quick

Apple's QuickLook technology in OS X is a quick way to preview a document's contents before opening the document's handling program. QuickLook works by using a small plug-in that reads the document's format and generates a small PDF, HTML, or thumbnail preview of the document that is presented to you as a representation of its layout.

The ability for OS X to generate a preview of a document is convenient for QuickLook, but also may be handy for other uses as well. For example, MacFixIt reader Paul recently wrote in wondering how one might use this … Read more

Apathy Softworks sounds like a great name for a pillow maker, but you should never judge a book by its cover or a rock band by its name, and the same goes for the mad coders behind Quick Cliq. Apathy's software is really about speed and productivity, not sloth. They had the fiendishly clever idea of splicing hot keys with mouse gestures to create a free menu-based app launcher and productivity toolkit for Windows. Like Apathy's other not-so-apathetic wares, Quick Cliq is extremely lightweight and completely portable. Quick Cliq's design goal is to enhance your productivity by … Read more

A relatively minor update for the Nexus line of devices, Android 4.2.2, was released last week by Google. The update, which included various performance improvements, also included a change to the behavior of the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi tiles in Quick Settings.

To access Quick Settings, you simply swipe down from the top of your screen with two fingers. You'll see various tiles, all allowing you to quickly access their respective settings screen. New in the 4.2.2 update is the ability to long-press on the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth icons, toggling the state of the service.

It'… Read more

Have you noticed that your new smartphone charges up quicker than your old one? You might want to thank Qualcomm and the Quick Charge 1.0 technology, which Qualcomm today announced is in more than 70 Snapdragon-based smartphones and tablets.

The rapid-charging technology can charge your phone up to 40 percent faster than previous generations, Qualcomm claims.

Where other models might take up to 4 hours to charge, a Quick Charge could accomplish the job in under 3 hours. As of today, there are more than 70 devices with support for Quick Charge 1.0, with more on the way.… Read more

Office 2013 users who need a helping hand can find one through Microsoft's Quick Start Guides.

Now available online, the nine guides offer advice on using each of the applications in Office 2013, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, OneNote, Project, Visio, and Publisher.

Each guide comes packaged as a PDF that you can download or view online through Adobe Reader.

The guides provide screenshots and descriptions of the new features and layouts in Office 2013. They also clue you in as to what's changed in the new applications compared with previous versions. As with any PDF, you … Read more

To improve security and cut crashes, Firefox will block plug-ins including Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Reader, Apple's QuickTime and Oracle's Java, Mozilla said.

Only the newest version of Adobe Systems' Flash Player will be run by default, said Michael Coates, Mozilla's director of security assurance, in a blog post yesterday.

Plug-ins extend a browser's ability to run software or handle different media and file formats, but that extra ability opens new avenues for attack. They've been a staple of Web development for years, but browser makers are working hard to reproduce their abilities directly with Web … Read more

If you've used the Notes app on an iPhone you know how easy it can be to scribble quick notes to yourself about any odd thing, from shopping lists to reminders. Quick Note moves that quick note-taking capability to the Mac. Quick Note is a simple download and runs in the background for fast access.

The Quick Note interface is simple. It opens a lined note page where you can type notes to yourself, and it has a master note list so you can look up existing notes by title, or create new ones as needed. Editing notes is … Read more

Apple's Quick Look feature in OS X is a convenient way to preview the contents of a document before opening it fully in an application. To invoke Quick Look, simply select a file in the Finder and press the spacebar, and you will see a window appear that shows a view of the contents of the file, or for unsupported file types will show the file's icon along with some information about it.

Quick Look uses small plug-ins that provide it with a lightweight interpretation of a specific file format, so it can display some detail about the … Read more

Windows 8 users who still miss the Start button will find an alternative on Samsung's new lineup of computers and tablets.

Buyers of Samsung Windows 8 PCs and tablets will be able to download a free Quick Starter program, which adds a Start button and a toolbar to open your files and applications.

The S Launcher program that lets Samsung users access the Start menu replacement was initially supposed to come with new PCs and tablets. But a Samsung rep confirmed to ZDNet in August that the launcher would not appear in the final products. Instead, it will be … Read more