RAW Computing

Hidden features in Finder

There are lots of hidden features in OS X on the Apple Mac. Sometimes it is months or years before you discover them and you can still be surprised by a hidden feature. Here are things you may not know about Finder.

Scan for wireless networks on the Apple Mac

Wi-Fi is one of the best inventions for years, but do you suffer from poor connectivity, weak signals and intermittent access? There's a solution and scanning for networks helps to identify problems.

Share files stored on iCloud on the Mac

If you are running OS X Mountain Lion on the Apple Mac, you have access to online storage using iCloud. If you have stored files online you might want to share them with friends or co-workers. Sending iCloud files to others is easy.

Securely encrypt USB flash drives

We tend to lose small devices like USB flash drives (thumbdrives, pen drives) and we drop them, we leave them in computers, they fall out of our pocket, and so on. Encrypt it in case you lose it.

3 top tips for Spotlight

Don't open Spotlight files, customise Spotlight categories, and stop Spotlight finding files you don't want it to find. Learn how to use some lesser known features in Spotlight. Go here for the tips...

Customise Finder's toolbar and create instant slide shows

Here are a couple of tips written way back when Leopard was the current version of OS X on the Mac, but they still work fine on Lion today.

Use PDF security features to lock access

It is sometimes useful to save documents not in their native form, but in PDF format instead so others can view your document. You can password protect it, let people read it, prevent copying the text or images or printing. Show me how...

Fix Lion key repeat and Launchpad shortcut

OS X Lion has some oddities, like preventing a key from repeating when it is held down and not assigning a keyboard shortcut to Launchpad. Fix these flaws.

View related messages in Mail

You can select a message and Organize by Conversation or Show Related Messages. What is the difference between a conversation and a related message?

Dash is a handy coding manual on the Apple Mac

Whether you write apps for iOS or OS X, create web pages in HTML, CSS and PHP or use Python, Ruby, WordPress, Drupal or even Android, Dash has the documentation you need. It is a useful resource for anyone that does any type of coding and it's free in the Mac App store.

Take control of Java on your Apple Mac

Malware like Flashback has exploited security flaws in Java on the Mac to infect it with a Trojan. This article answers key questions regarding Java. Find out here

Repair and manage disk drives using Diskutil

Diskutil has lots of functions.Learning a few could help in certain situations, such as when you can't run Disk Utility. Here's quick guide.

Protect your Mac with Avast! Antivirus Free

Apple users have been putting off getting security software your years, but now Macs are no longer safe on the internet. Thankfully, there are some good anti virus tools available, like Avast! Free Antivirus for Mac.

Recover your lost or deleted photos

If you have searched for an image and can't find it, it must have been been deleted. Recover it with Mac Photo Recovery

Recover lost OS X Lion Recovery Partition

It is possible to lose the recovery partition on your Mac. Have you recently checked it is still there? LRecover the recovery partition.

Mac Photo Booth tips

Using Photo Booth is very easy and all you need to do is to click a simple button to take a snapshot. However, there are hidden features that you may not be aware of.

Access secret features in OS X Disk Utility

Disk Utility has many functions and one is to display the disks and partitions available. But in OS X Lion it doesn't show the Recovery partition. What else is it hiding? Find out by enabling the secret Debug menu.

Boost disk space, cut the clutter

CleanGenius from EaseUS is a cleanup tool to remove the clutter from the disk. Clear caches, find space-hogging files, uninstall unwanted apps and more. Read the review...

Secure your Mac

Securely delete private files to prevent others from seeing them. Put your files in a secure disk vault. Here's how to erase them.

Remove the Flashback Trojan

There are said to be around 600,000 infected Macs and that is actually quite a large proportion of the total Macs in use. Now Kaspersky has produced a free Flashback cleaner.

Top tips for Preview in OS X on the Mac

Preview is one of the most used apps on the Mac and it has lots of useful features, but it is easy to miss some of them because they aren't obvious. Here is a collection of not-so-well-known features.

Monitor your Mac with Activity Monitor

You don't need to have Activity Monitor on the screen and there are some very useful functions for monitoring activity from the icon in the Dock or in floating windows.

Clean the disk with CCleaner

Every Windows user knows about CCleaner, but if you're a Mac user you may not be aware of this great app. It's a useful cleanup tool.

Uninstall software properly

There is more to removing software than just dragging an app to the Trash. Here's how to uninstall software properly.

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.

Hundreds more Mac and OS X tips...

Apple MacGo to the Mac and OS X tips page. There are hundreds of top tips covering a wide range of topics.

Hundreds of tips...

Click here to go to the Mac OS X Tips page - there are hundreds of tips for Mountain Lion, Lion and even Snow Leopard! Speed up, tune up, fix problems and find new ways of working.

You want more? OK, here are some more articles and tips

Use voice recognition on the Mac
Turn paper documents into editable files with OCR
Add an app launcher to your Mac
Access your Mac from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch
Download movies, PDFs and files you don't want to view online
3 free Mac anti virus programs and one fake
Apple takes security seriously
5 tips for getting more out of Firefox
7 tips for Google Mail's Priority Inbox feature
3 Top tips for Firefox
New features in Safari 5
4 free Adobe AIR games
Share files between Windows Linux and Mac OS X.
4 Twitter clients running on Adobe AIR
Use a TomTom sat nav with an Apple Mac
Diagnose problems with Activity Monitor
6 ways to monitor your internet bandwidth usage...
Use a Blackberry mobile phone with your Mac
Want a cheap Mac? Visit the Refurb Store!
7 disk defragmenters to boost speed
Everything you need to know about menulets/menu extras
8 must-have graphics apps for your Mac
Power-up your Mac's internet connection with OpenDNS

Resources:

Old software

Programs are written using RealBasic, which is a pretty good implimentation of Basic for the Mac and it's much much easier to write software using it than with any other programming language. These apps are really old so they may or may not work!

Affilate links follow...

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