TIPS THAT TAKE 5 MINUTES

6. Let OS X Do Its Unix Thang (KIC) - Mac OS X comes with a set of Unix cleanup scripts that are set to run automatically - unless your machine happens to be snoozing during the scheduled run times: 3:15 a.m. daily, 4:30 a.m. on Saturdays, and 5:30 a.m. on the first day of the month. If the scripts don’t run, system-clogging clutter can build up in your temporary directories, and your Mac won’t run as smoothly as it should. So just alter the schedule with a utility like OnyX (free) or Cocktail ($14.95), or run the scripts anytime from your Dashboard with Maintidget (free).

Maintidget shows you when the scripts have last run, and lets you run them from your Dashboard.

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7. Services, You Have Been Served (KIC) - Services are so cool - if you use them. But you can keep that menu streamlined and reclaim wasted system resources by getting rid of the services you don’t use. Download Service Scrubber (donationware) to do the dirty work for you.

You know that rascally Services menu? Keep it well behaved and then maybe you’ll use it every once in a while.

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8. Root Out Resource-Sucking Apps (Speed Demons) - Greedy applications may be consuming more than their fair share of system resources, slowing you down in the worst way. To root them out, try this: Open Activity Monitor (in Applications/Utilities), and click the % CPU header to show the highest to lowest percentage.

The app that tops the list of CPU-sucking vampires is often Photoshop or Safari, which is normal. Quit the apps you don’t need to run right now, or consider installing more RAM or clearing more space on your primary hard drive so OS X can make better use of virtual memory (see “Keep It Free and Easy” sidebar at the end of this article). If another app continually tops the list - even when it’s not doing anything - check the vendor’s site for updates or patches that may resolve the problem.

Find the trouble apps by hooking up Activity Monitor.

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9. Use Quicksilver to Speed Up...Everything (Speed Demons) - Quicksilver (free) can speed up almost every typical Mac action. It’s an incredibly versatile application launcher, search utility, file browser, and command central for interacting with all files and apps. And it’s free.

Who needs Spotlight? Quicksilver does things like let you rename documents with four keystrokes.

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10. Don't Overextend Your Browser (Word) - You got all excited about installing Firefox extensions, but now you have a bunch you don’t use. Stop Firefox from being bogged down by selecting Tools > Add-Ons, checking out the list in the Extentions tab, and selecting the ones you want to dump. Click Uninstall, and then restart Firefox.

The extension won’t be uninstalled until we restart Firefox.

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11. De-Webify Word Docs (Word) - As you’ve probably noticed, Word insists on turning every URL you type into a clickable Web link, resulting in a huge slowdown when you accidentally click it. Select Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoFormat As You Type and uncheck the box next to “Internet paths with hyperlinks.” Then do the same on the AutoFormat tab.

To stop Word from “helping” you, turn off the features that you really hate.

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12. Dive Into Your Surf Session (Firefox, Safari) - If you’d rather effortlessly zip to your websites every morning instead of laboriously typing each URL in its own tab, bookmark all your sites and place the bookmarks in one folder. Select Bookmarks, then the folder you just created, then select Open In Tabs (in Safari) or Open All In Tabs (in Firefox).

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