mac os x

Apple includes a number of screensavers in OS X that provide you with options to exercise your display and prevent LCD ghosting, CRT burn-in (if you still use a CRT monitor), or other persistent images from being a nuisance. As with most screen savers, you can deactivate them by moving your mouse or pressing a button on your keyboard; however, this may not always be the case, and depending on the screensaver being used you may instead find the screensaver will persist even when some inputs are pressed.

Advance photos in slideshows Apple includes a number of slideshow screensavers that … Read more

Earlier this month Sumitomo Electric Industries was the first company to receive Thunderbolt certification from Intel, allowing it to start mass production of optical Thunderbolt cables.

Thunderbolt is a high-speed communications technology that Apple has used in its latest Mac systems to offer fast data transfer, not to mention new ways to expand Mac systems. While quite fast at 20Gbps (10Gbps bidirectional throughput), the sheer speed of the technology has posed a challenge.

When digital devices communicate, signal quality degrades over increased distance, whether via a wired or wireless connection. This can lead to data packets being lost and retransmitted, … Read more

iTunes 11 is the latest version of Apple's music player and management software, but if you have upgraded your iTunes installation to this latest version you may find that some of the statistics regarding your library are not being updated.

Whenever you play a song in iTunes, the program keeps track of the number of times the song has completed playing, how many times it is skipped, and when these events occurred. This information is stored in the library and used to help determine how to build automatic playlists from the songs you prefer, among other functions.

After upgrading … Read more

Apple's built-in Calendar application in OS X is a convenient calendaring tool to have; however, its default method of entering calendar dates may be a bit cumbersome by first appearances.

When you first enter an event in Calendar, you select the calendar you wish to use and then double-click the date on which to create the event. You can then title the event accordingly. By default this action creates an all-day event that will further need to be refined by editing it to adjust its time frame. While those who use Calendar may find this somewhat acceptable though a … Read more

To help identify your user account from others who use your system, OS X assigns your account a small picture that appears in various places in the system, including the log-in window as well as in applications like Mail.

When you initially set up your account in OS X, the system will have you set up your account picture, but often people skip by this step and continue with the setup process to start using their computers quicker, leaving their accounts with the image that OS X randomly chooses for it. However, if you would like to change your account … Read more

Beyond the basic arrow key navigation and space bar to start and stop song playback, there are a few other keyboard shortcuts in iTunes 11 that can be used to help you navigate its features.

Since the release of iTunes 11, a few convenient keyboard shortcuts have been revealed that offer quick ways to manage playback, navigate the windows, or otherwise deal with some of iTunes' common functions. As with most programs, various shortcuts can be found in the application's menus. However, along with these there are some hidden options that may prove convenient.

Clear play queue When playing … Read more

Last week's release of the Matrox DS1 Thunderbolt Dock heralded the arrival of alternative docking solutions to Apple's Thunderbolt Display for Mac systems. Though useful for adding new and expanded capabilities to iMac and Mac Mini systems, the primary benefit of these solutions is that it lets laptop users convert their systems to desktop workstations.

Apple laptops support a "clamshell" mode of operation, where if you attach an external keyboard and monitor, then you can close the lid and tuck the unit away to a convenient location and still operate the computer. Unfortunately this usually requires you to at least connect a USB cable along with a monitor to your system, not to mention any audio cables, printers, external hard drives, and other peripherals you might use in your desktop environment, which is obviously inconvenient to deal with every time you move.… Read more

Apple has released three EFI firmware updates for some of its Mac systems that were released in 2012, which tackle a number of issues pertaining to sleep, Thunderbolt performance, and -- more relevantly to many users -- reliability of Wi-Fi connectivity.

The first update is a Wi-Fi update for all late 2012 Mac systems that improves compatibility with 5GHz-band Wi-Fi signals.

The update includes a new version of the AirPortBrcm4311.kext kernel extension. This update is specific for those running OS X 10.8.2 build 12C2034 (you can look this up by clicking the version number of OS X … Read more

OS X ships with a default configuration and set of settings adjustment options that should work for most people's needs; however, there are times when you might wish to adjust a hidden setting or two, or troubleshoot problems by adjusting settings, databases, caches, and other files that are buried in various system folders. There are numerous online resources that can help, but even if you are comfortable exploring these files, it's good to have a way of reversing any changes you make.

Granted, OS X includes the Time Machine backup service that should back up all system files … Read more