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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).

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Published in TidBITS 608.
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10 Dec 2001 | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

Action Menus for Free

by Adam C. Engst Send Email to Author

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Action Menus for Free -- For a limited (though unspecified) amount of time, Power On Software is giving the Macintosh community a holiday gift of their $30 menu utility Action Menus (download version only, and one copy per person). With Action Menus, you can create custom menus; populate them with files, folders, and volumes; use a variety of automatically generated menus of recent, favorite, and frequently used files, folders and servers; assign keyboard shortcuts to any menu items; and more. Action Menus works under Mac OS 8.6 through 9.2, as well as in Mac OS X's Classic mode. I've long been fond of Action Menus, and it's worthwhile for anyone using Mac OS 9 heavily. If you're primarily using Mac OS X, take a moment to fill out Power On's Mac OS X survey so they can better prioritize bringing their utilities to Mac OS X. [ACE]

<http://www.poweronsoftware.com/ freeactionmenus.asp>
<http://www.poweronsoftware.com/products/ actionMenus/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/05619>
<http://www.poweronsoftware.com/survey/ osxSurvey.asp>

 

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