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100 Snow Leopard Tips, Tricks, and Features
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100 Snow Leopard Tips, Tricks, and Features
Posted 08/31/2009 at 1:02:49pm | by Arvind Srinivasan and Roberto Baldwin

 

Pinch to zoom icons on Desktop

If you want to make the icons on your Desktop bigger, merely pinch to zoom on a multi-touch trackpad. This works better in reverse, because if your Desktop is cluttered, it helps to make all of the icons tiny until you can clean it up.

 

 

3- and 4-finger gestures for older multi-touch trackpads

Extending the olive branch to users of older-generation MacBooks and MacBook Pros that did not have four-finger and three-finger trackpad gestures, Snow Leopard brings this feature to those MacBooks, provided you have a supported model.

 

 

More granular firewall settings

In order to prevent hackery of the malicious variety, Snow Leopard includes more firewall settings than its predecessor. You can choose to block incoming connections from certain apps, always allow connections from other apps, and set an allow/do not allow list. This is a huge upgrade from the mere “off/on” found on the previous firewall.

 

 

Specify how long after screen saver you want to lock computer

Have you ever walked away from your laptop to get a soda, and then walked back to see your computer lock in front of your eyes. Instead of scrambling to prevent going into screen saver, merely set the computer to ask for the password after a certain period of time after the screen saver activates.

 

New desktop wallpapers

Though not quite the caliber of the LSD-influenced wallpapers that are in Windows 7, Apple has introduced a few new default desktops in Snow Leopard as well, namely, more nature and art images.

 

 

Show date in menubar

One notable omission in the default OS X clock is the date, as you have to click the time to see it. In Snow Leopard, you can choose whether or not to see the date in the menubar, and choose how it is displayed, whether fully written out, or abbreviated by number.

 

 

Faster Time Machine backups

Even better than telling you how much time is left in your backup, Time Machine speeds up significantly in Snow Leopard. In our tests it was about twice as fast as Leopard, namely reducing the time in the Preparing Backup stage.

 

 

AppleScript has access to Cocoa frameworks

At WWDC, Apple announced something called Cocoa Bridge, which allows you to access any Objective-C frameworks from within AppleScript, with an AppleScript syntax. This will make AppleScripts much more functional, as well as make it easier to develop applications that don’t necessarily require a GUI.

 

 

vo

Treat trackpad as a virtual screen, guided by VoiceOver

Apple has introduced a plethora of new functions to help Universal Access. If you have trouble seeing, you can navigate the computer using the trackpad as a virtual screen, with the help of VoiceOver, which will tell you exactly where to go.

 

 

iCal syncs with Google Calendar and Yahoo Calendar

iCal now syncs with Google Calendar and Yahoo Calendar out of the box. iPhone users may be used to this, because you could enable it within iTunes, but now, you can do it directly from iCal.

 

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COMMENTS: 74
TAGS:  Snow Leopard, features, Tips
COMMENTS
avatarDesktop icons

Submitted by mattc986 on Mon, 2009-08-31 13:46

Yeah I'm still on 10.5.8 on a MBP Early 2008 and I've always been able to resize my Desktop icons with a two finger pinch. You can do it in a finder folder so it makes sense the desktop responds the same way since it's technically your desktop folder.

Anyway, definitely not a Snow Leopard tip/trick/feature.

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avatarAIM Chatting

Submitted by Calob Horton on Mon, 2009-08-31 19:10

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe being able to audio/video chat with Windows AIM client users was available in Leopard.

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avatarActive Directory Accounts integration

Submitted by ikarelin on Mon, 2009-08-31 21:02

Active Directory Settings are moved to "Accounts" in System Settings instead of /Applications/Utilities/Directory Services app. Cool !!!

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avatariCal edit revision seems to be wrong. Feature removed maybe?

