Five Things to Do After Buying a Mac

When you buy a Mac, you probably want to make sure you get your money's worth from your Mac. More importantly, you want to use it to its fullest. So here's the ten essential things to do after you buy your Mac (Don't worry, these won't make your wallet any lighter) -

1. The First would naturally be to transfer all your content from your old computer to your new Mac. I personally just transfer my stuff to a hard drive and then to the new Mac, but you can also use Mac's Migration Assistant. (Located in Applications --> Utilities)

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10 Amazing Features of iCal 5 on OS X Lion

iCal on Mac OS X Lion is an amazing and easy-to-use software on the Mac. It incorporates the stunning looks of its iPad equal with mind blowing simplicity and convenience.

The majority of Mac Users, including me, have never really used iCal on a day to day basis. Unfortunately, I simply do not have the time or patience to spend several minutes in simply setting a reminder or an alarm. The process which included naming the event, prioritizing it, setting a due date,  duration for the event, an alarm, choosing an account and performing several other moronic tasks was far too time consuming and tedious for me to find useful.

But with some changes in Lion and a little digging around the app, I discovered the tricks of the trade ( or rather, tricks of the app ) -

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OS X Lion - Dock in Full Screen Apps

When you install Lion for the first time, you'll probably be excited about the new Full-Screen apps. But if you've read enough reviews or if you're attentive enough, you might think that the dock doesn't show up in Full-Screen apps when you push your mouse down to the bottom of the screen where the dock would usually be.
So here's the secret: You push your mouse down to the bottom of the screen where the dock would usually be. And you keep pushing it down. This way, it ensures that you weren't simply clicking ( or mousing over ) something at the bottom of the screen but makes sure that you were intentionally trying to bring up the Dock.

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Quick Look Stacks and Spotlight in Lion

In Lion, you can now use Apple's amazing Quick Look facility for a quick preview of files in Stacks or within your spotlight search. To do so, simply mouseover on the item within the stack or the spotlight search drop down, and press the spacebar to 'Quick Look' the file.

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How to Run Rosetta PowerPC Apps on Lion

If you haven't updated to Lion yet, don't be in a rush. If you have, this might come as a bit of a shock but Apple has removed Rosetta PowerPC. Which means most of your old applications and games may not work. These apps will now have a white slashed circle on it thus officially declared by Apple to be dead.  Another way to check is by right clicking on the app in Finder and clicking on "get-info" or pressing Command-I after selecting the icon in Finder. In the kind section it will say either "Application ( Intel, Universal or PowerPC ). The first two will work with Lion the last will not.

Chances are, if the application was old ( which it probably was ), developers won't bother making a new Intel version of the same app. So if you upgrade to Lion you'll probably have to live without it or you'll have to find alternative applications. Dilemma ? Lion's cool new features versus the Compatibility in Snow Leopard. Why not keep both ?

So how to keep Lion and Snow Leopard.

Simple: Upgrade to Lion and Install Snow Leopard on Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion
Parallels Dekstop and VMware Fusion are crossover applications which allow you to run Windows ( or any other Operating System ) on your Mac without having to reboot your Mac. 

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Keep your iTunes Content Organized

Keeping your iTunes Content organized, especially Movies, TV shows  and the likes of it is a tough job  with a lot of upkeep required. Which is why , if you're a Television and Movie fan, you should read about the three apps and several tips that will make your life far far more... Organized. ( And easy )

Lets start with the basics. If you buy the Movie / TV Show from iTunes, you'll have no problem except a lighter wallet. But say, you get it from a different place say a DVD or downloaded from somewhere else. You first need to convert your movie to .mp4 the file format which is pretty much one of the only files iTunes accepts. For this I present to you -

1. iSkysoft iMedia Convertor - While it is a bit pricey at $49.99, it is an amazing application which allows you to convert to pretty much any format. It has predefined formats for specific devices such as iPad, Mac, Youtube, HD, Apple TV, iPhone, iPod and several others in addition to letting you make your own custom formats based on required video resolution, etc. You can also download a free trial version from here. A few free alternatives applications for the same purpose are Handbrake and iSquint.

