Mac 101 Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Lion: Deleting apps in Launchpad, and starting clean

by Michael Rose (Jul 25th, 2011)

Launchpad in Mac OS Lion shares a key behavior with its iOS counterpart: deleting an app from the launcher also uninstalls it from the computer, as long as the app was purchased from the Mac App Store. Of course, it's quick and easy to redownload the MAS apps if they're needed. While this ...

Mac 101: OS X Lion's new window resizing features

by Chris Rawson (Jul 24th, 2011)

In all versions of Mac OS X prior to Lion, re-sizing a window meant either clicking the green "traffic light" button in the upper left corner or clicking and dragging the bottom right corner. Windows switchers in particular have found this a frustrating departure from the behavior in other ...

Mac 101: Using Keychain Access to remember the password you forgot

by Steven Sande (Jun 29th, 2011)

One of the unsung joys of being a Mac consultant is getting emails from clients with problems that aren't critical enough warrant a billable office visit but still need attention. This morning, I heard from client who needed to add two Macs onto the office AirPort network but couldn't remember ...

Mac 101: Using Keynote as Motion in a bind (Updated)

by Brett Terpstra (Jun 9th, 2011)

Update: KeynoteUser.com notes that it's easy to export your Keynote animations with an alpha channel, making it much simpler to work with them in pro editing apps or in Motion. On this trip to WWDC I packed light. One backpack, a MacBook Air and a camera light. I haven't had my Air for very ...

iTunes 101: Making the most of contextual menus

by Chris Ward (Apr 28th, 2011)

I love contextual menus. In Mac OS X, you find them when you right-click, two-finger-click (on a trackpad) or when you hold down the Control key and click. They're handy in scores of applications and in the Finder; if you're looking to supercharge your iTunes usage in particular, Macworld's ...

Mac 101: Six steps for tracking down hard drive space hogs

by TJ Luoma (Mar 10th, 2011)

More Mac 101, our ongoing series of tips, tricks and helpful hints for new Mac users and curious veterans. "Your startup disk is almost full." This simple sentence can trigger all the stages of grief: denial ("That can't be right!"), anger ("This is a 500 GB drive!"), bargaining ("If I delete ...

Mac 101: Quick navigation of browser tabs

by Kelly Guimont (Feb 21st, 2011)

If you ever use the tabs in your web browser, you may have a hard time navigating between them as you take your hand off the keyboard, put it on your mouse, click on the tab you're looking for, look at that page for a moment and then click back on the first tab again. As a person who has loads of ...

Mac 101: Pronouncing Mac OS X

by Erica Sadun (Jan 6th, 2011)

In our Mac 101 series, TUAW introduces basic OS X concepts to new Mac users. This is going to be a quick one, because there's not too much to it -- but it's a critical note when talking to other people in your newly adopted community. Editor's Note: Please keep your comments civil and relevant. ...

How the Mac App Store works, and get Twitter for Mac free

by Michael Terretta (Jan 6th, 2011)

The new Mac App Store is online, and ready for you to use. It's an incredibly simple way to find, install, and manage your favorite software. First of all, to see the Mac App Store at all, you'll need to run your Software Updates (under the Apple menu) and get Mac OS X 10.6.6 System Update, or ...

Mac 101: Finding App Store on your Mac

by Erica Sadun (Jan 6th, 2011)

This morning it was all "Where's Waldo?" on my computer as I hunted and hunted for the new app store after spending far too much time updating my system. It turns out that I don't need to upgrade my glasses, just my recognition skills. The new App Store icon is automatically installed into your ...

iPhoto 101: How to delete photos

by David Winograd (Dec 30th, 2010)

Whether your Mac contains a mechanical hard drive or an SSD, everyone needs more space. We're all used to dumping Finder's trash frequently to reclaim drive space, but what some of you might not know is that when you delete pictures from iPhoto, they remain on your computer since iPhoto has its ...

Mac 101: Backup basics with Time Machine and more

by Steven Sande (Dec 28th, 2010)

Did you get a new Mac for Christmas? Before you go too far in loading your Mac with software and files, make sure that you have a backup strategy. As a certified Mac consultant, I can tell you that there are two kinds of computer users: those who have lost data through error, hardware failure, or ...

Mac 101: Securing your passwords after the Gawker breach

by Steven Sande (Dec 14th, 2010)

Thanks to questionable security practices at Gawker Media (publishing parent of many high-profile websites including Gizmodo and Lifehacker), a number of people are busy scrambling to change their passwords on a lot of different sites today. Gawker stored encrypted passwords on its servers instead ...

Mac 101: Changing the default web browser in OS X

by Dave Caolo (Dec 10th, 2010)

Apple introduced the Safari browser in January of 2003. Since then, it's matured to include extensions, an RSS reader and even a Windows counterpart. Still, many users prefer another browser. Since Safari is set as the default on every new Mac, you'll have to make the switch manually. Otherwise, ...

Mac 101: The wonderful magical Shift key

by Erica Sadun (Dec 8th, 2010)

Oh that Shift key. So normal, so overlooked, so simple ... and yet so magical. TUAW reader Karan recently dropped us a note, reminding us about its slow-speed enchantment. "I don't think a lot of Mac users know this," he wrote, "but the Shift key has a very cool (although obviously just for extra ...