I've always had issues with the default UDP protocol that is set up for QuickTime streaming. Basically it just never works for me. In the past, I fot around it by using the QuickTime System Preferences pane to change the transport method to HTTP, using port 80.

QuickTime X has no preference pane, and therefore no way to change the transport protocol (as far as I know). Prior to upgrading to 10.6, I kept a backup and was able to install the old QuickTime System Preferences panel to change my transport settings -- I did select the option to install QuickTime 7 when I upgraded, but it doesn't install the preferences pane.

I don't know how you can otherwise change the streaming protocol in Snow Leopard.

Just in case someone wonders why the screen saver immediately closes after it starts, check your system for an activated Caffeine. The program doesn't seem to be 10.6 compatible, therefore, the one and only workaround to have the screen saver running properly is to deactivate Caffeine.

Ever wanted to quickly copy/paste your current IP address into an application? Now you can, using a relatively simple Automator Service in Snow Leopard.

Just download this file (75KB) and save as a service in Automator. This will add a new service called Get Current IP. This script gets the current default IP interface (for multi-homed systems), then pastes that result into the current app.

[robg adds: I haven't tried this one.]

Accessing the root account is disabled by default in Snow Leopard and the Directory Utility application is not available in the Utilities folder any more.

Here's how to enable root in Snow Leopard:

1. Open Directory Utility in its new home, which is /System/Library/CoreServices.
2. Unlock the application by clicking the padlock icon and entering your Administrator login.
3. Select Edit » Enable Root User.
4. Choose Edit » Change Root Password, and choose a password for the root user.

That's it! Make sure to re-lock the application by clicking the padlock icon.

Warning: Enabling the root account can leave your Mac vulnerable to security threats. Only enable it if you are aware of the risks and know what you are doing.

[robg adds: I've not had the root account enabled since the earliest days of OS X. If you do need to enable it, though, Terminal provides a simpler solution that appears to still work in 10.6: sudo passwd root. Enter your admin password, then a new password for root, and you're done.]

When you open a large Stack in which you can scroll, it is possible to let it auto-slide to the bottom or the top.

Open the stack and use the mouse to 'drag' on the very bottom or very top of the Stack window. (Make sure you don't select an icon; it's the area below or above the icons that you want to use.) You won't move anything, but the stack should start to auto-scroll.

Personally I don't see the use in this, but it's nice to know.

[robg adds: It took a bit of experimentation to figure out exactly where to click/drag, and it seems like more work than just using the keyboard or the scroll bars, but it does work as described.]

The upgrade to Snow Leopard breaks 10.5.x Time Machine backups configured with AFP shares on network volumes, as per this older hint, for example.

After some trial and error, I was able to find out that the secrect lies with a hidden property list file that specifies the hardware UUID for the machine to be backed up. The following are some simple instructions to set up a new backup volume from scratch. They may work for upgrading a Leopard Time Machine disk to Snow Leopard, but I have not been able to verify this.

Setup: If your Time Machine is already configured to back up to a networked AFP share, move on to the next step. Otherwise, follow the setup procedure in the above-linked hint.

Simple method: Use the script and directions that I posted on the InsanelyMac forums.

As has been covered in many spots, including my own high-level look at the issue, Snow Leopard changes the way files are associated with their creating applications.

In short, you can no longer expect (at least in the near term) that double-clicking a file created by BBEdit will actually open that file in BBEdit. Until all developers start using Uniform Type Identifiers (UTIs) (for more on UTIs, see this detailed article at AppleInsider), users may be surprised to find a BBEdit .html file opening in their default browser when double-clicked.

How can you avoid these problems in the short term? You can drag a document onto the creating app's icon in the Dock; use the Open menu from within the app, or use the Get Info dialog to change the associated application for the document. I've taken to using the third method, but wanted an easier way to get it done. Enter Automator and Services...

I ran into an issue where I need to copy some items from Numbers into a table in Keynote -- but they kept copying as table cells, thus inserting new cells and messing up my existing table. At first, my only solution was to copy from Numbers, switch to TextEdit, paste-and-match-style (Shift-Command-Option-V), recopy, switch to Keynote, and paste. Not terribly efficient.

With the help of this hint, I realized there was a better way, provided you have GUI scripting turned on. As a bonus, it solves the copy (or paste) as plain text problem for all apps, not just these two

For those who haven't noticed it yet, there's a minor but long-overdue change in 10.6: The Finder Preferences' Advanced tab now features a drop-down menu that allows you to pick the default search behavior. You can choose from Search this Mac, Search the Current Folder, and Use the Previous Search Scope.

[robg adds: Due to the number of hints here related to changing default search behavior in 10.5, I felt it worth publishing this one on its own, despite it being neither obvious nor undocumented.]

One problem with using an Intel Core Duo Mac is the inability to use JRE 1.6. The JRE 1.6 update was limited to 64-bit chips only, which really ticked me off. After upgrading to Snow Leopard, a friend mentioned to me to check my Java version. Low and behold, java -version in Terminal reported back 1.6.

Running the Java Preferences application in the Utilities folder clearly states to me that it is a 32-bit build, so there was no reason for us early adopters not to have JRE 1.6 in the first place. So if you need JRE 1.6 and were an early adopter, then you need to pony up for Snow Leopard to get the update. I can confirm that Java apps that didn't work in Leopard now work, as I now have a current build of JRE.