The switch

QuickTime 7.0.1 is now available via Software update:

QuickTime 7.0.1 provides several important bug fixes, a security enhancement, and improved compatibility with Final Cut Studio. This update is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users. For detailed information on the security enhancement, please visit this website:

http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798

Important Notice to QuickTime Pro Users
Installation of QuickTime 7 will disable the QuickTime Pro functionality in prior versions of QuickTime, such as QuickTime 5 or QuickTime 6. If you proceed with this installation, you must purchase a new QuickTime 7 Pro key to regain QuickTime Pro functionality. After installation, visit www.apple.com/quicktime to purchase a QuickTime 7 Pro key.

The calculator widget is really great but, let’s face it, it is incredibly ugly. Luckily, it is very easy to change the background, backlight and buttons of the widgets.

Note: this will actually work with any widget.

first of, mak a copy of the calculator.widget found in /Library/Widgets. Now, right-click on the copy a select “Show Package Contents” then go to the “Images” folder and locate calculator.png - this is the file you want. You can replace it with any other picture (must be a .png file).

Once you are done. Put your modified calculator.widget file back into the /Library/Widgets folder, close and reopen the calculator widget in your dashboard and rejoice in your new skin!

Here are a couple of ideas to start you off: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=122241

Spotlight is great. I barely use the finder anymore because Spotlight is so fast (even on my iBook G3 900Mhz) that I use it to open absolutely everything - apps, documents, pictures etc. Spotlight is really good at opening files but the one most annoying thing about it is that you cannot actually DO anything to the files you find.

Let me explain. Let’s say you are looking for the preference files of the shareware program you want to delete. Press ⌘+Space and write in the name of the program, Spotlight finds all the files related to the app instantly - so far so good. It is now that the problem arises. You arrow-down to the specific file and press ⌘-⌫ to delete the file… nothing happens. You try dragging it to the trash… nothing happens.

You can’t do anything!

You can use the search field in a Finder window to do what i described above but what a drag! For me, this ruins much of Spotlight greatness and usefulness. I sincerely hope that Apple will fix this in a future OS update.

So you like dashboard but you what some to have some of them on your desktop? Well wait no more. a little app by MesaDynamics, Amnesty will do exactly that. Currently at version 0.75b, it runs very stable and supports 3rd-party widgets although some widgets - like Sys Stat - will hog the program until near standstill.

Screenshot:

And best of all? it even runs on 10.3.9 meaning that you don’t even need tiger (or the $15 shareware konfabulator) to run widgets - albeit only on your desktop.

One of Tiger’s 200 new features is the build in Oxford dictionary/thesaurus app.

I discovered this great feature of the dictionary app just yesterday. In just about any application, hover your mouse over any word and press ⌘+Option+D and a little window will popup with the definition of the word:

you can also select the thesaurus from the popup menu at the bottom of the little window.

Note: this will only work in Tiger!