OS X 10.7, Lion (Mac is dropped from the marketing name)
131
votes
106answers
48k views
What tiny thing in Lion makes you smile or has caught you off guard?
I would like to call for a place to list some little things that surprise you about Lion. There are so many articles and lists of all the new features with information overload, I would rather focus ...
5
votes
5answers
3k views
Create global shortcut to run command line applications
What steps do I need to run a command line program via a global shortcut?
I setup Automator to create a new Run Shell Script and tried to assign a shortcut in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> ...
18
votes
6answers
3k views
How to add characters to the press and hold character picker in OS X Lion?
In OS X Lion, there is a very useful feature for people like me who need to write in multiple languages, which pops up a small menu of additional characters when you hold down a letter.
For instance, ...
23
votes
5answers
42k views
How can I create or recreate a Lion recovery partition?
For whatever reason, one of our macs didn't make a recovery partition when it upgraded to Lion.
Is it possible to add a recovery partition after the fact?
To be clear - on a normal mac, the ...
106
votes
4answers
23k views
How can I disable animation when switching desktops in Lion?
I would very much like to disable the sliding animation that occurs when switching desktops via ctrl+→/← or ctrl+[number] in Lion. This was previously accomplished in previous versions ...
13
votes
16answers
2k views
Apart from being able to encypt an entire volume, what are the other differences of FileVault 2 over FileVault?
Does FileVault 2 in Lion have any other differences compared to the old version, FileVault in previous releases of the system? Are there any additional benefits to using the new version?
4
votes
7answers
4k views
How to remove or disable a default keyboard layout?
Is it possible to remove or disable one of OS X Lion’s default keyboard layouts?
I’m using a custom keyboard layout, and now that I managed to set it as the system-wide default keyboard layout, I’d ...
15
votes
3answers
7k views
How to completely disable auto-save and versions in Mac OS X Lion?
I hate the automatic saving and versioning in Mac OS X Lion.
Is there a way to completely turn it off?
(This has been asked before here, but the answer and the linked article are completely wrong, ...
29
votes
5answers
9k views
Is it possible to reorder spaces in Lion?
I would expect 'Mission Control' to allow me to drag spaces in a certain order (with the exception of the 'Dashboard' space), but this does not seem like an option.
This would be especially useful ...
17
votes
3answers
35k views
How to turn Mac OS X Lion into a web server?
After using MAMP for ages, I found out I could actually use Snow Leopard's built-in Apache server. Now that I've upgraded to Lion, I have no idea how to do this anymore.
Do you know how to turn my ...
7
votes
1answer
723 views
AirDrop on Unsupported Macs?
One of the Lion features I would really like to use is AirDrop. It would make transferring files so much faster than using a flash drive. Unfortunately, my Mac is a 2007 Black MacBook, and AirDrop is ...
3
votes
3answers
10k views
How to recreate Lion Recovery HD partition?
I have a Macbook Air Mid 2011 which came pre-installed with Lion.
After a trackpad hardware problem I wanted to be sure that none of my programs was responsible for the problem. I booted into the ...
38
votes
1answer
3k views
Can I get back Snow-Leopard-like application hiding (Cmd-H) in Lion?
Till Mac OS X Snow Leopard, pressing ⌘+H while using an application did two things...
The application hid itself from view.
The application placed itself at the end of the ⌘+⇥ ...
28
votes
9answers
8k views
Can you disable rubber-band scrolling in OS X Lion?
In OS X Lion, is there a way to disable rubber-band scrolling? This is the bounce that occurs when the window is scrolled beyond the top or bottom edge.
I'm aware that non-apple input devices don't ...
9
votes
4answers
5k views
On Lion, what files are excluded by rule from a Time Machine backup?
In addition to whatever files I may choose to exclude, what files does the system exclude by rule or classification?
It might make sense not to backup Trash or Caches, but I'm looking for a way to ...
16
votes
2answers
18k views
How do I write to NTFS drives in Lion?
What is the best, easiest, preferably cheapest way to make Lion write to (external) NTFS-formatted drives in Mac OS Lion?
16
votes
3answers
2k views
Is it possible to burn a DVD out of the Lion app store install?
Is it possible to burn a DVD out of the Lion app store install?
