Tag: apps

UI Changes to Expect in Firefox 4.0

October 02, 2009 by Jason

Firefox 4.0 is the flavor of Mozilla’s web browser that is expected to come to the market sometimes in the second half of next year, while delivering to users a series of visual changes that will start to appear as soon as Firefox 3.7 is pushed out. We already had a glimpse at how the 3.7 version of Firefox might look like, and at the visual improvements it might bring to Windows-based computers, and we should also have a look at how 4.0 should continue the improvements.

According to Mozilla Wiki, the UI of Firefox 4.0 is mainly expected to deliver refinements to the changes that are to come with 3.7, and should include some major additions and changes. Among them, we can count the possibility that the LocationBar and SearchBar are to be merged, the Stop/Refresh/Go are to become One Button, a Tab-on-Top Option could appear, as well as App Tabs, the Home Tab functionality is to be enhanced, the Bookmarks Bar hidden and the Status Bar removed.

Here’s what Mozilla says when it comes to the merging of the LocationBar and SearchBar: “The AwesomeBar already has a lot of search functionality, even though it is currently only local. These fields have a convergent function: finding things. Merging these and including something like Taskfox will put search in a unified location with added utility. It will also reduce toolbar complexity/clutter by merging functionality.” Read More»

How to make sure you will always have a responsive Mac

August 04, 2009 by Jason

Whether you are talking about your car, phone, dog, your favorite football player or even about trying to make the best out of your work day, speed is one of the things – if not the most important – that always come up. The same theory applies to your Mac and the way you want it to respond to your commands.

There are countless pieces of advice you can find on the Internet telling you what you can do to make sure that your Mac is as responsive as you want it to be. However, although some of those tips will show you the right path to achieve that, others have nothing to do with improving the speed of your Mac’s OS X system.

What you can do to make sure you are not doing daily maintenance work on your Mac with no effect just because someone told you that, let’s say, is to repair the disk permissions. Actually, when repairing the disk permissions, OS X will just examine files and folders on your hard drive to check if their current permissions are set the way they were supposed to be.

If the permissions are different from the expected ones, they will be changed to their correct settings. That is only one of the many suggested practices users will wrongfully perform on a daily basis when noticing that their Mac is getting a little sluggish and unresponsive. Read More»

20 Tips Shortcuts and timesavers for OS X

May 02, 2009 by Jason

1. Select multiple files
Select multiple files and folders by holding down the Command or Shift key as you click with the mouse. This also lets you select non-continuous items, so you can skip those that you don’t need. You can then drag them all to another location as one, or duplicate or copy them all in one go.

2. Open multiple files
Open multiple files and folders as one by hitting Command + [O]. Folders will show their contents, and any files selected will open in their respective applications.

3. Transfer multiple files
If you need to email or transfer a group of files, say via iChat or FTP, multiple-select the items or group them into a folder. Then right-click on the folder or items and choose Create Archive or Compress (depending on your version of OS X). Finder will then create a zip file containing all the items. The overall file size will now be smaller, so sending the email will also be quicker. Read More»

Using only free OS X programs

April 13, 2009 by Jason

By default, Mac OS X has an interface that will always offer its users very high degrees of usability and eye candy. Although it is already a standard that users of other OSes still dream of, Mac users will always try to give it a little more bang.

If you do not think that the OS X GUI is one of the best-looking OS interface designs out there, just think about the high number of Windows and/or Linux users that will do anything in their power to make their OS look and act as closely as OS X.

If you are a Mac user that is not completely satisfied with how their Mac’s interface looks like and you want to achieve the full OS customization nirvana, you should know that, although you can also do this by hand (this is possible because OS X has an incredible high degree of ease personalization, if you know how to do it), you will need a set of tools to help you in your enterprise.

The tools of this trade are mostly free, with a couple of them still trying to get sold to people that still don’t trust free software or have not yet found the best free alternative. Such solutions will allow you to change almost anything you have ever dreamed of changing in OS X, and more. Read More»

GMail’s space for custom email account

August 18, 2008 by Jason

We all know that Google has been quite generous in giving space when it comes to GMail and right now it’s sitting at over 6 Gb and is consistently increasing. On the other hand Google Apps service is limited to 6 Gb of space (the free account, you can always purchase more space if you want to). For me, 6 Gb of space is more than enough but still, I’ve seen many people crib for limited amount of space!

Well here are some of the tips which you can certainly use in order to ensure that you don’t run out of space and you can rather use GMail’s space in case you are running short of space in your Google Apps account.

Here is what you can do :

1. Go to settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP (of your Google apps account).
2. Select Forward a copy of incoming message to XXXXXXXX email address.
3. Put your GMail account email address over there and save the changes. Read More»

If You Think SP1 Fixed Windows Vista, Think Again

March 17, 2008 by Jason

If you think that the first service pack for Windows Vista has managed to fix what was broken with the latest Windows client, think again. The same problems that were initially associated with the gold version of Vista have survived and moved on as the legacy of SP1. At the end of its first year of availability on the market, Vista had passed the 100 million sold license milestone, and according to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer, present at MIX08 the past week, the platform is the second most popular Windows operating system in the world, despite its long line of problems.

“I’m not saying that there aren’t things that customers choose to comment on. Come on, the number one issue we’ve had customers have issues on were application compatibility and driver compatibility. Read More»

Adjust taskbar preview size for vista

August 22, 2007 by Jason

Taskbar thumbnail preview in Windows Vista is a great new feature that allows you to quickly see a window without having to fully open it from the taskbar. Instead, you can just hover your mouse over the taskbar item and a small preview window will be displayed.

I have been asked many times if it is possible customize the size of the preview thumbnails. Many have expressed the desire to have larger previews so they can better see the window. Finally, I have found a way.

Using a free utility written by Andreas Verhoeven called Thumbnail Sizer, it is very easy to customize the preview size. Read More»

Speed Up Windows XP Shutdown

June 29, 2007 by Jason

Does your Windows XP take endless long to Shutdown? This is mainly because whenever you attempt to shutdown Windows XP, it will wait for all running applications to close. If they stop responding, you’ll get the end task warnings and you either manually kill the task or wait for Windows to kill it.

Read More»

Prep Your Videos to Share

May 22, 2007 by Jason

So, little Suzie had her big recital, and you brought the new camcorder and tripod, enduring “Who does this guy think he is, Spielberg?” stares from other parents (and likely your spouse). Now it’s time for your big reward: You get to show the world the gorgeous new video of your future American Idol winner. You finish up the basic video editing, adjusting color, cutting dead air, making transitions if you’re into that sort of thing. But the world isn’t waiting for you to send it DVD copies, leaving you to wonder, “How the heck do I get this to all her adoring fans?”

To get your video into shape for iPod and YouTube distribution, start in your video-editing program. I used Adobe Premiere Elements in the directions below; it’s our reigning Editors’ Choice among consumer video-editing apps. Read More»

Vista Tip: Default Programs

May 17, 2007 by Jason

The Default Programs item on the new Start menu makes uncovering important settings far easier than it was in XP. Read More»