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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Batch Resize a Group of Pictures from the Command Line with sips

Nov 25, 2012 - 7 Comments
Batch resize group of pictures with sips

Though most Mac users will likely prefer to use Preview to batch resize images because of the ease of use, advanced users often like to go with the command line for repetitive tasks. We’ve discussed sips before as a way to resize, rotate, and flip images, but if sips is combined with wildcards it can … Read More

Add a File Extension to a Group of Files from the Command Line in Mac OS X

Nov 22, 2012 - 11 Comments
Add file extension to a group of files in Mac OS X

The quickest way to add a file extension to a group of files that don’t currently have one is by using the command line in Mac OS X. In the example below, we’ll add a “.txt” extension to all files in a single directory, but subbing .txt in the command string will add a different … Read More

Use Remote Disc to Share a CD/DVD Drive Between Macs

Nov 21, 2012 - 12 Comments
Remote Disc on a MacBook Air

Now that Mac Mini, iMac, MacBook Air, and Retina MacBook Pro have moved away from carrying internal SuperDrives, owners of these newer Macs will possibly get more usage out of the Remote Disc feature than ever before. For those unfamiliar, Remote Disc does pretty much what it sounds like, allowing one Mac to share and … Read More

OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2 Supplemental Update 2 Released for 2012 Macs

Nov 20, 2012 - 8 Comments
OS X 10.8.2 Supplemental Update 2 for 2012 Macs

Owners of 2012 model year Macs have a minor update available for OS X Mountain Lion. Labeled “OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2 Supplemental Update 2.0”, the small system update resolves issues with Keychain that were specific to Macs released this year. No other issues are mentioned, and the update is unavailable to other Mac users. … Read More

Get 10 Great Mac Apps for $50 with the MacLegion Holiday 2012 Bundle

Nov 19, 2012 - 2 Comments
MacLegion Holiday 2012 Bundle

The MacLegion Holiday 2012 Bundle is a whopper of a deal for anyone looking to add a collection of great apps to their Mac repertoire. The bundle includes the following $540 worth of apps for just $49.99: TechTool Pro ($99.99) – Ultimate disk maintenance and hardware diagnostic tool Freeway Pro ($229.00) – Easy and powerful … Read More

Record Audio Output from a Mac the Easy Way with WavTap

Nov 16, 2012 - 12 Comments
Capture Mac audio easily with WavTap

Recording audio playing out from a Mac isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but that’s exactly what WavTap aims to resolve with a remarkably simple menu bar item. It makes capturing a Macs audio output extremely simple, leaving you with an audio file that you can then. WavTap is also completely free, which makes … Read More

Stop Software Update from Bugging You in Mac OS X

Nov 15, 2012 - 35 Comments
Swipe to Ignore a Software Update Notification

Keeping software up to date is one of the top maintenance tips for Macs, but sometimes those Software Update notifications can be just plain annoying. Whether you’re just trying to focus on work, or the update that’s bugging you is irrelevant to your needs, here is every possible way you can stop software updating from … Read More

What Does That Emoji Icon Mean Anyway?

Nov 15, 2012 - 17 Comments
What does an emoji character mean

If you’re new to Emoji, you’ll be forgiven for not knowing just what some of these icons and characters are supposed to mean. Many are common sense, while others are a bit of a mystery, but there’s an easy way to find out what a specific Emoji character means just by looking at the icon … Read More

Track Down an Apps Preference File Easily By Watching Modifications

Nov 14, 2012 - 10 Comments
Track down plist files of apps easily

If you’ve ever had to track down a particular plist file for an app you know how frustrating the process can be. Though preference files are usually named in a logical manner, that’s not always the case, and regardless the prefix of com.(developer).(application) is not always the easiest to navigate through. One method is to … Read More

4 Useful Trash Keyboard Shortcuts Every Mac User Should Know (Plus, 7 Bonus Trash Tips)

Nov 13, 2012 - 13 Comments
Trash Shortcuts in Mac OS X

Trash is one of those overlooked aspects of Mac OS X that you probably don’t think much about, most of us just drag a file into it, empty the Trash to delete a document and free up disk space, and that’s about it. That’s fine, but there are also a handful of genuinely useful keyboard … Read More

Free Up Disk Space in Mac OS X with 5 Quick Tips

Nov 11, 2012 - 20 Comments
Huge swap and sleep image files in Mac OS X

Mac running out of disk space? Maybe you don’t have room for installing a new app, backing up a device, copying some files, or much of anything? If you’re running low on disk space or have ever received that dreaded “disk full” message when using a Mac, you know it can be pretty frustrating to … Read More

How to Generate & Change a MAC Address in OS X the Easy Way

Nov 9, 2012 - 18 Comments
Change a MAC Address easily in OS X with LinkLiar

If you need to change a computers MAC address (the unique ID attached to a physical network interface), but aren’t comfortable with the command line approaches that we’ve discussed before, an excellent free preference panel called LinkLiar makes it easy. Not only does LinkLiar make changing MAC addresses remarkably simple for any network interface on … Read More

Limit Application Usage in Mac OS X with Parental Controls

Nov 8, 2012 - 1 Comment
Restrict App Usage in Mac OS X

If you want to restrict app usage for a particular user on a Mac, there is no easier option than Parental Controls. This is a great solution for parents setting up a limited-access account for a kid, for public usage Macs, Macs in the enterprise, or even just for a restricted Guest account for when … Read More

Compare Contents of Two Directories from the Command Line

Nov 8, 2012 - 8 Comments
Compare directory contents from command line

To compare and list the different contents of two directories without the extra output you get through commands like diff, you can use the comm command instead. To get started, launch Terminal and type the following command, adjusting the directory paths as appropriate: comm -3 <(ls -1 folder1) <(ls -1 folder2) The output listed will … Read More

Turn Any Website Into a Self-Contained Mac App with Fluid

Nov 7, 2012 - 16 Comments
A website turned app by Fluid in Mac OS X

Fluid is a great Mac app that converts any specified web site into it’s own self-contained application, allowing you to do things like turn Gmail, Facebook, Wikipedia, Soundcloud, and Pandora, into their own dedicated app. Other than being useful for creating apps exclusively for particular websites, Fluid is also great for those of us who … Read More

Share Pictures Easily with Photo Streams in iOS

Nov 7, 2012 - 7 Comments
Using Photo Streams in iOS

Photo Streams are a great addition to iOS, but thus far seem to be an underused feature. With Photo Stream, you can easily share a collection of images with a select group of people, without having to go through the usual avenues of social networks. Instead, you create an instant gallery right out of the … Read More

OS X 10.9 Longcat [Humor]

Nov 6, 2012 - 33 Comments
OS X 10.9 Longcat

Now that OS X 10.9 is regularly appearing in usage logs, we thought we’d take a stab at the naming convention. How about OS X Longcat? Yup, we’re bored today and diving straight into the pool of Longcat memes, and there’s nothing better than boredom and some Pixelmator fun to create something totally stupid. Don’t … Read More

Mac OS X 10.9 Development Under Way, Regularly Appearing in Analytics Logs

Nov 6, 2012 - 14 Comments
Mac OS X 10.9 appearing in 9to5mac web logs

Development of the next major release of Mac OS X is well under way, with version OS X 10.9 regularly appearing in web analytics logs of OSXDaily, 9to5mac, AppleInsider, CultofMac, and several other Apple-related websites. This was first brought to light today by 9to5mac, whose graph above shows a handful of visitors from Cupertino California … Read More

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