Mac OS X Tiger Timesaving Techniques

Saving Time with This Book

The Timesaving Techniques For Dummies books focus on high-payoff tech¬niques that save you time, either immediately or over the long haul. And these books get to the point in a hurry, with step-by-step instructions to take you through the tasks you need to do, without any of the fluff you don’t want. We’ve identified more than 60 techniques that Mac OS X Tiger users need to know to make the most of their computers. In addition, each technique includes lots of figures that make following along a breeze. Decide for yourself how to use this book: Read it cover to cover if you like, or skip right to the technique that interests you the most.

In Mac OS X Tiger Timesaving Techniques For Dummies, you can find out how to

* Tame time-consuming tasks: Because we demystify the inner workings of Mac OS X Tiger for you, letting you in on more than 60 tips and tricks along the way, you can spend more time making computer magic and less time fussing around.

* Take your skills up a notch: You’re already familiar with the basics of using Mac OS X. Now this book takes you to the next level, helping you become an even savvier Mac user. The things you’ll discover will amaze your friends, scare your enemies, and duly impress your boss.

* Customize Mac OS X to meet your needs:
Spending some upfront time customizing Mac OS X so that it works faster, more reliably, and more like how you work on a daily basis can save you time (and aggravation) later. Even if you’re not an organized person by habit, rest assured that at least your Mac will be in shipshape condition.

What’s New in Tiger

Tiger has big new features and applications as well as nice, little additions to existing software. On the big scale, there is Spotlight, a most excellent search tool for finding things on your computer (see Technique 21). There is also Dashboard, a widget mechanism that’s part of Exposé (Technique 15), which is both cool and useful. Last, in Part IX of the book, you find out how to use Automator, our new best friend.

If you’re the kind of person that appreciates the little things, you’ll like the Safari changes, like the ability to access RSS feeds (in you don’t know what these are, march on over to Technique 30). You might also enjoy the transformation of iChat AV, which can now do video or audio conferencing (Technique 36). These are just a few of the 150 changes Apple says are in Tiger. We haven’t counted them all ourselves, but we do like what we see and think you will, too.

Apple also added a whole slew of other behind-the-scenes features to Tiger: new graphics and video tech¬nology; support for 64-bit processors (like the G5); a new kernel (the very, very heart of the operating sys¬tem); and improved support for multi-processor Macs. Yes, these additions are nice and new and they’ll pos¬sibly make your computer do some things faster, but that’s all we really have to say about them with respect to timesaving techniques in this book.

What’s New in This Book

When Apple says “Jump,” we say “How high?” When Apple releases a new version of its glorious OS, we,well, we release a new version of this book. And for good reason, too: There’s oodles of new information you ought to have.

For starters, there are five entirely new techniques in this book. The first is a guide for users switching from Windows to a Mac. (We know you’re out there.) The second offers interface suggestions to those Mac users with special needs, a strong suit of Tiger and one that many people aren’t aware of. Third, we’ve been using the Address Book more and more and feel you should, too, so we now give that appli¬cation its own treatment. The same goes for Safari: We use other Web browsers, yes, but Safari really earns its Mac dominance. Therefore, we dedicate a second Safari chapter to customizing and tweaking the application, adding features you won’t believe you lived without. The fifth new chapter shows you how to use Automator, Tiger’s scripting tool. If you have sequences you often do, knowing how to auto¬mate them goes a long way towards increasing your productivity.

Beyond the new techniques, we did revamp all the other existing material so that it continues to show you the most accurate, timesaving ideas we know of. In some cases, this means highlighting new features of the operating system (like searching for files by using Spotlight). In other cases, this means showing you how to use some great piece of free- or shareware.

All in all, every single page has been reviewed, re-read, checked for accuracy, and partially rewritten. Besides being more up to date, a rough calculation determined that this book is now 37 percent more timesaving-y.

