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Mac OS X hidden features and nice tips & tricks

apple.stackexchange.com

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Re: Mac OS X hidden features and nice tips & tricks

#61

Post by joeburke »

iaskwhy wrote: post #15

"I love the fact that OS X will scroll the window that the mouse is hovering over, even if another application has focus. That way I can scroll an example that I am coding in TextMate without having to lose keyboard control on TM" This also happens on Windows (at least on Chrome) but Windows goes even further: you can click through a link or button on a non-focused window. On OS X, in order to follow a link or click…

It's called "click through" and I also prefer the Windows behavior. Especially since the behavior is not consistent on Mac OS: certain actions do not require a click through (e.g. you can close a window in the back without bringing it on the front).

Re: Mac OS X hidden features and nice tips & tricks

#62

Post by wrs »

joeburke wrote: post #61
iaskwhy wrote: post #15

"I love the fact that OS X will scroll the window that the mouse is hovering over, even if another application has focus. That way I can scroll an example that I am coding in TextMate without having to lose keyboard control on TM" This also happens on Windows (at least on Chrome) but Windows goes even further: you can click through a link or button on a non-focused window. On OS X, in order to follow a link or click…

It's called "click through" and I also prefer the Windows behavior. Especially since the behavior is not consistent on Mac OS: certain actions do not require a click through (e.g. you can close a window in the back without bringing it on the front).

Just FYI, the inconsistency is deliberate. The UI guidelines have a lengthy section on when clickthrough is appropriate and when it isn't.

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/UserEx...

Re: Mac OS X hidden features and nice tips & tricks

#63

Post by xinsight »

mrspeaker wrote: post #8

I couldn't see it in that list, but my favourite can't-live-without shortcut is CMD + ~ to switch between windows of the same app (for example, if you have 10 textmate windows open it will flip between them). CMD + SHFT + ~ to go the other way.

I use this frequently. Unfortunately it doesn't work with Photoshop.

Re: Mac OS X hidden features and nice tips & tricks

#65

Post by thought_alarm »

GeneralMaximus wrote: post #20

A few I can think of: - Open the Apple menu. Now hold Shift. More menu options! Now try holding Opt. Even more menu options! This works for several Apple applications. - Hold Opt when clicking on a menubar icon for extra information. For example, holding Opt and clicking the WiFi icon in the menubar brings up the signal strength, IP address and other useful information. Likewise for the rest of the icons. - In Spotli…

Similar to number 5:

In the app switcher (Cmd+Tab) you can press the left/right arrows to navigate the apps, and the up/down arrows to activate Exposé and select a window (including minimized windows).

While in Exposé mode, use the arrow keys to select a window, and Tab/Back-tick to navigate between apps. Hit Escape to return to your original app, and Hit Return to activate the selected window.

Re: Mac OS X hidden features and nice tips & tricks

#67

Post by [deleted] »

wrs wrote: post #62
joeburke wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's called "click through" and I also prefer the Windows behavior. Especially since the behavior is not consistent on Mac OS: certain actions do not require a click through (e.g. you can close a window in the back without bringing it on the front).

Just FYI, the inconsistency is deliberate. The UI guidelines have a lengthy section on when clickthrough is appropriate and when it isn't. http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/UserEx...

[deleted]

Re: Mac OS X hidden features and nice tips & tricks

#68

Post by joeburke »

wrs wrote: post #62
joeburke wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's called "click through" and I also prefer the Windows behavior. Especially since the behavior is not consistent on Mac OS: certain actions do not require a click through (e.g. you can close a window in the back without bringing it on the front).

Just FYI, the inconsistency is deliberate. The UI guidelines have a lengthy section on when clickthrough is appropriate and when it isn't. http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/UserEx...

Maybe, but the inconsistency is still dangerous because when you click on a window in the background, you can never be completely sure that the click will be swallowed (i.e. not seen by the application) or interpreted by the application. If the latter, you need to be careful where you click when you want to bring a window up.

Having to find out whether the background window is in a disabled state or not "makes me think", and a lot of applications never bother disabling themselves too.

Re: Mac OS X hidden features and nice tips & tricks

#69

Post by riobard »

navs wrote: post #11

My absolute favorite is cmd+shift+/ which brings up the Help Menu search box. With this I can type any menu item string and execute the item rather than having to remember each shortcut.

To be fair, the shortcut should really read "cmd+?". Much easier to remember!

Re: Mac OS X hidden features and nice tips & tricks

#70

Post by shiny »

mrspeaker wrote: post #8

I couldn't see it in that list, but my favourite can't-live-without shortcut is CMD + ~ to switch between windows of the same app (for example, if you have 10 textmate windows open it will flip between them). CMD + SHFT + ~ to go the other way.

I use this, but cycling through all of my windows drives me crazy. I've found Witch (http://manytricks.com/witch/) useful for switching between windows, but it can be a bit slow to load -- I wish OS X had an inbuilt system like it.
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