Filed under: Widget Watch
There are two good ways to control Time Machine; you can control it through the Dock and, as of 10.5.2, via the menu bar. Now you can control Time Machine through Dashboard. Time Machine Launcher is a dashboard widget that allows you to force a Time Machine backup, or disable/enable Time Machine on the fly. More control is always good! You can download this widget for free (donations are accepted) from the developers' website.Holding the Command key (aka the Apple key) and pressing Tab will cycle through your open applications. It's easier to Cmd-Tab if you are Copy (Cmd-C) and Pasting (Cmd-V) to and from various applications.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jon Wise said 9:28PM on 2-18-2008
Widgets suck. Especially ones that provide functionality I can already get without having to press a function key, hide all my other applications, and wait while a half dozen widgets all start-up.
The only thing more useless than Time Machine itself is Dashboard...
man, I'm negative tonite!
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undeadbydawn said 9:45PM on 3-15-2008
Yup. Dashboard is the first thing I turned off on both Tiger and Leopard. The only think more useless in OSX is CoverFlow.
JohnPQ said 9:47PM on 2-18-2008
This might have been useful before 10.5.2.
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Jeff said 9:53PM on 2-18-2008
Slow news day?
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ZeroCorpse said 10:11PM on 2-18-2008
Widgets in OS X are sort of worthless.
However, widgets in the iPhone/iPod Touch OS are the bread & butter of portable computing.
If even 1/4 of the widgets out there end up as iPod Touch applications, I'll be happy.
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oshawapilot said 10:35PM on 2-18-2008
Widgets are worthless? Speak for yourself - I have every imaginable bit of weather information (personally very important for my needs) all nicely laid out on my dashboard and viewable with only a quick swipe of my mouse.
To someone else, it could be stocks. To others, something else.
Widgets may be "worthless" to you, but for others it sure beats having to open 10 or 15 tabs in a browser every time you want to do multiple things at once, especially when you do the same thing often.
That said, I'll agree that although this widget surely has good intentions, I cannot personally see the need for it - with several other (easier) ways to already interact with Time Machine now, I can't say I'll be needing another.
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CL said 10:58PM on 2-18-2008
I 100% agree, I happened to live in the south now and the weather here changes every 5 mins, so it's nice to keep an eye on the weather before you head out. I also use the unit converter and the world clock a lot(before i call someone overseas, so I don't accidentally wake someone up at 3am). Sure you can do all these with google or some website, but having all the info you need with the touch of a button is so much more convenient...heck, I even have the gas price widget just to check out the gas prices in my area.
Dan Parmelee said 11:08PM on 2-18-2008
THIS widget seems worthless, but not all are. A Time Machine icon on your dock seems like the faster way to get to that.
In all honesty, in my 4 months since Leopard came out or whatever, I've NEVER had to use Time Machine at all.
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Floggy said 7:47AM on 2-19-2008
Bragging that you don't "have" to use TM is a bit specious. It's a backup mechanism..either you choose to use it or not.
DrWho said 10:07AM on 2-19-2008
Maybe he means he has never had to interact with it in any way whatsoever after the initial setup.
Meek said 1:31AM on 2-19-2008
Well, I believe Apple obviously, and intelligently waited out the outcome of the so called format war. This means the next update to any hardware will mostly likely be in favor of blu-ray drives. So most likely we will see new Macbook Pro's with the "option" of including a blu-ray drive, and definitely a revision in the Mac Pro line where blu-ray will be an option within the next couple months.
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Ed said 8:52AM on 2-19-2008
"There are two good ways to control Time Machine; you can control it through the Dock and, as of 10.5.2, via the menu bar. Now you can control Time Machine through Dashboard"
Surely that's three ways?
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Todd Sieling said 11:31AM on 2-19-2008
> More control is always good!
Not really. Time Machine's design and the severe under-use of backup software that *does* offer a lot of control is proof that not everyone wants a lot of control; sometimes they just want it taken care of and out of their hands.
(I'm totally picking on this off the cuff sentence, I know, but it's to make the point that good design is not about more or less control, but about just the right balance).
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