Thoughtful, detailed coverage of the Mac, iPhone, and iPad, plus the best-selling Take Control ebooks.

 

 

Pick an apple! 
Become a TidBITS member!
 

 

TidBITS Watchlist
 
Open Files with Finder's App Switcher

Say you're in the Finder looking at a file and you want to open it with an application that's already running but which doesn't own that particular document. How? Switch to that app and choose File > Open? Too many steps. Choose Open With from the file's contextual menu? Takes too long, and the app might not be listed. Drag the file to the Dock and drop it onto the app's icon? The icon might be hard to find; worse, you might miss.

In Leopard there's a new solution: use the Command-Tab switcher. Yes, the Command-Tab switcher accepts drag-and-drop! The gesture required is a bit tricky. Start dragging the file in the Finder: move the file, but don't let up on the mouse button. With your other hand, press Command-Tab to summon the switcher, and don't let up on the Command key. Drag the file onto the application's icon in the switcher and let go of the mouse. (Now you can let go of the Command key too.) Extra tip: If you switch to the app beforehand, its icon in the Command-Tab switcher will be easy to find; it will be first (or second).

Visit Take Control of Customizing Leopard

Share your own tip! | Search TipBITS

 

 

Published in TidBITS 99.
Subscribe to our weekly email edition.

 

 
16 Dec 1991 | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

Zoom Animation

by Adam C. Engst Send Email to Author

Send Article to a Friend

When the Finder opens or closes an item, it shows an animation effect usually called the "ZoomRect" (zooming rectangles describes it pretty well, so that's what those innovative programmers called the procedure). When you open or close a lot of items, especially on a slow Mac, this effect is suddenly renamed "damnSlowZoomRect". Here's how to remove the effect:

  1. Open a copy of the Finder with ResEdit 2.1.1
  2. Open the Code resource
  3. Open Code ID 4 (Yup, you need to decompress it)
  4. Find hex 4E56 FFE0 48E7 1F38
  5. Select these bytes
  6. Replace with 205F 700A DEC0 4ED0
  7. Save the copy of the Finder and close ResEdit.

 

Intego: VirusBarrier X6 provides comprehensive protection from
malware and network threats, to keep Mac users safe from the
dangers of the Internet. Fully compatible with Mac OS X Lion.
Download a free trial. <http://www.intego.com/vbtx>