A follower on Twitter recently asked about using MSN on the Mac:
Kel Sharp @maxweaver MSN for Mac v. 8 seems to be seriously buggy - any recommendations for an alternative program?
I suggested to Kel to try Adium as it is what I use to access MSN. Adium is a third-party client for connecting to a whole range of Instant Messenger services. Not only can you use it with MSN, but also AOL, ICQ, GoogleTalk, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, MySpace IM and more, even Apple's MobileMe.
From the Adium wiki:
Adium is a free and open source instant messaging application for Mac OS X, written using Mac OS X's Cocoa API, released under the GNU GPL and developed by the Adium team. Based on the libpurple protocol library, Adium can connect you to any number of messaging accounts on any combination of supported messaging services (see further down for the list) and then chat with other people using those services.
Note: We do not host any IM services ourselves. Adium is a third-party client for connecting to services run by other people (mostly companies).
Click on the little green guy to download and install Adium now.
When you upgraded to iTunes 9.2 you would have noticed in the new User Agreement that bit about how Apple collects data to serve up ads that are targeted at you.
There is a simple opt out procedure. Unfortunately you can not stop the iAds appearing on your iPhone or iPod Touch but you can stop the collection of your data to target you with those ads.
Apple's software developers regularly improve their software and release free updates to those who have installed and use these programs.
Here is how you check to see if any of the software you use needs updating:
Look in the top left corner of your screen for the Apple icon: and click on "Software Update".
The Software Update will then check for any available updates and give you the option of downloading and installing the updates. You should usually just accept all the updates. Some require a restart and others don't. The way to tell is by the arrow to the left of each update - those updates with arrows require a restart after installing.
As with any installation you will be required to enter your administrator password.
* Note: Macs running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or later can automatically run the Software Update checker in the background so that you can be automatically notified when updates become available.
Something that doesn't receive much attention is the Apple Remote control.
What?! A remote control for a computer? I hear you ask.
That's right, for the past few years now the Apple Remote has come with all Apple computers. It looks and functions a lot like the iPod, in fact most people say "is that an iPod?" when they first see it.
All Apple computers come with the standard communication technologies built in - wi-fi, bluetooth, bit did you know your Mac also has infrared? Like the TV remote control, the Apple Remote communicates via infrared. It's very responsive - I've been able to use it from another room by bouncing it off walls. Apple claims it can function at distances of up to 30 feet and I can attest to that, having used the remote to control my dinner party playlist from outside through a window.
iTunes
It is REALLY useful to control the music. I use it many times every day as my computer is hooked up to an amplifier and functions as my main music player. But the remote can do much more than interact with iTunes enabling you to change the volume and skip tracks.
Front Row
There is also a Menu button and this opens up a whole new world. Sit back, get comfy, and push this button. You'll be launched into the world of Apple entertainment!
Any music on iTunes via playlist, album, artist, etc, can be accessed. You can even access the latest & most popular music videos and watch previews.
Photos
You can access your photo collection and flick through those or just watch a slide show with added background music. This is a pretty good way of showing off your photos to others.
Movies
All your movies are accessible and controllable via the Apple Remote meaning your computer really can become your personal entertainment unit. There is even a section where you can watch the latest movie previews in full high def quality.
Other Programs
The Remote works with other programs too. Quicktime or even VLC can also be controlled with the Apple Remote. Try it with other programs, you'll be surprised.
If all this wasn't enough for you, then you'll be interested to know that there are programs that have been developed to expand the use of the Apple Remote even further. Mira lets you add access to other programs than the standard ones that Front Row currently provides. Remote Buddy gives you control over more than 100 applications, virtual keyboard and mouse, presentations, media center software and important system settings.
There are also programs like 'Back Stage', 'Center Stage', 'Media Center', 'Boxee' and 'Live Station' that give even more entertainment functionality to the Apple Remote than Front Row provides.
Apple has released Safari 5 out into the wild. I've just downloaded and tried and I'm already liking it. I'll tell you just one feature that I like and then you can head off to the Apple website to read more and download it and try it out.
Reader
The Reader strips out all the stuff around the sides and gives you the article..JUST the article. No ads, no flashing banners, nothing, just simple text.
Check it out, here is a New York Times article as you would normally see it:
To view this article in 'reader mode' just look up in the right side of the address bar for the 'reader' button:
Click it to turn it on:
Now here is the same article in 'Reader mode':
Now go to the Apple website for more information and to download it and try it out yourself:
Before you release your mouse click, hold down the Option key. Notice
the green circle with the plus sign appear?
Now release your mouse click to drop the item. A duplicate has been
made and placed where you dropped it, the original file remains in
it's original position.
This technique can also be applied to text: Highlight some text, click
to drag it, then hold down the Option key and release the duplicated
text at the new location.
If you have a few programs open at once and you want to move from one program to the other, a really useful way of doing this is with the 'Command Tab' keyboard shortcut.
Lets say you have open three programs: Mail, Safari, and Skype. You are typing an email but you want to check a web page for information. You can simply hold down the Command key, and then tap the Tab key,while still holding down the Command key. Each tap of the Tab key will move the highlighter to the next program.
So in this case you are in your mail, you hit Command and Tab and then Skype is selected, you tap Tab again and then Safari is selected then as soon as you let go of the Command key the program that is highlighted is brought to the front for you to access.
Don't forget the 'Command H' keyboard shortcut to hide any programs to get them out of the way.
Have a play around with it and you'll soon get the hang of it.
