One of the things that puzzled me for a short while when I migrated to Mac OS X and my iMac was how to get a screen shot of some window or segment of a window like I used to do on that Microsoft operating system.  In that other OS, there was a screen dedicated to this purpose (i.e., “print screen”), and all you had to do was either hit the <Print Screen> key, or hit <ALT><Print Screen> for the window itself (or, if you are used to PrintKey2000, it was even easier).  So how to do this on the Mac?  Well actually, there are a number of ways.

The Simple, Quick and Dirty Method

Mac OS X provides a built in facility, via a keyboard shortcut similar to the Windows Print Key method, however, much more powerful.  To grab the equivalent image that <Print Screen>, you simply hit <Command><Shift><3> , in that order without letting go of any of the keys as you press them, and Mac OS X copies the screen shot to your desktop in the form of a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image (BTW, the <3> is not the <3> found on the numeric pad).  If you want to copy it straight to the OS clipboard, then add a <Control> in the mix– that is, <Command><Control><Shift><3>.  One thing to note, which I haven’t had to opportunity to try with the Windows OS, concerns if you have dual monitors.  With the Mac OS X, if you have two monitors, it will create two screen shots– one of each monitor!  How cool is that?

The other simple method, and much more powerful than the Microsoft Windows facility, is <Command><Shift><4>.  This will provide you with a cursor, and you can drag an area out with your mouse to determine what you want to capture.

But wait!  There’s more!

The Grab Utility

The smart people at Apple actually gave you a utility that’s inherently more powerful than Microsoft’s <Print key> method, and I would say, at least as good as the PrintKey2000 utility.  This is the Grab utility.

Found in the Utilities folder in Snow Leopard, Grab let’s you capture a single window (like Microsoft’s <Alt><Print Key> method), the entire screen (like Microsoft’s <Print Key> or the built in Mac OS X <Command><Shift><3> method), a selection (like the <Command><Shift><4>), or a Timed Screenshot (no Windows comparison).  See Figure 1 for an image of Grab’s capture menu.

Figure 1

If you’re looking on how to capture some image on your desktop, Mac OS X gives you quite a number of tools– all a part of the core OS– no third party utilities that you need to purchase, download or install.  All-in-all– I’d say that’s a pretty good deal!

Have fun!

One of the first apps you should install (until I find out other options), is AppCleaner (freeware!).

This neat little application works great and is as simple as dropping it into the trash can, but it will also remove those pesky little .pref files, and other items.  The other neat thing about this, is that you can also simply find the application by clicking the Applications button, or if it’s a widget, click the Widgets button.  “Coolio!”

If you have any Mac OS X tips, please feel free to email them to me at my gmail address, MacOSXDaily.

—Dave

And if you’re looking for the seasonal deal from MacUpdate, then you can also get a load of software for just $50! MUPromo.com states this has a retail value of $446.77.

• DragThing 5.9.5
• Speed Download 5.2.7
• PCalc 3.5.1
• Path Finder 5.5.6
• iRip 1.4.1
• GarageSale 5.3.7
• Yep 2.0.6
• Socialite 1.0.1
• Radio Gaga 1.0.2
• Machinarium 1.0.1
• HealthNut 1.0.1

And if you’re one of the first 10,000 customers (currently at around ~9,000) you also get

• PowerTunes 1.1.2
• Flagit! 1.3.7
• Holiday DVD Menu Template Super Bundle 1.0

Have fun! And don’t forget what Christmas is all about– not the commercialism, but God’s love.

And if you’re looking for the seasonal deal from MacUpdate, then you can also get a load of software for just $50! MUPromo.com states this has a retail value of $446.77.

• DragThing 5.9.5
• Speed Download 5.2.7
• PCalc 3.5.1
• Path Finder 5.5.6
• iRip 1.4.1
• GarageSale 5.3.7
• Yep 2.0.6
• Socialite 1.0.1
• Radio Gaga 1.0.2
• Machinarium 1.0.1
• HealthNut 1.0.1

And if you’re one of the first 10,000 customers (currently at around ~9,000) you also get

• PowerTunes 1.1.2
• Flagit! 1.3.7
• Holiday DVD Menu Template Super Bundle 1.0

Have fun! And don’t forget what Christmas is all about– not the commercialism, but God’s love.

