Mac OS X - page 3

Quicklook is Mac OS X’s way of letting you see any file up close with just a tap of the spacebar. When you’re in the finder, for example, and you click on a photo, you can hit the spacebar and see the photo large and up close, making it easier to figure out which images to toss, and which to save. You can do the same with any supported text file, like an rtf, doc, or pdf file to see what’s in it at a glance.

But what if you want to copy a quick bit of text to paste somewhere, like an email? Instead of opening the file, waiting for the associated app to load, and then copying the bit of text, give this trick a shot.

Got a new Mac? Trying to get the most out of it – or perhaps the one you’ve had for a few months? There are countless tools out there than can help – but rarely can so many of them be found in a bundle such as this: The Mac Essentials Bundle.

Cult of Mac Deals has assembled 9 apps that can take your productivity on your Mac to the next level…and we’re offering it at a fraction of the regular price. You can get The Mac Essentials Bundle for only $49.99 for a limited time – that’s 84% off the price you’d pay for all of these apps separately!

I grew up on a farm, and it wasn’t exactly a riot — so I’m surprised anyone would want to simulate farm-life for fun. Then again, we never had a 10-ton Lamborghini tractor. And if we did, I probably wouldn’t have been allowed near it.

Anyway, that’s exactly the sort of thing you can tool around in with Farming Simulator 2013, the latest in a long line of Farming Simulator titles, which just hit the Mac App Store today.

We say this often here at Cult of Mac: “This new whatsagizbob will change your life!” Perhaps we say it too often. But I can think of very, very few things I’ve seen where the phrase would ring as true as it does with Rabbit.

Rabbit is a videochat app and platform for Mac unlike anything you’ve seen, designed for immersive video socializing in groups, created by four ex-videogame developers, with mind-boggling attention to detail. You can even screencast movies, and share images and webpages over Rabbit.

And today, it’s been released as a closed beta (but read on to find out how to get your hands on a copy).

Apple has been improving Siri since the intelligent assistant first made its debut on the iPhone 4S back in October 2011, and has also been working to expand its availability; it’s now available on all the latest iOS devices, and some older ones, too. It seems inevitable that Siri will one day be introduced to the Mac as well, and that day could be getting closer as Apple searches for new engineers who will be tasked with bringing it to the desktop.

Did you sign the Change.org petition to get a Mac port of super-popular multiplayer online battle arena game (MOBA), League of Legends? Have you waited with bated breath since it was first announced, and then wept with frustration when it was cancelled? Have you downloaded the unofficial iLoL port and suffered through any beta glitches just to get you some League of Legends on your favorite computing platform?

Well, the wait is (almost) over, as developer Riot Games has finally admitted that it is indeed working on a Mac client, and it will be available within a month.

The Option key is a powerful ally in the transition from new, beginner user of OS X to the power user that you want to be. There are a ton of hidden features in the Finder alone that are hidden behind the underrated and unassuming Option key.

Here are some of the more useful ones.

One of the trickier things about creating a playlist for any party is making sure you have the right music for the people you’ve invited. Sometimes, though, you might want to give this nerve wracking process a miss, and let the guests at your house choose the music.

Here’s how to do just that, using nothing more than your Mac and the iTunes Album Artwork screensaver.

Here’s a fun little extra for those of you that use the Reminders app on OS X.

Sometimes you just like to feel a bit more accomplished, a bit more successful at your day. One of the cool things about keeping a list of things you need to remember to do is actually checking them off as you do so. Heck, on a particularly frustrating day, you might want to know how many things you’ve actually completed, right?

Using the Reminders app, this is fairly simple to do.

If you use Bluetooth as much as I do, you’ll know that there are times when it works flawlessly and times when it does not. Many of the issues around sound quality of a Bluetooth speaker or the performance of a Bluetooth keyboard have to do with the strength of the signal going between your Mac and the Bluetooth gadget.

Here’s a simple way to check the signal strength of each device you’re using.

You know, computers aren’t just for getting things done. They’re also for getting your game on. With that in mind, the latest Cult of Mac Deals offer has packed 10 fun games that are compatible with both Mac and PC systems into one bundle known as The Entertainment Games Bundle.

And for a limited time we’re offering it to you for just $29!

You know, computers aren’t just for getting things done. They’re also for getting your game on. With that in mind, the latest Cult of Mac Deals offer has packed 10 fun games that are compatible with both Mac and PC systems into one bundle known as The Entertainment Games Bundle.

And for a limited time we’re offering it to you for just $29!

iTunes 11 has undergone many different visual tweaks and changes, not all of which may be welcome. One of the big ones is how the Search field works. By default, when you type in your search term, a drop down menu appears under the Search field, listing the songs, albums, or apps that include those search terms. This can be handy for searching the whole of iTunes at once, but you might want to use the older style of search, using the sidebar to filter the search results within the different media types.

