Posts Tagged ‘Lion’

Now, before I begin, I am well aware that many of you have not embraced the ‘All My Files’ feature of OS X since its introduction in OS X Lion. However, for those of you that have, you can tweak the search criteria this feature uses just like you can with any Saved Searches you create in OS X Finder. Simply right-click (Control-click, or two-finger click with a trackpad) on the sidebar entry, and choose Show Search Criteria. You will then see the Smart Search characteristics that power this entry and you can tweak and re-save the search criteria you… read more →

I have spoken to a few people recently, who have called the Amsys Helpdesk, that find the default feature in 10.7 and 10.8 which removes the scrolling bars in different windows, such as Mail and Safari, a bit frustrating. However, it’s not as difficult as you would think in order to turn it back on… Simply load System Preferences from either the applications folder or the  logo and select General.   Within General there are some different settings you can use regarding your custom requirement with the scrolling bars, pick which option you would like and from then on you… read more →

OS X Lion introduced a few nice updates to the OS X Finder, one of which is improved sorting. I’d like to tell you all about one example which I find rather handy. I am often rummaging through my Applications folder to see what apps I have installed that could open a certain type of file, fortunately OS X Lion added a useful option called ‘Application Category’. What this little gem does is intelligently sort through all your apps and place them into their corresponding categories. Unfortunately, there are apps it doesn’t know how to categorise, therefore you will end… read more →

If you have a preferred shortcut or tip that we haven’t yet featured, please feel free to add them in the comments below or email, blog@amsys.co.uk and we’ll include them in a future blog.   1. Add your signature to PDFs Forget about printing off a document in order to sign it and then scan or post it back to the  recipient! With the release of Lion you can add add your signature directly to PDF documents, read how you can do this on your Mac here.   2. Prevent accidental replacement: use Stationery Pad Hugo, one of our Apple… read more →

I cannot believe I haven’t yet blogged about this superb feature which was released in OS X Lion. Many companies have usage policies which users have to be made aware of whenever they use a company computer. Applying these policies has often been done via email, word of mouth or on printed documentation or signs. Many schools, colleges and universities will need to make students aware of exactly what access they are entitled to on a public computer and perhaps where to correctly save their work. OS X Lion introduced the ability to display a banner at the Login Window… read more →

Have you ever needed to print quickly but your default printer is busy printing someone else’s stuff? Instead of having to open your printer’s print queue, stop and delete your print job, select another printer and re-print, why not create a printer pool? It’s easy to do and will save you time and frustration! As long as you have more than one printer available to you, when you print to a printer pool, the system will automatically print to whichever printer is available to accept a new print request. So, the question is how to create a pool? Well, it… read more →

Have you ever accidentally clicked on an application in the Dock or had an application hang and need to force quit the application quickly? Hold down the Command+Alt+Shift+Escape keys together for a couple of seconds to force quit the currently active application without the usual confirmation dialog shown below. Please be aware though that there will be no warning at all, the currently active application will quit immediately and therefore there is the risk of losing unsaved changes! Don’t forget you can use the Command+Alt+Escape keys to access the Force Quit window shown below to allow you to manually select which Application to force quit. This feature has… read more →

By Richard Mallion For those who use the Apple Configurator for their iOS deployment, good news, Apple have just updated it. Version 1.1 now has the following additions. Improved reliability and ease of use when installing paid apps with Volume Purchase Program redemption codes A new preference to disable the automatic removal of apps or profiles installed by the user when a configuration is reapplied to a supervised device A new preference to disable reapplying a configuration each time a supervised device is connected to Apple Configurator The profile editor now indicates when a profile cannot be installed on a… read more →

Please Note: Click here for the updated blog post for Instantly Locking your Screen in Mavericks. One of the most common questions I’m asked by Mac users is how to quickly lock the screen when needing to walk away from your desk and leave your computer. The easiest and quickest way to lock a Mac OS X screen is to use the keyboard shortcut of holding down the Control+Shift+Eject keys together. When you press these keys together, your Mac display screen will go black and lock the Mac screen, requiring a user to enter their user account password before the… read more →

Lion Tip: Tweaking the System Volume and Brightness Adjustments Have you ever wished that your mac didn’t make those popping noises whenever you are adjusting the volume through the keyboard? Or want to adjust the volume or brightness more precisely than the default up and down keys? Well, here are some little treats for you! 1) The popping lets you know just how loud the volume currently is. But if you want to change your volume but not hear the pop, just hold down the ‘Shift’ key while changing the volume and you will still see the progress bar increasing… read more →