Task Manager Many new Mac users are coming from the Windows world where they would access the Task Manager to end tasks and stop errant processes. The Mac has it’s own Task Manager but it goes by another name: Activity Monitor. Activity Monitor functions in a very similar way to how Task Manager does in Windows, letting you easily view, manage, and end tasks, applications, and any active processes that are running in Mac OS X. If you’re unfamiliar with Activity Monitor or task management on the Mac in general, don’t worry, because despite it’s immense power and control, it’s not complicated to use. The Mac Task Manager Despite being named Activity Monitor many Mac switchers continue to refer to the utility as the Windows name of Task Manager, keep in mind that regardless of the lingo used it’s the same application utility being discussed and used. Remember, the Task Manager for Mac = Activity Monitor! Using the Task Manager in Mac OS X Access the Mac Task Manager
OSX Lion – Fullscreen ‘ALL’ apps with maximizer | the caffeine adventures One of OSx Lion’s greatest new features is the ability to fullscreen apps by simply clicking the expand button on the top right of a window. While this works great with applications that have been updated to make use of these new features a lot of legacy applications or even programs that have not been built specifically for OSx (a lot of IDEs like netBeans) do not have this feature added which is where this application comes in. Maximizer will allow you to fullscreen any cocoa based app (at least it claims to!) Maximizer was developed by chpwn, who you may recognise as one of the big players in early iPhone hacking (jailbreaking) and he still does a lot for the iPhone jailbreaking community today. How to install Maximizer Issues Sometimes can cause a graphical distortion on apps which aren’t supported such as the Mac App StoreAgain in the Mac App Store when it is actually full screen sometimes the colours can invert on the navigation icons (see below) Like this: Like Loading...
14 Must-Know Tips & Tricks for Mac OS X We often get asked what the single most useful Mac tip is, or what a handful of the best tricks are. It’s impossible to answer such a question given the diversity of use cases of OS X, but here’s a collection of what are surely some of the absolute best tips for Mac OS X that should be considered must-knows for all Mac users. We’ve covered just about all of these on an individual basis before, but if you want to learn a whole lot in one sitting you’re in the right place. Show Hidden Files in Open & Save Dialog Windows Have you ever wanted to access a hidden file from an Open window or Save dialog? Go To Folder Hitting Command+Shift+G in the Finder brings up a Go To Folder dialog, this is without a doubt the fastest way to navigate deep into the OS X filesystem. Instant Image Slideshow Anywhere in OS X Finder Instant Focus Mode, Hide All Windows Except Foreground App Tired of having a million windows open, cluttering your workspace? Hide Current Application & Current Windows
Official Windows Media Player on the Mac - Overview - Telestream Flip4Mac The official Windows Media player on the Mac Easy to install & use Flip4Mac components install seamlessly and can be accessed through your System Preferences. Using OS X 10.9 Mavericks? The official solution Developed by Telestream and distributed by Microsoft, Flip4Mac components are the most trusted solution with professional support, stability, and official support from Microsoft. Upgrade for more options The free player lets you watch Windows Media on your Mac. Unlock more features from within the application to be able to import, edit and convert Windows Media. Brilliant playback on Retina Displays With Flip4Mac, your videos look crisp and clear even on the highest resolution Retina Display monitors. Unique QuickTime integration Only Flip4Mac provides official Windows Media support in QuickTime to allow Windows Media playback in Apple's default QuickTime Player* as well as in other QuickTime-based applications. *Watermark shown in sandboxed applications. Unique Mail preview Pro Flip4Mac
Slow Mac Performance? Learn How To Solve It Your Mac isn’t what it used to be, it starts to feel sluggish, slow and unresponsive. Sometimes when this happen people go out and just buys a new computer or learns to live with it. Want a quick fix to try right now? Jump down to number 7 in this list. I dont get it. 1. Granted the Mac can be turned on for weeks or months without any serious problems, every now and then a restart is recommended. 2. When you install applications during the time you use your Mac some of them might add themselves in Startup Items. 3. While we still have System Preferences open take a look under the section called Other. 4. All these widgets are nice to have but they also take up valuable resources from your computer. You can actually close down the dashboard completely if you seldom or never use it. defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES and killall Dock This will close down the dashboard completely and not load it at all. 5. Time Machine is a good backup solution. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. PS.
