Mastering The Option Key On Your OS X Mac

keyboardOptionblk

The Option key is a powerful ally in the transition from new, beginner user of OS X to the power user that you want to be. There are a ton of hidden features in the Finder alone that are hidden behind the underrated and unassuming Option key. There are Option key tricks for the OS X Menu Bar, for apps in the iWork suite, in Safari, and a few more random ones to boot.

So, sit back, relax, and get ready to hit that Option key a whole bunch of times in a row.

 

Master The Option Key In OS X Finder

De-Select All The Files
Makes sense, right?Makes sense, right?

When you open up a Finder window with files in it, you can hit Command-A to Select All the items in the window, right? However, if you add Option key in, Command-Option-A, it will Deselect all the items.

Quickly Move To The Search Field
Hit Command-Option-F to skip the Spotlight windowHit Command-Option-F to skip the Spotlight window

Want to quickly go to the search field in a Finder window? Usually, Command-F will open a new Finder window defaulting to Search view, but press Command-Option-F instead and your cursor will jump straight to the “Search” box without opening a new Spotlight window.

Quickly Close or Minimize Multiple Windows
Or, Command-Option-W to close them all.Or, Command-Option-W to close them all.

Got a bunch of Finder windows open? Simply hit Command-Option-M to minimize them, and Command-Option-W to close them all. You can do the same for any open app, just click on the app icon in the Dock and use the same keybaord shortcuts. Magic!

Full Disclosure
Open all the things.Open all the things.

Usually, when you’re in List View, clicking on a little triangle next to a folder will open it and only it. If you want to open all the nsted folders inside, however, simply add the Option key to the mix. Option-Click that little disclosure triangle and it will open all the stuff inside, too.

No More Trash Dialog
Get rid of this thing with a quick Option key click.Get rid of this thing with a quick Option key click.

If you want to empty the Trash, you can hit Command-Shift-Delete. Typically, you’ll get a warning dialog box, asking if you’re sure you want to do so. If you want to skip this dialog box, add in the Option key, with Command-Shift-Option-Delete, and you’ll skip that dialog. Of course, you can also right click on the Trash icon to Empty it, with the Option key skipping the dialog box, here, too.

Master The Option Key In The OS X Menu Bar

Quickly Change Audio Settings
Why mess with the System Preferences?Why mess with the System Preferences?

Usually, if you want to change sound settings, you launch System Preferences, click on the Sound preference pane icon, and then switch the audio output and input settings from there. Instead, use the Option key – hold it down while you click on the Volume menu bar icon, and you’ll get access to the connected Inputs and Outputs.

More Wireless Info
More info than most of us need, for sure.More info than most of us need, for sure.

If you click on the WiFi rainbow in your menu bar, you’ll see the available WiFi networks nearby, plus a lock icon if they’re password protected. Hold the Option key down, and you’ll see plenty of info about the WiFi access node you’re connected to, including it’s SSID, the type of 802.11 you’re connected to, the channel, signal strength, and the rate of transmission. This can all help if you’re troubleshooting a slow WiFi connection.

Extra Bluetooth Details
A simple Option key press.A simple Option key press.

Typically, the Bluetooth menu bar icon lets you connect to already paired devices, open the Preferences pane, and turn Bluetooth on and off. Add in the Option key when you click on it, and you’ll see the Bluetooth version number (usefull if you’re checking to see if a particular headset or speaker will wrok with your Mac), the name of your Mac (good when connecting another device to it), and the Bluetooth address (helpful for troubleshooting). You’ll also be able to create a Bluetooth diagnostics report on your Desktop, if that float your boat.

Skip About This Mac
Could save you seconds per day.Could save you seconds per day.

Normally, when you click on the Apple menu, you’ll see “About This Mac,” which shows you an overview of your Mac’s information, like its processor, memory, and which OS X version you’re running. Then you can click the “More Info…” button, and then the “System Report…” to get to the giant list of technical specs about your Mac and its several subsystems. To skip all of that, simply hit the Option key when clicking on the Apple menu, and you’ll go right to the System Report.

Master The Option Key In iWork

Navigation
But I'm a creep.But I’m a creep.

Whether you’re in Pages or Keynote, there are several Option-related ways to navigate around in your document. Hit the Option key and an Arrow key (left or right), and you’ll be able to navigate by word, rather than by character, making moving to a word you need to edit that much faster. Need to jump up or down a paragraph? Hit the Option key and the up or down Arrow to do just that, making your way through that report for your boss lickety split.