Here’s how to revert iTunes 11 to the older style.

We’re entering the time of year of giving, and a great way to give is to offer protection to your devices so that you can have peace of mind in the case that one of them goes missing. Well, there’s technology out there that won’t only help you track down your lost or stolen devices – but will give you the ability to provide the police with the exact location of your device (along with pictures of the thief in the case of theft). And we’re giving you a great deal on this technology here at Cult of Mac Deals!

Prey is open source software that gives you a 24/7 tracking and recovering capabilities so you can recover your lost or stolen devices. It keeps track of your laptop, phone, and tablet whenever stolen or missing — easily and all in one place. The best news about Prey? Cult of Mac Deals is offering it for just $49 for a very limited time!

Recording the audio source from your Mac isn’t as easy ast it would seem. When recording a podcast, for example, many Mac podcasters use third party apps like Soundflower or external mixers to record both the audio in and the audio out of an interview, for example. Other apps, like Audio Hijack, also exist to record any sound you have occuring on your Mac, but those can be pricey, as they include many features beyond simple recording.

If you want a free, simple to use Mac audio recording software, you might want to check out WavTap.

As you open applications on your Mac, you may notice your Dock getting a little crowded. That’s because OS X adds an icon for each running app to your Dock as soon as you launch it, to let you know that it’s actually doing something. It’s one of the many great visual reminders built into the operating system.

Sometimes, though, your Dock might get a little too crowded. In which case, you can do a couple of different things to get rid of the Dock icon while the app in question is running, though it’s not without its downsides.

With Mac OS X now in its ninth edition, one of the biggest hurdles Apple must overcome for its OS X 10.9 release is which cool cat it will be named after. We’ve had Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion, and Mountain Lion so far. So what next?

Well, according to one rumor, it’ll be named OS X 10.9 Lynx. But we’re a little skeptical.

The weekend is upon us and when a blustery Autumn day hits, so does weather that is less than inviting. It’s times like these that are no better times to plunk yourself down and get your game on with some quality recreational gaming time.

The Mac has become a far better platform for gaming in the past few years, and this soon-to-end Cult of Mac Deals bundle puts on display some of the top-notch games you can play on OS X today. The Mac Gamer Bundle assembles games like Call of Duty 4 and Civilization V – along with 4 others – into one sweet package…and we’re offering it you for the low price of just $30!

Desktop pictures, or wallpaper, are one way to make your Mac truly your own. Choosing from one of the beautifully rendered images that are provided along with OS X is one way to be sure to impress any passers-by, as well and give you something beautiful to look at as you go about your daily Mac business.

Now, however, Mountain Lion lets you easily use any of your own images from iPhoto (or Aperture) as a Desktop Picture, right within the Desktop & Screensaver preference pane. Here’s how.

Galaxy on Fire 2 is perhaps the best-looking space game on iOS. With astronomical scenes that call to mind a portable Eve Online, Galaxy on Fire 2 is an action space shooter with RPG elements, such as upgraded ships and weaponry, questing systems, and the like. It’s even made the move to Mac OS X.

It’s been a couple of months since FishLabs, the developers behind the title, released a teaser trailer and a vague September timeline for a release date for the upcoming downloadable content (DLC) expansion, Supernova. Well, that date is actually here, as Supernova is available on both the iTunes and Mac App Stores, for iOS and Mac OS X, respectively.

PowerPC-based Macs have long been considered dead and buried by Apple, but the company just put a few more nails in the coffin to prevent any corpse risings. With the release of iTunes 10.7 this week the ubiquitous media control center becomes Intel-only, requiring at least a Core Solo processor and Mac OS X 10.6.8.

In a related one-two punch, Apple has also stopped providing online Software Updates for Mac OS X versions 10.0 through 10.3, as well as Mac OS 9. These items are now available only by direct download from Apple’s support website.

After unveiling its latest Kindle lineup last week, Amazon has updated its Kindle app for Mac OS X to introduce support for new books that employ the Kindle 8 format. It also adds OS X Lion gestures and a number of improvements.

Dr Web, a Russian antivirus software specialist, has discovered a new piece of malware that targets computers running Mac OS X and Linux. Named “Wirenet.1,” once installed the software steals all of the passwords you enter into your web browser, mail client, and other apps, and has the ability to log your keystrokes.

Pixelmator, a wonderful image editing app for Mac OS X, just received a major update that introduces some great new features. As well as Retina graphics for the new MacBook Pro, version 2.1 brings iCloud syncing, a new Effects Browser with new effects, OS X Mountain Lion support and more.

Panic’s terrific CandyBar tool has just been updated to support OS X Mountain Lion, and if you don’t already own it, you can now pick it up for free. Panic will no longer be charging for the app because of the new restrictions Apple has introduced to Mac OS X, which means CandyBar’s future is now unclear.