The operating system (OS) is what allows users to interact with their computers, without it, we would have a hard time getting anything done. One of the major operating systems is Apple's OS X. The main way OS X users interact with their computer is through the Finder. While it is user friendly, there are numerous ways you can make it even better.

What is the Finder? The Finder is what allows you to see and access everything on your Mac. This is how you access, edit, delete and modify all of your files, folders, applications and drives. You can get to the finder by clicking anywhere on the desktop, or opening any folder. To tell if you are looking at it, look at the top-left of the screen it should say Finder beside the Apple icon. Here are four tips on how to improve OS X's Finder.

1. Show item information If you enable this option, the number of files, or 'items' in a folder will be displayed under the folder's name. For documents and some files, the size will be shown and for pictures, the dimensions, which makes this feature useful if you use graphics on a regular basis. You can enable this function by:

1. Right clicking on any empty space on the desktop.
2. Selecting Show View Options from the pop-up box.
3. Ticking Show item info.

2. Display the Status Bar The Status Bar should be displayed at the bottom of any Finder window. It shows useful information like how many items (files, folders and applications) are in the folder you have open and how much space you have left on the hard drive. If you don't see this bar, you can turn it on by clicking on View from the navigation bar at the top of the screen and selecting Show Status Bar. This can be done from any Finder window, including the desktop.

3. Display the Path Bar A Path specifies the location of a folder or file. For example, if you have a file in the Utilities folder, which is located in Applications, the path would be: Finder - Applications - Utilities. The Path Bar sits just above the Status bar, at the bottom of every Finder window, and is a good way to know exactly where your files are located. You can also double-click on any folder in the Path Bar to be taken to it instantly. You can enable this bar by:

1. Opening any Finder window and clicking on View from the navigation bar at the top of your screen.
2. Selecting Show Path Bar. It should pop-up instantly.

4. Always show file extensions File extensions are a three letter code at the end of every file that denote what that file is. For example, a file with .jpeg or .gif is an image, while .mov is a video. Enabling file extensions makes it simple for you to identify the file type, which means no opening a file and waiting for them to load to see what exactly it is.

You can enable file extensions by:

1. Clicking on any blank space on your desktop to ensure you are on the Finder.
2. Clicking on Finder in the top-left of your screen.
3. Selecting Preferences from the drop down menu.
4. Clicking on Advanced from the menu window that opens and ticking Show all filename extensions.

If you use OS X in your office and are looking to learn more about the features and apps, please contact us today. We would be happy to sit down with you.

Security is one of the top priorities and primary concerns in many companies. Be it the security of the physical office space, or security of your data, it is a good idea to take precautions. If you use Apple products in the office, there is a wide variety of things you can do to ensure the security of your computer. One of the easiest ways is to set up a password to access your desktop.

Here are three ways you can make it harder for people to physically access your Mac.

1. Set a password to log in If you have more than one user on your Mac, or would like a bit of added security, it would be a good idea to establish that a password is needed to log in to different user accounts. You can set this up by:

1. Clicking on the Apple icon at the top-left of your screen.
2. Selecting System Preferences from the drop-down menu.
3. Clicking on Security followed by General in the window that opens.
4. Ticking the box that says Disable automatic login.
5. Setting the time period from the drop-down box.

You will now need to go back to the System Preferences main screen (press the black back arrow below the red button at the top of the window) and click on Accounts. Look for the account you log in with, click on it and press Change Password...

You may not be able to make changes to both of these windows because they are locked. If this is the case, look for the lock icon in the bottom-left of the window, and press it if it is locked. You should then be able to make changes. When you’re done with the changes, it would be a good idea to click on this lock again to ensure no more changes can be made without entering your password.

2. Set up the need for a password to turn off the screen saver or wake the computer up You can also set up your Mac so that you need to enter your user password to be able to stop the screen saver or wake the computer up. You can do this by:

1. Clicking on the Apple icon at the top-left of your screen.
2. Selecting System Preferences from the drop-down menu.
3. Clicking on Security followed by General in the window that opens.
4. Ticking the box that says Require password after sleep or screen saver begins.
5. Setting the time period from the drop-down box.

