Even though there are 512x512 pixel icon representations for all Apple apps, the Dock stays at 128 pixels maximum when using the Sie slider in the Dock's System Preferences panel. This old hint explains how to set the magnification level to up to 512 pixels (using the largesize key; defaults write com.apple.dock largesize -int 512).

Here's how to change the tile size (the maximum non-magnified dock icon size) to go along with the supersized zoomed icons. In Terminal, enter this command:

defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 256; killall Dock

The tile size may be up to 256 pixels, so don't go any higher than that. Note that icons above 128 pixels are scaled, and you can notice some pixelation.

[robg adds: The easy way to return things to normal is to just use the Dock's System Preferences panel -- change the sliders, and the max values will return to their default settings. This works in every version of OS X from 10.2 onwards, I believe.]

If you glance at a file with Quick Look, and then decide you want to edit it, chances are you will close the Quick Look window and then reopen the file you wanted to edit.

However, all that you have to do is invoke one of two commands with Quick Look still open -- Command-O or Command-Down Arrow -- and you can edit the chosen file directly from the Quick Look view.

I just noticed that -- finally as of 10.5 -- Mac OS X's Finder is a lot more useful for us keyboard shortcut fanatics: You can now close folders with the left arrow without having the focus on the folder to be closed. Put another way, it's now possible to close a folder while having focus on one of the files within that folder.

For example, assume you have focus (in list view mode, of course) on a file named ASCIIMoviePlayer on this path: /Users » tve » TMP » ASCIIMoviePlayerSample. In 10.4, if you wanted to close all of the opened folders (one at a time), you'd have to use a combination of Up Arrow and Left Arrow to move back up the hierarchy while close parent folders. But in 10.5, the first press of the Left Arrow takes you to the focused item's enclosing folder, and the second press closes that folder. So in the above example, you can get to the root level of the disk by hitting left arrow quickly 10 times in a row -- note that's just a theoretical example; I'd probably just hit Command-Shift-C in this case!

Probably not a popular statement, but OS X finally works as well as Windows, which has been doing it correctly for years. (I have not been using list view on Apple hardware since 9.2.2, due to this problem. PS.: ASCIIMoviePlayer is a huge entertaining piece of software.

[robg adds: The 10.5 behavior in list view mode is a huge timesaver; I only use list views on a few key windows, but this change makes it much easier to use those windows. BTW, we covered ASCIIMoviePlayer in this older hint.]

You do not have to view all Spaces to move windows between them (That is, by pressing F8, then using your mouse to drag and drop the desired window to the desire Space location). Nor do you have to drag to a screen edge, wait, then drop. If you like to use your keyboard, here's a fast way to do it.

1. Using your mouse, click and hold the window you want to move to another Space.
2. While still holding your mouse button down, use your Spaces keyboard shortcut to move to the desired Space. This is usually done by pressing Control and one of the arrow keys.

The window you are holding will be moving with you as you change your Spaces. Once you reach your destination, release the mouse button.

[robg adds: You can also use this method to move the window directly to a numbered space -- just select the window, then press Control-1, -2, -3, etc. This is my preferred method of moving a window to a space, as it seems by far the quickest.]

This is a rather simple hint, but a useful one that's not intuitively obvious. I was having some frustrating behavior with Spaces and Leopard's Finder. Basically, it was switching me from one Space to another unexpectedly when copying files, opening new windows, and other basic operations.

My idea for a solution? Simply force the Finder to be shown in "Every Space" using the Spaces control panel. The problem? The Finder isn't an app stored in the standard /Applications folder. Rather, it's stored at /System » Library » CoreServices » Finder.app.

So, from within the Spaces control panel, simply click the application assignment button (+), browse to this special directory, select the Finder from there, and set the pop-up Space assignment to Every Space.

[robg adds: This is the natural counterpart to this hint, which assigns the Finder to just one Space.]

I found a way to change Spaces that is not mentioned in Help. I have Mail set up in its own Space. You do not have to use keyboard strokes to move to a Space that has an open application. Just click on that application in the Dock (in this case Mail) and the Space with that application will just slide into view. Very slick.

You can go back to the previous Space in the same manner. I have Safari open in the first Space. Just click on the Safari icon in the Dock and back you go.

Here's a tip I discovered; I was holding off to see if it would show up in the queue in the first few days, but with over 400 new submissions, it's not there yet ... so I thought I'd go ahead and toss it out for those who dislike the alternating-row stripes in 10.5 (I actually like them, but I know that feeling isn't universal).

If you'd prefer a plain white background for list view mode, as in 10.4, open Terminal and enter these two commands (without the $):

$ defaults write com.apple.finder FXListViewStripes -bool FALSE
$ killall Finder

Presto, no more stripes in list view. To get them back, repeat the above, but change FALSE to TRUE, and then kill the Finder again.

You can open files as a slideshow directly by selecting the files you want to see and then taking advantage of the Option key. Command-Option-Y will open the slideshow directly, or you can Option-click the Quick Look toolbar button, or activate the contextual menu (Control-click), hold down Option, and then choose Slideshow nn Items, where nn is the number of objects you selected.

Pressing the space bar while a file is selected in the Finder will open a Quick Look for that file. Press the Space Bar a second time to close the Quick Look window.

[robg adds: Although Steve Jobs demoed using the Space Bar with Quick Look, I'd forgotten about it -- and OS X's help doesn't say anything about using the Space Bar, just Command-Y. It's also not listed in the Keyboard Shortcuts panel in System Preferences. The only spot that this seems to be documented at all is on Apple's Quick Look page.]

I don't know if this known by all Mac users, but you can move a window from a space to another by just dragging the window to the limit of the screen. If you wait a few seconds, the window slides (and the screen also!) from the original space to the other one.

Just try this: starting from the main space (I assume you have 2x2 spaces) drag a window to the right. Wait a few seconds and you go to space two. Then move the window down and wait, and you go to space three. Now move the window to the left, you are on space four. To finish, push the window up to the menu bar, and you are back to space one.

[robg adds: There's a key in the Dock named workspaces-edge-delay with a value of 0.75. I had guessed this was the delay before the window slid into the next space, but changing it and restarting the Dock (and Spaces) didn't seem to make any difference. There's another interesting key there named workspaces-wrap-arrows, which I thought might remove the 'wall' when you try to go, for instance, left from the leftmost space, but no luck. If anyone manages to figure these out, please post in the comments.]