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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 760.
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20 Dec 2004 | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

Mac OS 10.3.7 Fixes Specific Bugs

by Adam C. Engst Send Email to Author

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Mac OS 10.3.7 Fixes Specific Bugs -- Apple has released Mac OS X 10.3.7, a less-sweeping update than most of the previous Mac OS X 10.3 updates. Unlike those updates, this one focuses on specific bugs, fixing a problem that could cause intermittent DNS lookup failures, enabling TextEdit to open certain previously problematic RTF documents, solving a few problems for the World of Warcraft game, improving compatibility for 3D surfaces in Graphing Calculator, fixing the problem introduced in 10.3.6 that prevented some FireWire drives from mounting, addressing an issue that caused filenames saved to an AppleShare file server to be shortened to 31 character, improving compatibility with FireWire-based audio devices, and enabling E*Trade PDF account statements to be viewed in Preview, among others.

<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html? artnum=300385>

Note that Apple specifically recommends you disconnect FireWire drives (including iPods!) before installing the update, and there have been reports at various Mac Web sites of network-related performance problems after updating. Although we haven't seen problems, you may wish to delay installing 10.3.7 until more is known, unless you're experiencing problems with something the update explicitly fixes. Mac OS X 10.3.7 is a 26 MB update available via Software Update or as a standalone installer; a combo update that includes all the changes since 10.3 is available as a 97 MB download. [ACE]

<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ macosxupdate_10_3_7.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ macosxcombinedupdate_10_3_7.html>
<http://www.macfixit.com/>
<http://www.macintouch.com/ panreader48.html#dec20>

 

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