In the old(!) world of computers, Macs were mostly controlled by the mouse and Windows was controlled with keyboard commands. In fact, Unix and DOS systems were exclusively controlled by the keyboard. Command line purists prefer to use the keyboard and we have explored navigating with the keyboard in past articles. With the popularity of computers in the work place and also at home, it follows that the two approaches would converge – to our benefit.
The first trick is one that lets you switch between applications quickly. On a Mac OS X you can go to Dock at the bottom of the screen to click on open programs. Similarly in Windows, open windows are also accessed through the “Task bar” – also at the bottom of the screen. However I think there is a faster and easier way – you can use the keyboard.
Hold down the “Tab” and “Apple (Command) key on the Mac.
Or
Hold down “Tab” and “Alt” on Windows.
On both systems, the open applications will appear with icons in the middle of the screen, and you will “toggle” through the open applications. As you continue to press the keys, you will keep switching from left to right. Add the Shift key to Tab and Apple and you will toggle in reverse order. I use this trick to save time.
If you ever wonder whether you saved the document you’re working on in Mac OS X, take a look at the red “close” button on the current window. If you haven’t saved your document, the button will have a little black dot in the center. The yellow button hides the current window in the Dock and the green button expands and contracts the window. (On Windows they call that “maximizing” and “minimizing”. I wonder where Apple got that idea – Hmmm?)
If you work in Excel, or you’re entering information in a web form, you can use the Tab key to jump from one field to another. You guessed it! You can also jump backward by adding the shift key. Try it the next time you have to enter another web form. But wait, there’s more…
If you’ve been playing with the Terminal application, here are a couple of major time savers. As you may remember, you have to type out the entire path to manipulate files and folders. However, you can type a few characters and then hit the “Tab” key and the Terminal will fill in the matching name. If there are two or more matching possibilities the Mac will beep and show the choices. You’ll find yourself saving a lot of typing using this trick.
While we’re still in the Terminal, you can save yourself a lot of grief when you can find a file you want to manipulate in the Finder. Simply drag the file or folder onto an open Terminal window and the entire path will appear in the Terminal. This can save a lot of typing, especially with files buried deeply on your computer.
The last timesaver I’d like to share is how to efficiently capture what’s on the screen. You may or may not know the old keyboard command for taking a screen shot – “Apple” – “Shift” – “3”. The command makes a screen shot of the entire screen. It’s very useful for remembering that error or for printing out the contents of a directory. Mac OS X prints this to a PDF file on your hard drive. (Look for “Picture 1”.) The cool version of this is to use “Apple” – “Shift” – “4”. With this variation, the cursor turns into a cross hair and you can drag it across your screen to capture only what you’ve highlighted. Windows users can use “Alt” “Control” and Print “Screen” to put the image of the current window on their clipboard. Then open “Paint” Accessories, paste the image and save it.
A friend of mine once told me the trick to typing is to know the location of the “Delete” key. I hope you’ll agree with me that the “Tab” key is just as useful.