Snow Leopard: Find what you're looking for

One of the little frustrations in my everyday use of Leopard was the way it searched in folders. When in a Finder window, there was a handy-looking search box in the upper right-hand corner. I would place the cursor, type my query, and be annoyed by the fact that OS X searched my entire Mac.

Nooo. If I wanted to search the whole thing, I would have asked to search the whole thing.

Thank goodness Snow Leopard fixes this minor workflow speed bump. Now you can choose what you'd like to use as a default: Search This Mac or Search the Current Folder. You can even say "I'll have another" by choosing to Use the Previous Search Scope.

Unfortunately the default out-of-the-box action is still set to look everywhere on your Mac. But don't worry, it's easy to change.

1. Make sure Finder is your active app (either click on the Finder icon in the dock, click the desktop or a visible Finder window, or cmd-Tab to switch to the Finder).
2. Choose Preferences in the Finder menu. Or you can just use the Command-comma key combo to invoke Preferences.
3. In Finder Preferences, click on the Advanced tab.
4. Choose your desired search scope from the drop-down menu under the heading "When performing a search."
5. Close the Preferences and enjoy a search or two.

That's it. Just one example of the many little changes in Snow Leopard that make life with the OS easier and more efficient.

Spring clean your Mac with smart folders

Call it what you will, but "Spring Cleaning" is just as important on your Mac as it is in real life. From cleaning out old files to organizing music/movies/TV shows that you "threw" into iTunes over the past few months, spring cleaning is a necessary evil.

One way to find large files that might be eating up space on your Mac is with a smart folder; it's easy to set one up right from the Finder. To create a smart folder that will find large files on your hard drive, simply follow these directions:

1. Open a new Finder window and select File > New Smart Folder.
   
2. In the resulting window, select "Other" from the first drop-down menu (the default selection is "Kind), and search for the key word "size." If you wish this item to remain in the menu, select the "In menu" check box. Select the OK button once you select the "Size" item.
   
3. Select "is greater than" from the next drop-down menu.
4. Type in the size that you would like to search for files. I would suggest searching using 1 GB, but you can use any size you wish.
   

Finder will immediately begin searching your Mac for any files that match the description that we just specified. When you are ready to save your smart folder, select the "Save" button from the top right of the Finder window. You will then be asked to specify a save name and location. Now whenever you want to look for large files that might be hogging space on your system, just open this smart folder, and let the search begin!

Beyond this tip, if you are looking for utilities that can help you keep your storage lean and free of bloated, legacy files, you may want to check out GrandPerspective, WhatSize or OmniDiskSweeper.

The desktop in dialog windows

You want to open a file on the desktop from within a given application. Let's say Microsoft Word (it could happen). So, you select "Open" from the File menu. However, it selects the directory you last accessed with this method - the Documents folder. Don't reach for that mouse! A simpler solution is to hit Command-D to jump to the Desktop's files. Note that this works in Save dialog windows, too.

"How long does it take for me to move to and from the mouse?" you ask. The answer is just a second or two. But those seconds add up over the course of a day, a week, a year.

Now, what will you do with all the extra time?

Eliminate shadows in screen grabs

Sharing screen grabs and screencasts is a great way to show someone exactly how to do something with their Macs. You've got several choices for screencast software (here's a list of posts in our screencast category), but snapping a simple screen grab is much simpler.

Using Apple's Grab application you have a few options:

1. Shift + Command + 3 produces a snapshot of the whole screen
2. Shift + Command + 4 produces a crosshair that you can drag over a specific area of your screen
3. Shift + Command + 4 followed by the space bar turns the crosshair into a camera

Number three will let you grab a single window. The problem is that it includes that window's shadow, which you might not want. Fortunately, MacOSXHints has described how to exclude the shadow. A single line typed in the Terminal will get the job done.

That's great and all, but for some real fun, take a screenshot of a collegue's desktop, move all his desktop icons onto his hard drive, set your screenshot as the desktop image and feign ignorace while he clicks furiously on his "icons." You're welcome.

Finder window preferences [ MacOS ]

As we know, the Finder offers four ways to display your files. Namely icon view, list view, column view, and Cover Flow. Perhaps you prefer one over the others (let's say column view), but your windows open to icon view by default. That can be annoying but here's how to fix it.

First, open a new Finder window. Next, select your preferred display method and then close the window without doing anything else. Don't open a folder, drag an icon, nothing. Now subsequent Finder windows will default to your preferred setting.

Get info [ MacOS ]

Switchers and new Mac users may hear veterans refer to "performing a get info." Here's what that means, and exactly what you'll get.

Single-click a file or folder in the Finder and select "Get Info" from the File menu (or hit Command-I on your keyboard) and a new window appears. This is the Info window, and it provides a lot of information.

First, you'll see the file's name, size and most recent modification date. Below that is a field for storing comments or keywords to improve Spotlight search results. For instance, you might add "Colorado," "Map" and "Vacation" to a PDF you'll need for that upcoming trip.

Next you'll see the file's kind, size (again), location on your hard drive, creation date and most recent modification date (again). You can also add a color-coded label to any files you want to group visually.

Two checkboxes follow. Selecting "Stationery Pad" will force that file to open a copy of itself when double-clicked, and selecting "Locked" will prevent future changes (as well as deletion).

The "More Info" display depends on file type. For instance, an image will list data like dimensions, color space, etc. A Pages document will list last time opened or edited.

"Name and Extension" lists a file's name as well as an option to display or hide its extension. You'll also find an option to determine a file's parent application (the one used to open it), a preview of that file and finally sharing and permission information.

If you're new to the Mac, "perform a get info" on a few files to get a feel for that window and the data you'll find there. It's pretty useful.