You can also tick the box that says Log out after XX minutes of inactivity. Set the number, and after that time the computer will log you out. When you next try to access it, you will be taken to the main login screen.

3. Turn off your computer at the end of the day This may sound a little silly, but it is always a good idea to turn your computer off when you go home. This will often deter most criminals, especially if you have an older Mac that takes a while to boot up. If your company works with an IT partner who looks after updates and virus scans, it would be a good idea to talk to them about whether you should turn your computer off or leave it on when you leave the office.

By simply having a password protected system, you can significantly minimize the chance of stolen data, or at least reduce the possibility of prying eyes seeing important files. If you are looking for more ways to ensure the security of your systems, please contact us today to see how we can help.

Computers are great tools that have drastically changed the way we interact with other people and with the environment around us. One piece of equipment that makes it easy for us to use computers is the mouse. A problem with mouse cursors is that they can be nearly impossible to see on larger screens - projectors, etc -, or if you are visually impaired. OS X users don't have to worry however, as they can make their mouse cursors bigger.

Here's how you can adjust the size of your mouse cursor on both OS X 10.7 - Lion - and earlier, and 10.8 - Mountain Lion. If you are unsure of what version of OS X you have, press the Apple icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen and select About This Mac. The version number will be above the Software update button.

OS X 10.7 and earlier Hanging your cursor's size on older versions of OS X is done through the Universal Access panel. You can access this by:

1. Open System Preferences by clicking on the Apple icon in the top right of the screen and selecting System Preferences.
2. Click on Universal Access followed by Mouse or Mouse & Trackpad.
3. Look for the slider bar labeled Cursor Size.

You can slide the blue tab left or right to either increase or decrease the size of the cursor. In OS X 10.6.8 and older, larger cursors will look blocky and pixelated, while 10.7 will show a clean lined pointer.

OS X 10.8 and later Changing the pointer on 10.8, and presumably in new versions to come, has been changed slightly, but the results will be the same as previous versions.

1. Open System Preferences by clicking on the Apple icon in the top right of the screen and selecting System Preferences.
2. Click on Accessibility. You can also hit Command + Option + F5 to bring up the Accessibility menu.
3. Select Display and look for the slider bar labeled Cursor Size.

You can slide the blue tab left of right to increase or decrease the size of the pointer.

The main reason this function exists is to help users who have trouble seeing the pointer. But, this is also convenient for businesses. For example, if you are giving a presentation that will require the audience to keep track of the pointer, you can make it bigger so your audience can see it easier. If you do choose to increase the size of your pointer, beware that if you take a screenshot, the cursor will show as it's normal size.

This is just one of the many features that make OS X a capable system for any business. If you would like to learn more about how it can fit into your business, let us know today.

Technology is getting a little cloudy! That doesn't mean it's about to rain but that the concept of the cloud is seeping into almost every arm of technology. This has brought about a drastic increase in our ability to collaborate and share documents. There are still holdouts however, and if you have a Mac there is another way to share files.

If you use Apple's OS X in your company you can share files and folders by using the Public or Shared Folder. This folder can be found by:

1. Opening any file. In the left-hand side of the window scroll down to Places.
2. Clicking on the user account you log into your computer with. This is usually your account name with the house icon beside it.
3. Double-clicking on the Public or Shared Folder.

This folder is set up to share any files that are placed in it with other users on the same computer or network. Depending on the version of OS X you use, you may see a folder labeled Drop Box. This is a folder where you can drop files into for you to see and use, but is not related to Dropbox, the cloud storage program.

How to set up your Shared Folder Regardless of your version of OS X, you should have Shared Folder. You can configure which files and folders you want to share by:

1. Clicking the Apple icon at the top-left of the screen.
2. Selecting System Preferences followed by Sharing.
3. Ticking the box beside File Sharing.
4. Pressing the + under File Sharing and selecting the folder you would like to share, followed by Add.

You'll notice that when you click on the file you chose to share, you will see a black bar that says: Shared Folder across the top of the folder window.