Once converted, the Movies / TV Shows can now simply be dragged to iTunes where they will automatically import themselves into the Movies tab of iTunes. Now you can simply leave them there untouched. Or you could add artwork and make them look like above. To do so, select the Movie / TV Show, press command-I, go to the artwork tab, drag an image in there and click okay.

Now, if they're TV shows do you really want them in your Movies tab ? No. So you select one or all the episodes, press command-I, go to the options tab and change the media kind to "TV Show". If you wish to, go to the videos tab of the same window and type the name and season of the TV Show. Episodes of the same TV Show name get grouped together.

Next Up : TV Shows Application ( For educational purposes only )

TV Shows Application - This is an amazing application, free of cost. You simply choose from a MASSIVE list of TV Shows and it will download the newest episode of the show from torrents or any other source of your choice as soon as it is released. Also gives you the option to download HD versions of the show by default.

The third application -

VLC - Even if you have problems opening or playing the video with ANY other media player, which you most likely will, you won't have one with VLC. It is by far the most amazing application I have ever used for video playback. Its also quite useful if you're simply too lazy or if you don't have the patience to convert the video before watching. It can play ANY kind of video no matter what. I have one simple rule: If it doesn't work on VLC, its not a video.

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5 Must-Have Mac Apps ( Free )

If you’re a new mac owner or switching to a mac, then these apps will make your life much easier -

1. Alfred – A beautiful search engine / productivity tool to change your life. It can search your mac, google, wikipedia, amazon, play songs, give commands to your mac like “sleep”, “shut down”, etc and is a lightweight application that looks absolutely stunning. Read more about Alfred or download Alfred.

2. Pop Clip – iOS like copy, cut, paste, dictionary, search, email all with one handy click. See screenshots above.

3. VLC – All in one cross-platform media player. To date, I have never come across a media file that VLC cannot play. Amazing software. Unlimited Options. For Mac, Windows, Linux and iOS .

4. Vuze – BitTorrent downloader. Of all the various torrent downloaders I have used, Vuze is by far the best. Exceeding all capabilities, in a simply but beautifully designed cross-platform application, Vuze is simply brilliant. Transmission and Miro are other alternatives for bitTorrent downloaders.

5. MagicPrefs - Customize your Mac with countless gestures for your Magic Mouse / Trackpad meant to enhance their utility and change your life.

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Take Screencasts, Video and Audio Recordings with QuickTime on Mac (QuickTip)

You can now take Video, Audio and Screen Recordings with QuickTime Player 10. Simply open QuickTime Player 10 and click -

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Label your Files and Folders

There are some of us, who like to keep our files and folders organized by labeling and color coding the, be it the virtual ones ( on computers ) or even the physical one. Mac provides such an option to color code them which they call "labelling". So to do so, simply select an file or folder, right click on it and choose the color you want in the 'label' section. And thats it. Done.

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Change the Desktop Icons Size

Change the size of your desktop icons in a flash. Now this may seen obvious to all trackpad users who merely have to pinch in to increase and pinch out to decrease the size of the icons on their desktop. However for desktop users, the process is a little different.

1. Go to your desktop.
2. Right click and click "Show View Options" or simply press "Command-J"
3. Now change the icon sizes by dragging the slider left and right.

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Mac OS X - Force Dock Magnification

Force your Dock to magnify without actually changing the Settings. Try holding down Control-Shift while moving your mouse over the Dock.

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Open an Application at Login / Startup

Right click on the Application's Icon in your Dock --> Options --> Open at login and Done. The application will now open the minute you switch on your mac. To disable auto open at login, do the same thing and 

uncheck 'Open at Login'

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Minimize Windows using Genie / Scale Effect in Mac

Minimize using genie effect on Mac OS X

In Mac OS X, you can Minimize windows using a genie effect which looks something like the one shown above or using the scale effect. Try experimenting ! Go to System Preferences --> Dock and select Minimize windows using genie / scale effect. ( Hint: To minimize a window on Mac OS X, click on the yellow button on the top left corner of your window or simply press Command-M )

Bonus Tip: To slow down any animation on Mac including minimizing of windows, hold down Shift while activating the animation.