After a quick search, I found that curl -O does the exact same thing! WooHoo! Now I can view the video/flash file that I’m supposed to watch from my accounting class without straining my eyes!

Have fun!

—Dave

So how to do it? Here’s how–

1. Open up Disk Utilities
   
   TIP!  The easiest/quickest way I’ve found is to use Spotlight (command-spacebar) for this action. Just hit <Command-spacebar> and type 'Disk Utility', then choose the Disk Utility icon from the list! Easy!
   
2. Once you’ve opened Disk Utility, find the DVD/CD drive in the left pane, and highlight it.
   
3. Once the CD/DVD drive is selected, look at the right pane. Choose Erase from the selections at the top center of the pane.
   
4. Finally, choose either the Quickly or Completely (for questionable CD/DVD-RWs) option, and then click Erase.
   

   Please note! Completely erasing media can take an hour to complete!

Perform these tasks, and you’ll have your media erased and ready to write to in no time!

How do you burn files to the DVD?

If you have the follow on question on how to burn things to DVD or CD media, the answer is ‘it depends’. For files, you Finder. Drag the files to the Media on the left pane (you’ll see a ‘hazard’ icon next to the unwritten DVD/CD).

Once you’ve placed all your files on the DVD (i.e., staged them), choose the DVD/CD writable media and choose the ‘Burn’ button.

For other things (movies, et cetera), try iDVD or iPhoto.

Have fun!! —Dave

Now is your time to get the deal.  Although you won’t get Parallels, you will 12 fantastic security apps and utilities.  You’ll receive the following:

1. TechTool Pro 5 (by Micromat) – System maintenance utilities
2. Computrace LoJack (by Absolute) – Hardware recovery software in the event of theft.
3. VirusBarrier X5 (by Intego) – Antivirus software for Mac OS X viruses
4. NetBarrier X5 (by Intego) – Firewall config software (excellent app)
5. FileGuard X5 (by Intego) – file level encryption
6. Personal Backup X5 (by Intego) – backup / sync / file & volume recovery
7. ContentBarrier X5 (by Intego) – Web-surfing software for children
8. Personal Antispam X5 (by Intego) – email filter
9. WebGhost (by Macware) – IP obfuscation
10. Klix (by JoeSoft) – A image recovery program
11. MyWallet (by MOApp) – password security app
12. Spring Cleaning (Smith Micro) – hard drive optimization, duplicate file elimination

My personal opinion?  This is a steal and must have purchase!  Go for it!

D

Yes, with the Mac we are told that it’s as simple as dragging the application icon to the Trash.  Many times it is that easy.  And many times it is not.  I wish I would have known that before installing StuffIt (BTW– don’t install StuffIt!).  Firefox was permanently affected by always offering me the option to use StuffIt for compressed file downloads even though I DRAGGED THE DARN STUFFIT APPLICATION ICON TO THE TRASH!!!!  Yes, I intentionally yelled.  It most certainly did not remove all vestiges of the application.

Being an old Linux hand, and an even older (dare I say it) Microsoft Windows hand, I’m used to there being ‘hold-over’ material when you install an application.  Windows has the “Uninstall application” feature to take care of this, and Linux has the option to erase it via RPM (rpm -e <package>) or someother install/remove utility.

The Mac’s ability to remove an application is limited, and certainly not automated for those larger apps that inject their pref files, et cetera, all over the place.  That’s where AppCleaner steps in.  Instead of dragging that icon to the Trash icon, you simply open AppCleaner and either choose it from the list, or drag it onto the AppCleaner application.  It searches for everything, and when you remove it– everything is removed.  No vestiges.  WooHoo!

Apple guys!  I love ya, but someone needs to talk to the creator of AppCleaner and get this baby bundled in your next OS release!

Caio!

Take a look at the article titled ‘iPhone, the ‘Personal’ Computer – Future of the Mobile Web’.