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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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05 Dec 2005 | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

RealNetworks Unveils Browser-Based Rhapsody

by Geoff Duncan Send Email to Author

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RealNetworks today announced Rhapsody.com, a beta launch of a browser-based version of its Rhapsody streaming music subscription service for broadband users in the United States. Previously, the Rhapsody service was restricted to users running a Windows-only jukebox application; the new browser-based version opens popular features of the service to Mac and Linux users for the first time. Unlike Apple's iTunes Music Store, where users purchase and download individual tracks, Rhapsody users sign up for streaming audio service via the Internet. Subscribers paying for the Rhapsody Unlimited service can stream as much audio as they like for the $10 per month subscription charge; needless to say, users lose access to the music if they cease subscribing to the service, and there's no support for iPods, other portable music players, or any household digital music players for Mac and Linux users.

With the launch of Rhapsody.com, any user can - for free - stream up to 25 songs a month on-demand, as well as listen to 25 commercial-free streaming "radio" stations classified by theme and genre. Rhapsody carries over 1.4 million tracks from the five major music labels as well as independent distributors, so RealNetworks has enabled free streaming access to a big library of commercial music, no doubt hoping users will be so taken with Rhapsody - and that the company will earn enough advertising revenue from the browser-based player - that they'll eventually come out ahead.

<http://www.rhapsody.com/>
<http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/ releases/2005/rhapcom.html>

To access Rhapsody.com, users must sign up (providing an email address, ZIP code, and year of birth, but no credit card info) after installing the Rhapsody Player Engine - a browser plug-in. Real says they support Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher using Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari: installation failed spectacularly for me under Firefox 1.5, but installation using Safari worked fine, and thereafter Rhapsody.com was also accessible via Firefox. Aside from installation, audio quality via Rhapsody seems somewhat variable and the browser-based interface offers some amusing glitches (it's currently crediting every song in the '60s Pop station to Jan and Dean), but, even as a beta release, Real's move increases pressure on Apple to consider streaming and subscriptions options for its iTunes Music Store.

 

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iCal, iPhoto and other Mac applications. Supports HTC EVO,
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