You will also notice the window labeled Users identifies a number of different users, along with the privilege each has. These permissions, which you can apply, dictate what individual users can do with the shared files or folders. There are four different privileges you can assign:

• Read & Write - Users can open, edit, copy and delete files in the folder.
• Read Only - Users can open and copy files out of the folder.
• Write Only (Drop Box) - Users can copy files into the Drop Box folder but can't see what's in the folder. They can overwrite files if they drag and drop a file with the same name into this folder.
• No Access - Users cannot see or access any of the files or folders.

Should my company use this? Using the Shared Folder be a good way to share documents with users within the same network. However, there is little to nothing in the system to keep the files secure. If someone connects to your network, and you have allowed Everyone to see Read & Write they will be able to see, edit and possibly delete files.

It is also a good idea to be aware that the Shared Folder is set to share with anyone connected on the same network. This means that if you connect to another network that isn't in the office, the Shared Folder will be accessible to other users on the same network. This can create a bit of a security issue. To negate this, you should turn off file sharing from the System Preferences, Sharing option if you aren't using it, or are away from your main network.

At the very least you should ensure the sharing permissions are set in a way whereby files aren't accidentally shared. If you would like to learn more about other ways to share files with your colleagues, please contact us, we may have a solution for you.

One of the bigger reasons users are moving in increasingly large numbers to Apple's platform, OS X, is because of usability. While OS X is easier to use, it can be difficult to master. The reason for this is its heavy reliance on keyboard shortcuts. Some would argue that it's these shortcuts that give the OS the edge over their bigger rivals, Windows. There are some great shortcuts out there that make managing a single program, and moving to another, super easy.

Here's four keyboard shortcuts for OS X that will help make it easier to manage programs where you have multiple windows open e.g., Internet browsers or word processors.

Hide the current program If you are working with two or more different programs, it can be quite distracting. Imagine having your browser with three windows, a word processor, iTunes and Photoshop open all at once. It's a lot of clutter isn't it?

When not using the program, you can hide it by pressing Command + H. Hiding a program won't close it, rather it will just make the windows you have open invisible. This is similar to Minimize on Windows systems. When you click on the program's icon in the system tray (bottom of the screen), your windows will reopen. You can also hide programs by pressing Option (alt on some keyboards) and clicking on the icon at the bottom of the screen.

Hide all other open applications If you need to focus, you're not going to be able to do so with numerous programs and windows open, as it's too distracting. You also don't want to lose the content in these open windows. So why not hide them? Yes, you could click on each one and manually hide it, but this takes time. Instead, go to the program you want to keep open and press Command+Option(alt on some keyboards)+H. This will hide all other open applications and windows. They can be opened again by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the screen.

Cycle between windows in same application Look at your current browser. Chances are high that you have more than one window open and are normally switching between them on a regular basis. It can be time consuming and annoying to have to move your mouse and click on another window. To save time, press Command+` (located above Tab, it's often labeled with ~). This will cycle through open windows within the same program.

Shift to another application If you have hidden other programs, or want to quickly move from one program to another without having to close open ones, you can press Command + Tab. This will move you to the next open program (usually organized alphabetically, with the current open program first). If you keep Command pressed, and hit Tab you will see a window pop-up with open programs. You can press Tab to cycle between programs. You'll notice a box around an icon, and when you let Command go it will switch to that application.

These four shortcuts are just a few that can help make navigation and program management more convenient. If you would like to learn more OS X shortcuts, or about how OS X can make your life easier, please contact us today.

When it comes to computer operating systems, many companies are doing away with the install DVDs and allowing users to simply download the OS. This is a bit of a double-edged sword because if anything happens to your computer, or if you need to reinstall the OS, you can't do so because you don't have the install DVD. To prevent this from happening you can create a bootable install DVD or USB stick.

A bootable install dish is a DVD or USB drive that contains a copy of the operating system, usually for backup purposes. If your computer crashes you can reinstall the OS by simply putting the DVD or USB into the related drive and following the prompts. This is also useful if you have other Macs in the home or office and don't want to download new versions of the OS on every computer. Note: There seems to be a trend with some Apple products to not have a DVD drive, so it may be a good idea to do this on a USB stick.

Starting from OS X 10.8, Apple has said that any new OS will be available only as a digital download. The way this works is that you download the OS file on each system you want to install it on. Once you download the update and install it the original download file is deleted. If you need to install again you have to re-download the OS again. Therefore, it's a good idea to create a bootable drive.

