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What are your OSx tips for better productivity?
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Feb 2006
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Yes, i'm a new Mac user. Been using a PC (still do) for almost 13 years now and I'm having a hard time breaking some old habits (ie ctrl-c for copy ctrl-v for paste, etc), and recently found out how to do that w/ Apple-C and V along w/ other functions w/ the option and fn key.
My old habits i'm breaking include:
copy & paste
page up and down w/o those keys on my desktop w/ fn up and down
ctrl-click on an url in document
Slowing learning new functions.
Just started using expose and it's an awesome function. This is the type of stuff I'm looking to use for ease of organization of windows etc. What OSx shortcuts or secrets do u use?
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Manchester, Connecticut
Status:
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Welcome to the world of Macs! What kind of Mac are you using?
Here are a couple things that I find keep productivity going smoothly:
Mouse Button 3 - Toggles all windows in Expose. AMAZING in terms of productivity. I use a 12" screen, so it makes it handy to bounce back and forth between Word documents and webpages, iTunes etc.
Apple+W - Good for closing the open window without actually quitting the application
Apple+Q - Good for closing the window and quitting the app
Apple+Tab - Similar to the Alt-Tab function on a PC. Kind of like my middle mouse click, allows me to switch back and forth between apps relatively quickly (when I don't have my mouse with me)
Apple+K - In the Finder, it connects to a server on a network. Lets me connect to my Pismo so I can swap music and documents back and forth.
Fn+F12 - Opens Dashboard because I don't have DB in my dock (I keep the Dock on the smaller side). I recommend tuning Dashboard to your liking in order to save time with stuff. I prefer the Weather widget, the dictionary, Wikipedia, StickyNotes and Sodoku. Dashboard can save some time rather than going online to look up weather stats.
These are all pretty common things but are shortcuts that I like to use to keep things going smoothly. Enjoy the Mac!
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21.5" iMac | OS X 10.6.4 | 3.06 GHz | 4GB DDR3
Motorola Droid | 2.2 Froyo
Playing together nicely!
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Downtown Austin, TX
Status:
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Don't forget Apple+H, which hides the current app. Something Windows doesn't have but needs.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The back of the room
Status:
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System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts
I wouldn't get too wild with it, for when you use a stock Mac you'll get frustrated quick. What I set in it is Keyboard Navigation for the Dock and menus. Really handy sometimes.
Also, look into AppleScript (and Automator) which is the number 1 productivity feature of Macintosh. AppleScript is a very human readable scripting language. I even use it for the mundane.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Sitting in front of computer
Status:
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I free'd my mind... now it won't come back.
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Senior User
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: macsterdam
Status:
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I agree, Quicksilver is a must have, there's nothing like it on any other platform.
Also, check out this: KeyCue. It gives you instant feedback on which keyboard showcuts are available for the active application!
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Downtown Austin, TX
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by RevEvs
Hmm... so -
Quicksilver/100 = Productivity or
0.01Quicksilver = Productivity ?
Sorry, been doing too much Math lately...
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Dec 2005
Status:
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: President Skroob's Office
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"She's gone from suck to blow!"
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Forum Regular
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Somewhere they can't find me
Status:
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Congratulations! And welcome to the world of relatively hassle-free computing... For the Apple list of keyboard shortcuts go here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459
I find that Contextual Menu items provide a real productivity boost. Whichever ones you find most useful will depend on what work you do of course, but as I work a lot with image files QuickImageCM and FinderIconCm have become essential tools for me. CalculateSizeCM is another useful one, PDFViewCM and so on - there are so many! If you go to http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/ or http://www.macupdate.com/index.php?os=macosx and put 'CM' in the search you will find lots to choose from, mostly freeware to boot. The CMs are accessed through right-click, and with the scroll wheel/fifth button set to 'double-click' on my ahem! Microsoft mouse, I can do a lot with very little movement!
An additional tip with CMs - if you have several loaded the contextual menu itself can get a big long and unwieldy. To tailor this more to your immediate needs, set up a folder called 'Contextual menu items (disabled)' in Library and put all but the ones you specifically need in there, leaving the useful ones in the default 'Contextual Menu Items' folder. Restart 'Finder' and your CM is ready for that session.
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"Believe nothing, no matter where you heard it, or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."
Buddha
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