The Latest on macOS Tips: Page 4

With the use of Terminal, anyone can run multiple instances of the same application on a Mac. When you have multiple windows open in a web browser, the windows are all running under the same Process ID (PID). But, with multiple instances, each has its own unique PID. So why would you want to run multiple instances of the same app?

As a multitasker, I've embraced the hustle and bustle that has filled my life. I'm constantly doing several things at a time, while looking for shortcuts to finish all of these things quicker than before. I brush my teeth with my cell phone in hand and drive to work with breakfast in mouth—I spare no time.

On average, it takes three seconds to move your hand from the keyboard to the mouse, then click once and move your hand back to the keyboard. While the time wasted my sound trivial, it can add up quickly throughout the day.

At the most recent Apple event, the company announced its new Fusion Drive, a hybrid hard drive designed to increase performance and speed by combining traditional and flash storage. It's composed of a small solid-state disk and a larger spinning hard disk drive, and files and applications are moved back and forth between the two based on how often you use them.

Sitting in the Powell Library at UCLA was a constant thing for me. Directly after class, I would streamline my way there to study all night until my eyes shuttered to sleep. For the most part, my classes and professors managed to keep my studying online via PDFs, emails, long essays and journal entries.

My desktop usually looks like this...

There are certain files on your Mac that do not warrant encryption, but still need to be hidden. Whether it be snoopy parents trying to find pictures, or friends stumbling upon one of your love letters, there are times when you need to hide a file and have it kept secret.

If you have an iPhone or iPad, but use a Google account for most of your communication, syncing your contacts just got a lot easier. Google recently announced that they added CardDAV support, an open protocol that lets you seamlessly integrate Google Contacts into other services.

AirPlay is probably one of the most underutilized features in Apple products. It allows users to wirelessly stream photos, music, or video directly from their iPad, iPhone, iPod touch or Mac to their Apple TV or AirPlay-supported speakers. The Apple support page has a complete list of all the supported and needed devices. Mirroring is also available, but only for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPad 2, all of which need to be running iOS 5 or later.

There are a lot of hidden settings in Mac OS X that you can change by using the Apple Terminal, but if you're not familiar with it, it can be tricky. Mountain Tweaks and Lion Tweaks are two apps created by Fredrik Wiker that cut out the extra step by letting you change those settings without having to use Terminal, therefore making it ridiculously simple.

With the release of Windows 8 right around the corner, if you plan on buying it (or just want to see what it's all about), it's a good idea to take advantage of the free trial before you shell out any money. If you're an Apple user who doesn't have a deep-seated disdain for Microsoft products, this tutorial will show you how to install the Windows 8 preview to try it out on your MacBook.

It's no secret that there's a lot of surveillance going on these days. It's easier than ever to end up in a database, and even former government agents are speaking out about the atrocious amount of spying being done against our own citizens. They've targeted our laptops, cars, IP addresses, and now they're coming for our iPhones.

Mountain Lion is here, and at such a reasonable price point, there doesn't seem to be many reasons why you wouldn't upgrade. That is, unless your apps aren't compatible. Just like a major OS upgrade, developers are having to adjust to Mountain Lion, and not every transition has been smooth.

Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) is out today, available in the Mac App Store for just $20. Unfortunately, installing Mountain Lion requires that you already have a Mac running Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) or Lion (OS X 10.7). If you're currently running a Leopard system, you're out of luck, and need to pay $29 to upgrade to Snow Leopard, and then an additional $20 to upgrade again to Mountain Lion.

So you just upgraded your Mac to OS X Lion and it greeted you, not with a friendly welcome video as Snow Leopard did, but instead with a tiny clip informing you that the Apple powers that be, have decided to reverse the 2-finger scroll direction, without even asking if you'd like to!

A few weeks ago I wrote about Atomic Web as the best web browser for iOS devices, and while I believe it is a superior option, Atomic Web is not the only alternative web browser you can use on your iOS device. There are three more—Dual Browser, iCabMobile, and iSwifter—that are all great options because of their unique features. Let's check them out.

I have been wanting to share this great menubar app for a long time now (2+ years), but I really didn't know where. Just looking at Mac How-To World made me think to post it here.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about why I think streaming music services like Rdio.com are better than Apple's iTunes Music Store. This week, I follow up with a how-to about Rdio for Mac, a desktop music player that streams music from your Rdio.com account. Even though Apple is introducing new iTunes features, I think you will find Rdio for Mac a much more affordable option—especially if you like to listen to new music on a weekly, or even daily basis.

