100 Snow Leopard Tips, Tricks, and Features
Posted 08/31/2009 at 11:02am
| by Arvind Srinivasan and Roberto Baldwin

But I just bought a Mac!
Don't worry if you bought a Mac on, or after, June 8. Apple's Up-to-Date program means you can get Snow Leopard for $10. Hurry though, you have until December 26, 2009. Which'll be here before you know it.

Import from a scanner directly into Preview
You can now import directly from a scanner into Preview. You can even choose network scanners. Just go to File > Import From Scanner.

Screenshot names are time stamped
No more Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3 screenshot files on your Desktop. Snow Leopard now uses a time stamp to name your files.

Sync Address Book with Google and Yahoo
If you're sporting a Google or Yahoo account, you can now easily sync the Address Book with these accounts. Navigate to Address Book > Preferences, click the Accounts tab, and there you go.

Rosetta isn't there by default
In Leopard, Rosetta is there when you need it. In Snow Leopard, the first time you try to install, or launch, a PowerPC app, you'll get a prompt to install Rosetta. Software Upload will launch and install Rosetta for you.

Minimize windows into an application's Dock icon
In Leopard when you minimized a window, it flew to the right of the divider in the Dock. You can now have those minimized windows swoop down behind the app's icon in the Dock. You won't be able to see how many windows you'll have minimized at a glance, but with Dock Exposé, a thin line separates the regular windows from the minimized windows.

To switch to this mode, navigate to System Preferences > Dock and check "Minimize windows into application icon."

Where's Clean Install?
In order to clear up any confusion, Apple removed the "Clean Install" option from the Snow Leopard installer. Apparently, some folks didn't realize that a clean install erases the drive before installing. If you want to erase your intended drive before installation, click the Utilities button at the beginning of your install to use Disk Utility. After clicking Utilities, you'll be prompted to restart your Mac. After restart, navigate to the menubar Utilities > Disk Utility.
Sure, it's an extra step for you, but if it keeps your less-than-tech-savvy uncle from erasing all of his data while trying to install Snow Leopard, it's probably worth it.

Will my scanner and or printer work?
Apple has posted a list of scanners and printers that will work with Snow Leopard. If in doubt, check it out. Apparently, Puppet Walt had an issue with his scanner. The poor old guy.

Cisco VPN support
If you work from the road, or from home, you know how important Cisco VPN is. Snow Leopard has it baked right into the OS. To set up your VPN (you should check with your IT department) navigate to System Preferences > Network. Click on the small plus sign (+) in the lower-left corner. Choose VPN in the Select Interface drop-down. This is much better than opening a third-party application to get on the office server from home.