Submitted by BallinaLad on Tue, 2009-09-01 04:10

I tried the feature to edit iCal entries with just one click, but no joy.It still works just as before -- double click the item then click Edit to change the details.Was this feature removed from the release version?Ric "Edit iCal events quickerIn Leopard you had to double-click on the event, then you had to click Edit to edit the event. That's one too many clicks. In Snow Leopard, you can just double-click on the event to get to edit mode. "

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avatarYou're right about iChat

Submitted by Nijigasumi on Tue, 2009-09-01 06:35

You're right about iChat video to Windows AIM. The ability's already in Leopard but it was buggy and sometimes decided it didn't want to work. I have yet to try it out in SL. Lets hope they made it more stable.

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avatarAnother nifty new feature

Submitted by ericgorr on Tue, 2009-09-01 06:54

Unless I missed it, I didn't see mentioned the new feature in the QuickTime Player:

File->New Screen Recording...

It allows you to do a video capture of what is happening on your monitor. Considering that there is commercial software that allows you to do the same thing and they cost more then Snow Leopard itself, this feature alone could pay for itself immediately.

Now, the commercial software will likely have more features at this point, but for basic screen recoding, the new QuickTime Player feature is great.

One of the best uses for this new feature is when users report bugs, they all now can easily send a screen recoding of what they were doing at the time. A huge boon to developers everywhere...

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avatarSelect input and output sources

Submitted by jemoreno on Tue, 2009-09-01 07:39

If you’ve ever wanted to change audio sources without firing up system preferences, well Snow Leopard lets you do just that. By holding down Option + clicking on the volume control in the menu bar you are able to quickly change sources.

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avatarDirectory Utility App not gone

Submitted by jemoreno on Tue, 2009-09-01 07:41

I first noticed that my directory utility app was gone, then I snooped around and found how to access it.System Preferences > Accounts > Login Options > Network Account Server

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avatarSticky keyboard shortcut.

Submitted by Doc Izzy on Tue, 2009-09-01 15:10

The sticky keyboard shortcut was in Leopard. I've used it almost daily at work. May have even been in Tiger.

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avatarGoogle

Submitted by jyii on Mon, 2010-01-25 05:58

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avatarText substitution

Submitted by mr100percent on Tue, 2009-09-01 21:45

To turn on text substitution features in an application:

Control-click and choose Substitutions > Show Substitutions. (In some applications, you can also choose Edit > Substitutions > Show Substitutions.)

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avatarOption click in the Menu Bar

Submitted by romanboy on Fri, 2009-09-04 11:22

Option click in the Menu Bar on the iSync icon and it tells you when it last synched all your Bookmarks, Calendars, Contacts, etc.

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avatarPut Back

Submitted by beeblebrox on Sat, 2009-09-05 19:03

I must be really missing something here. When I first read of the new feature I sent up a cheer, as I'm sure many Mac users did. Then I tried it. There were way over 100 items in the trash when I went down the list and tried the 'Put Back' feature both from the context menu and the file menu. Out of all those items only seven had 'put back' enabled, - 2 empty folders, 1 WMV, 1 Application, and 3 PDFs -all the rest were grayed out. Of all those files only seven worked as Apple's Support article said they should?

I wish someone could tell me what's wrong here. Otherwise it just doesn't seem to be worth the effort.

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avatarStacks and Put back

Submitted by jyuichi on Sun, 2009-10-18 11:52

Regarding buggy put back, for me it seems that items sent to the trash from Finder or desktop can be put back but items dragged from stacks (like my download stack thats right next to the trash can) can't. Real bummer :( Sleepless Nights &  Wakeless Days

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avatarPalm OS Syncing, it still works in Snow Leopard

Submitted by heap1 on Sun, 2009-09-06 11:47

Palm syncing still works fine. I have had no problems syncing my 9 year old Sony Clie with Palm Desktop software version 4.2.1 in Snow Leopard.

