how to bring up mac os x utilities snow leopard

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Sorry, that phrase is a bit fuzzy because it has to cover a bunch of stuff I do by starting as if to summon an application but then pressing a keyboard shortcut instead of Return. To open the Sound preference pane, for example, even if System Preferences isn’t running, it’s Control-Space, SOUND, Return, and kaboom, I’m looking at it. I open preference panes quite a bit for one reason or another, and for reaching a specific pane quickly, the System Preferences window, or even the System Preferences menu, just doesn’t cut it. LaunchBar indexes and abbreviates various things besides applications, and among those, preference panes are probably the most important in my daily usage.

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In fact, I use LaunchBar to switch applications more than I use Mac OS X’s own Command-Tab switcher, or the Dock, because when I want an application I want it by name, and don’t have the time or inclination to search for an LaunchBar does have an application switcher – Control-Space, Command-R, and a list of running applications appears – but I find it simpler to ignore entirely the distinction between running and non-running applications. I say “summon” because I use this technique whether or not the application is already running.

So, to summon TextMate, I press Control-Space, TM, Return to summon BBEdit, it’s Control-Space, BB, Return and so on. To specify the application, I type its abbreviation. So what precisely am I doing so frequently with LaunchBar 5? Here’s a quick rundown of my most common uses: This happens quite often: sometimes about once a minute, and occasionally much more frequently. So my normal interaction is entirely through the keyboard (though LaunchBar does also have some drag-and-drop features) and goes like this: Summon, type, dismiss.

When you’re done, which you generally signal by pressing Return, LaunchBar recedes into invisibility once again. The “normal typing” is often an abbreviation LaunchBar is smart about matching abbreviations to things in its index, and learns as you use it. When you summon LaunchBar, its small bar-shaped window appears just below the menu bar you can now “talk” to LaunchBar, either by normal typing or with keyboard shortcuts. By default, that’s Command-Space, but I’ve changed it to Control-Space on my machines. LaunchBar is effectively invisible until you summon it with its hot-key shortcut. Periodically, LaunchBar indexes certain resources on your hard disk, such as your applications, preference panes, browser bookmarks and history, and services (you can configure what it indexes and how often) it also has some built-in actions of its own. So instead of trying to list everything that LaunchBar can do – which you can explore for yourself, by downloading LaunchBar or by reading its documentation online – I thought I’d let you peek over my shoulder and watch how I actually use it.įirst, a few introductory words about what LaunchBar is. In fact, I use it actively in a surprisingly limited set of ways. LaunchBar is one of those utilities I’d describe as massively explorable: it has far more features than I’m truly familiar with. Despite the “.1” designation, this marks LaunchBar’s emergence from its “release candidate” phase so, since we at TidBITS generally prefer to keep silent about betas and other unfinished software, this release is my earliest opportunity to discuss LaunchBar 5. On 20 October 2009, LaunchBar 5.0.1 was released. But I never actually used them together, because as soon as I switched to Snow Leopard I discovered that LaunchBar 5, which had been available as a beta since December 2008, was already in “release candidate” form, and I happily started using it several months ago. Now, it turns out that LaunchBar 4.3.7 did work fine in Snow Leopard. Naturally, in the run-up to Snow Leopard, I was concerned over whether my LaunchBar dependency would be rudely interrupted. (See, for example, “ Curing Your LaunchBar Addiction,” 6 August 2007, or “ Take Control of Exploring & Customizing Snow Leopard“.) LaunchBar is so crucial to my moment-by-moment Mac usage that I can barely tolerate a Mac that lacks it I just sit there, slack-jawed, inert, unable to proceed and get anything done.

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#1621: Apple Q3 2022 financials, Slack's new free plan restrictions, which OS features do you use?Īny reader of TidBITS or my Take Control books is probably aware that I couldn’t live without LaunchBar, from Objective Development Software.

#1622: OS feature survey results, Continuity Camera webcam preview, OWC miniStack STX.

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#1623: How to turn off YouTube's PiP, use AirPlay to Mac, and securely erase Mac drives.#1624: Important OS security updates, rescuing QuickTake 150 photos, AirTag alerts while traveling.#1625: Apple's 'Far Out' event, the future of FileMaker, free NMUG membership, Quick Note and tags in Notes, Plex suffers data breach.