Compress PDFs for emailing and sharing
A drawback of PDF files is that they are sometimes big and you don't want to email multi-megabyte file attachments. You should shrink your PDFs, not by archiving them in a zip, but compressing the contents within the PDF.

Use Spotlight as a thesaurus or dictionary
Not all word processors have a built in thesaurus though and when you are stuck for a great word you must look elsewhere for ideas. One solution is to use Spotlight as your thesaurus.

Back up Lion's recovery partition
Creating backups of the Mac's internal disk drive is an essential task that helps to protect your valuable files. One of the new features in OS X Lion is a hidden recovery partition on the boot disk. How do you back it up though?

Top Finder tips for Lion
Here are a few of the new features added to Finder in Lion and some of them are not so obvious, so there may be a few surprises for you.

Clean your Mac with EaseUS CleanGenius Free
There are many tools for cleaning up the disk drive, such as OnyX and MacKeeper, but one that you may not have heard of is EaseUS CleanGenius. It's free, so try it.

Siri on iPhone 3GS/iPhone 4?
It's disappointing that Siri is not on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 or the iPad, but you can get a lot of the same functionality from other apps that are available.

Uninstall software properly
There is more to removing software than just clicking the uninstall option on the menu. Here is a comprehensive guide to uninstalling software properly.

Lion: Hidden features in Spotlight
In OS X Lion there is a hidden Spotlight feature that is not so obvious and there is a subtle change to the display if you hold down the Option key. Continue reading...

Mac malware protection
The Mac is still safer to use than Windows and it will be for some time to come. This does not mean that you can ignore security and there are two simple techniques for avoiding malware and scams on the internet. Continue reading...

Voice recognition on the Mac
Voice recognition has been on your Mac for some time. Do you use it? You might find that it is quite useful.

Siri on iPhone 3GS/iPhone 4?
It's disappointing that Siri is not on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 or the iPad, but there are other apps that are almost as good. Check them out.

See what's running with Activity Monitor
Activity Monitor can display a variety of information and if you know what to look for, it can be quite helpful in diagnosing problems. Continue reading...

Recover gigabytes of lost disk space
If you delete an app off your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, it is deleted on the device, but iTunes keeps it on the Mac's disk drive. Remove them to recover wasted disk space

Lion: Configure new location services
For a few applications there is an advantage in knowing your location and there are some interesting changes to the location services in Lion.

Lion: Lock and duplicate files with Auto Save
Auto Save is an interesting new feature and at first sight it looks like an automatic save facility, but it has functions you may not have discovered.

Lion: Stop Safari opening the last page viewed
When you start Safari it reopens the last page you viewed. How do you stop it and get Safari to open the home page you have set in preferences?

Lion: Lock the Mac with a custom message
Security is an important issue and it's possible to lock your Mac to prevent unauthorised people from accessing it. Lion adds new options.

Lion: New Dock and language settings
There's a new configuration setting for the Dock and two more in Language & Text. Are they useful and do you need them? Check them out

Lion: Configure the scrollbars
Lion has removed the up/down scrollbar arrows completely and, depending on the circumstances, even the scrollbar altogether. Configure them and change the way they work.

Mac: Tidy up the login items list
Some programs automatically load when you start your Mac and they run in the background. You should check occasionally to make sure that all the items are valid.

Add your signature to PDFs
PDF files you create yourself and documents from elsewhere can not only be viewed, but also edited. The cool thing is that you can actually sign a PDF file with your own real signature.

Lion's secret Wi-Fi Diagnostics
Wireless networking is the the best invention since the TV remote. It's like magic, except when it doesn't work. Wi-Fi Diagnostics tool can solve your problems.

3 top tips for Spotlight
Don't open Spotlight files - shows how to open the folder location instead of the application or file. Customise Spotlight categories - shows how to choose which results Spotlight shows and in which order. Stop Spotlight finding files - there may be placed on the disk drive that you don't want to index. Go here for the tips...

Boost security with FileVault 2
If your computer is stolen the consequences could be severe if your personal, private or business information fell into the wrong hands. The solution is to encrypt the disk drive so no-one can access it.

Use Quick Look in Dock stacks to view files
Quick Look is a very useful feature. Did you know you can Quick Look items in the Dock too?

Lion: The new About this Mac
Click the Apple menu and select About this Mac. Click the More Info button you'll see something very different in Lion.

Lion: Disable Mail animations
Mail's new message window appears using an animated display. It looks cool the first few times, but once you have seen it, you just want to get on with the job. A quick tweak to the preferences is all that is needed.

Lion Tweaks freeware app
This is a useful app that enables you to customise a variety of features in OS X Lion of these items and remove the irritations. It's free, so why not download it and try it?

Find files fast
OS X search facilities are quite limited in their capabilities. To find anything other than obvious document files, photos and videos, you need a special search tool.

Lion: The missing Library folder
Where is the Library folder? How do you access it? It's easy when you know how.

Lion: Copy information using Versions
Versions works by opening two document windows side by side. You can do some clever tricks with these windows.

Lion: New vs classic view in Mail
Mail 5 is slightly different to the previous version and it has been given a makeover. Would you like to return to the old layout or customise the new one

Lion: The problem with Auto Save
One of the new features in Lion is Auto Save. The idea is that you will never have to save a document again. It's fine in theory, but there are unexpected side effects.

Lion: Use the Recovery Disk
There isn't a physical DVD disc and it is a download from the Mac App Store. So what are you going to do if your Mac won't boot? Here's the solution...

Lion: How to use Mail's Favorites bar
Here are some tips for using the Favorites bar in Mail on the Mac and how you can increase the space for viewing your email messages.

Lion: Have fun with iCal
iCal has had a makeover and it has a better understanding of what you type in when creating a new appointment or event. Try it and see...

Speed up Safari by 13%
Download and install the latest update to Lion and you'll find that 10.7.2 includes an update to Safari that makes it 13% faster.