Comments on: OSX Smart folders

By: tom

tom — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 06:45:22 +0000

Hmmmm…. alt-tab.

Just use the “apple-key” and tab. Means Command-Tab.

By: Online Idea Buzz

Online Idea Buzz — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 22:03:52 +0000

Mac: OS X Smart Folders

If you’re using Tiger, and haven’t yet created any Smart Folders, this post on Slacker Manager may inspire you: … new feature with the ‘Tiger’ edition of OSX called “Smart Folders.” You can make a folder that contains search

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 18:39:01 +0000

Exposé is very nice. I still do most of my “work” work on a PC, and I find myself trying to use the Exposé commands throughout the day. Then I get sad when they don’t work. A quick rundown:
F9 – Show all open (un-minimized) windows
F10 – Show all windows for JUST the current application
F11 – Show/hide the desktop
F12 – Dashboard (not really part of Exposé, but it can be handy)

The thing is, with these commands available, I don’t find myself minimizing that much anymore, since I can get at any window with a single keystroke.

I heartily recommend QuickSilver as well.

Also, Nathan mentioned Command-Tab above, but you can also use Command-~ (the tilde key) to swap between windows within an application, sorta similar to what F10 does. And, of course, there’s Command-Space to bring up the Spotlight search box.

Final note: you can go to “System Preferences -> Keyboard and Mouse -> Keyboard Shortcuts” to view and customize shortcuts.

By: Pramod

Pramod — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 14:33:55 +0000

Have you checked out the Exposé? http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/expose/ Its quite useful and you can use keyboard shortcuts to manage it as well.

By: Andy Todd

Andy Todd — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 12:50:40 +0000

If you want to switch between windows using only the keyboard then check out witch;

http://www.petermaurer.de/nasi.php?thema=witch&sprache=deutsch&kopf=labor

It’s rather good. Although quicksilver is fantastic ;-)

By: jose

jose — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:51:52 +0000

actually, bren, have a look at quicksilver (http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/), which will let you customize keys and actions more easily than applescript will. much nicer approach …

By: Bren

Bren — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 05:27:00 +0000

Yep, thanks Nathan, I do know about the command-tab. It doesn’t actually work the same way as in windows, though. It does scroll through open applications, but if your window is minimized to the dock, then you can’t pull it up with command-tab. That’s why I’m leaving all my windows open and using F9 plus tab to view my options.

Thanks for the tip on AppleScript. I’ve been using some pre-built scripts that come with various other programs and I definitely see the utility in them. Gonna get me a book. Any recommendations?

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 03:14:42 +0000

You know about command-tab, right? (i.e. apple-key and tab switches between programs in exactly the same way alt-tab does in windows). The command key swaps for the ctrl/alt keys in a lot of situations, so try all your keyboard shortcuts with command (e.g. command-c/command-v for copy/paste).

And — get yourself a book on AppleScript. Then you can really make you Mac dance to _your_ tune :-) (e.g. copy data from one app to another and then make the graph of it in Excel, all as a script).

By: racketboy

racketboy — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 19:45:20 +0000

Wow — that is cool. I’m a wannabe Mac user, but am still getting use out of my current PCs. But those smart folders sound awesome — kinda like smart playlists in iTunes.