Before you create a bootable disk you need a few things:

For a bootable DVD

1. A computer with a DVD burner.
2. A blank DVD with 4.7GB of storage space.
3. A downloaded copy of the latest Mac OS (In this case: OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion). You can download this from the Apple Mac Store.

Note: The link is to the US version of the store, if you aren't in the US, you will need to go to your country's Apple Store.

For a bootable USB

1. A blank USB stick with at least 8GB of space.

Note: The drive needs to have nothing on it, so buying a new one is the preferred method.

1. A downloaded copy of the latest Mac OS (In this case: OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion). You can download it from the Apple Mac Store.

Note: The link is to the US version of the store, if you aren't in the US, you will need to go to your country's Apple Store.

How to create a bootable install After you have downloaded the OS it's important that you DON'T open it and start installing the update. In other words: You need to create the bootable drive before you install.

Here's how to create your bootable install drive:

1. Navigate to where you downloaded the OS. It is usually in your Downloads or Applications folder and should be labeled Install OS X Mountain Lion (If you downloaded Mountain Lion).
2. Right click on the file and select Show Package Contents.
3. Navigate to Contents followed by Shared Support. You should see a file called InstallESD.dmg.
4. Open the Applications folder and select the Utilities folder. Open the Disk Utility app.
5. Drag the InstallESD.dmg file into the empty space of the white box in the right-hand side of the Disk Utility app.
6. Insert the blank DVD or USB device. If you are using a USB device, it must be blank and formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). It should show up in the list of drives located above the white box in Disk Utilities.
7. Drag the USB or DVD icon into the Destination bar in the central part of the window. Note: The Source bar should read: InstallESD.dmg.
8. Click Restore - located in the bottom of the central part of the Disk Utility - if you are using a USB drive. Click Burn if you are using a DVD.

It will take a few minutes to burn or copy the files to the DVD or USB. When this is finished you should have a bootable install drive. You now have a few options.

• If you would like to do a 'fresh install' - delete everything on your system - you can put the disk in the drive, turn off your computer, turn it on again and hold the Option key to open the installer. Be warned though, this will delete everything on your Mac's hard drive.
• If you would like to upgrade, but keep all of your settings and files, you can open the installer from the disk, and follow the instructions.

Creating a bootable install drive is a good idea and should be a part of any company's backup and disaster recovery plans. If you have any questions about the process, or would like to learn more, please contact us.

It's been an interesting year for operating systems, in the first half of 2012 Apple released OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion). Later in the year, Microsoft released the much awaited Windows 8. Because of this, many businesses have been holding off upgrading their computers. Now that Windows 8 is out, some users have decided it may be time to make the switch to OS X, but are still unsure.

If you're still on the fence about OS X, here are five advantages of 10.8.

• Centralized notifications - Windows 8 uses tiles and while they look great, they take up a lot of room and can make you miss important notifications. With OS X, all your notifications are in one place - the Notification Center. With Notification Center you can customize what apps will show notifications and even the order of importance. Need to get some work done? Quickly and simply turn off all notifications. When you're done, turn these back on, and all notifications will pop up.
• AirPlay mirroring - Do you give lots of presentations? If so then you no doubt carry a laptop around with a whole mess of cords. OS X has a feature called AirPlay mirroring which allows you to beam your display on to any HDMI TV, that's connected to an Apple TV unit. This could be useful if you're planning to go to an all Mac environment. No messing with cables, just bring the laptop, press a button and away you go.
• iCloud for easy sync - If you use any of Apple's other devices, you can sync information and files across all Apple devices using iCloud. This is a great feature as you won't have to worry about which device has what file. If it's on iCloud, it can be accessed by any Apple device that is compatible with iCloud - pretty much any modern Apple product.
• Don't type it, speak it - If you have your hands full, and need to take notes, or even draft a letter you can use your voice. In any place you can type, hitting the Function key twice will bring up the Speak to Type option. From there, speak and the words will show up, normally with correct punctuation.
• Integrated Messaging - One of the more popular categories of apps on smartphones are those related to chat. iMessages for the iPhone is great, you can send texts for free to any user. It's not great when you are at work and your phone keeps buzzing, annoying colleagues. Messages is an app for OS X that takes all the popular chat programs like iMessages, Google Talk, Yahoo!, etc. and combines them into one app. The cool thing about this is that you can text people on their iPhones, and vice-versa. This makes chatting more convenient.