If you're new to Mac, you may not realize that the Dock is not the only place you can access applications and folders. The menu bar of your desktop can also hold a dozen or more applications and plug-ins for easy access to lots of content on your computer.

As I was listening to Apple's WWDC conference today, what ran through my mind the most is if there were ever a time to switch to the world of Apple computing now is it. Today's WWDC keynote presentation was chock-full of new and updated iOS mobile software—too much to cover in this one article. But the most "new thing" coming from Apple this Fall is iCloud, a file sharing and streaming service that requires no wired connections.

Scribbly is a cool looking stylus for your iPad; you can pre-order for £10.

This week, Apple announced the beta version of its new wireless, cloud-based service, iCloud. I wrote a summary of it here. The iCloud service includes some new features in the latest version of the iTunes Store, which allows you to access all your iTunes songs, mobile apps, and eBooks purchased in their respective iTunes stores and download that media to up to 10 of your devices—your iTunes supported Macs and PCs and mobile devices. This downloading can all be done wirelessly without you...

With social photography, geo-location and iOS gaming apps on the rise, the latest addition is a hybrid of all three: AppySnap is a social location game that requires participants to complete photography "missions" in order to cash in on prizes and special offers.

When Apple's iTunes was introduced back in 2001, it rekindled my interest and purchasing of music. I was so excited by the program that I immediately started converting all my rather large collection of CDs into MP3 tracks. I then sold off my CDs and remaining vinyl albums, and used the money for additional iTunes purchases. iTunes made managing and listening music a wholly different experience. But in the last few years, iTunes has taken a back seat to streaming music services, which I find a...

I'm just about to get a macbook. I'm wondering if there are "free as in free beer" applications just like on my ubuntu. Does it have equivalent software such as Open Office, Gimp, Camstudio, Any video converter and Audacity on a Mac. Also, is it easy to install ubuntu 10.04  on a new macbook? Is bootcamp pre-installed on my system? It's a 2.4 GHz core 2 duo with Geforce 320M.

This Guy Has My MacBook is a gripping tale for iOS nerds far and wide, documented via interaction designer Joshua Kaufman's tumblr. When Kaufman's MacBook was stolen from his apartment in Oakland, CA, on March 21, 2011, he quickly activated Hidden, a previously installed app that enabled Kaufman to collect photos of the thief, as well as screen shots of the computer in use.

Over the past few years, I have downloaded several third-party web browsers for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and the one I have found most advanced and feature rich is Atomic Web. While many mobile browsers have their unique features, Atomic Web could well be considered the professional browser for advanced web users. With each version of the app, the developer has included features that make navigating the browser more user friendly and useful for bookmarking, managing and saving websites...

Hi problem here i need help with . I go to the vodaphone websit to buy the iphone 4 and after 3 or 4 directs safari tells me there has been to many redirects back to the home page , I have cleared mt cache , no joy , enabled cookies, no joy, disabled cookies no joy . tried to use firefox no joy . very frustrating

In Numbers '09, I'd like to make a chart on one sheet that draws data from multiple tables on multiple sheets. Is this possible? I tried for the longest time and finally gave up. Seems you can only draw data in a chart from multiple tables on the same sheet, not from different sheets. But is there something I'm missing? Anybody know?

There are a few different types of Apple iPhone and iPad users: general household users who largely consume media—e.g. surfing the web, watching movies, listening to music. Other iPhone and iPad owners use their device(s) to produce stuff—written documents, edited movies, blog posts, music tracks, and the like. And then there are those who are very mobile with their devices. They commute to and from work on a regular basis with their iPhone or iPad. Some users may travel a lot on business, or...

I just saw that Productive Macs has a bundle of 8 Mac Apps for sale for just $30. The apps include the following:

In many of my articles, I will refer to applications designed to empower Mac users to automate various tasks on their computer. One such application is called Hazel. Like smart folders, smart playlists, and smart albums found in Mac OS X and iPhoto, Hazel can automate the task of moving, copying, or deleting files in folders on your Mac. I recommend Hazel as one of the most essential applications for any Mac user. Let's explore how it works.

With so many wireless iOS networking apps for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch available, there's very little reason to connect any of these devices to iTunes, except to update the software. Besides, importing and exporting photos using iTunes has never been one of the best features of Apple's mobile device process. Let me introduce you to 5 useful apps for importing and exporting photos to and from your iOS device(s).

Photo credit: World header image by lastquest.