How to Create New Keyboard Shortcuts in OS X
From Rudy Lizcano:
Hi Dan,
I'm responding to Mike Sheridan's comment on the 'Mac Switcher
Mistakes' article concerning keyboard shortcuts:
"I've been looking around for someone that has a program and
mappings that control common actions in OS X w/ the same or
similar keystrokes as I use in XP."
I don't remember where I read this, but OS X does have a way to
create new Menu keyboard shortcuts for any menu item for any program.
Although I've never had a reason to try this tip, I'm using OS 10.3.9
but this should work in any OS X version.
To create a new Menu keyboard shortcut:
- Open "System Preferences",
- Click on "Keyboard & Mouse" icon,
- Click on the "Keyboard Shortcuts" button,
- Click on the box near the bottom that has a "+" (plus sign) in
it,
- From the drop down menu, choose the application you want your new
menu keyboard shortcut to apply to, or choose "All Applications" if you
want your new menu keyboard shortcut to apply to all of your
applications,
- In the "Menu Title" field, type in the Menu command name you want
to call your keyboard shortcut,
- In the "Keyboard Shortcut" field, type in your keyboard shortcut
keys using any combination of the "Ctrl", "Option" and "Command" keys
(but not just the "Command" key) plus any keyboard key,
- Click on the "Add" button,
- Close the "Keyboard & Mouse" preference pane,
- Your done!
The "Keyboard & Mouse" preference pane also allows you to change
default keyboard shortcuts by simply double-clicking on the shortcut
and holding down the new keyboard keys you want to use for the
shortcut.
Also, you can always use the "Restore Defaults" button if you want
to restore the default keyboard key shortcuts.
Rudy Lizcano
Rudy,
Thanks for the info!
Dan
MacBook Air Not for Power Users
From Chris Waldrip:
Hey Dan,
I keep seeing people posting that they're upset there's no built-in
ethernet on the MacBook
Air, and I have to ask if they've noticed the optional
USB-to-ethernet [adapter]. I missed it the day the MBA was announced,
but it was pointed out to me and my last real concern was answered.
Yes, it's $30. Seems silly not to include it as a standard item in
the box. And maybe it'll be added eventually. But then again most of
the prospective users in my office will be happy enough with
wireless.
For anyone crying that it doesn't offer gigabit ethernet capability,
well, they're probably the same bemoaning the lack of a FireWire port
or additional USB ports, etc. These users aren't the target audience.
If you need Internet (email/web), office apps (Office/iWork/TextEdit),
casual gaming, etc., then you're looking at the MacBook Air. If you
need more than casual gaming, Final Cut Pro, or serious apps like that,
then look at the MacBook (well Final Cut Express) or MacBook Pro.
-Chris Waldrip
Chris,
As Andrew Fishkin points out in today's column,
Is the MacBook
Air This Road Warrior's Dream Machine?, all ultralight notebook
computers have to trade off features for the sake of size, weight, and
battery life. Apple chose to go thin with a 13.3" display and
full-sized keyboard, providing 5 hours of battery life by leaving out
the SuperDrive, the FireWire port (nice, but a power hog), additional
USB ports (each requires a minimum amount of power), ethernet, and so
forth.
As far as power goes, the 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook
Air is going to outperform any PowerPC Mac ever made and hold its own
against the first
generation MacBook with its 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz Core Duo. Sure,
the latest "Santa Rosa" MacBooks are 400 MHz faster, but that's just
20% - not a big deal. If you're working on a video that takes 2 hours
to process on the MacBook, it might take 2-1/2 on the MacBook Air, but
with a project like that, you usually start the job going and find
something else to do while it runs. And those aren't the kind of jobs
most people would expect to do on an ultralight notebook.
Dan
Pismo vs. MacBook Air
From Ken Smidy in response to MacBook Air: What Do You
Do When There's No WiFi?:
I believe your Pismo
will not run the latest Leopard, Microsoft Office, or other software.
It is also probably slower than a turtle.
I speak from experience. I have a PowerBook G3 FireWire with high
speed Internet. As soon as the next generation iMac comes out, I will
be getting one. While I may be slow, old, but steady, I want something
more in my computer. The great thing about Apple is we have a number of
choices to best fit our needs. The MBA is obviously not right for
either of us.
