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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

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Published in TidBITS 428.
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04 May 1998 | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

Add a VISE to Your Freeware or Shareware

by Adam C. Engst Send Email to Author

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Add a VISE to Your Freeware or Shareware -- MindVision Software has announced a free license that makes their Installer VISE installation software available for free to shareware and freeware developers. Installer VISE 5.0.1 offers numerous advanced features, such as a Web-based installer, precise icon positioning, user-defined forms, integration with MindVision's Updater VISE technology, and online product registration. At a time when Apple is changing its developer support programs to focus on the 100 largest Macintosh developers (see "Furor Over Developer Programs & QuickTime" in TidBITS-425), it's good to see other members of the Macintosh industry helping small developers. [ACE]

<http://www.mindvision.com/Pricing/ shareware.html>
<http://www.mindvision.com/News/Mac5.0/ ComingSoon.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/04821>

 

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