We have gone through tons of OS X Dock tips before, but with the help of a free Lion compatible app called Docker, we can apply many changes to the Docks behavior and customizations to the Docks appearance easily with just a few clicks.

What exactly can you customize? Using Docker, you can: change Dock style from 3D to 2D, adjust translucency of icons, change the indicator style and color, change the color of the Docks outline, customize the Docks background to an image or a transparency, change the Docks position on screen, switch the minimize effect, increase the icon size beyond the default limits, make various changes to the app icons within the Dock, add spacers to the left and right side of the Dock, add custom stacks, and more.

• Download Docker for free from Blocksoft

Of course you can always revert back to the default settings at any point too. Here are a few different Dock styles that were quickly made with the help of the app:

Read more »

Can’t use the easy Kext Drop app for some reason to install a kernel extension? Installing kexts (kernel extensions) manually is always an option and it’s not too difficult if you’re comfortable with the command line:

• Copy the .kext file(s) to /System/Library/Extensions/
• Open the Terminal and type:
• cd /System/Library/Extensions/

• Type the following commands at the terminal, replacing the kext name with the one you are installing

sudo chmod -R 755 kextfile.kext
sudo chown -R root:wheel kextfile.kext

• Now remove the kext caches:

sudo rm -R Extensions.kextcache
sudo rm -R Extensions.mkext

• Reboot the Mac

The kernel extension should now be installed.

As you can see this is more time consuming than the alternative, so ideally you’ll just one of the installer applications instead.

Thanks to Nick for the tip

In what is some of the strongest evidence that Apple is working towards bringing higher resolution retina style displays to Macs, a series of hidden HiDPI resolutions can be enabled in OS X Lion.

Much like how iPhone UI elements handles it’s retina screen, the HiDPI modes in Mac OS X double the resolution of many onscreen elements, which would make the elements look sharper on very high resolution displays. Unfortunately, these aren’t particularly useful at the moment because no Mac screen currently supports a ‘retina’ resolution, and for now, using HiDPI basically just loads 2x sprites as shown in the screenshot up top. Regardless, this does provide some favorable support to recent rumors of retina Macs and it can be fun to to use, so here is how to enable these HiDPI display modes:

• Download and install XCode (free on the Mac App Store)
• Launch the “Quartz Debug” app, located in /Developer/Applications/Performance Tools/
• Pull down the “Window” menu and select “UI Resolution”

• Check the box for “Enable HiDPI display modes”
• Click “Logout” to log out and back into the user account
• Open “System Preferences” and click on “Displays” to see the HiDPI modes, shown with (HiDPI) next to them

As previously mentioned, using a HiDPI display mode has no practical purpose at the moment until a screen appears that can support the resolutions these modes are intended for.

There are also other bits of evidence scattered about in OS X Lion that suggest higher resolution displays are a work in progress, but when we’ll see such a screen on a Mac is anyones guess.

Remembering a keyboard shortcut makes using AirDrop even easier, by quickly accessing the AirDrop window and enabling the Mac to be ready to accept or send files.

The AirDrop keystroke is Command+Shift+R to instantly bring up the AirDrop window from anywhere on the Mac OS X Lion desktop.

Remember that all Macs must be in the AirDrop window in order to work with each other. The shortcut should work with AirDrop on unsupported Macs as well.

You can password protect files and folders in Mac OS X by using a trick with disk images. Here’s how it works; by placing files inside of an encrypted disk image, that disk image will work like a password protected folder and require a password before it’s mounted, preventing unauthorized access to all of the contents.

How to Password Protect Files & Folders in Mac OS X with Disk Images

Do this along with general password protection for maximum effect.

• Launch “Disk Utility” located in /Applications/Utilities
• Click on the “New Image” button at the top of the app



• Name the disk image and set a file size that is appropriate for what you intend to store in there
• Click on the contextual menu alongside “Encryption” and choose either 128 or 256-bit encryption (256 is stronger)



• Click “Create”
• At the next screen you will set a password to access the folder – do not lose this password, you will not be able to open the disk image if you do
• Optional: Uncheck the box next to “Remember password in keychain” – only do this if you’re the only user on the Mac, otherwise anyone can open the image without the password



• Click “OK” to create the disk image

The encrypted disk image is now created. Now you need to locate the image, mount it which will require the password set in the creation process, and drag files and folders into the mounted image that you want password protected. The default location for new disk images is the Desktop, but if you saved it elsewhere, look there instead.

Once you are finished copying files and folders to the mounted disk image, eject it like any other disk and the contents will be safely protected within, requiring the password to access again. Because the files and folders have been copied, you’ll want to delete the originals so they aren’t visible to anyone else. Again, do not lose the password set or you will not be able to get access to the contents of the encrypted disk image.

This should not be considered a replacement for setting a general password for a Mac, and it’s always a good idea to lock down the screen when you’re away from the computer. Filevault also provides encryption and security features, but older version have some potential speed drawbacks that are particularly noticeable on non-SSD drives, this is mostly a non-issue for OS X Lion, however.

Apple has released a new build of OS X Lion 10.7.3 to developers, the latest build is 11D42 and weighs in around 1GB. Like the past dev builds of 10.7.3, the focus continues to be on Address Book, Mail, iCal, Spotlight, and Safari, and has no known issues.

The first beta of OS X 10.7.3 showed up in November of last year, with later releases showing hints of retina Macs and drivers for graphics cards that are not currently shipping on Macs.

There is no expected release date of OS X 10.7.3, but the last public update for Lion was OS X 10.7.2, released last October.