However, I am glad you are happy with your computer.
Ken
Ken,
With a G4 upgrade, Pismo can run Leopard (you'll need
to hack the installer). It
supports up to 1 GB of RAM and 7200 rpm hard drives, which can really
help unleash any version of OS X. And Office 2008 is compatible
with a g4-upgraded Pismo that has 512 MB of RAM.
No, it's probably not speedy with Leopard, and Office
2004 is already sluggish enough, but as long as its fast enough for
what you need to do, keep on truckin' with the old PowerBook.
Dan
MBA SuperDrive and MacBooks
Dan,
Do you think the MacBook Air's external SuperDrive would make a
nice, low cost part source for an internal replacement for MacBooks and
earlier laptops, to upgrade their Combo drives and to replace dead
SuperDrives?
Timothy Sipples
Timothy,
Good question. Apple's website indicates that the
drive requires a MacBook Air, but as it's a USB device, I can't imagine
that it wouldn't work with any Mac with a USB port - although perhaps
not as a boot drive.
I suspect it's the same 8x dual-layer mechanism found
in regular MacBooks. If so, it ought to be possible to swap out a Combo
drive and install it, but that's just conjecture until someone takes
one apart.
Dan
Shame on Microsoft Customer Service
From Todd Neely:
Shame on Microsoft for tricky purchase tactics. Those that purchased
Office '08 Media Edition via Microsoft's special offer may be getting
the shaft. I received a confirmation email weeks ago after I submitted
all the needed documents. the email gave 3 options:
- do nothing
- respond and tell them you actually want the product
- cancel
Essentially, you have to read the email very carefully and realize
that you have to send a response if you want to receive the product.
Those that didn't respond won't be getting the product, because, as
listed in their first sentence, the product is not currently
available as noted in an email I received today:
Thank you for your recent order. The product listed
below is currently out of stock. The new expected ship date for your
product is 2/18/2008.
And guess what . . . that email gave me the same options
as the first email . . . I had to send them a response
email saying I still wanted the product!!!!!!!!
Shame on Microsoft.
Below are the emails which I colored.
Email 1
Dear XXXXXX:
Thank you for your recent order. The product listed below is
currently out of stock.
Microsoft Corp Order #XXXXXX
Part/Sku #FWA-00013 OFFICE MAC MEDIA EDITION 2008 EN DV
The new expected ship date for your product is 1/28/2008.
If you wish to receive this product, if available
by the new expected ship shown above, NO RESPONSE IS
REQUIRED.
If you no longer wish to receive this product, you may cancel your
order by responding to this e-mail and placing an X in front of option
#1 below or by contacting our customer service department at
506-694-4328.
If we are unable to ship this product by the new
expected ship date shown, but you wish to receive the product
when it becomes available, you may update your
order by responding to this e-mail and placing an X in front of option
#2 below or by contacting our customer service department at
506-694-4328.
To respond to this e-mail communication:
- Click the reply button in your e-mail application
- Place an X in front of either option #1 or #2
- Click the send button in your e-mail application
Please choose from the following by placing an X in front of the
desired action:
#1 ___ Please CANCEL MY ORDER and issue a refund, if applicable.
#2 ___ Please SHIP MY ORDER when it becomes available, even if after the new expected ship date. I understand
that I may still cancel my order at any time before you ship the
product to me by contacting 506-694-4328.
This address is the SHIP TO address currently in our records. If
your SHIP TO address has been changed or is incorrect, please contact
our customer service department at 506-694-4328 and a representative
will be happy to update your order.
- XXXXXXX
- XXXXXX
- XXXX
Thank you for your interest in Microsoft products,
The Microsoft Customer Service Team
Email 2
From: <BOPS@one.microsoft.upgrade.com>
Date: January 24, 2008 2:37:13 AM EST
To: xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Microsoft Back Order Update
Dear xxxxxxxxxxx:
Thank you for your recent order. The product listed below is
currently out of stock.
Microsoft Corp Order #xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Item ID #FWA-00062 OFFICE MAC MEDIA EDITION 2008 EN DV
The new expected ship date for your product is 2/18/2008.
