Mac OS X

How to add line breaks between list items in OS X Mail

When composing messages in OS X Mail, you have the option to use the program's built-in list tool to keep numbered or bulleted lists properly formatted, but you may find its formatting options to be a bit limited.

The list generator is not intended to be a complex option; however, by default it only displays one list entry per paragraph, so if you attempt to create a line break to separate list items or add multiple paragraphs per item, the default behavior is to simply append new list entries.

This can be a bit annoying to deal with, and … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in asking how to stop a song in iTunes completely instead of pausing it, how to tackle log-in items changing at seemingly random intervals, what to do about burned files appearing as aliases on the resulting DVD, and how to get persistent keychain prompts under control. I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Stopping a song in iTunes instead of pausing it MacFixIt … Read more

Use OS X Finder shortcuts in Open and Save dialog boxes

The OS X Finder has a number of shortcuts and features for previewing items, navigating through folders, and selecting items to open. These can be quite convenient when browsing through your documents. If that's the case, you might be interested in knowing several of these are available when browsing through documents in the system's Open and Save dialog boxes as well.

Even though you may be in a program like Pages, TextEdit, or Microsoft Word, the Open and Save dialog boxes in these programs essentially open up a window to the OS X Finder so you can browse … Read more

Addressing mailbox access errors in OS X Mail

Apple's Mail program in OS X for the most part offers a quick and basic approach to e-mail, but occasionally you may run into problems such as not being able to access messages, whether you get error messages or simply can't locate them.

Similarly to OS X's Spotlight search feature, Mail uses an index to show the available e-mail messages that have been downloaded to the program, listing information such as subject, sender, and whether messages have been read and linking this information with the respective message file.

Errors involving the index can result in a number … Read more

Apple issues Java, printer, iPhoto, and Aperture updates

Apple has issued a few updates for OS X users, including a new version of its in-house Java runtime environment, updated printer drivers, and new versions of iPhoto and Aperture.

The updates improve reliability, security, and compatibility overall, but for iPhoto and Aperture users Apple has specifically addressed the following details:

Photos can now be deleted from My Photo Stream by dragging to the Trash Photos can now be exported from Photo Stream using the Export command in the File menu Raw images manually imported from My Photo Stream are now editable Fixes a bug that could cause manually rotated … Read more

Apple adds site-by-site Java support to Safari for OS X 10.6

Apple has released an update to Safari for OS X 10.6 users which, along with the latest Java updates, gives Snow Leopard users the ability to enable Java on a site-by-site basis.

This news is in response to the development of the Java runtime that has moved it past official support for Snow Leopard. While the latest version of Java Apple developed (Java SE 6) is supported in Snow Leopard, support for this version of OS X ended when Apple passed the baton to Oracle to maintain Java.

With Java SE 7 requiring OS X 10.7 or later, … Read more

How to use optional list-sorting methods in the OS X Finder

When you view a Finder folder in both standard lists and the Cover Flow view in OS X, you have the option to sort the list by any of the view's columns.

By default, these are the item's Name, Date Modified, Size, and Kind (for example folder, picture, PDF) which you can click to sort in either an ascending or descending list. However, there are some additional ways to locate the files you need.

Add more columns In addition to the default column categories, OS X includes a number of others that can be enabled on a per-folder … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about whether it is possible to install Windows on an external hard drive for use in Boot Camp, how to set up Time Machine to back up home folders stored on secondary drives, and how to disable the yellow tooltip popups that appear over URL links in many OS X applications. I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Using Windows 7 … Read more

Output stereo as mono in OS X

If you listen to music on your Mac while at work, you may use earbuds so as not to disturb co-workers; however, this does have a tradeoff. When using both earbuds, you can drown out others who might be trying to get your attention, but if you only wear one earbud, you will miss the parts of stereo recordings on the channel for the bud you left out, which in some cases can make a dramatic difference in the sound you're hearing.

You can avoid this by setting your Mac to use Mono output. This will combine all audio … Read more