25
votes
11answers
16k views
Is There A Free Photoshop Alternative for Mac OS X?
I've been doing quite a bit of searching, but I'm only turning up commercially licensed packages. I don't need something as fully-featured as Photoshop, but something in that genre is sufficient. ...
9
votes
4answers
5k views
Mac OS X Lion Finder Window Size
I know that when I close a finder window the next time it opens, it will open at the same size.
This works with me for a while, but sometimes all the finder windows just go back to the default size ...
15
votes
5answers
15k views
How to always show menubar with fullscreen apps?
Does anyone know if it is possible to keep the menubar in Mac OS Lion visible for fullscreen apps instead of hidden until hovered over with a mouse or trackpad?
I imagine there's some Terminal ...
6
votes
5answers
2k views
Unchecking “Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps” doesn't work
Unchecking "Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps" under
System Preferences -> General doesn't work - for example, when I re-open an app (e.g. Preview) it restores a window (call it ...
4
votes
6answers
20k views
How do you remove Safari 6 on Mac OS X 10.7.4
I understand there was a uninstaller for Safari 6 beta (is that available anywhere?) but it seems no longer available in the Apple Dev Center, and I am on Safari 6 release version.
I need to remove ...
2
votes
2answers
773 views
Can I dual boot Snow Leopard and Lion?
I own a Mac Mini 3.1 with Snow Leopard installed. I would like to dual boot with Lion for development purposes.
I have partitioned my hardisk as described in Point (1) in this tutorial
How to ...
16
votes
5answers
6k views
What is wired memory?
I'm trying to figure out what is using all of the memory in my Macbook Pro running OS X Lion. I have 8 GB of memory total. When I quit all active programs except Finder and Activity Monitor, then run ...
4
votes
3answers
471 views
Why do full-screen applications change their order in Mission Control?
How are fullscreen apps organised? This is usually my workflow:
Dashboard / Desktop / Safari / Pages
I sometimes go to Pages and type some things and go back to Safari, and then I find that it ...
35
votes
20answers
11k views
Know of any features or tips and tricks in OS X 10.7 (Lion)?
Kind of like this: Got any Mac OS X hidden features or nice tips & tricks? but specific to OS X Lion 10.7.x ONLY
Do you know any hidden or little-known nice feature of OS X 10.7 (Lion)? It ...
23
votes
2answers
29k views
Uninstalling Java on Lion
I recently installed the Java runtime (through Software Update) and enabled the Java browser plug-in and WebStart on Lion, but I don't need them anymore.
Unchecking "Enable Java" in Safari ...
18
votes
11answers
39k views
How to fix slow Spotlight and Time Machine after upgrading to 10.7.5?
Since updating to 10.7.5 both Spotlight and Time Machine are very slow.
To index a normal system drive Spotlight calculates to need several days.
As a result Time Machine takes up to an hour or more ...
24
votes
3answers
4k views
How to place Dictionary definitions higher up in spotlight results
I used to use spotlight fairly frequently to quickly look up words in a dictionary. With Lion, I've noticed that my dictionary results have dropped down much lower in the list of results:
I'd like ...
43
votes
5answers
21k views
How do I run an app in Full Screen mode on OS X Lion on my second monitor?
How do I get an app to run in Full Screen mode on OS X Lion on my second monitor? It seems to be stuck on my first monitor, and I'd like to move it.
11
votes
6answers
3k views
How can I expand the number of special characters I can type using my keyboard?
I am aware that when I press ⌥ or ⇧⌥ on my Mac, I can type a variety of special characters. I also know that I can insert special characters using the character palette. Is there a way to expand the ...
12
votes
6answers
22k views
How do I use only the external display with my MacBook Pro lid open on Lion?
Sorry for the wordy title, but my problem is thus:
When I'm at my desk, I would like to use only the external display.
With the nifty gestures in Lion, I have decided I would like to use the ...
11
votes
6answers
7k views
Unsaved Files in OS X Lion
Where do unsaved files go in Lion?
I quit TextEdit without saving since I had no intention of saving, but with autosave the file still got save somewhere since when I reopen TextEdit the file I was ...
12
votes
6answers
6k views
What Is the Keyboard Shortcut for Sleep Display Without Eject Key?
