Quick Look Tweak

To follow-up on my previous Snow Leopard hidden feature "Stacks Secret List View", I have discovered another nice tweak that adds a cool visiual element to Quick Look.

For those who are not aware, Quick Look is activated by pressing space bar when a file or folder is highlighted. OS X will then give you instant access to see the contents or details of that item. This is a very handy feature and saves you opening the full application or clicking "Get Info".

Unfortunately when you activate Quick Look on folders you just get a higher resolution images of the folder.

Wouldn't it be great if Quick Look didn't just show a static image of the folder, but instead gave you some indication as to what that folder contains?

To enable this transparent folder you need to run the following command from the Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal).

defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableXRayFolders 1

To complete the change you need to restart the Finder. To do this hold the option key and right click the Finder icon on the Dock, then click "Relaunch".

You now have transparent folders in Quick Look. Go check them out!

Stacks Secret List View

In my previous articles "Remove Leopard's 3D Dock" and "OS X Terminal Command - Recent Items Stack" I have written about secret OS X tweaks that can be enabled from the Terminal. Thankfully Snow Leopard has continued this trend by adding a secret list view to Stacks.

To enable the secret list view in Stacks simply open "Terminal" and type:

defaults write com.apple.dock use-new-list-stack -bool YES
killall Dock

Once complete you enable the view by right clicking on the Stack and selecting "List". If you want the default view back change the "-bool YES" to "-bool NO" and re-run the command. 

Install Office 2008 without Rosetta

With the release of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Apple have finally removed PowerPC compatibility (Rosetta) by default. Although it is still available as an optional install on the Snow Leopard installation DVD, I looked at this as an opportunity to rid myself of PowerPC once and for all.

Considering almost all application have now been re-coded to support the Intel architecture I didn't think this was going to be a problem. As always Microsoft wanted to make sure there was at least one annoying hitch.

When trying to install Microsoft Office 2008 from the retail DVD you are prompted with the following message (even though Office 2008 is a "Universal" application):

Thankfully you can get around this issue by installing the application from the Terminal. Don't let that worry you as it is a simple one line command followed by your OS X password.

First open Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal), you will be entering the following command:

sudo installer -package /Volumes/Microsoft\ Office\ 2008/Office\ Installer.mpkg -target /

To make this easier simple type: sudo installer -package<space>, then drag Office Installer.mpkg from your Office 2008 DVD to the Terminal window, finally type: -target /

Once complete you will be asked to confirm the installation with your Mac OS X password. The installation will take a few minutes and the Terminal will update you when it has finished.

Finally you should download the latest updates for Office (SP1, SP2 etc), these can be ran as normal.

You now have the full Microsoft Office 2008 suite installed without Rosetta. I have been using Office like this since the Snow Leopard launch and have experianced no issues. 

Snow Leopard - Wake on Demand

In Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) you can easily share files, music, printers and even your screen with other computers on your network. However, for this setup to be useful you had to configure your Mac to never go to sleep, otherwise it would disconnect from the network after a set period of time.

Thankfully OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) takes file sharing one step further with a new feature called "Wake on Demand". This new feature when enabled and setup with an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule allows you to access any shared items, even if that Mac is asleep. 

Each time your Mac goes to sleep it partners with your AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule using a service known as the "Bonjour Sleep Proxy", this tells the AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule to keep advertising the device as available on the network and to automatically wake it, if any requests are made.

This type of "Wake on LAN" service has been available on the Mac for a while using third party applications such as "WakeonLAN", however this is the first time it has been integrated into the Operating System and available over wireless.

To enable the service you need to go to "System Preferences > Energy Saver" and enable "Wake for network access". Please note some older Mac's are not fully compatible with the service and may only be able to wake from Ethernet.

Finally, you need to ensure your AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule is running a minimum firmware version of 7.4.2 and that your wireless network is encrypted using WPA or WPA2. To find out how to configure your device please check out my previous article "Securing a Wireless Network".

Confirmed: Snow Leopard Upgrade is the Full OS!

Since Apple unveiled that Mac OS X Snow Leopard "Upgrade" would cost only £25 for Leopard users everyone has been wondering how they would enforce this rule. Would you need Leopard installed on your Mac first, to be able to complete the upgrade? Could you install Snow Leopard "Upgrade" from a blank hard drive?

Thankfully we now have this answers and the great news is that Snow Leopard will install on any Intel Mac even if it has not had Leopard previously installed or has a blank hard drive. Therefore even though the £25 version of Snow Leopard is called an "Upgrade" it is in fact the full Operating System.

So if you are still running Tiger your prayers have been answered and you can also buy Snow Leopard "Upgrade" for £25, instead of having to pay the full £129 for the box set.