In Numbers, the Option key makes navigating faster, as well, if you add it to the Page Up or Page Down buttons on your Keyboard. Option-Page Up will scroll one screen left, while Option-Page Down will scroll one screen right. Without the Option key, you’ll just scroll a page up or page down, accordingly.

Formatting Text
Luckily, I already have a perfect body.Luckily, I already have a perfect body.

If you use styles in iWork (and you should be), you can copy the paragraph style with the Option-Command-C keyboard shortcut, and the style of the character by adding a shift, so Option-Shift-Command-C. To paste the style to another character (or word) or paragraph, simply enhance the normal Paste command (Command-V) with an Option-Command-V to paste that character or paragraph style to other selected text.

Object Options
You're a star!You’re a star!

Whether you’re drawing a vector graphic in Pages or Keynote or messing about with charts in Numbers, the Option key can unleash its power for you when it comes to objects. To duplicate an object in an iWork document, hold the Option key down before you click on that object. Your mouse cursor will show a little + sign by it, and you’ll create a copy of that object as you drag away from the original.

To resize an object from the middle, rather than the side handle you’re ragging from, hold the Option key down when you click and drag on the resize handle. The object will now enlarge or get smaller on all sides equally.

Using Option-Shift-Command-B or Option-Shift-Command-F keyboard shortcuts when you’re working with objects will send the selected object back or forward by only one layer. Without the Option key, you’ll send that sucker all the way to the back or front.

Keynote Options
Click it!Click it!

Playing a slideshow in Keynote is straightforward: just hit the Play button in the toolbar. However, if you want to set it in motion without using the mouse, hit the Option-Command-P buttons on your keyboard and it will start. If you’re in the middle of a slideshow, but want to start it playing from the beginning, hold the Option key down when you click the Play button; your slideshow will play from the start.

Master The Option Key In OS X Safari

Tab To More Links
Like point and click without a mouse.Like point and click without a mouse.

When you hit the Tab key in Safari, you move from search field to search field or drop-down menu down the page. If you add the Option key, you get more keyboard control, skipping your way merrily through every link on the page. If you hit the Return key when you highlight a link with Option-Tab, Safari will open the link for you.

Precise Scrollbar Positioning
Scrollin, scrollin, scrollin.

Typically, if you click in the scrollbar area in Safari, you’ll move down a page at a time. It’s like scrolling, only faster. If you add the Option key in, and Option-Click anywhere in the scrollbar area, you’ll move the scrollbar indicator right to that spot. So, if you want to zap down near the bottom of a long web page, for example, Option-Click in the scrollbar region near the bottom of Safari’s window. This will also work within any window with a scrollbar.

Download Options
Just, you know, be careful what you click.Just, you know, be careful what you click.

Typically, when you click on a link in Safari, you will go to whatever web page it links to. You can use the Command key to open that link in a new tab, too. But if you Option-Click that link, you’ll download the target right to your downloads folder on your Mac. Slick! Clicking a web link will download the target .html file, while clicking a link to a data file will download that specific file.

Close Those Other Tabs
No, no. Not THIS tab. The OTHER ones!No, no. Not THIS tab. The OTHER ones!

Got a bunch of tabs open in Safari? Of course you do, that’s why they’re there, of course. If you click on the File Menu, you can click on Close Tab there, or hit Command-W to close the currently active tab. Add Option to the keystroke or menu command, though, and you can close all the other tabs, except the one you’re currently looking at. Just press the Option key when you head up to the File menu, or hit Option-Command-W.

Even More Option Key Tricks And Tips

Simple Save As… Fix
Option turns Duplicate back to Save As... temporarily.Option turns Duplicate back to Save As… temporarily.

In case you haven’t been following along at home, Apple took away the Save As… menu feature in OS X Lion, then secretly put it back in Mountain Lion. There are a few ways to get it back permanently, but if you want a quick fix without messing about in the Terminal or with configuration files, press the Option key while clicking on the File menu, or hit Shift-Option-Cmd-S instead of Shift-Cmd-S for Duplicate.

Get More File Formats
BMP anyone? I didn't think so.BMP anyone? I didn’t think so.

While you’re in there Saving As…, you can typically click on the Format drop down menu at the bottom of the Save dialog box and get the top 6 or so formats that you might want to save your file as, like PDF, JPG, and the like. IF you want a few more, hit the Option key when you click on the Format drop down, and you’ll get a more expansive list of file formats, like Microsoft BMP, OpenEXR, and Photoshop.