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New Macbook Air - Review

It's no big secret that I've never been a big fan of the Macbook Air. I mean it's small and light but so is an iPad. Then there's the fact that it doesn't have a CD Drive and isn't very powerful... Or atleast, it wasn't. However, after some reading up and research on it, I've reconsidered. I won't go so far as to say it's my favorite Mac or anything but the fact of the matter is that I might have been a little too... disparaging.


So, I thought to myself, perhaps it's not very powerful but not everyone needs it to be so. And let's face it, it still runs on the world's best operating system. And who else has managed to create a fully functioning notebook computer merely 3mm thick. And believe me, many have tried. Anyway, I think providing you with a summarized version including Pros and Cons might function as a refreshing change.

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Versions in Mac OS X Lion

Versions in Mac OS X Lion is a way to browse through every edit you've ever made to a document, image or any other file in a timefield and Restore it to whichever one you preferred. Stunning appearance, very functional and one of the best features in Lion. Never lose your data again.

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Mac OS X Lion - All My Files

Lion provides you with a beautiful, organized way to view all files on your Mac. It conveniently and neatly organizes them by last opened such that you can easily find whatever file you're looking for. It also only shows you your own personal files and doesn't add system files to the list.

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Photo Booth in Mac OS X Lion

The new Photo Booth in Mac OS X Lion is a wonderful application with a page of new features as well as the ability to operate in a beautiful fullscreen mode. Photo Booth on Mac is one of the most recognized pre-installed applications on a Mac. It's effects are known to be amazing and Lion has made it even more so. With it's new facial tracking technology, take photos of your self with "dizzy" birds flying around your head or twirl your nose. Enjoy other effects lile chipmunk, frog, space alien, lovestruck, dent, twirl, bulge, light tunnel, mirror, strtch, fish eye, comic book, pop art, sketch, Thermal, X-ray, Glow, B&W, Sepia and more. Or take a snap of yourself in front of the Eiffel Tower, or in a Roller Coaster or perhaps, a beautiful beach. Or take a video of the same. Enjoy
Bonus tip: To take an instant snapshot / photo / picture, Hold down alt / option on your keyboard and press the capture button. Or press Command-Alt-T.

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10 Things Lion Stole / Borrowed from iOS

Mac OS X Lion was released earlier this week, and a number of changes were seen which Lion has stolen or borrowed from iOS -

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Launchpad in Mac OS X Lion

Launchpad on Mac

Launchpad is another one of Apple's favorite new features in Lion, It's basically a new quick way to launch applications conveniently straight from your Desktop.
To view launchpad, Simply click on the Launchpad icon in the dock (the same as the one to the left) It may take upto a minute or so the first time you launch it. However the next time, It'll launch with amazing speed.
Those of you who've used an iOS Device previously, will immediately recognize the similarity between this and the gridded applications launching system ( Springboard ) on iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.
Click and hold on an application to move it around and click the cross on it to uninstall ( delete ) it. Drop it into another app to create a folder.
Apple. Coincidentally, I had designed an application with the same name and purpose too. Strange.

Launchpad Folders

Bonus tip: Click on the name of the Folder to rename ( for example, in this case, you would click on "Developer" to rename it.
Related - Similarities between iOS and Lion )

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Mission Control in Lion - What is it and How to Use it

You've probably heard of a new feature that Apple keeps bragging about in their new OS - Mission control.

So what is it ?

Mission Control on Mac OS X Lion provides you with a new way to monitior all open Spaces, Full screen Applications, Windows of Applications, Dashboard and more in a beautifully displayed screen.

What's it good for ?

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