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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: PaulRenegar on Nov 09, '05 07:12:28AM

This is a good hint, now if Apple could make it to where the Dictionary application could be in another folder other than /Applications! I like to organize my program by their type such as Applications, Accessories, Online, Utilities, etc (I'm a Windows convert, and I like this organization :) )



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: b00le on Nov 09, '05 07:54:10AM

As you may have discovered, it's not a good idea to move apps as they may not update properly, among other troubles. But you can use aliases to do this - make your own structure and move aliases of the apps where you want them - now you can ignore the original Applications folder and use your own.



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: Bioinformatics on Nov 09, '05 12:20:39PM

You'll find though that almost the only applications that need to be in a fixed locations are Apple's. There is no need to develop software like this and personally I wish Apple would stop setting a bad example. (Long story short, its lazy programming IMO. Admittedly they probably have bigger things to worry about.)



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: adrianm on Nov 09, '05 08:23:40AM

Somewhat offtopic, but surely if you start moving around your installed apps in Windows, you'll get loads of trouble too?



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Re: 10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: Uncle Asad on Nov 10, '05 12:12:07AM

But in Windows you also get to choose where to install the programs to begin with (or at least that used to be the case; I don't touch Windows much), so you can do the organizing at app-install time and not break anything.

It's sad that we're no longer in control of our own disks and applications in the most advanced and user-friendly operating system the world has yet known.



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: PaulRenegar on Nov 09, '05 09:06:20AM

Yes, I realize that if I were to move applications around in Windows that it would pretty much kill the machine... which is why we have the Start menu to organize the way we want our applications.

However, in OS X, there is no start menu (excluding the dock) and the only thing I see is the Applications folder to load my applications. So this, in a sense, is my Start menu and I would like to organize them a little differently.

There have only been a few occasions to where if I am upgrading an application that I need to drag it back to the /Applications folder during the update. iTunes, etc, just put the new version in the /Applications folder, to where after the download I can just move it elsewhere.

I'm fairly new to Apple (about 1 year) and why wouldn't they want me to organize my programs so that I can access them (or other programs in the same group) more easily rather than searching through a rather large list of unsorted programs to find what I'm looking for?



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: nicola on Nov 09, '05 10:02:19AM
I'm fairly new to Apple (about 1 year) and why wouldn't they want me to organize my programs so that I can access them (or other programs in the same group) more easily rather than searching through a rather large list of unsorted programs to find what I'm looking for?
Well... ask Apple! ;-)
In the meantime, as moving things from the Applications folder _is_ in fact dangerous (not to mention renaming...), IMHO you may follow a different route:
- Create a folder somewhere (say, in your home/Documents folder); let's say it's called myApps.
- Create all the folders you want/need inside that folder (Applications, Accessories, Online, Utilities...).
- Fill these subfolders with aliases to the various apps.
- Drag the myApps folder to the dock. If you assign a custom icon to the myApps folder, you'll also have a visual clue of its content.

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Favorites folder
Authored by: sjk on Nov 09, '05 10:54:43AM

The ~/Library/Favorites folder was often recommended for storing aliases to apps, etc. but the supportive command-T and shift-command-F shortcuts have changed from "Add to Favorites" to "Add to Sidebar" and from "Go > Favorites" to "Services > Spotlight". And quick access to that folder was also removed from Open/Save dialogs.



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: daeley on Nov 09, '05 10:04:45AM

You might want to look into the built-in Spotlight (assuming you're using Tiger 10.4) or downloading QuickSilver. Once you get past the idea of needing to navigate a hierarchy to access something, but instead just launching a program by typing in the first few letters of its name, it feels really constricting to do it any other way. :)



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app launching
Authored by: sjk on Nov 09, '05 11:26:13AM

I agree. Frequent use of hierarchical navigation for application launching is slow and awkward.



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: Bioinformatics on Nov 09, '05 12:12:24PM

Yes and no. A hierarchy of apps provides the same benefit that menus does: it reminds you of what apps (options) you can choose from for a particular class of tasks. Working via Spotlight has the same "fault" as command line use of computers: you have to remember the (command/app) names. This is the same basic reasoning people moved to GUIs in the first place...

I prefer the Dock/Hierarchy split with commonly-used apps in the Dock (no hierarchy to negotiate) and a hierarchy of "menus" for the others to remind me of what's available.

I also make use of the fact that you can rename the aliases and generally append the version number of the app to help maintenance.



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[non-]hierarchical access/organization
Authored by: sjk on Nov 10, '05 01:25:19PM
I prefer the Dock/Hierarchy split with commonly-used apps in the Dock (no hierarchy to negotiate) and a hierarchy of "menus" for the others to remind me of what's available.

I prefer a similar personalized "best of" hierarchical and non-hierachical organization/access style, too. Apps with frequent launch/quit cycles are my favorites candidates for the Dock, although I also use it as a "top-level" reminder for a few important items I access less often.