Copy and Replace Options
Skip it, man, just skip it.Skip it, man, just skip it.

When you try and copy a file to a new location that is named the same as a file in that location, you’ll get a dialog box that basically asks if you want to stop, replace it, or keep both files. If you try and copy me name, you’ll get the same dialog box, but there’s a trick here. Hit the Option key when you see the “Do you want to replace it” dialog, and you’ll see that the Keep Both button turns into a Skip button, letting you skip the first of the multiple files and then deal with the next one, and so on.

via Cult of Mac http://www.cultofmac.com/213986/mastering-the-option-key-on-your-os-x-mac-feature/

2 Mountain Lion Bugs That Crash Apps

Here are two OS X 10.8 bugs for your collection. Both of these critters result in crashes of the affected applications.

Network proxy bug

Network’s Proxies options: To avoid crashes, make sure the top two configurations are not enabled.
Theres good news and theres bad news here. The good news is that this bug affects only a minority of users — those that enable network proxies (as done by going to Network System Preferences, clicking the Advanced button and selecting Proxies). The bad news is that, if the bug affects you, its serious: Several different third-party programs are likely to crash on launch.

The author of MarsEdit explains:

The issue is related specifically to the Auto Proxy Discovery and Automatic Proxy Configuration settings in Network preferences. If you have one of these options checked, you are very likely to crash in MarsEdit, Safari, Tweetbot, and any number of other apps that rely on Apples networking libraries.

Another such application is NetNewsWire. Its developers write:

We believe the instability is affecting a few percent of our users, but its occurring too deep in the bowels of the networking stack to be fixable on our end, leaving us dependent on Apple to correct it in 10.8.1.

Also chiming in on this matter is AgileBits David Chartier, writing about how the bug affects Safari and 1Password: If you are experiencing Safari 6 crashing under Mountain Lion with our 1Password extension installed&it appears to be caused by a problem with proxy settings under Mountain Lion.

The agreed-upon recommended work-aroundat least for nowis to disable/uncheck Networks Auto Proxy Discovery and Automatic Proxy Configuration options. If you cant turn them off, because your network requires that these options remain enabled, you wont be able to safely use the affected apps until Apple supplies the needed remedy.

Snapz Pro bug

To avoid having Snapz Pro crash, don’t select Objects.Another program with difficulties taming Mountain Lion is Ambrosias Softwares Snapz Pro X, a screen-capture utility. The developers state: The current version of Snapz Pro X is not fully compatible with Mountain Lion. The main symptom is that selecting the utilitys Objects& option will cause Snapz to crash. In addition, Mac Audio capture will not work. The KEXT used for Mac Audio capture should be uninstalled automatically by the OS. If used, it will result in a kernel panic.

These are significant problems for Snapz Pro users. In my case, I use Objects for about 75 percent of the screen captures that I do. I was glad to read that the developers hope to have a Mountain Lion compatible update out as soon as possible. Im counting the days.

via 2 Mountain Lion Bugs That Crash Apps.

Scan For Active WiFi Hotspots Easily Right From Mountain Lion [OS X Tips]

While traveling, it’s helpful to be able to find a strong WiFi signal, whether you need to check your email, review your latest notifications on Facebook, or actually get some work done. You can click the little WiFi rainbow icon in the menu bar obsessively, waiting for the “Searching for networks” message to end, of course, but it’s nice to have an app running that will just scan your environment and tell you what WiFi networks are available.

I used to do this with a third-party app, like MacStumbler or iStumbler. Not anymore, though, as there’s a built-in WiFi scanner right in Mac OS X Mountain Lion.

It’s rather buried, though, so you’ll want to take the following steps to get the app into your Dock, or your Launchpad. Click on the Finder icon in your dock, or Command-Tab over to the Finder. Press Command-Shift-G and type in the following file path: /System/Library/CoreServices/. Click the Go button and that folder will show up in your view. Scroll down to the Wi-Fi Diagnostics App, and then click and drag it to your Dock, or to your Launchpad icon for easy access later.

Once you’ve done that, launch the Wi-Fi Diagnostics App and hit Command-N as soon as the app appears (ignore the window that shows up first for our purposes here). When you do so, the Network Utilities window will appear. Click on the Wi-Fi Scan button in the top center, and you’ll see a list of all available Wi-Fi networks in your immediate area.