On some fresh OS X Lion installations, you’ll find the user name or login appears in the upper right corner of the menu bar, even if there is only one user account on the Mac. This is actually a feature called Fast User Switching, and the name likely appears in the menu bar due to the Guest Login ability (which can be disabled separately), but if are only looking to remove the name from the menu bar here is how:

• Open “System Preferences” from the  Apple menu
• Click on “Users & Groups”
• Click on the Lock icon in the lower corner and enter the admin password
• Click on “Login Options”
• Uncheck the box next to “Show fast user switching menu as:”
• Close out of System Preferences

Alternatively, pulling down the contextual menu next to “Show fast user switching menu” gives you the option to reduce the name to either just the short name or to a simple icon.

Unchecking the box makes the name disappear from the menu bar immediately. This does not impact the ability to login with other users on the account though.

As to why this doesn’t show up on all Mac OS X Lion machines, it’s likely to be enabled on fresh Lion installations or re-installations, and not upgrades from Snow Leopard.

Update: Apparently you can also remove the user name from the menu bar by holding down the command key and dragging it out of the menu, much like any other menu item. Thanks to @martin for that tip.

Ever wondered how to make a zip file in Mac OS X? We recently demonstrated how to password protect zip archives, but in the comments a reader asked a more simple yet completely valid question: “what about just making a standard zip file?” Well, making zip files on a Mac is easy, and with compression tools built directly into OS X there is no need to download additional software or add-ons, here’s how.

How to Make a Zip Archive in Mac OS X

You can use this to create zip files of files, folders, or both:

• Right-click on a file, folder, or files you want to zip
• Select “Compress Items”
• Find the newly created .zip archive in the same directory

If a single file is being zipped, the zip archive will maintain the standard file name but append the .zip extension. If more than one file is being zipped, the archive will be named “Archive.zip”, and if multiple archives are created, they will be named successively “Archive 2.zip” and so on.

Opening zip files is even easier, just double-click on the archive and it’ll expand automatically with Archive Utility.

Zip archives can also be created from the command line by using the terminal command zip with the following syntax:
zip archive.zip file.txt

The root user is a special user account with high level system-wide access privileges intended for system administration, monitoring, and in depth troubleshooting purposes. By default, root user is disabled in Mac OS X for security purposes, but if you need to enable superuser, this guide will show you how to do so in OS X 10.7 Lion.

If you do not have a specific need to enable root, you should leave it disabled.

Enable Root User in OS X Lion

This process also sets a password for the root account.

• From the Mac OS X Desktop, hit Command+Shift+G to bring up Go To Folder and enter the following path:

/System/Library/CoreServices/


• Inside CoreServices folder, locate and launch “Directory Utility”
• Unlock “Directory Utility” by clicking the padlock icon and entering the administrator password
• Pull down the “Edit” menu and select “Enable Root User”
• Enter and confirm a password to set the root users password and to enable the account

Be sure to set a strong password for the root account. If you’re bad at picking passwords or you just want the security advantages of randomness, generate one randomly from the command line.

With root now enabled, the account can be used freely. It will not appear in the Users & Groups preference pane.

The root account can access, read, and write to all files on a system, even if they belong to someone else. Additionally, root can also remove or replace system files. This is why it’s a potential security risk to leave the account enabled aimlessly, or to use a weak password with the account.

The Directory Utility control panel can also be used to change a set root password through the Edit menu, or that can be done through the command line using sudo passwd, similar to changing the root password in iOS devices.

Creating a password protected zip file is easy in Mac OS X and does not require any add-ons or downloads. Instead, use the zip utility that is bundled with all Macs.

If you’re familiar with the command line, the syntax of the encrypted zip command is as follows:
zip -e [archive] [file]

If you’re not sure how to use that, read on to learn how to create zip archives encrypted with passwords. These encrypted zip files will maintain password protection across platforms, meaning you can send a protected zip file to a Windows user and they will still need to enter the password in order to view the contents.

Set a Zip Password in Mac OS X

You can create password protected archives of files and folders:

1. Launch the Terminal from the Applications > Utilities folder
2. Type the following command:

zip -e archivename.zip filetoprotect.txt

3. Enter and verify the password – don’t forget this

The resulting archive, in this case named “archivename.zip”, is now encrypted with the password provided. The file that was encrypted, “filetoprotect.txt”, is now inaccessible without entering that password.

Example: Zipping a Folder and Setting a Password
Here is an example of what this will look like from the command line, in this case we are compressing and password protecting the entire ‘Confidential’ folder located within the users /Documents directory, and the password protected zip is being placed on the users desktop for easy access:
$ zip -e ~/Desktop/encrypted.zip ~/Documents/Confidential/
Enter password:
Verify password:
adding: ~/Documents/Confidential/ (deflated 13%)

Notice the password will not display, this is normal behavior for the Terminal.

Opening the Password Protected Zip

Despite being created at the command line, you do not need to unzip the file from the terminal, it can be expanded from the Mac OS X Finder or within Windows using standard unzipping apps. Just double click on the file, enter the password, and it will decompress. You can also decompress the zip archive from the command line with:
unzip filename.zip

Here are some use cases for password protected zip archives:

• Password protecting an individual file or directory
• Sending a sensitive and encrypted file over an unencrypted network
• Emailing confidential data to a Windows user
• Adding an additional layer of security to a hidden folder
• Password protecting your own backups, outside of Time Machine

While this can provide some protection on a per-file or folder basis, it’s always a good idea to password protect the Mac in general with a login requirement on system boot, wake from sleep, and waking from the screen saver.