OS X (previously Mac OS X) is marketing name for Apple's computer OS. Note the proper pronunciation is "ohh ess ten"
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Why do Apple's latest MacBook Pros cap the RAM limit at 8GB?
According to apple's latest documentation (at the time of writing), the cap on the newest MacBook Pros is 8GB RAM.
The Mac Pros, however, can take up to 32GB RAM.
So, why do the MacBooks have this ...
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3answers
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What does “@” signify in unix file permissions?
I have a file with the following permissions on my MacBook Pro:
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 root wheel 101K Feb 29 17:09 apachectl
What does the @ stand for? I can't execute the file and this is the only ...
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6answers
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What's the best text editor for use with large files?
What are your recommendation for opening large text files on OS X? I found both BBEdit and Textmate to be struggling in this department.
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3answers
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Why is /tmp a symlink to /private/tmp?
Why is /tmp a symlink to /private/tmp on Mac OS X? In other words, why isn't /tmp just a regular directory, like on Linux or BSD? I understand how it works and I don't mind it, I'm just interested in ...
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Can I get windows 7 like window resizing on Mac OS X?
Windows 7 has a nice new feature for moving around windows.
The one that I am particularly interested in is:
Windows Key + Left/Right : Move the window to the left or right of the screen, or over ...
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How can I stop OS X from switching Spaces when the mouse cursor is at the edge of the screen?
Mac OS X Spaces change when I hold the mouse at the edge of the screen. Is there an application or 'defaults' command to disable this?
Warp looks like it might help, but hasn't changed the behavior ...
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1answer
197 views
How can I revert the appearance of the close, minimize and zoom buttons with iTunes 10?
The new vertical layout is causing me all sorts of grief - is there any way to revert this back to the normal horizontal orientation of the close, minimize and zoom buttons of every other Mac OS X ...
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How do so set “date added” metadata in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
The Finder in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion shows a new piece of file metadata, "Date Added," which tracks the date an item was added to a folder. After upgrading to 10.7, none of the items in my ~/Downloads ...
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3answers
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How can I send a mail message later?
Back in the day, I remember having an e-mail program (perhaps it was Eudora?) that could schedule the sending of mail, so when composing a message, you could set some preference for when it would be ...
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2answers
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What user behavior is necessary to make Filevault 2 maximally secure?
Situation: Filevault 2 passwords can be stolen
Passware has released the Passware Kit Forensic 11.3 which is able to steal the FileVault 2 password from the RAM by performing a DMA Attack via the ...
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4answers
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How do I get notified when the Dropbox app is updated?
I realized that I was running a very old version of Dropbox for Mac. Somehow I was not notified about the latest updates. I was expecting the same behavior as apps like 1Password.
In the past, I ...
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5answers
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How do I troubleshoot my Wi-Fi connection when an exclamation mark appears?
Sometimes, when I am in a public Wi-Fi an exclamation mark appears in the greyed out Wi-Fi icon.
I can connect to the Wi-Fi (I get assigned an IP address), but I cannot establish an internet ...
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3answers
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Why is the coreaudiod daemon using 5% or more CPU?
Every time I listen to music on iTunes or VLC, I notice that the process coreaudiod causes an unusually high CPU usage (5% or more).
Are you having the same issue? What's the reason for such a high ...
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7answers
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Is there a way to password protect individual apps?
Is it possible to password protect a specific Mac application?
For example, I am interested in protecting Mail because even if you cannot retrieve new emails, you still can read all the already ...
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3answers
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Do I need a serial number to reinstall Mac OS X?
I need to reinstall the OS but here's the issue: I don't have the original disc that came with the computer in question. However, I have a disc that came with another computer. Is it possible to ...
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5answers
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Are there keyboard shortcuts for Home, End, PageDown, and PageUp in OS X?
How do I set keyboard shortcuts for Home, End, PageDown, and PageUp on a 13" MacBook Pro? Are there default keyboard shortcuts? Or can I do it with Automator (and if so, how)?
I want them to work the ...
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6answers
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How to combine two images into one on a Mac?
Say I have two photos (or any images), for example with the following dimensions:
+----------+ +----------+
| | | |
| | | |
|320 x 428 | and ...
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5answers
661 views
Can you recommend an editor for both iOS and Mac OS X designed for writers?
Is there an editor designed specifically for writers of short prose? Currently I am using Microsoft Word and it is very heavy weight.
Large technical reports need indices, chapters, heavy formatting ...
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3answers
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How can I make the Cisco VPN Client work with Lion?
Worked in Snow Leopard and now gives error 51 and the sudo restart system command in Terminal i used to use doesn't work. Any idea?
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1answer
271 views
Why does OS X require admin privileges to unmount a drive from the terminal using `umount` but not when using Finder?
Anyone can unmount a usb drive from Finder by clicking on the "eject" icon next to it. However, only a user with administrative privileges can unmount a drive from the terminal using umount.
Are ...
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6answers
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What's a good SSH tunneling client for OS X?
I've using SSH Tunnel manager to easily set up and stop port tunneling over SSH to various servers at my company. That saved me the pain of opening up a new terminal window which will hang out there ...
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6answers
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Safari 6 rendering issues/artifacts (on Mountain Lion)
Final update I just received an email from Apple confirming this bug has been fixed in OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3
I've been having rendering issues with Safari 6 on different systems all running ...
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6answers
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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 ...
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1answer
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Installing Imagemagick leads to weird error involving OpenCL
I'm trying to install ImageMagick on Mac OSX 10.7 and I'm getting the following errors:
When I try to run the suggested verification
$ convert logo: logo.gif
dyld: Library not loaded: ...