Click in the lower right, where it says Scan and choose Active Scan. Now you can leave the app running, and walk your Macbook around to find the best signal for your needs. You can find the strongest signal area in your house or place of business this way, or just use it to find the strongest free Wi-Fi signal when travelling. Good stuff, really. To join the network, though, you’ll need to click the Airport menu bar icon as per usual and connect that way. Still, it’s helpful to have this kind of tool built right in to the Mac OS X Mountain Lion features, right?

via Scan For Active WiFi Hotspots Easily Right From Mountain Lion [OS X Tips].

Is Your Mac Infected By The Flashback Trojan Affecting 600,000 Macs?

The Reto Sad Mac
Sad Mac

A Mac infected by a virus used to be something of a rarity, and it was the best argument you could bring to a Mac versus PC debate. But with Mac adoption surging in recent years, it was inevitable that Apple’s operating system would become a target for hackers.

Variations of one Flashback trojan, which first surfaced back in 2007, are now affecting more than 600,000 Macs around the world. Here’s how to find out whether your machine’s affected and kill the malware.

The Russian antivirus company Dr. Web announced yesterday that the Flashback trojan is now installed on over 550,000 Macs. Hours later, Dr. Web malware analyst Sorokin Ivan announced on Twitter that figure had risen to 600,000 Macs, 274 of which were infected in Apple’s hometown of Cupertino, California.

The most recent variant of the Flashback trojan targets Macs that have an older version of Java Runtime installed. Thankfully, Apple issues an update earlier this week patching the vulnerability, but for some machines it was just too late.

Ars Technica explains how the hack works:

Like older versions of the malware, the latest Flashback variant searches an infected Mac for a number of antivirus applications before generating a list of botnet control servers and beginning the process of checking in with them. Now that the fix for the Java vulnerability is out, however, there’s no excuse not to update—the malware installs itself after you visit a compromised or malicious webpage, so if you’re on the Internet, you’re potentially at risk.

You can find out whether your machine is affected by opening up the Terminal application and typing:

defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment

If you get the message “The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist”, you must then enter:

defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

If you get the message ”The domain/default pair of (/Users/joe/.MacOSX/environment, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES) does not exist”, then your Mac is safe. Basically, the “does not exist” message means you’re clean.

If you see anything other than those messages, you can check out F-Secure’s guide to removing the Flashback trojan.

[via Ars Technica]

via Is Your Mac Infected By The Flashback Trojan Affecting 600,000 Macs? | Cult of Mac.

VMware Updates Desktop Products: Workstation 8 and Fusion 4 Released

In an unusual move, VMware has given us a twofer and updated both its desktop flagship products today. VMware is releasing VMmware Workstation 8 for Windows and Linux, and VMware Fusion 4 for Mac users. The Fusion update makes Fusion “more Mac-like” and finally allows users to virtualize Mac OS X under VMware Fusion. Workstation 8 is aimed squarely at developers and professionals working cloud and virtualization deployments, with remote access to virtual machines and support for up to 64GB of RAM.

VMware Workstation is VMware’s oldest product, and still very popular with developers and IT professionals who need to have access to virtual guests on their desktop.

New in Workstation 8
With Workstation 8, VMware claims support for more than 600 operating systems, from MS-DOS to Windows 7. But the real juice is for developers working with and deploying current operating systems into production in the cloud.

VMware sees users doing a lot of development on the desktop and then pushing it into the internal cloud. Workstation 8 allows developers to create their virtual machines, then drag and drop them to vSphere. Workstation 8 is big on sharing, too. The release has features that let developers share a virtual machine directly from the desktop to another user running Workstation 8. Alternatively, you can connect to a remote virtual machine with Workstation 8 if the machine is running on vSphere, vCenter, or another copy of Workstation 8.

With the remote access features, developers are not constrained by the hardware of their local machine. They can simply connect to remote machines with Workstation, ESX 4.x or later, and vCenter Server and run the guests on the more powerful system but display them locally.

This release of Workstation also beefs up performance considerably, allowing it to take advantage of up to 64GB of RAM. VMware admitted to me that they haven’t seen many workstation or desktop machines with 64GB of RAM, but they picture Workstation 8 running on servers for development teams that need to share VMs.

Workstation 8 also has better desktop hardware support for its guests, with HD audio, USB 3 support, and Bluetooth devices. The company has also bolstered the 3D performance of Workstation 8 in this release. See the release notes for all the features and details on Workstation 8. The upgrade price for Workstation 8 is $99, users of Workstation 6.x or 7.x can take advantage of the upgrade. Just starting with Workstation 8? The release is $199 and available immediately as an electronic download.