These are just a few of the great features Mountain Lion offers that users will find make the OS a completely different, and arguably better, experience over Windows. If you're interested in switching over to Apple, please let us know, we may have a solution for you.

Modern operating systems have so many features, many of which go unused, or are even unknown to users. Apple’s OS - OS X - is no different. There are a number of unknown or avoided features most users open once, see that they look complex and decide to never open again. However,with a little know-how, these could be some of the most useful features.

One lesser known Mac OS X program is Automator - an OS X program that was designed to help automate everyday tasks. Automator has many uses, and upon first glance it seems a little complicated. The truth is: it’s only as complicated as you make it. Here’s a brief overview of Automator and how to make your first automated application.

Automator in brief Automator is found in your Applications folder, and is the app with the robot holding a grey pipe. When you open Automator, the Choose a template for your workflow window pops up with different options. The three most popular items are:

• Workflow: This is used to create a workflow that's run in the Automator. For example, if you import a bunch of photos onto your computer and want them to be automatically resized into a more web-friendly format, you can set up a workflow and have Automator take care of that
• Application: Is similar to Workflow, only it creates an application that you can drag and drop files onto to execute a workflow. Our example lower in the post will use this option.
• Folder action: Allows you to create a workflow and attach it to a folder. When items are added into the folder, the workflow will run.

After selecting a workflow type, you’re taken to the main Automator screen. It’s comprised of three main parts:

1. The Library: Located in the left side of the window, the Library contains a list of the Automator options installed on your computer.
2. The Action column: Located beside the Library panel, the Action column displays a list of all actions you can execute with the related Library item. Clicking Library at the top of the Library panel will show a list of all actions.
3. The Workflow pane: Located beside the Action column, the Workflow pane is the space where you combine actions to make a workflow. You can drag-and-drop actions into this space. When creating multi-step actions, the action on the top is run first, followed by subsequent actions. To re-arrange the order, just click and drag the action you'd like to move earlier or later in the operation.

There are also four buttons on the top right of the window. These are used for recording specific steps in the workflow, and if you have chosen to create a simple workflow, these will allow you to execute it.

Create your first automated workflow Here’s how you can use Automator to create an application that pulls text from a PDF document.

1. Open Automator, select Application and press Choose.
2. Select PDFs from the Library panel.
3. Click and drag Extract PDF Text from the Action column to the Workflow pane.
4. Choose your Output. Rich Text will take text and document formatting while Plain Text will take just the text.
5. Pick where you want the output - in this case, the text file - to be saved by selecting the box beside: Save Output to.
6. Press Command + S and select where you want to save the application.

To see if the application works, pick a PDF file and drag it onto the application you’ve just created. You should see a new document with the same name as the PDF, but with .txt in the name. All the text from the PDF should be in this document. This is just one of the many things you can do with Automator. You can make more complex workflows by dragging other actions into the Workflow pane. Want to get your calendar to remind you it’s the weekend and play Kenny Loggins' Highway to the Danger Zone every Friday afternoon at 5:00 pm? With Automator, it’s possible.

If you have any questions about Automator, or any other Mac feature, give us a shout, we can help.

Apple is well known for developing a user friendly operation system that, to many, is a pleasure to operate. When first switching over to an Apple environment, one of the most important things to learn are all the shortcuts, many of which are similar to Windows, but just different enough to cause a few groans. One particularly useful set of shortcuts can be used to navigate your Mac using only the keyboard.

Here’s how you can utilize the keyboard to navigate your Mac.

Jump to Finder The Finder on your Mac is the desktop and what allows you to access and view files on the computer’s hard drive. If you’re working in a program and need to open another one, or view your desktop, you can do a number of things.

