove the RSS folder), iCal (link an event to an email message), iChat (control iTunes with chat messages), Address Book (printing mailing labels), Preview (move and delete pages in a PDF), and Photo Booth (turn off the flash). The ebook also discusses tricks related to taking screenshots.
If you've wondered about using Unix commands in Terminal to customize your Mac, the book covers the basics and has a generous collection of tips sprinkled throughout that will get you typing (or pasting) simple command strings in order to tweak your Mac. It also has info for those who are already comfortable with Terminal.
These are just some of the many cool things you'll learn how to do: • Show the weather forecast right in iCal. • Select an Exposé window by (starting to type its) name. • Send an SMS message from iChat. • Change the a default duration for new iCal events. • Print non-contiguous pages from Preview. • Show the path bar on the top of your Finder windows. • See what you've added to the Mac OS X spelling dictionary. • Monitor Spotlight's progress while it indexes your drive. • Turn down the volume on a Mac without the loud volume-change beep. • Delete a message in Mail without automatically opening the next one. • Type a keyboard shortcut for showing hidden files in the Open dialog.
Table of Contents
System Settings
• Preference Basics Customized System Preferences are the key to a happy Mac-user experience. These handpicked system tweaks will get you started.
• Ins and Outs of Accounts User accounts can be employed in a variety of unexpected ways, including to delete stubborn files.
• Keyboard, Mouse, and Trackpad Panes Power up your peripherals with these settings tips, including how to use the new Services features.
• Universal Access Tricks Universal Access preferences make things easier for people with disabilities. These hints can help out all Mac users.
Navigate Snow Leopard
• Finder The Finder does so much more in OS X than just find things. Discover how to take Snow Leopard navigation to the next level by learning the lesser-known tricks the Finder has up its sleeve, like using hidden canned searches.
• Dock Figure out how to best take advantage of the Dock and its sidekick, Stacks, with these twists on OS X’s organizational mainstay.
• Quick Look The supersleek image viewing tool Quick Look has more power than its simple interface lets on. Take some time to explore its many functions.
• Spaces Bring order to a cluttered desktop or an elaborate multiscreen setup with Spaces. These tips will help you set up and move around your spaces like a pro.
• Exposé Don’t let a glut of open windows confuse and overwhelm you—step back and get the big picture with Exposé.
Search Your System
• Run Smart Searches OS X’s searching tool Spotlight casts a wide and smart net. Use these indispensable Spotlight searching secrets and you’ll never lose a file again.
• Customize Spotlight Make Spotlight work for you by customizing the way it operates. You can choose exactly which folders and drives it searches.
• Supercharge Searches in Terminal When you need to add extra strength to your searches, try these Terminal methods. We’ll walk you through running a live search, how to search for hidden files, and tricks for using metadata.
• Get Connected Set up and troubleshoot your network and peripheral connections with these can’t-miss hints. We break down the steps for adding functions to Apple’s Screen-Sharing tool and teach you the best way to switch between wireless networks.
• Power Up Printing Don’t just print—print smarter with these clever shortcuts. They’ll show you how to uncover hidden printing preferences and the best way to quickly cancel print jobs.
Safari
• Surf Faster Learn how a skilled surfer gets around the web in Apple’s browser with these excellent Safari hints.
• Expand Safari's Powers Customize Safari and add more powers to its arsenal, including sorting bookmarks.
Communication Essentials
• Mail Don’t just send and receive messages in Apple Mail; organize, personalize, and synchronize with these hints.
• iCal These iCal tips show you how to link e-mail messages to events, merge calendars, and view your schedule in cover flow mode.
• iChat iChat doesn’t just talk, it also sends data—and it works on mobile devices, so it goes where you go.
• Address Book Dig into these tips for keeping your Address Book in order and for combining multiple e-mail messages to print together.
Text & Graphics
• Do More with Preview These hints show you what OS X’s little tool is really capable of doing.
• Work with Text Learn the best tricks for working with fonts and adding symbols, as well as how to use Snow Leopard’s new substitutions features.
• Have Fun with Photo Booth Impress your friends with these neat Photo Booth tricks, which take advantage of your Mac’s built-in camera.
• Take Screenshots Being able to take screenshots is a great and underappreciated OS X feature. Do more with these shortcuts and settings.
Working in Terminal
• Terminal Basics This introduction to using the command line includes a crash course on the anatomy of a command and steps for copying files and combining different commands.
• Do More with Terminal Like everything in OS X, Terminal has its share of tricks and secrets. Discover goodies like navigating with tabs and opening folders.
• Command-Line Lifesavers Dabbling in Terminal shouldn’t be taken lightly. This section explains what commands require extra care, as well as what measures you can take to minimize the risk.
| Version 1.0 | 2 sold
Very Good (/5)
