New to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is the ability to resize any window from any corner or side, just grab onto it, and when your cursor turns into the little double-sided arrow, start dragging. That’s a great addition, but it’s even better when some modifier keys are applied. OSX Daily has the scoop on how to take advantage of a few window resizing options.
Tagged: Lion
Run Lion’s AirDrop on older and unsupported Macs also running Lion
OS X Lion's AirDrop can work on older Macs with just a few Terminal commands
When Apple released OS X 10.7 Lion, they introduced a small but extremely useful feature for anyone with more than one Mac on the same network called AirDrop. While we’ve always had the ability to connect to other Macs with File Sharing turned on, it’s never been as easy as it is with AirDrop. The only problem: AirDrop only works with newer Macs. I have a 2006 MacPro, and was extremely disappointed when I found out AirDrop wouldn’t work. Thankfully, there is a simple work-around that got it working for me.
The first thing you need to know is that the unsupported Mac must be on the same WiFi or ethernet network, and also that you must run the commands below on ALL the Macs you wish to use AirDrop with, even if one or more of them already support AirDrop.
To get AirDrop running, type the following in the Terminal application:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 1- Hit the Enter key
killall Finder- Hit the Enter key
After you perform these commands on each Mac on your network, you should be able to see your Macs when you click on the AirDrop icon in the Finder window sidebar.
Look up words with Lion’s Dictionary shortcut
I actually own a paperback dictionary, it’s sitting on my bookshelf where it has been collecting dust for quite a long time. The reason is that OS X offers a dictionary application, a Dashboard Widget to help you without flipping through pages of tiny text.
OS X Lion offers you the ability to look up the definition of any word you can select in native applications like Safari, Mail or TextEdit. Simply select the word you wish to look-up by double-clicking it, right-click and choose “Look up…” from the contextual menu.
The resulting pop-up displays results from Dictionary and Wikipedia, and clicking the results allows you to view more about the definition.
Lion’s Mission Control keyboard shortcuts
Mac OS X Lion brought us Mission Control, which brings together Exposé, Dashboard, Spaces, and full-screen apps to give you one place to see and navigate everything running on your Mac.I was never a fan of Exposé, Dashboard or Space in previous OS X releases, but when full-screen apps came to Lion, I found it to be a dramatically different experience. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend you give it a chance. To make working with Mission Control easier, Apple have included a few keyboard shortcuts.
Invoke Mission Control
Control + Up Arrow or F3
Return to Desktop from within Mission Control
Control + Down Arrow or F3
Switch between Spaces
Control + Right or Left Arrow
Quickly gather multiple files into a folder in OS X Lion
Select multiple files in the Finder, right-click and choose New Folder with Selection
A handy little feature of Mac OS X Lion is the ability to quickly organize your files.
The Graphic Mac Link Box #6: Mac OS X edition
A collection of interesting or otherwise helpful links I’ve come across recently that you may not have seen, all focused on Mac OS X:
Steve: Who’s Going to Protect Us From Cheap and Mediocre Now?
Until the last sinew, the last synapse gives up, Steve Jobs will continue to influence the company he co-founded and later recreated. This article takes a look back at how Steve Jobs protected us from mediocre technology, and how Apple will continue to do so.
Things Mac OS X
While this web page has some outdated information, the list of Mac OS X resources is fairly extensive. The categories include browsers, FTP apps, databases, security, GUI and more. I love sites like this because I always seem to come across an app or a bit of information that I didn’t know about.
Shrine of Apple
If you’re an Apple fan (which I assume you are if you’re reading this), then you need to check out Shrine of Apple. It’s a new website that aims to photograph every Apple product ever made, right down to adapters and cables. They’ve got quite a collection already.
OS X Lion GUI PSD files
If you’re a developer, or just want to comp-up some OS X GUI elements, you can grab the fresh-out-of-the-oven Mac OS X Lion GUI Elements. You can grab Lion UI Kit here, or OS X Lion GUI Kit here. Thanks to OSXDaily for finding these layered Photoshop files.
Lion’s Mail Favorite bar
Of course you know your web browser has a favorite bar (bookmark bar), but did you know Mac OS X Lion’s Mail app has one that you can customize with your preferred mailboxes. As a bonus, you can use keyboard shortcuts to access them.
The Graphic Mac Link Box #5
A collection of interesting or otherwise helpful links I’ve come across recently that you may not have seen:
9 Things you should do after installing OS X Lion
No operating system is perfect, though. At least, not for everyone, and especially not right out of the (non-existent) box. Looking to make your Lion experience that much better, we’ve bundled together a bevy of tips and tricks that you really ought to have ready on your first trip into the new OS.
What Potential Impact Can HTML5 Have on SEO?
How might HTML5 change the way we approach SEO? What are the possible impacts of HTML5 in search engine algorithms? A few questions answered in this informative article.
10 Free Slab Serif Fonts
You can never have too many fonts available. This is a small, but nice collection.
Instaport for Instagram
A simple way to export all your Instagram photos to other social services or your local hard drive.
40 High-Quality InDesign Tutorials
New to Adobe InDesign? DesignMag has a great collection of informative tutorials to help you learn the ins-and-outs of the most popular page layout and design application.
9 tips for emailing important people (clients)
Here are 9 top-notch tips for writing emails that make it as easy as possible for the recipient to send you a response.
Customize your OS X Lion installation with these Terminal hacks
Lion has brought lots of small tweaks and changes to the Mac OS, and some people don’t like those changes. Here are a few ways you can change things using the Terminal in Mac OSX Lion to customize the OS to your liking.Key Repeat
When holding a key down on your keyboard, Lion now offers a pop-up displaying the accent characters available by default, instead of simply repeating the character.
- Turn on key-repeat (turning off the accent character pop-up):
- c
defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false
Extensis updates Fusion to support Mac OS X Lion and Adobe Creative Suite 5.5
The Suitcase Fusion 3 update is available as a FREE download for the Suitcase Fusion 3 application on Macintosh and Windows operating systems.
This release updates Suitcase Fusion 3 for compatibility with Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion).
The new plug-ins automatically activate the exact fonts required for each file using the patented Font Sense™ technology to create a unique fingerprint for each font. Adobe Creative Suite auto-activation plug-ins now include:
- Adobe InDesign® CS3, CS4, CS5, and CS5.5
- Adobe Illustrator® CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.1 (shipping with CS5.5)
- Adobe Photoshop® CS4, CS5, CS5.1 (shipping with CS5.5)
Existing Suitcase Fusion 3 users may obtain the new plug-ins through the Check for Updates features of Suitcase Fusion 3.
Changing OS X Lion’s Mission Control and Dashboard image backgrounds
Swapping your Mission Control background image is actually quite simple
As soon as I installed Mac OS X Lion I began playing around with all the new features. Naturally, Mission Control and Dashboard were two of the first things I tried. I immediately hated the image backgrounds Apple chose to use and began searching for a way to alter them. It didn’t take long, and it’s quite simple to do. Here are are the instructions. (more…)