New in VMware Fusion 4
While Workstation is aimed at the IT professionals doing heavy duty development work, Fusion is largely targeted at Web developers and professionals who’ve switched to the Mac and still need access to some Windows apps. Fusion 4 offers support for more than 200 guest OSes, a bit less than Workstation but still a respectable set.

VMware Fusion 4, thanks to a blessing from Apple (finally) brings Fusion users something they’ve been waiting for a long time – the ability to virtualize Mac OS X. Developers who work on OS X will be able to virtualize OS X Lion, Snow Leopard, Snow Leopard Server, and Leopard Server in virtual machines. Note that VMware only officially supports virtualizing OS X on OS X Lion.

The release is also “more Mac-like” with a streamlined user interface and a better integration with OS X Lion’s full screen features and its gestures. You can swipe between a virtual machine and Lion with a three-fingered gesture. The virtual library display has been revamped, and the preferences for VMware Fusion now look more like the native system preferences on Mac OS X.

Fusion 4 also has an updated snapshot feature that lets you scroll through a timeline of snapshots of your VM. Note that Fusion has always had snapshots, this is just a prettier and more friendly way to display them.

Switchers will find a better integration of Windows applications into Mac OS X, particularly if they’re running OS X Lion. Fusion 4 will add Windows apps to the Dock, Spotlight, Mission Control and LaunchPad – but only the applications that you choose.

Like Workstation, Fusion has gotten a bunch of performance boosts and offers better 3D performance, virtual Bluetooth, and 5.1 HD audio.

With Fusion 4, VMware claims more than 90 new features (PDF) though some are less exciting than others. (For instance, VMware claims “run from any folder you choose” as a feature, and loading and unloading services and kernel modules on demand as two separate features.)

Fusion 4 is available immediately for download for $49, and a box set is with DVD and USB key (for those with no optical drive) is coming as well.

VMware has quite a bit of competition these days on the desktop front, with Parallels, VirtualBox and a number of other desktop solutions. What’s your pick for virtualization on the desktop?

via VMware Updates Desktop Products: Workstation 8 and Fusion 4 Released – ReadWriteCloud.

10.7: How to download the OS X Lion Installer or any App Store app on Lion

There’s been a lot of talk about how to get the OS X Lion Installer after you installed Lion. The main purpose of this may be to get the Installer dmg to create a bootable Installer disk, as described elsewhere. Many missed doing that before installation, me included.

But actually this hint will work to force download any purchase on the Mac App Store.

There’s an easy method to force a download within the Mac App Store without any tinkering. It seems to be the official method, although I found no description of this in any of Apple’s documentation.

So here’s how to do it:

  • Open the Mac App Store.
  • Navigate to your Purchased page.
  • Hold down the Option key on your keyboard and click on your ‘OS X Lion’ purchase link (not on the ‘installed’ button).
  • You see the Lion product page. It should say ‘Installed,’ but that button is clickable. Hold down the Option key again and click on ‘Installed.’ If you don’t hold the option key it will tell you there’s already a newer version installed.
  • Enter your login credentials.
  • Download.

It’s important to hold down the Option key twice. Once on the Purchased page, once on the Lion page. You also can’t navigate to Lion directly, you need to open it from the purchases page. But if you follow this procedure you should find the Lion Installer within your Applications folder.

via 10.7: How to download the OS X Lion Installer on Lion – Mac OS X Hints.

Show hidden files Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

To enable hidden files/folders in finder windows:

  1. Open Finder
  2. Open the Utilities folder
  3. Open a terminal window
  4. Copy and paste the following line in:
    1
    defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
  5. Press return
  6. Now hold ‘alt’ on the keyboard and right click on the Finder icon
  7. Click on Relaunch
You should find you will now be able to see any hidden files or folders. One you are done, perform the steps above however, replace the terminal command in step 4 with:

1
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles NO

via MikeSel.info.

About the OS X Lion v10.7.1 Update

The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:

  • Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
  • Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
  • Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
  • Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion
  • Resolve an issue where MacBook Air may boot up when MagSafe Adapter is attached
  • Resolve an issue causing intermittent display flickering on MacBook Air
  • Resolve an issue that causes the SD card slot in Mac mini to run at reduced speed with SD and SDHC media

 

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4764.

via About the OS X Lion v10.7.1 Update.

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