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Mac Tips and Tricks

Learn how to set up, use and troubleshoot your Mac right from your Mac OS X Dashboard.
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Mac Tips and Tricks

Learn how to set up, use and troubleshoot your Mac !

Mac Tips and Tricks - http://mac-tips-and-tricks.onemac.org

Create Ringtones in iTunes

Step 1: Select your song

 

Right click and select Get info

In iTunes, find the song you want to use for your fancy new ringtone. Right-click and select ‘Get Info’.


Step 2: Set a Start and Stop time

 

Navigate to Options

Once you’re in the info view, navigate along the top to Options and from there you must select both a start and a stop time. After some fiddling around with the track to find where exactly you want it to start, you can trim it down, and then click OK – remember it can’t be longer than 40 seconds.

Tip:You may need to check the Start and Stop time boxes first if they are unchecked.


Step 3: Creating an AAC Version

 

Convert to AAC Version

Next, right-click again on the track and click on Create AAC Version. This will automatically duplicate the track, and will create the file you will be working with from now on. You’ll notice a difference in the time of the track compared to the original. You’ll probably want to go back to the original file and remove the start and stop times of the song if you want it to return to normal.


Step 4: Converting to a Ringtone

 

Right-click and choose “Show in Finder”

You next need to locate to file of the track, and to do that you should right-click on the new version, and chose Show in Finder.

The new AAC Version and the original track

This should present you with the track name, with a .m4a extension. We need to rename that to .m4r which is as simple as removing the ‘a’ and replacing with an ‘r’. You’ll get a popup asking if you’re sure, click Use .m4r.

Click Use .m4r

Tip: Don’t close this Finder window, you’ll need it again in a few minutes.




Step 5: Deleting the AAC Version

 

Delete Song

 

Make sure to keep the file

Go back into iTunes once more, right-click and delete the AAC Version (the shorter duplicate of the original). Click Delete Song and Keep File on the popups.


Step 6: Adding to Tones

Finally, you should go back to Finder and double-click on your ringtone file (.m4r), which should automatically copy it to the Tones section of your iTunes library.

 

Your ringtone should now show up in the Tones section

Done ;-)

Remove Dock Icons in OS X Mountain Lion

Removing app icons from the Dock has been the same since the very beginning of Mac OS X: grab an icon and drag it off the Dock into a poof of dust, whereby the icon is no longer displayed in the Dock. That behavior has changed slightly with OS X Mountain Lion, presumably to prevent accidental deletion of Dock apps. There are still two easy ways to remove Dock icons in OS X 10.8 though, pick either approach that works best for you.

2 Ways to Remove Dock Icons in OS X Mountain Lion

1. Click, drag away from the Dock by about 5cm, and hold for a second or two until the “poof” icon appears and then release.
2. Drag and drop the Dock icon into the Trash

For the impatient, the drag to Trash method is the quickest and it’s demonstrated in the video embed below. It works for any icon in the Dock, be it for an app, folder, shortcut, or otherwise. You can not remove active applications from the Dock, however.

This may seem like an elementary tip to cover, but any time longstanding things change it can confuse even advanced Mac users.

This behavior will likely continue from OS X 10.8 onward. If you’re encountering any problems with this, try dragging the icon further away from the Dock and holding it a second longer.

Stop Automatically Updates

OS X has a handful of features that are dependent on a constant internet connection, and one of those is the new automatic update feature. Undeniably convenient, OS X and all apps installed from the Mac App Store will automatically download and update themselves, but if you have metered internet or are using Personal Hotspot you’ll probably want to save the bandwidth and stop those updates from downloading themselves in the background.

1. Open System Preferences from the  Apple menu
2. Choose “Software Update” and click the lock icon to unlock the preferences
3. Uncheck “Download newly available updates in the background”
4. Optional but not recommended: uncheck “Install system data files and security updates”

Leave “Automatically check for updates” enabled to behave like versions of OS X before 10.8, where the system would alert you to new updates available but would not download them without your permission.

You can also save bandwidth by disabling the automatic app downloads feature, which is borrowed from iTunes and previously only applied to iTunes media and iOS apps.

Manually Checking for Updates
With automatic downloads disabled you will have to manually install OS X updates and updates to apps from the Mac App Store, all of that is now done through the App Store itself, unless the app came from a third party.

