Mac OS X 10.1.x Tips: 20 Tips & Techniques for users of Mac OS X 10.1 or newer

There are a number of new features in Mac OS X 10.1 that are designed to improve the system's suitability for an application that has long -- some might say  always -- been a key strength of the Mac platform: graphics. In this collection of tips and techniques, we'll look at how you can make the best use of these new capabilities.

1. To change file associations:

• Select one JPEG file
• Open Get Info (show Info)
• Select Preview as the opening app
• Hit the CHANGE ALL button

Now every JPEG on the system opens in Preview!
[Attribution: MacInTouch]

2. StuffIt users: Press Cmd-Shift-i with a file selected. StuffIt MagicMenu brings up a different show info window, with two tabs: General and Permissions. You can edit the Type/Creator codes from the General tab. [Attribution: MacInTouch]

3. Apple has enhanced AppleScript by adding a number of Toolbar AppleScript capabilities, including the ability to create an image catalog of HTML pages, perform batch conversions and create slide shows.
[Attribution: MacInTouch]

4. The F12 key opens and closes the CD/DVD tray on most Macs running OS X 10.1.
[Attribution: MacFixIt]

5. OS X can now copy and paste files between different locations in the Finder.

6. The Disk Utility in 10.1 supports RAID configuration of multiple hard drives. Disk Utility is also used to erase CDRW discs.

7. Command-click menu extras such as the clock or new options like the Display and Sound controls to rearrange them, or drag them off the menu bar to make them disappear.

8. Screen Captures are back! Command-Shift-3 captures your entire display in a TIFF file called Picture.tiff and saves the file to your desktop. Command-Shift-4 turns your cursor into cross hairs, allowing you to select exactly which section of your desktop you want to capture.

9. Although Apple supports the installation of OS X only on G3 or G4 machines, Other World Computing offers a freeware utility called XPostFacto (formerly known as Unsupported UtilityX) at its Web site. This utility allows OS X to be installed on certain (PCI) PowerMacs from the original CD, with only three more mouse clicks than required by Apple's standard installer. Read more,,,,

10. Apparently, we must profess ignorance as to the purpose of the following tip to avoid breaking the law, so here's a paraphrased version of the info MacFixIt was forced by Apple's legal dept. to pull from its web site:

• Create a disk image of the Update CD.
• Delete the CheckforOSX file from the Essentials.pkg file in System/Installation/Packages folder of the image file. [You need to use the Open Package Contents contextual menu item to access this file.]
• Burn the image to a CD using Disk Copy.

See slashdot.org for further details.

11. Enable the "universal access" feature and you can have a mouse-free Mac with OS X by pressing Control + F2.12. A list of helpful Mac OS X troubleshooting tips is posted at http://www.macworld.com/2001/10/features/firstaid.html

13. The Fool notes that Apple already has most of the same desktop and network integration features in OS X that Microsoft's .NET technology is promising. Here's how to enable it: In OS X, open 'System Preferences', go to the 'Sharing' panel, the 'Application' tab, and click the checkbox for 'Allow Remote Apple events'.

You've just made every application on your system that can be scripted with AppleScript (most of them) into network-aware, net-enabled, application services. The network transmission is done via the open standard SOAP, exactly the same communication protocol that .NET is supposed to use.

14. Dr. Mac asks: "What has 65 pages, 32,000+ words, and over 100 images, yet costs you nothing until you're convinced it's worth paying for?"  Read more about a shareware mini-book (PDF) of Mac OS X tips and tricks at OSXFAQ.

15. In Mac OS X 10.1.3, if you hold down the shift key while logging in, startup items in your Login Control Panel do not launch.

16. It's probably a bad idea to move anything that Mac OS X installs from its default place. That includes moving stuff around and making aliases. See the Feb. 22 entry by Nick Zitzmann at MacInTouch for the reason(s) why.

Speaking of moving stuff around, be careful of the free SwapCop utility or similar "move your swap partition" hacks. Accelerate Your Mac has some notes and warnings. (By the way, v1.1.2 and earlier releases of this tool no longer work in Jaguar.)

17. Looking to expand your Digital Hub? Apple has updated its list of supported cameras and supported CD burners in Mac OS X 10.1.3.

18. Starting with OS X 10.1.2, you have to hold the F12 key down for about a half second to invoke the Eject CD command. Previous releases ejected the disk immediately when this key was pressed.

19. Setting up a Firewall or enabling IP sharing in OS X is easy with the US$25 shareware title Brickhouse, notes Low End Mac.

20. OS X offers at least five different ways to force-quit an errant application. You can select Force Quit from the Apple Menu, press Command+Option+Esc to call up the Force Quit dialog, option-click the Dock icon, or invoke the Terminal/Top or Process Viewer... Another way to do it is to log in from a remote computer.