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avatarScreen sharing changes

Submitted by gmorain on Wed, 2009-09-09 12:54

When using screen sharing to connect to a remote Mac, cmd-tab and Exposé keys are now redirected to the remote machine (it was not the case in Leopard)

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avataryahoo mail

Submitted by Robert Ireland on Sat, 2009-09-12 10:11

switch to 64 results in inability of yahoo to download mail

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avatarPalm Syncing works fine 2

Submitted by bgreggs on Sat, 2009-10-10 05:28

My Palm Centro is still syncing fine via HotSync manager to Palm Desktop 4.2.2 in Snow Leopard

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avatarIncorrect: "triangulates your position based on your IP address"

Submitted by PCheese on Mon, 2009-12-07 12:43

You wrote that Snow Leopard "triangulates your position based on your IP address". Triangulation uses multiple angles and distance estimates from known physical locations (i.e. cell towers, satellites) to determine current location. Apple could also have used an IP address to location lookup database, but that does not appear to be the case. Instead, they use skyhookwireless.com to to find your location based on MAC addresses of nearby access points. (It's possible they employ triangulation techniques here.)

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avatarActive Directory Settings

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Active Directory Settings are moved to "Accounts" in System Settings instead of /Applications/Utilities/Directory Services app. Cool !!!

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avatarGreat idea to continue....

Submitted by nikollax on Thu, 2010-01-07 06:15

"After spending the weekend with the new OS, we found 100 features, tips, and tricks that should help get you up to speed and make you a Snow Leopard power user. "This is an gear idea for us to continue.Before dealing with the new things, we have to have an idea about those OS.

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avatarThink twice

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"If you have a tip or feature we missed, drop it in the comments and we'll add it to the article. ".Go through this sentence again.The writer accept that there would be some mistakes.This is a real good thing.since every human do mistakes at some stages.
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avatarThink twice

Submitted by superworker on Fri, 2010-01-08 06:22

"If you have a tip or feature we missed, drop it in the comments and we'll add it to the article. ".Go through this sentence again.The writer accept that there would be some mistakes.This is a real good thing.since every human do mistakes at some stages.
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avatargood idea...

Submitted by supercommenter on Sat, 2010-01-09 06:13

"If you have a tip or feature we missed, drop it in the comments and we'll add it to the article."
Just go through that statement again.Then you will feel more about this writer.He is asking, if there is any mistakes.So if you know any more that this, he is asking to tell them.
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avatargood idea...

Submitted by supercommenter on Sat, 2010-01-09 06:13

"If you have a tip or feature we missed, drop it in the comments and we'll add it to the article."
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avatarIf you've secretly suspected that your MacBook's battery .....

Submitted by NitinJain on Thu, 2010-01-14 09:27

"If you've secretly suspected that your MacBook's battery isn't working correctly, Snow Leopard can tell you what your geek senses have know all along.".yes for sure.100% agree with that statement.thanks for sharing this important points with us.
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Active Directory Settings are moved to "Accounts" in System Settings instead of /Applications/Utilities/Directory Services app. Cool !!!

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avatarusing the new technology would be effects a lot.

Submitted by michelle admit on Fri, 2010-01-15 21:29

This is an real good way of being popular.It allows you to do a video capture of what is happening on your monitor. Considering that there is commercial software that allows you to do the same thing and they cost more then Snow Leopard itself, this feature alone could pay for itself immediately.
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avatarreal good thing and good quality....

Submitted by NitinJain on Sat, 2010-01-16 20:06

"If you have a tip or feature we missed, drop it in the comments and we'll add it to the article. ".
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Submitted by ianpaloso on Mon, 2010-01-18 04:15

Once you go Mac, you'll never go back.. The same goes for Snow Leopard. What a great piece of software, this one.

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avatari love leopard

Submitted by madno on Mon, 2010-01-18 07:33

Hi i love everything about leopard but the problem is i want to install it on pc. I hope mac life can write the article about how to install leopard in pc.

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Submitted by sandra34 on Tue, 2010-01-19 08:53

Thanks for these tips/tricks/features, I am new to using snowleopord and had no idea some of these existed!

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