be forewarned that these commands are tweaks that won't be covered by apple support.
Excellent article, I believe the transparency for hidden applications and using widgets on the desktop are the only ones I would possibly use though.
The only problem I saw on face value with putting widgets on the desktop is that they stay above the dock and everything Finder.
Safari debug tip has never worked for me with v2 (2.0.4). Maybe it's because I don't have com.apple.safari....
These are great! Any more?
Anyone know how to change Mail.app's scroll/select behavior?
I'd like to be able to shift-arrow-up to select up, but be able to shft-arrow-down to unselect the last selected message. Ala Thunderbird and every other app. Thanks!
How about shell commands/unix?
-
http://www.WindowsVistaUserGuide.com
Those are great tips. I don't like having to open Onyx just to show hidden files so I can upload a .htaccess then change it back. Is there a way to make that into a clickable script?
I had one problem with placing the widgets on the desktop...once you reverse the command, the widgets don't automatically go away. You have to open the Dashboard, click the "+", then click "Manage" and de-select the widgets you placed on the Desktop to take them off the Desktop. Just thought this might help.
They mentioned the killall Dock thing...
if you hold shift and collapse a window it goes slowly into the dock. if you do a killall Dock command in the terminal while it's collapsing, the window freezes in it's squished state, while still allowing you to scroll in it and click links (although the links will be in their original location).
Now, if only some clever Macdev would hack together a nice GUI, or even a PreferencePane, that would just soak up some awesomeness.
The screensaver running as backdrop sounds really neat, which I may give a whirl, but imagine it would just chew up cycles..
I came across this:
http://www.hawkwings.net/2005/10...ails-dock-icon/
Which let me change my Mail.app icon. Neat!
@Brandon Hopkins
http://automatorworld.com/downlo...idden-
files.zip
Automator Script for showing/hiding hidden folders
number 9 is missing the defaults write command. good list.
@Michael
Try holding the Option key before moving a widget.
Changing the defaults really isn't necessary for the widget-on-the-desktop feature.
One issue I came across was when choosing to display hidden files, the icons on my desktop which were individual files became faded. Volumes shone through full-strength. A minor price to pay for displaying " . " files in the finder, though!
Is it possible to make the icons in the dock translucent, as in tip #1, when I minimize an app in the dock rather than when i hide it?
"Is it possible to make the icons in the dock translucent, as in tip #1, when I minimize an app in the dock rather than when i hide it?"
Not that I know of. The problem is you are minimizing one window rather than the whole app, so they are treated as two seperate things (even if there is only one window open for that app).
There may be a trick to do it that I'm not aware of, but it certainly won't be as easy as typing one line into the Terminal.
One time, a while ago, I did the translucent icons in the dock thing and it caused the dock to give me problems.
An alternate to Onyx is TinkerTool
If you deactivate the Widgets on desktop thing, you can easily close the widgets by holding option when you mouse over the widget. Thus creating a small X to close it with. See here for more details.
Thanks for writing up the article!
MacTipper
My Mac Blog
#9 "Skip disk image verification" is a terrible idea! For the couple seconds save, you installing risk corrupted data.
I tried using #5. Opened the terminal and cut and pasted the command. Pressed enter. Adobe Acrobat still gives me short-form save boxes. Just to be sure I closed and restarted Acrobat. No change. I restarted the computer. Same deal. What might I be doing wrong?
@Chris Peterson
Admittedly skipping verification is potentially risky, however I have never had it fail. That implies that up to now I could have skipped it every time and never had a problem.
Despite that, you are correct in saying that there is a risk, and people disabling the verification should be aware of that.
Ben Alpers:
That's because the hint is wrong. Setting the value "NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode" only affects applications that use "NSNavPanel" - i.e., Cocoa applications. Acrobat is a Carbon application that calls Nav Services directly, not with the Cocoa wrapper.
I don't know of a global preference key to change Nav Services for all Carbon applications, but then again, I use Default Folder X for full customization of both Cocoa and Carbon dialogs, so mine are always expanded. Great investment for power users from St. Clair Software.
Why mess with a great OS ? I hope none of you are Honda auto mechanics !
@ michael
You can also just do the reverse of what you did to get it on the desktop, i.e. hold the widget and press the dashboard hotkey to place it back in dashboard.
That iTunes thing is awesome!!!!!!!
What I would love to see is the ability to modify your files and folders from other windows other than the main finder window. I hate when I'm saving a file or opening a file from within an app and notice a file or folder is spelled wrong, or needs to be rearranged, etc.Then I have to make a mental note to come back to this point in Finder (which I never do).
The article is quite informative.
The placement of 'Ads by Google', 'Ads by ActionAds', etc... - in the body of the article is annoying.
The random generation of 'Dynamic Context Loaded' links is misleading and pathetic.
You can get the same effect as tip number two if you hold down control as you click on the arrow.
Note: I have only tested this is the Windows version of iTunes (My next computer is going to be a Mac.), but I would be surprised if didn't work on the Mac version.
You're right, except that on the Mac version you have to hold Option (Alt) instead of control.
Using control just brings up the contextual menu.
i tried the setting screensaver on desktop tip via the terminal but kept getting this message in terminal:
-bash: /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/
Resources/: is a directory
and then nothing more would happen!!
If you copy and paste number 6, it puts a space after "...Resources/" as the command is split between two lines.
Try copy/pasting the first line and then the second line separately, or just type the command in.
Matt,
Thanks for the info. Yup, it works.
The terminal hack for turning a screen saver into wallpaper was a bit advanced for me. So after searching google I found a program that does exactly that, but with one click.
The program is called Wallsaver and its a free download from this website: http://www.nwwnetwork.net/softwa...p?
app=wallsaver
The author (aparently from his blog) works for Apple, and it shows in how easy the application is to use and it even looks nice too!
How do you get finder to sort column view so that Folders are always on top?
That is the #1 reason why I can't put up with using finder. And probably the main reason why PathFinder has sales.
Good advices - thanx.
Btw: "If you post a comment on someone else's blog, and you include your own url, Google will pick this up as a link" - free SEO
the screensaver command doesnt work
Someone asked about a clickable show/hide system files script.
Well you can download just that as an app from HERE
Ron
hey is there a terminal command to unlock all the prefernces? tht wuld be awesome
I tried number 3, and the widgets are showing up on top of all windows. Is this supposed to happen?
does this work on leopard????
AW
Yes, everything should work in leopard
I cant get the hidden icons one (the 1st ) to work any tips?
hi
Anyone know if there's a way to change the desktop background (as opposed to the login window background), and change the system preference settings like "Centered" vs "Stretched", along with the desktop background fill colour?
So far, the only thing I can do is overwrite whatever file is being used, and reboot the machine. This seems inelegant.
Thanks.
cool, i always run maintenance commands, keeps the mac runnin' smooth:
sudo sh /etc/daily
sudo sh /etc/weekly
sudo sh /etc/monthly
for the dock one just hold down the left mouse button and press f4 to take/put back items
I can't seem to make this work, can someone help me? I'm trying the dashboard one, please help.
