I forgot Apple has a handy list of shortcuts in a central article:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343

Speaking of keyboard shortcuts, has anyone come up with a way to duplicate the shift+del behavior of Windows on a Mac? (bypass the recycle bin and completely delete the file). Sometimes I want to delete large HD video files and such and don't want them taking up several gigs of space in my trash can.

I was going to ask this as well. It also surprised me that simply hitting the delete key does not delete a highlighted file.

That's because the Mac's "Delete" key is really backspace.

If you keep your files on a network share, you'll have them deleted immediately, even if you'd prefer a recycle bin.

I don't believe there's such a shortcut when using the Finder and I can't remember if there's one if using the Finder replacement (which I much prefer), Path Finder.

Delete Immediately. (You can assign a keyboard shortcut to it from System Preferences / Keyboard / Keyboard Shortcuts.

Alternately, use the Delete key, then Cmd-Shift-Option-Delete to empty the trash.

Me, I just use "rm" in the terminal.

Command-Delete deletes a file (to the Trash Can).

I was going to say that if your concern was that you didn't want that file taking up space, but didn't want to empty your entire Trash Can, you could just go and Command-Delete the file inside the Trash Can, but, as it turns out, that undeletes the file, which is just wackiness.

Oh, as a side-note, in case anyone will be in the market for a new Mac any time soon... The entire product line is scheduled to go NVIDIA graphics over the next few months. Though rumor has it that NVIDIA has not been able to meet demand for some parts, potentially causing Apple to use Intel integrated (as feared in Ivy Bridge) as the sole graphics processor on some lower-end models.

This will apply to all models for at least the rest of 2012.

It's kind of sad, because NVIDIA has always had the shittiest Mac drivers and graphics implementations.

Argh, Mac OS Lion...

Try naming a file (from a file save dialog) with the characters "TM" in the filename and you'll see that Lion autocorrects this to a trademark for you. Annoying since even if you backspace and change it again, it will STILL autocorrect.

Netmail them a bitmap of your leitmotif; see if they make a commitment to an appointment by Christmas. Their craftmanship department must use postmodern hotmelt voltmeters to make an adjustment. Don't let their profitmongering outmanoeuvre you: demand utmost ointment for your nightmarish treatment.

Peter™

System Preferences, Language & Text, uncheck "Use symbol and text substitution."

It's not so much an issue that the feature is there, but that it can't be overridden by backspace+retype like when autocorrect is used in a text field.

Interestingly, substitutions don't work in the text fields in Safari. At least not the ones on this forum.

Okay, this time I have an extremely basic "they do it differently so I'm not used to it" question, and it once again has to do with keyboard shortcuts (like I said, they're important to me).

Question: how do I switch between two Chrome windows?

Ctrl+Tab, fortunately, still switches between tabs, but Command+Tab seems to switch between entire applications. While that makes some sense, I can't tell how to switch between different windows of the same application.


Yeah, and I understand why they do it that way. I guess it's their way of protecting from accidental deletions, but IMO that's what the trash can is for in the first place. Or the OS gives a prompt. I prefer to keep the number of keys to a minimum...

Command-~ (tilde) switches between windows in apps.

Not a fan of that, but okay.

You can also try Witch to modify how Cmd-Tab works. It's nagware (and, IMO, too expensive) but the nag isn't invasive.

I like the need for two keys to be used (in one action) to delete a file, vs an accidental delete (or a second dialog extending the overall action to confirm after each one). Sure, it's still only in the trash can at that point, but if I bumped the key and didn't notice, then later empty the trash, it's still bad.

My opinion is probably a bit different here, due to already having experienced major data loss due to a single key located on the edge of a keyboard being bumped. Delete happens to be on the edge of the laptop and desktop wireless keyboards, so it makes me nervous

And paying should make any nags go away. $14 is pretty much at the bottom end of commercial software, IMO. It's the price of three fancy coffees or two pints of beer. It's not really worth developing and selling something at a lower price if you're a small ISV. And Witch looks like it has quite a bit of bones to it.