Avanced users can continue to use the Terminal and check for and install OS X updates from the command line instead using the following to list available updates:

sudo softwareupdate -l

That will list the available updates, after which you can install them using the -i flag.

Mute Notification Center Alert Sounds

Notification Center is a great addition to OS X Mountain Lion but the alert sounds can be pretty annoying if you have a lot going on. Rather than muting all system audio to hush the constant chiming, you can directly silence notifications on a per-app basis.

1. Open System Preferences from  Apple menu and click the “Notifications” menu
2. Select apps from the left and uncheck the “Play sound when receiving notifications” box
3. Repeat for every app you want to silence

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper works its protective magic only the first time you launch an app. So if you upgrade to Mountain Lion and choose the Mac App Store–only Gatekeeper setting, you can still freely launch apps that came from elsewhere, if you ever ran them in the past.

Most Mac users have already encountered messages similar to the ones Gatekeeper will pop up: In previous incarnations of OS X, your Mac asked you to confirm your intentions when you first launched any app downloaded from the Internet. With Gatekeeper, the warnings are new, but the general experience is the same.

Gatekeeper gives you three levels of security: run only those apps downloaded from the Mac App Store; run apps from the Store and specific developers; and run any app at all.

Should you come across an app that your Gatekeeper settings prevent from launching, you needn’t dive into System Preferences to fix things. Instead, Control-click (or right-click) on the icon of the app you’re attempting to run, and choose Open from the contextual menu that appears. You’ll see a variant of the warning dialog box; this one adds an option to go ahead and launch the app despite Gatekeeper’s grave concerns. Once you’ve done that, you can launch the app normally from then on.

Other improvements
In addition to Gatekeeper, Mountain Lion leverages a variety of other technologies to help keep your Mac secure.

Most significantly, Mountain Lion expands on Lion’s requirement that apps be "sandboxed". Sandboxing requires an app to specifically request what it wants to do with your Mac, rather than having a blanket license to do anything it wants. Sandboxing prevents apps from performing malicious activities upon your Mac and limits the damage security-compromised apps can wreak on your machine. All new Mac App Store apps are sandboxed; in addition, several Apple-provided apps are sandboxed in Mountain Lion,—among them FaceTime, Mail, Reminders, Notes, Game Center, and Safari.

Other new security tools: Mountain Lion uses Kernel Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) to make it harder for malicious attackers to exploit low-level system functions on your Mac. If you use FileVault, you can now leverage management updates to the fdsetup command-line tool, which allows third-party software to control and configure various FileVault features. You can choose which apps to allow or deny location information to within the Security & Privacy preference pane. You also get finer control over which apps can access your location data, contacts, and Twitter credentials.

Finally, Mountain Lion will check for software updates daily. In previous versions of OS X, you could manually configure how often the system would check for updates; the default was once per week. But in Mountain Lion, Software Updates move to the Mac App Store, which can check for updates even when it’s not running. You’ll receive a Notification Center alert whenever new OS X updates are available. So when or if new Mac-focused malware starts to spread and Apple issues a fix, Mac users should at least be aware of the fix’s availability more quickly than they may have been before.

Two-finger pinch to view and select Tabs.

In Safari 6, and Mountain Lion, you can use a two-finger pinch to view and switch tabs.

Once you pinch in Safari (assuming multiple tabs are opened) you will get a view similar to that of Safari on iOS, and you can navigate among tabs using two-finger swipes to the right and left, arrow keys or a mouse or trackpad. This is an interesting way to preview all open tabs without having to load them fully.

You can either press Return, click the mouse or tap to select the frontmost tab, or pinch out to stay where you are. You can also close any tabs by clicking the close button in their headers or pressing Command-W while in this view.

Notification Center Tips

One of the most visible new features in Mountain Lion is Notification Center - borrowed straight from iOS. It works in a similar way to notifications on the iPhone and iPad, and bears more than a passing resemblance to Growl.

Pause all notifications
If you want to temporarily stop notifications appearing, the easiest way is to simply hold down the Option (alt) key and click on the notification center icon in the top right corner of the screen. It should become greyed out, indicating that notification center is turned off. Alternatively, while viewing your notifications, scroll up to see a switch that will allow you to pause notifications for the rest of the day. This is great as a “do not disturb” setting - for example if you are watching a movie or giving a presentation.

