Mac OS X

Keyboard shortcuts for various commands are exceptionally useful for speeding up your workflow, and many applications have some set of custom keyboard shortcuts (beyond those reserved for system functions), that can be used for common functions. Though these are convenient, many times applications will have frequently used functions that do not have an associated keyboard shortcut.

MacFixIt reader "Richard" recently wrote in asking about the options for setting custom keyboard shortcuts:

Program menus list keystroke combinations (presumably the most popular) for some functions; for the others you must position the cursor on it and click. Using Pages (4.… Read more

A few users have complained about a problem in OS X 10.6 where Mail will display the text "Missing plug-in" in place of embedded images, both on received mail and on sent messages. This may have occurred after installing a software update for Snow Leopard, but seems to be isolated to OS X 10.6 so far.

This problem should only be affecting the affected client e-mail program, so any mail recipients should still be receiving their mail with properly embedded images. Therefore, if you are experiencing this problem you can still compose e-mails, its just that … Read more

Creating Disk Images in OS X is relatively simple and an easy way to package items either for presentation, portability over electronic media, or encryption to protect data on otherwise unencrypted media. To create images you will need to use Disk Utility, but in doing so you may find yourself lost among the various options for creating a disk image.

The very first source of confusion may come from clicking the "New Image" button in Disk Utility's toolbar, which will only present you with a limited set of options for creating an image. To be provided with … Read more

Apple recently issued software that lets iPhoto and Aperture handle raw photos from a range of new compact, higher-end cameras from several manufacturers.

Camera makers are racing to compete in a new market pioneered by Micro Four Thirds models from Olympus and Panasonic that feature small camera bodies but also interchangeable lenses. The Apple update adds support for Olympus' newer E-PL1 model and Panasonic's Lumix DMC-G10 and G2 models in this range.

Others are getting into the market too, and Apple supports them as well: Samsung's NX10 and Sony's NEX-5 and NEX-3. Each of these ranges has its own incompatible lens mount compared with the Micro Four Thirds models.

Also supported in the update is Sony's recently released lower-end Alpha A390 SLR, a more traditional design. … Read more

Apple has released Snow Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 to solve specific issues regarding frame rates in Portal and Team Fortress 2 on certain Macs, as well as issues that could cause StarCraft II or Aperture 3 to quit unexpectedly or become unresponsive. … Read more

As a long-time Mac troubleshooting researcher and consultant, one of my favorite and perhaps the most valuable Mac knowledge sites online is Apple's own Support Discussions forums. According to an official post on the site, the forums will be receiving a makeover, becoming more socially inclined by adding feature sets like avatars, homepages, and widgets. … Read more

While the phrase "640KB RAM ought to be enough for anybody" was falsely attributed to Bill Gates, it definitely outlines a way many of us think about the computing limits we're faced with. At the time this was purportedly said, computers were just transitioning to 16-bit architectures with the Intel 8088 processor (the one used in some of the first PCs), which broke through the 64-byte memory limit of the older architecture.

In the past few years Macs and other PCs have been in a similar transition with 64-bit capable processors (starting with Apple's G5), but … Read more

Our weekly utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is to bring you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems.

This week we have updates for hardware-monitoring and drive-scanning utilities, along with network diagnostics tools and some others for managing printers and software on your system.

Hardware

In hardware utilities, the hard-drive repair, testing, and management utility Drive Genius ($99) … Read more

The home folder permissions in OS X are set up in such a way as to provide you access to your files, but only allow other users to see certain shared folders in your account. Every now and then people will come across situations where the home folder permissions are not working properly, and sometimes this can prevent them from logging in to their account and accessing files.

Unfortunately, running a permissions fix on the hard drive with Disk Utility will not check or fix the permissions of user accounts, and instead will only tackle faults with system file and … Read more