Command and Tab is really powerful when used in conjunction with 'Command H' and 'Command Q'.
Sometimes hiding a program is more useful than closing the program. If you are like me your desktop is used for dumping files temporarily that you have to deal with at some point in the near future. I am always going back to the desk top to grab something, and so it is useful to be able to quickly hide the program I am currently using to reveal the desktop. Here is the keyboard shortcut:
Command and H
Example: Say you are writing an email and you wanted to check a document on your desktop for some information. You can 'Command H' to hide the email (in fact, the whole mail program gets hidden) and
then access the doc on your desktop. Then you can click on the mail icon in the dock at the bottom of your screen to bring back the mail program.
Or you can use the Command and Tab keyboard shortcut, but perhaps that something for the next tip.
Keeping with the theme of icons this post is about the icons on the
dock. The Dock is that horizontal bar at the bottom of your screen
that contains icons for some of the more commonly used programs
(programs are also referred to as "applications"). These are simply
shortcuts to the applications that live in your Applications folder.
Any of the icons can be removed from the Dock. All you have to do is
click and drag them up to a space on the desktop. As you do so,
you'll notice that the icon changes and you can now see a puff of
smoke attached to the icon you are dragging. This is to indicate that
you are deleting the shortcut.
If, instead, you want to add an icon to the dock then simply open your
Applications folder and drag one of the icons from the list and down
onto your dock and let go. This action will not remove the icon form
the Applications folder, but will create a shortcut and place it where
you released your mouse button on the dock.
Sometimes you might want something more interesting than those blue folders to look at. Or you might want to change the icon of an Application. You can change the icons fairly easily, but first you need to find an icon you like. Icon packages can be downloaded for free from places such as Icon Finder or Icon Factory.
Once you have found an icon that you like, right-click and choose "Get Info" (or click on the icon and then use the keyboard shortcut: Command-i).
(note the icon becomes highlighted when selected)
The 'Get Info' pane comes up you can then select the icon that appears in the top left of that pane by clicking on it and then right-click, copy (or use the keyboard shortcut: Command-c).
Now go to the folder you want to change the icon of and select it by clicking on it, right-click and choose "Get Info" (or Command-i), and then right-click and paste (or Command-v) to replace the current icon.
Now you have a new icon for that boring folder, or Application.
In Windows when you close a program by clicking on the x at the top
right corner of the screen it shuts down that program. This is not
the case on the Mac. When you click on the dot on the top left corner
of an open program it seems to have closed the program...but it
hasn't. Instead it has closed that window but the program is still
running. Look down on your dock, see the little glowing dot under the
program's icon? That shows us that it is still running.
This means that if you want to open it again it opens fast. But what
if you really want to close the program to free up some memory for
other tasks? Here are some ways to close it:
1. Right-click on the icon, chose "quit".
2. If the program is the one that is currently being used, press the
Command & Q keys.
3. Command & Tab to bring up the list of programs that are currently
running. While holding down Command, keep hitting Tab until the
program you want to close is selected. Then, still with the Command
key held down, hit the Q key.
Sometimes looking up the definition of those words you sometimes come
across that you don;t know the meaning of can be a distraction from
what you are reading. Often you probably settle for a grasp of the
word from the context in which it is written instead of looking it up.
Did you know that if you hover your cursor over a word and then press
Command, Control & D the dictionary definition of that word will be
displayed.
If you move the cursor around onto other words while you are holding
down those keys the definition of those words will pop up too.
This will work in any Apple native application such as Safari.
Sometimes you need to know what version of the Mac Operating System (OS) you are using. You can find this, and other information about your computer by clicking on the Apple logo on the top left corner and selecting "About this Mac", then "More Info". Then select "Software" and you'll see the System Version. I'm running Mac OS X 10.5.8.
The Operating Systems also have easy to remember names, they are named after big cats. So this one, 10.5..., is "Leopard".
While on the topic of that Apple logo....another one that you might want to have a look at is "Software Update". That will check to see if any of your software needs to be updated. You don't have to do this it will automatically check for updates from time to time.
The one under that, "Mac OS X Software" will take you to the page on the Apple website to get free programs that you might like to install.
Don't forget that Mac Switcher's guide on the Apple website. It speaks in terms of transitioning from Windows to Mac and shows how to do some of the things you used to do on Windows.
The one thing that took me a while to get use to is the way in which sorting files is done. iTunes and iPhoto are similar in this way. For example, while on Windows I had all my songs in folders arranged by album. Then I had albums by the same artist in a folder under that artist's name. Then I had a higher level folder that was the genre, say Classical, and that had all the Classical artists in it. And so on.
This is normal on Windows. But Apple have moved away from this hierarchical folder system to make it easier for the user. So when I moved to the Mac, I just dumped everything into iTunes and let iTunes figure out how to sort it. I did have to add some tags and things such as genres. This did take a long time but it is so much easier to find and play music I want to listen to.
So the idea is that you put all your photos into iPhoto and then tag them to sort them. So instead of finding the "family" folder and sub-folders inside that folder, Apple wants you to let it do all the sorting of folders so that you don't have to worry about any of that. You just have to worry about arranging them inside iPhoto with tags.
I suppose the way you should look at it is that iPhoto is a program to sort and view your photos and Photoshop is for doing editing and alterations. iPhoto can do basic editing like cropping and removing red eye, but really it's power is in sorting and viewing.
Don't forget about the tips on the Apple website. They'll be a great help to understanding aspects of iPhoto and your Mac in general.