• Hit Command + H. This is the shortcut to hide the open program. If you only have one program open, you will automatically navigate to the finder. If you want to go to your desktop after hiding a program, but have a file window open, you can hit Command + W to close the window.
• Hold Command and press Tab. By doing this, you’ll get a box in the middle of your screen with all open programs. The white bordered box is the program you will navigate to when you let the two keys go. Simply keep Command pressed down and tap Tab until the white box is over Finder (the two man happy face).

To figure out if you have navigated to Finder, look at the top left of the screen, it should say Finder beside the Apple icon.

Open and navigate a folder Once you are in Finder, you can press Command + N to open a new Finder window. The window that opens will be the user’s file (typically represented by the Home icon). If you have more than one Finder window open, pressing Command + Tilde (~) will cycle through Finder windows.

When you open a new window, you will notice that the first file in the window is highlighted. If it isn’t, simply press the right arrow. To navigate within this folder, pressing up will go up one folder row, left goes one folder to the left, right foes one folder to the right and down will go down one folder row. Hitting Command + Down arrow will open the folder you have selected. Hitting Command + Up arrow will exit the folder. For example, if you have Applications selected and hit Command + Down arrow, the Applications folder will open. In Applications, hitting Command + Up, will go to the previous folder.

If you open a folder with lots of files/application in it, quickly type the first three letters of the name of the file/application to be taken to the closest relative file. For example, if you are looking for Google Chrome in the application folder, quickly typing GOO will take you to the first file in the folder named GOO.

To carry on with the Google Chrome example from above, you can hit Command + o to open the program. This also works for files. If you need to open a menu from the menu bar (usually located at the top of the screen) hit Shift + Command + ?. This will open the Help menu, and pressing the arrow keys left or right will allow you to navigate to the menu options beside it. Pressing down will allow you to navigate down the selected menu to the different options. Hitting Enter/return will execute the command you have highlighted.

By using these commands, you keep your hands on the keyboard, and if you know what you’re looking for, it could make you more efficient. If you would like to learn more about using Macs efficiently, please contact us.

The operating system (OS) is one of the integral pieces of the modern computer, it gives us operators a way to interact with and use all other parts of the computer to complete our tasks. One of the most popular systems is Apple OS X, and the 8th version has just been released with some great new features that make it worth updating.

OS X 10.8, or Mountain Lion as it’s commonly known, was released into the wild on July 25, 2012 and will come standard on all new Macs purchased thereafter, or can be bought and downloaded from the Apple store for USD$19.99. Six features of Mountain Lion that you and your employees will definitely find really useful are:.

• AirPlay Mirroring. Want to project your Mac’s screen onto a TV or larger screen? If you have an Apple TV you can mirror your display and audio to a TV or projector screen in HD. If your office uses Apple computers this could be a great way to give presentations, by simply setting up an HD projector to an Apple TV. Employees can then give presentations from their Macs at the press of a button, no wires required.
• Power Nap. This is a great feature that allows newer Macs (models released after mid 2011) to receive emails, download and install updates while the computer is ‘asleep’. This should help IT install updates during non-business hours. It will also allow employees to start their day right away, with no waiting for the computer and programs to start up.
• Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper gives the administrators of the new OS the chance to set which apps can be downloaded and installed. This should make management of systems easier, as IT departments can control what’s installed, and it should minimize malware and viruses.
• Notification Center. Taking a page from iOS - Apple’s mobile OS - Mountain Lion now includes notifications. Available updates, upcoming calendar events, and messages, etc., will show up as a notice in the top right of the desktop and slide away in five seconds. They can be viewed again by hitting the Notification button on the top right of the screen.
• iCloud. iCloud was introduced a few months before the release of Mountain Lion and is Apple’s answer to integrating all their different devices. With the update, documents stored on iCloud can now be accessed and modified by all devices, with changes showing up in the docs. stored on your Mac.
• Reminders. If your employees are involved in one or more projects, or need a way to manage their tasks, Reminders can help. Essentially a to-do list that is integrated across all Apple devices that will pop up when a scheduled task needs to be done, or provide a reminder about meetings or whatever.

There are a number of other features that users may find useful, and we encourage you to explore the new OS. What’s your favourite new feature of Mountain Lion? Let us know below.