How This Book Is Organized

As devoted Mac users, we’ve amassed a gazillion pieces of useful knowledge. By sheer luck, it turned out that these little pieces could be organized into techniques, which are chapter-like sections grouped by application or the general concept being discussed. These techniques were then herded together into larger parts, which we’re calling (appropriately enough) parts (we’re clever that way). Right here we give you the highlights as to what each part is all about, but remember that you can approach this book the way you want to. Read a part straight through, skip from technique to technique, or just pick out the little pieces most relevant to the way you work. This book has a struc¬ture, but you can be a free thinker. You own a Mac, after all!

Part I: Starting, Stopping, and Running Your Mac Faster

This first part of the book focuses exclusively on how to get the machine and operating system to load and run faster — in other words, how to speed up the process between pushing the power button and actu¬ally doing anything. While we’re at it, we also discuss some faster aspects of the installation process and the easiest ways to shut down and log out. These might be the basics of using your computer, but even here, you find ways to do things more efficiently. Finally, if you’re new to the Mac world, the chapter on making the conversion from a Windows mindset should help ease that transition. (Here’s a preview: It isn’t as big of a jump as you might think.)

Part II: Optimizing Your Interface

Comprehending how best to interact with your com¬puter is the foundation for just about everything. Hence, this is the general guide to doing anything better. The heart of Part II is navigation techniques, both with the keyboard and the mouse. You also dis¬cover how to customize the Finder, windows, and the Dock. All in all, the absolutely most-universal and most-helpful timesaving techniques are here.

Part III: Handling Files (And Other Stuff) Quickly

Like a teenager’s closet, your Mac is full of stuff. Who knows what it all is? Okay, we know, and we think you should, too. Although your hard drive might not yet be bursting, there’s always going to be a lot of junk in there. This third part of the book demon¬strates how to best organize, manage, and find your (and your computer’s) stuff. You also see how to save hard drive space and remove clutter by trash¬ing unnecessary files.

Part IV: Improving Application Performance

Included on your computer (see Part III) are applications — software that does stuff with other stuff (not to be too technical about it). The focusisn’t on any one specific application here but rather on some useful knowledge for using any application more efficiently.

Part V: Cranking Up Your Internet Activities

As Homer Simpson says, “They have the Internet on computers now.” Well, the man’s never been more correct. Accessing e-mail and the World Wide Web are why many people have computers. Most folks spend a decent portion of their computing life in this realm. Part V covers Web browsers, performing searches, using e-mail, and other online timesaving techniques. Tips on stopping spam and using Google effectively can save you minutes per day — minutes you could spend surfing the Internet.

Part VI: Optimizing Your Network

The networking section of the book is Part V’s coun¬terpart. Although not every user has advanced net¬working needs, most could benefit from using locations, working with an iDisk, and knowing how to easily connect to other computers when the time comes. You have a network of some sort, you have a bunch o’ wires (or not), and you need to make them all play nicely together.

Part VII: Fast and Furious Multimedia

Apple markets itself as the multimedia machine, and with good reason: The free software that comes with the operating system is exceptional. In the multi¬media section of the book, we take a few of these applications and demonstrate how to more efficiently use them. For you lucky iPod users, you see what else that beautiful little toy can do for your day-to¬day productivity.

Part VIII: Security and Maintenance

Okay, so your Mac pretty much takes care of itself. Still, a little TLC couldn’t hurt. Part VIII (that’s eight to you and me) offers you all the motherly advice you can use on viruses, creating backups, keepingyour software up to date, and the like. Think of this as the An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure section of the book.

Part IX: The Scary Or Fun Stuff

Whether you know it or not, your Mac is a powerful machine capable of some really, really cool things. The final part of the book strongly emphasizes our friend, the Terminal, and gives a nod to Automator, a tool for making your own timesaving techniques. If you’re looking for something more fun and less scary, check out the technique on using your cell phone with your Mac or the one on screen savers.
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