Access notifications using a gesture
The swipe gesture used to access notification center is a little tricky to get the hang of at first. It’s a two finger swipe from the right towards the left of your trackpad. The best way to do this is to start with your fingers actually off the right side of the trackpad, then swipe left onto the trackpad. Swiping back in the other direction hides notification center again.

Add a keyboard shortcut
If you don’t have a multitouch trackpad, you can just click the notification center button in the top right to see your notifications. But to speed things up, you might want to add a keyboard shortcut. Just go to System Preferences, and in the Keyboard section click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab and find Show Notification Center under Mission Control. Enable the shortcut by ticking the checkbox, then press whatever shortcut you want to use.

Send Tweets
After upgrading to Mountain Lion, when you first visit Twitter in Safari and log in you will be asked if you want to allow other applications to access your account. Alternatively, you can manually add your Twitter account(s) by going to the Mail, Contacts & Calendars section of System Preferences. Once an account is set up, a Click to Tweet button appears in notification center, allowing you to quickly send tweets without first opening Safari or a Twitter app.

There’s no Facebook integration yet, but according to Apple it is “coming this fall.”

Disable notification sound
By default, every notification makes an alert sound as it appears. This seems fine at the moment, but I have a feeling it will start to get annoying, especially with apps like Messages. Fortunately, in the Notifications section of System Preferences you can specify which notifications can make an alert sound on an app-by-app basis. Just un-tick the Play sound when receiving notifications checkbox.

Banners vs. Alerts
Also in the Notifications section of System Preferences, you can specific whether notifications for each app appear as Banners or Alerts. Banners are most like Growl and iOS — they appear in the top right and fade out automatically. Alerts will stay until you click the Close button, and also sometimes have extra options, such as a Reply button for message notifications.

OS X Mountain Lion Installation

OS X Mountain Lion supports several different installation options. It may not be evident when you start the Mountain Lion installer, but you can perform a clean install or an upgrade install of the OS.

You can also install Mountain Lion on a wide range of devices, including your startup drive, an internal partition or volume, or just about any external drive you may have, including USB flash drives.

If you feel up to a bit of fiddling around, you can also create bootable copies of the installer that can run on a DVD, USB flash drive, or any bootable external drive you may have lying around, looking for a purpose in life.

In this article, we've put together a list of all of the OS X Mountain Lion installation options.

OS X Mountain Lion has a few special needs that unfortunately will prevent it from running on some older Intel Macs. Even some Macs that can run OS X Lion may not meet the minimum requirement for Mountain Lion.

This list of the minimum requirements for running Mountain Lion includes the usual data, such as the amount of RAM and disk space you'll need. It also includes a list of Macs that are specifically supported by the Mountain Lion OS.

Make sure your Mac meets the minimum requirements for running OS X Mountain Lion before you get your heart set on installing it.

Minimum Requirements for OS X Mountain Lion
The minimum hardware requirements for OS X Mountain Lion are a bit steeper than the minimum hardware requirements for OS X Lion, its predecessor. Many Macs can work with Mountain Lion, but some Macs won't be able to run anything newer than Lion.

A List of Macs That Will Work With Mountain Lion
iMac - mid 2007 (iMac7,1) or newer
MacBook - late 2008 (MacBook5,1) Aluminum model or newer
MacBook Pro - mid 2007 (MacBookPro3,1) or newer
MacBook Air - 2008 (MacBook Air1,1) or newer
Mac mini - early 2009 (Macmini3,1) or newer
Mac Pro - early 2008 (MacPro3,1) or newer
Xserve - early 2009 (Xserve3,1) model or newer

Apple has been removing Macs that don't support 64-bit processors from its OS X compatibility list since it introduced Snow Leopard. With Mountain Lion, Apple is further trimming the compatibility list by being very strict about what constitutes full 64-bit support.

However, some of the Mac models that didn't make the cut this time, such as earlier versions of the Mac Pro, do have a full 64-bit Intel processor. So, what kept them out of the running?

While the earlier Mac Pros have 64-bit processors, the EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) boot firmware is 32-bit. Mountain Lion can only boot in 64-bit mode, so any Mac that has 32-bit EFI boot firmware won't be able to run it. Apple can't supply new EFI firmware because the supporting chips for the EFI system in these older Macs are also limited to 32 bits.