MacPilot: Easy Access to Advanced OS X Preferences If you’re an AppStorm reader, then there’s a good chance you are a Mac user. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you’re pretty happy with the experience. You’re probably wandering about this site, checking out a few cool Mac applications and maybe looking to learn a thing or two about your fancy machine. The Terminal is the command line for your Mac and can be used, among other things, to really fine tune the Mac OS experience. But what if there was a way to make all of those little system tweaks and changes while steering completely clear of Terminal? What Does MacPilot Do? There are a plethora of hidden features available to all of us Mac OS X users. MacPilot is here to help. MacPilot also has a host of other Mac maintenance and system capabilities. The Interface MacPilot is not a flashy piece of software – and that’s fine. The software is organized in a way that makes all of the features pretty easy to find. Functionality Run Terminal Commands Here’s a simple example. Pricing
9 Photo Management Apps for OS X With digital cameras becoming ever cheaper and easier to use, just about everyone is a photographer these days – Mac users are no exception. I’ve been searching for the perfect photo management software for my Mac to help me keep my photographs organized and tagged. My requirements aren’t too complex; an app which is both effective, yet simple to use. This is a selection of various photo management software for the Mac, ranging from a simple and inexpensive solution for an amateur to use, through to applications with a range of complex features. iPhoto iPhoto iPhoto from Apple is a great photo management app. Price: $79 (part of iLife, bundled for free with Mac) Developer: Apple Picasa Picasa Picasa is a photo management software from Google. The developers have recently integrated facial recognition into the application which is a great addition to the existing set of features. Price: Free Developer: Google Fotonauts Fotonauts Fotonauts is a relatively new entrant in this space. Flickery
Using Rbenv to Manage Multiple Versions of Ruby - Mischa Taylor's Coding Blog Updated December 15th, 2013: Updated install link for homebrew, it has changed Updated Xcode install instructions for Mac OS X Mavericks Bumped ruby 1.9.3 version from 1.9.3p448 to 1.9.3p484 Bumped ruby 2.0.0 version from 2.0.0p247 to 2.0.0p353 Updated July 9th, 2013: Bumped ruby 1.9.3 version from 1.9.3p429 to 1.9.3p448 Bumped ruby 2.0.0 version from 2.0.0p195 to 2.0.0p247 Removed openssl workaround for compiling ruby 2.0.0 on Mac OS X - this has been fixed Out of the box, Ruby does not provide a mechanism to support multiple installed versions. Rbenv is supported on Linux and Mac OS X. NOTE: Rbenv is incompatible with RVM because RVM overrides the gem command with a function. $ rvm implode $ gem uninstall rvm Then remove/comment out the RVM loader line in .bash_profile and/or .bashrc Install Rbenv and Ruby 1.9.x - Mac OS X First you’ll need to install a C compiler and some other command line tools to build Ruby from source. Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9 $ xcode-select --install $ exec $SHELL -l
Add the Voice of Siri to Mac OS X If you bought a new Mac with OS X Lion (or later) pre-installed you probably already have the voice of Siri enabled by default. Siri is actually called “Samantha”, but if you upgraded to OS X Lion manually from Snow Leopard you may have missed the addition of Siri’s voice completely, so here’s how to add it to a Mac. Launch System Preferences from the Apple menu and click on “Speech”Click the “Text to Speech” tab and then click the pulldown menu next to “System Voice”Choose “Customize” from the dropdown menuCheck the box next to “Samantha”, a notification will be added to the window saying the voice will be automatically downloaded, click “OK” to start the voice downloadConfirm at the next screen to install the Samantha voice by clicking “Install”When finished, verify that the voice is selected to use it as your default text to speech voice in Mac OS X, click “Play” to hear the voice sample
MacStories Check Hard Drive Health of a Mac with Disk Utility It’s a good idea to check the hard drive health of a Mac as part of a periodic maintenance routine. Doing this is extremely easy with Disk Utility, and we’ll cover exactly how to verify hard disks, how to repair them, and what to do if you encounter any issues or errors in the process. This works for all hard drives, whether it’s an internal drive, an external drive, or a boot disk, though the process is slightly different for boot drives. Let’s begin. Checking Hard Drive Health The first thing you’ll want to do is check the hard drive health, this is done with a process called verification, and it’s quite simple: Launch Disk Utility, found within the /Applications/Utilities folderSelect the Mac hard drive from the left side menu and click on the “First Aid” tabClick on “Verify Disk” in the lower right corner and let it run Repairing a Boot Disk with Disk Utility Before proceeding it’s a good idea to backup your drive quickly with Time Machine.