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4answers
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Case-insensitive ls sorting in Mac OSX
How can I make the ls command in Max OS X Lion sort files and directories similar to how Ubuntu Linux does (case-insensitive, directories NOT on top, dot files NOT on top)? Ideally I'd like to do ...
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2answers
360 views
How do I use AirDrop from the Terminal?
Is there a way to share a file over AirDrop via Terminal on Mountain Lion? How so?
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13answers
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Is there a way to start the Terminal with a keyboard short cut?
Sort of like the Windows+R command in the windows world? That actually just lets you run a command but you get the idea.
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17answers
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What are some great OS X Dropbox uses?
There are a number of ways I use my Dropbox with OS X apps, or iOS devices.
Some of them include:
Recipe tracking: I keep a 'recipes' folder inside Together's dropbox-synced-library, so from my Mac ...
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6answers
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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 ...
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3answers
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Hide username from menu bar in Mountain Lion
In Mountain Lion, my full name is displayed at the right of the menu bar (between the time and the search icon, to be specific). As it takes a lot of space, I was wondering if there is a way to hide ...
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6answers
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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 ...
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4answers
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How can I resize a Mac OS X app window after disconnecting from an external monitor?
I'm a MacBook user, and when I'm home I plug into a large external monitor to get additional screen space. When I'm on the go I disconnect and use my laptop's built-in display. For the most part this ...
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5answers
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Why does the enter/return key rename a file/folder, instead of opening it? [closed]
Is there some sort of known logic behind Apple's choice to make the enter key rename a file/folder, rather than open it as is standard on Windows and Linux?
For those of you coming here for the ...
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6answers
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How to arrange two windows easily to left and right side?
In Windows 7, we can easily arrange two windows with these shortcuts: Option (Alt) ⌥ + ← maximizes the window to the left side of the screen, and Option (Alt) ⌥ + → maximizes the window to the right ...
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3answers
879 views
Can I uninstall stock Apple applications (e.g. Stickies)
Is it safe to uninstall stock OS X applications that I do not use? They're really just taking up space on my Applications list (and my SSD). The applications I'm eyeing for deletion are:
Front Row
...
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7answers
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What's a good XML viewer/editor for Mac OS X?
I use XML Editor from XMLmind for editing/viewing XML file in Mac.
It's not bad, but I expect an XML editor for Mac. What options do I have including the commercial/free software?
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Is there a safe way to move the /Users folder to a separate volume/drive?
I have an SSD on the way and will be moving my HDD to the optical bay slot in my MBP. I want to boot from the SSD and store my /Users folder on the HDD. I've seen the way that everyone suggest ...
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2answers
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Can I force my Mac to make better use of the inactive memory?
I use mysql and it takes up to 2.5 GB of my ram. I checked activity monitor and saw that I have 1GB of inactive memory but it never changes even if I have only 10MB active free memory. Is there any ...
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1answer
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How can I remove the Finder icon from my Dock?
I've started using Forklift as a Finder replacement, so I don't need Finder in my Dock. In fact, I would much rather have Forklift be the farthest left icon so I don't accidentally click on Finder.
...
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1answer
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No .bash_profile in OS X Lion?
I just did a clean install of OS X Lion and I see that now I have no .bash_profile file in my home directory.
Should I create this by hand? (I want to save in it some alias.)
Thank you.
PS : The ...
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1answer
883 views
How to share Mac System which has Lions OS 10.7?
I was able to share my mac system screen using VNC server in Snow leopard OS but now I have upgraded the my Mac OS to Lion OS. Now VNC server is not compatible with Lion OS.
So can any one help me how ...
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2answers
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How to move a window to another space without using the mouse?
I use spaces for having multiple desktops, but often need to move a program from one space to another.
I am aware of the various ways to do that with a mouse:
Click window drag to edge
F8 to show ...
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3answers
2k views
Can a Mac's airport card run 802.11 N, G, B or A only?
Occasionally it's nice to hard code a wired connection network port to not auto negotiate and force things to be 100 half duplex even though a higher speed is configured and negotiable on the switch.
...
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3answers
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Restricting Command+tab options to only apps that are in the current space
By default, pressing ⌘+tab will display a list of all open applications. I would like that list to only include applications in the current space, or at least give priority to applications with ...
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Can I copy by highlighting and paste by middle click on Mac OS X?
I was using Linux for the last couple of years and I find it extremely useful to copy text by highlighting it as well as to paste by clicking a middle mouse button.
I'm using a Mac now and I wonder ...
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1answer
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Why is my Mac's CPU throttled? (Turbo Boost Ratio)
AnandTech has a instructions1 on how you can check the Turbo Ratios for the Mac's CPU. Since they are logged, the information is very easy to find.
In Mountain Lion you can do this the following ...
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2answers
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Change the mouse wheel scrolling acceleration
I am new Mac user and I don't really like the Magic Mouse so I reverted to a good old 3 button mouse with a scroll wheel.
When I turn the wheel slowly, it only scrolls pixel per pixel (or per two ...
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2answers
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Can Mac App Store installs & upgrades be automated?
How can I script installing or upgrading apps from the Mac App Store? I'd prefer command line tools, but AppleScript or some other API would suffice.
Relevant puzzle pieces:
installer: note ...
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30answers
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What are some great OS X games? [closed]
Despite being a "subjective" question, it is a useful one for newcomers to the Apple platform, and serves to aide the lacking gaming community.
What are your favorite OS X games?
Rules:
Limit to ...
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6answers
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Alternative to Windows Snipping Tool for Mac OSX
Is there something like the Windows Snipping Tool for OSX?
For those, who don't know about the tool, it's an easy to use software to take snapshot of any portion of screen, and is really useful in ...
