Mac OS

Mac OS, Mac OS X, or macOS, is the operating system that resides on Apple’s desktop and portable computer lineup. Built upon a Unix core, it is easy to use yet highly advanced, extremely stable, and an excellent OS for productivity and creation. Browse through our articles or use the search feature to look for something specific that is pertinent to the Mac operating system.

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Quick Guide to Bash Shell Scripting

Oct 30, 2009 - 5 Comments

Shell scripting is wildly useful and a powerful way to manipulate a lot of files and to automate behind-the-scenes tasks in Mac OS X. This guide is intended for Linux users but the Bash shell is also used in Mac OS X, and as far as I can tell everything in this bash shell scripting … Read More

Install 10.6 Snow Leopard on a Dell Mini 10v – Hackintosh Walkthrough

Oct 29, 2009 - 3 Comments

We’ve long been fans of the Dell Mini 10v for Hackintosh purposes, it’s small, quick, attractive, and can be obtained for surprisingly cheap in the $200 range. It looks like the rest of the blogworld is catching on to this little beast of a MacHack Netbook, Gizmodo has an excellent write up on installing Snow … Read More

Play MP3’s, M4A, AAC, and Other Music Files from the Command Line

Oct 27, 2009 - 3 Comments
Terminal in macOS

Ever wanted to play music while you’re working in the command line? Maybe you want to play a podcast from the command line on Mac? With the command line tool ‘afplay’ you can do just that, you can play practically any audio file format, whether it’s M4A, AAC, MP3, WAV, AIFF, or whatever else is … Read More

Change File Associations in Mac OS X

Oct 25, 2009 - 31 Comments

It really drives me nuts when files can be of the same kind but different type open different apps, I want to open all my images in Preview and all my video files in VLC. You can make Mac OS X open every file of a certain format type with a certain application by changing … Read More

Get Detailed Wireless Information from the Airport Menu by Holding Down the Option Key

Oct 24, 2009 - 2 Comments

Users can get detailed wireless information from the Airport menu by holding down the “Option” key when clicking the menu icon. The ability to pull the Security type and Channel directly out of the menu is a big plus for me, but the other information should certainly be useful when troubleshooting a WiFi problem too. … Read More

Quickly tell if a file has been modified by looking at the red Close window button

Oct 23, 2009 - Leave a Comment

Here’s a nifty Mac trick: Do you see the little black dot inside the red ‘close’ window button in that screenshot? That means the file has been modified!

Quickly turn off your Mac’s displays with Shift-Control-Eject

Oct 22, 2009 - 9 Comments

Want to quickly turn off all of your Mac’s displays? Hit Shift+Ctrl+Eject and all screens will go black instantly. Nice huh?

Remove DRM from iTunes

Oct 22, 2009 - 11 Comments

Some iTunes music comes with DRM, but you can use an iTunes trick to remove DRM. Note this should only be used if you own the actual rights to the music, or if you are allowed to remove DRM by the rights-owner. DRM iTunes songs usually have an .m4p file extension. But this trick basically … Read More

Convert WMA to MP3 on a Mac for Free

Oct 21, 2009 - 27 Comments

On a Windows PC recently I ripped a CD only to find out that it was converted as WMA rather than MP3. In Windows this isn’t a big deal, you just open the files in iTunes as usual, but I wanted them on my Mac, easy right? Well for some reason Apple doesn’t allow Mac … Read More

Force Safari to Open Target Links in New Tab Rather Than Window in Mac OS X

Oct 21, 2009 - 5 Comments

Mac users can issue a defaults command string to force Safari to open targeted new window links into new tabs instead of those new windows. This is handy if you open a lot of links that would usually launch a new window but would rather send them into easily managed tabs instead.

Get the iTunes Mini Player back in iTunes 9

Oct 20, 2009 - 4 Comments

I always put iTunes into mini-player mode to conserve screen real estate, so I was pretty annoyed when iTunes 9 took away this feature when clicking the green resize button in the iTunes window. Thankfully getting it back is very easy but it’s an extra step, option-click the green maximize button to enter into the … Read More

Share your Mouse & Keyboard across Multiple Mac’s with Teleport

Oct 20, 2009 - 4 Comments

Teleport is undoubtedly one of the single most useful utilities available to anyone that owns more than one Mac. Using Teleport, you can share a single mouse and keyboard across multiple Mac’s, seamlessly! Setup is an absolute breeze, you need to install Teleport on all Mac’s that you want to use, and once it’s all … Read More

Bypass Mac Firmware Password

Oct 19, 2009 - 150 Comments

Need to get around the boot level Mac firmware password? You can bypass a firmware password by doing a little bit of a hardware hack. There’s many reasons you’d want to get around firmware protection, but here’s why we got the instructions from an anonymous submitter:

Snow Leopard outperforms Windows 7 in speed tests

Oct 19, 2009 - 2 Comments

The Operating System wars are still raging, and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard has bested the new Windows 7 operating system in several speed tests, and a crucial battery life test, according to CNet. Windows 7 did outperform Snow Leopard in some other tests, such as gaming, where Call of Duty 4 had five … Read More

Get a Battery Discharge Reminder for Maximum Mac Laptop Battery Performance

Oct 19, 2009 - Leave a Comment

I use my MacBook almost exclusively at home and so I frequently forget to discharge and recharge the battery, which is a recommended procedure to have your notebook battery last as long as possible. For people like me who often run with the powercharger attached to their Mac laptop, Apple.com offers a nice simple reminder … Read More

What is MD5?

Oct 15, 2009 - 1 Comment
Terminal in macOS

Ever heard of MD5 and not sure what it was or what that meant? You’re likely not alone, but MD5 is important, and, with a little explaining, easy to understand. Let’s explain a bit about MD5, MD5 checksums, what it is, and why you should know about it.

Make your MacBook Pro Keyboard Lights Dance to Music!

Oct 15, 2009 - 56 Comments

Have you ever wanted to make your MacBook or MacBook Pro’s keyboard lights dance to the music you are listening to? Has the thought never crossed your mind? Well me neither, but once I saw someone using this iTunes plugin on their MacBook Pro I was instantly hooked on the novelty. iSpazz is the name … Read More

Snow Leopard Incompatible Software List from Apple

Oct 14, 2009 - 1 Comment

Apple has released a list of software that has been deemed incompatible with 10.6 Snow Leopard. If you haven’t upgraded yet it’s possible you’re afraid of application incompatibilities, and rightly so. It’s worth taking a look to see if any version of the apps you are dependent on make the list. These apps will be … Read More

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