I read that if you want to put your display into sleep the keyboard shortcut is Control ⌃+Shift ⇧+Eject ⏏, but what is it in Mountain Lion or Lion using a retina MacBook Pro or MacBook Air without an ...
7
votes
2answers
3k views
Are the changes to Lion's screen sharing documented anywhere publicly?
I am looking for a general technical overview of the changes Lion brought to screen sharing (VNC).
Specifically, the server now can differentiate and communicate the difference between dropping in ...
9
votes
6answers
1k views
Will I still be able to buy and install Lion after Mountain Lion is released?
I own an Early 2008, white MacBook (MB403LL/A) which still has Snow Leopard, 10.6.8, installed.
My understanding is Mountain Lion will not support my MacBook. If this turns out to be true then I ...
8
votes
1answer
7k views
How to auto connect to VPN upon login/boot?
So far, I've been using the build-in VPN tool of Lion.
I would like to auto connect my VPN whenever I'm connected to the internet.
Is it possible to auto connect my VPN whenever I'm connected to the ...
8
votes
3answers
2k views
Copy and Cut sometimes don't work
My system is kept fully up to date and I still see this problem intermittently, although not as often as I used to; I would say that this has not been fully fixed. If there are any workarounds ...
11
votes
1answer
2k views
In Lion, if I keep pressing a key, why doesn't it repeat?
I don't know if there are any settings to toggle, but I figured out that if I keep pressing a button on my keyboard it doesn't repeat it and displays only one character! Can this be fixed to go back ...
5
votes
2answers
437 views
Terminal behaving differently since updating to Lion
Ever since my company updated to Lion, terminal.app has been behaving differently. When I click on the dock icon, it sometimes opens several terminal windows at once, instead of a single one, and all ...
26
votes
3answers
8k views
Can I use the new Lion OS X license on two machines, or do I have to buy one for each?
I have 2 macbooks (the unibody and the one before that). Do I need to buy two licenses or can I just use one license for both machines?
8
votes
2answers
1k views
Is there a way to disable OS X auto termination of applications?
Is there a way to tell OS X Lion to disable auto-termination for a given application that you do not want to auto terminate?
FYI Lion is a quitter if you did not already know, what if you don't want ...
7
votes
2answers
247 views
What's a reliable method to create a stand alone recovery disk for Lion?
I'm seeing a lot of questions with all sorts of steps to burn a DVD or create a USB disk so you can boot your Mac with Lion if the internal drive is replaced.
Is there a definitive set of steps that ...
1
vote
2answers
190 views
How to choose a application without using the mouse in Lion Mission Control?
While using Mission Control and pressing Control ⌃+↑, I get the tiled view of all the applications in that particular desktop. Is there a keyboard shortcut to choose an application in this view?
17
votes
5answers
18k views
How do you delete apps from Lion's Launchpad?
When pressing alt/option in Lion's Launchpad, only some icons get the delete X overlay to remove them. How do you delete the others? I've read that control-option-command should do this, but it ...
4
votes
2answers
4k views
How can I create an ad-hoc connection from my Macbook Pro wifi connection?
My Macbook Pro using a Wifi internet connection & I would like to share this connection to other systems in my house. When I tried to configure by myself I don't see the usual "airport" option to ...
42
votes
4answers
2k views
Where did the ~/Library folder go in Lion?
I just installed Lion, and I can't find the Library folder in my user folder.
Does the folder no longer exist? If it doesn't, where are my preferences? If it does, how do I get to it?
17
votes
6answers
29k views
How can I install Mac OS X Lion in VirtualBox, or any other type of virtual machine?
I purchased Lion and heard that it supports virtual machine install.
I want to install Lion into my VirtualBoxVM on Lion on on iMac. How can I do this?
11
votes
3answers
3k views
How to set PATH for Finder-launched applications
Apps launched via Finder seem to not respect the PATH as set in .bash_profile. So when I try to run code from an IDE (Intellij) I no longer have access to programs in /usr/local/bin, which is ...
28
votes
5answers
10k views
Is fine volume adjustment possible in OS X Lion?
On previous versions of Mac OS X pressing ⌥+⇧+volume+ would adjust the volume by quarter increments. This seems to have been removed in Lion.
Is there any way to do fine volume ...