My general recommendation (at least for more novice users) is not to reorganize apps directly in (and out of) the primary Applications folders and instead create desired custom "virtual" organization/access for them using whatever "resources" are required.
                                          .      .      .
On multi-user systems a "personalized virtualization of the shared system environment" often becomes a necessity, or at least a cooperative agreement. It's pretty annoying when location becomes too much of a moving target for some users because other admin users decide to shuffle shared apps/data around for their own "selfish" convenience.

On OS X, understanding and heeding the distinctions and boundaries between system and user "space" helps keep both running healthier. Even with experience that's not always an easy, black/white issue.

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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: Zo-1 on Nov 13, '05 07:25:23PM

After having been thoroughly spoiled by many years on Classic where you could pretty much wrassle that thing to the ground, I've kinda satisfied my lust for app classification by taking full advantage of the Users appplications folder. The main Apps (and Utilities) folder holds all Apple stuff, as well as Office and other behemoths that just kinda sit there . . . and my own apps folder and subfolders actually work just fine. Damn, doesn't Steve know, it goes against the grain to view long lists of unrelated apps, what the heck are folders for. And subfolders, and all the meaning and direction a Mac user takes from the way they structure what's on their disk.



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: AndySpry on Nov 09, '05 10:54:17AM

You can also get "Start" menu like behavior using Unsanity's FruitMenu.

I've used it since OS X 10.1 to get back the capabilities of modifying the Apple Menu that disapperared in OS X. Using FruitMenu you can organize folders with application aliases as mentioned above. Then this organized hierarchy of applications (or documents and other folders) becomes part of the pull down Apple menu as it used to be in later versions of the classic Mac OS.

I keep my core applicastions in the dock but I keep most of the rest of the applications I use organized on my Apple menu. I only need to go to the Applications folder to find the more esoteric things like Disk Utility or iSync.

Mac user since 1984 OS 1.0.



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: magnamous on Nov 11, '05 01:59:47PM
I used to use FruitMenu, and I rather liked it. But I noticed that the more programs one opens, the more memory FruitMenu takes up. Since then, I've turned to XMenu (scroll to the bottom) and I've grown to really like it. It took some getting used to at first (moving the cursor to the upper-right corner of the screen instead of upper-left), but it's fast, efficient, and I can have as many sub-menus as I want. (Needless to say, it doesn't use up nearly as much RAM as FruitMenu can.)

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Windows-like application moving
Authored by: danieleran on Nov 09, '05 11:23:25AM

In Windows, you can't even view your applications folder by default ( c:/Program Files ). Any "organization" possible in Windows is only within the Start menu, which is just a bunch of shortcuts.

If you want to hyper-organize icons for programs, create a new directory (how about "MY.START" in all caps?), select all your Applications, drag them into your new folder using option+apple to create aliases, then shuffle them around as you like. Now drag your MY.START folder into the Dock.

You now have START menu functionality: deeply nestled folders of icons pointing to programs, which you can change on a whim without affecting how the system works. Plus, like Windows, it will give you that exciting delay as you wait for submenus to pop up.

Unlike Windows' shortcuts, Mac aliases will continue to work even if the originals change. Shortcuts only link by path; aliases link to their originals by inode (the file's unique serial number).



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10.4: Make the App folder easier to use
Authored by: sudont on Nov 10, '05 10:38:06PM

I too used to organize my Apps folder by type prior to OS X. But as you know that really won't work, especially with multiple accounts where non-admin users won't be able to access sub-folders, and of course the update problem. But now, I never even go digging in folders, I use LaunchBar. Now, I simply hit <cmd-space> and type a few letters, say "add" for Address Book, hit <Enter>, and it launches the app. LaunchBar will also find docs, MP3s, URLs, and more. (I should be writing their ad copy) Check it out:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/2409
You'll have to change the default key combo of Spotlight, though, which is also <cmd-space>. I changed it to F5.



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10.4: Make the Dictionary safer and easier to use
Authored by: valmont on Nov 21, '05 01:24:00PM

you can make your own start menu ... sorta, here's how:

- create a folder anywhere, such as on your desktop, name it "Start".
- Then open a new window that shows your apps in /Applications. Hold the "apple" and "option" keys down while dragging an Application's icon onto your "Start" folder. It'll basically create an alias of it. Inside your Start folder feel free to create more folders to further organize your aliases into the categories you mentioned.

Once you're done organizing your "Start" folder, drag it onto the "documents" section of your Dock ... where the trash lives. *gasp*. :)

Once you hold your mouse down, or right-click the Start icon on your Dock, you'll be presented with a hierarchical menu similar to the windows start menu.

A bit clumsy but that might do the trick for you. You can also install some of the 3rd-party stuff mentioned in the thread.

Personally, i've grown accustomed to just using the Dock, without categorization. I find that the spatial organization of icons serves its purpose. I'll know that chat-related apps are off on the left, text-editing stuff is toward the center, etc.

But it can get a bit unwieldy with a lot of apps, and categorization would be nice, indeed.


---
check out highly useless stuff at:
http://www.slashdot.org/~valmont/



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