If you still wish to receive this product, if
available by the new expected ship date shown above, please let
us know by responding to this e-mail and placing an X in front of
option #1 below, or by contacting our customer service department at
506-694-4328. If you do not respond to this e-mail or
contact our customer service department within 30 days, your order will
be cancelled and a refund issued, if applicable.
If you wish to receive the product when it becomes available,
even if after the expected ship date, you
may update your order by responding to this e-mail and placing an X in
front of option #2 below, or by contacting our customer service
department at 506-694-4328.
To respond to this e-mail communication:
- Click the Reply button in your e-mail application
- Place an X in front of either option #1 or #2
- Click the send button in your e-mail application
Please choose from the following by placing an X in front of the
desired action:
#1 ___ Please SHIP MY ORDER if the product is available by
the new expected ship date.
#2 ___ Please SHIP MY ORDER when it becomes available, even if after the new expected ship date shown. I
understand that I may still cancel my order at any time before you ship
the product to me by contacting 506-694-4328.
This address is the SHIP TO address currently in our records. If
your SHIP TO address has changed or is incorrect, please contact our
customer service department at 506-694-4328 and a representative will
be happy to update your order.
- XXXXXX
- XXXXXX
- XXXXXX
Thank you for your interest in Microsoft products,
The Microsoft Customer Service Team
Microsoft highly recommends that users with Internet access update
their Microsoft software to better protect against viruses and security
vulnerabilities. The easiest way to do this is to visit the following
website: http://www.Microsoft.com/protect
Todd,
You have to understand one thing: You're dealing with
Microsoft. If you don't want to put up with this kind of horrible
customer service, order through Amazon.com
or one of the online retailers specializing in Macs. You'll even save
$50 and get free shipping through Amazon.com.
Dan
Unsupported Leopard on 800 MHz G4 iMac
From D:
Hey there,
I installed Leopard on an iMac G4 17" with an 800 MHz
processor and 712 MB RAM. I believe my card is an Nvidia G4. I did the
ol' switch in the firmware, clocked my CPU to 866.
There's plenty of screen issues, artifacts. Finder is incredibly
slow in the photo file search mode. Overall I feel Tiger runs better,
but isn't the eye candy that Leopard is....
D
D,
Yes, the graphics processor is an Nvidia GeForce 4 MX.
Thanks for the report, especially about the artifacts you're seeing on
the screen.
Dan
There's a few more issues:
For whatever reason the firmware won't allow me to put the processor
back to 800 mhz, weird!
At the end the leopard install, a message appeared stating the
install did not complete. I re installed and the same msg appeared.
Boot up is 4 + minutes too.
Thanks for posting the info, it was very useful to read people's
experiences.
Thanks
Thanks, David! Long bootup is not uncommon with Nvidia
graphics. The fix is to remove AppleHWSensor.kext from
/System/Library/Extensions, and the delay goes away.
Dan
ATX Mobo in Power Mac Case
From Alex Hughes:
Hey Dan,
I have been reading a lot about the "Hackintosh" projects and was
wondering if there is a way to build one using an older Power Mac G4
case instead of a PC case? I guess making an ATX motherboard fit the
case and aligning the ports on the backside would be the biggest
obstacle. I would appreciate any insight. Thanks...
Alex Hughes
Alex,
It's probably more trouble than it's worth, but at
least your Hackintosh would look like a Macintosh. You'll need to put
in different mounting hardware for the motherboard and may have to
replace the power supply or hack the power connector. And after all
that, ports and such probably won't line up nicely. The more practical,
although less aesthetically pleasing, solution would be to put an Apple
sticker on a nice ATX enclosure.
Dan
Dan,
Thanks for the advice! I did some research online and came to the
same conclusions you did. Lots of modification and hassle involved. I
have a PC case available to me that takes ATX board so I will probably
go that route if I pursue the "Hackintosh" project. It has a 400 watt
power supply included, is that enough power to run all the components
do you think?
Appreciate the quick response!
Alex
Dan Knight has been publishing Low
End Mac since April 1997. Mailbag columns come from email responses to his Mac Musings, Mac Daniel, Online Tech Journal, and other columns on the site.
