In the beta version of OS X, you could run the OS 9 finder in the OS X Classic environment, just like any Classic app. Unfortunately, Apple decided to get rid of this feature for the final. Here is a simple trick for if you want to continue to run the old Finder in OS X.
Copy the Finder from your System Folder to anywhere else. Using File Buddy (filebuddy.com), change the copy's file type and creator to 'APPL' and 'aplt' (case sensitive). Now, this copy of the finder should launch like a normal Classic app when the Classic environment is started within OS X.
[Editor's note: Be careful with this one; there are some things it doesn't like doing, like working with OS X files in the OS 9 finder. It's an interesting trick, but some have found that it has a tendency to cause some problems -- make sure you've backed up everything, just in case!]
The official OS X 10.0.1 update is now available from the Software Update control panel. It will first update Software Update, then you need to launch Software Update again, and it will download the 10.0.1 updater (about 4mb in size). The "About This Mac" box now reads "Version 10.0.1 (Build 4L13).
The updater will put a "Late Breaking News" item in your dock, but it contains no update-specific information (ie there's nothing that says exactly what was changed). The only information I've seen about the update is on Apple's web site, where they claim:
Improvements include better support for third party USB devices, Classic compatibility and overall application stability as well as support for the popular Secure Shell service. For Japanese users, an update to the Epson printer drivers is also available.
Either later tonight or tomorrow morning, I'll be updating my benchmarks with post-update numbers for comparison purposes. If you have further information, questions, or comments on the update, post them here!
With OSX's built-in .pdf capability, saving web pages is super easy and you get to capture the full beauty of the page (layout, colors, and images intact).
Here are the quick and easy steps:
From your browser (OmniWeb, etc.) press Command+P (or select File -> Print).
At Print window, click on "Preview".
You'll be brought to Preview program; select File->Save as PDF.
That's it. Happy viewing your saved, perfectly-preserved web pages.
If you're having a problem where text input boxes in applications are all black (making it impossible to see what you've typed), you're probably experiencing a corrup ColorSync preferences file.
At least, that's what this thread on the MacFixIt forums seems to indicate. There's some good dialog there, and the solution appears to be trashing the preferences file:
Thanks to Resexcellence, you can now add more items to your 'Applications' and 'Documents' areas of the 'Recent Items' menu. This article explains how do do so, but makes it a bit more complicated than it need be.
The way I did it ... navigate to:
/Users/username/Library/Preferences
through the Terminal. Then type: pico com.apple.recentitems.plist
Now just add more apps and docs between the 'string' tags in the 'apps' and 'docs' sections until you think you have enough (I have 12). You'll need the full path to the apps, as well as their full name (most end in '.app'), in order for this to work. Do not repeat any apps or docs, save the .plist and logout/login and you'll have your extended 'Recent Items' list! Now as you add more items, the canned ones you used to lengthen the list will be replaced with the apps you're opening, but you'll always have more than five!
[Editor's note: Read the following if you're interested in making your Classic environment work as quickly as possible under OS X ... Sparky has some solid thoughts on how to make Classic work better, and I'm sure there are others that could be added to the list.]
ok, since I did several things at once, any one of them could have helped or the combination. What happened is that Classic software that used to take 8 or 9 bounces to start now bounces once and opens immediately! woohoo!
[Read the rest of the article for a step-by-step description of what Sparky changed in Classic...]
I've been trying for 2 days to compile the latest postgresql after having installed "readline-4.0.2" (if you use the psql utility you'd know why I want the readline support). Anyway, after having installed readline-4.0.2 postgresql could never complete the 'make' process, all sorts of errors. On a last ditch effort, I downgraded readline to 4.0, and postgresql compiled just fine, and I'm one happy camper now.
Having problems mounting disks? Both .img files and removable media? Take a look at your /etc/hostconfig file. It should be about 27 lines or so. Does it contain the line "AUTODISKMOUNT=-REMOVABLE-"? If the file fails either of these tests, it may be corrupt. How might this happen? Probably due to a System Preferences crash or general disk corruption. If you'd like a clean copy to restore with, along with instructions on how to do so, read the rest of this article.
If your Sherlock screen has a "Can't Index" message next to your OS X volume, this is actually normal. The reasons why are detailed in Apple's Tech Info Library, in this article:
The gist of the article is that Sherlock can't index the entire drive, since OS X is a multi-user system. If it were to index the entire drive, you'd be able to see files and folders that may not be yours. So it indexes your home directory (which shows up as a separate, indexed "volume" in Sherlock), and blocks you from searching portions of the OS X drive that you may not have rights to examine.
Like many OS X users, I really love the fit and finish of Omnigroup's OmniWeb browser. It's very stable and so far has rendered every page I've thrown at it.
However, it does occasionally lock up at start-up, freezing the UI with it, forcing me to reboot. This is where a previous hint I reported here shows a practical value.
Read the rest of the article for a primer on "fsck", the file system check utility in Mac OS X.