If you're not sure if your Mac will make the cut or not, you can find out by following these steps:

If You Use Snow Leopard

1. Select "About This Mac" from the Apple menu.
2. Click the More Info button.
3. Make sure Hardware is selected in the Contents list.
4. The second entry in the Hardware Overview list is the Model Identifier.
5. Compare the Model Identifier with the list above. For example, a Model Identifier of MacBookPro5,4 would be eligible to upgrade to Mountain Lion since it is newer than the MacBookPro3,1 identifier in the list.

If You Use Lion

1. Select "About This Mac" from the Apple menu.
2. Click the More Info button.
3. In the About This Mac window that opens, make sure the Overview tab is selected.
4. The first two entries will include your Mac model and the release date for the model.

You can compare this information against the model list above.

An Alternative Method
There's another way to check whether your Mac can be updated. You can use Terminal to verify that your Mac boots using a 64-bit kernel.
Launch Terminal, which is located in the /Applications/Utilities folder.

Enter the following command at the Terminal prompt:

uname -a

Terminal will return a few lines of text indicating the version of the Darwin kernel this is being used. Look for x86_64 somewhere within the text.
The above process will only work if you're running OS X Lion. If you're still running OS X Snow Leopard, you'll need to force boot into the 64-bit kernel by restarting your Mac while holding down the 6 and 4 keys. Once the Desktop is visible, use Terminal to check for the x86_64 text.

Some Macs that aren't on the list above may still be able to run Mountain Lion, provided they can successfully boot using the 64-bit kernel. This is possible if you've upgraded an older Mac by replacing a logic board, a graphics card, or another major component.

If your Mac can't make the jump to Mountain Lion, you may still want to upgrade to Snow Leopard or Lion, if you haven't already. If your Mac is running the latest OS it can support, you'll be able to receive software updates, and more importantly, security updates, for as long as possible. Apple usually provides security updates for the current version of the OS, as well as the previous two versions of the OS.

Additional Mountain Lion Requirements
8 GB of free hard drive space for the OS installation; more is better, and much more is even better. While 8 GB is enough for the OS and the apps that come with it, there won't be much space left for user data or additional apps. I recommend 60 GB or more for a single user who has a mid to large collection of apps and user data.

2 GB of RAM. Once again, this is the minimum listed by Apple. You will probably want to have at least double that amount of memory, depending on how you use your Mac.

650 MB of additional drive space. Mountain Lion creates a Recovery HD volume on your startup drive. This space is used to hold a bootable system that includes tools for data recovery and the ability to reinstall the OS.

An Internet connection. You'll need the Internet to download the Mountain Lion installer app, and to create your iCloud account when you're setting up Mountain Lion. You'll also need an Internet connection if you ever need to re-install the OS using the Recovery HD volume.

Get Windows Live Hotmail with Mail

Web-based access to my Windows Live Hotmail account is great, but I also like the power and flexibility of Mac OS X Mail, my preferred desktop email client.
Fortunately, there's an elegant way to combine both worlds and download Windows Live Hotmail messages to Mac OS X Mail (and send mail, too).

Access Windows Live Hotmail with Mac OS X Mail Using POP

To set up a Windows Live Hotmail account in Mac OS X Mail using POP (which lets you fetch new incoming mail easily):

1. Select Mail | Preferences... from the Mac OS X Mail menu.
2. Go to the Accounts category.
3. Click the + ("Create an account.") button.
4. Enter your name under Full Name:.
5. Type your Windows Live Hotmail address (something like "example@hotmail.com") under Email Address:.
6. Type your Windows Live Hotmail password under Password:.
7. Click Continue.
8. Make sure POP is selected under Account Type:.
9. Enter "Windows Live Hotmail" (or something similar) as the Description: for this account.
10. Type "pop3.live.com" (not including the quotation marks) under Incoming Mail Server:.
11. Enter your complete Windows Live Hotmail address ("example@hotmail.com", for example) under User Name:.
12. Click Continue.
13. Enter "Windows Live Hotmail" under Description: for Outgoing Mail Server.
14. Type "smtp.live.com" under Outgoing Mail Server:.
15. Make sure Use Authentication is checked.
16. Enter your full Windows Live Hotmail address (e.g. "example@hotmail.com") under User Name:.
17. Type your Windows Live Hotmail password under Password:.
18. Click Continue.
19. Now click Create.
20. Close the Accounts window.

Access Windows Live Hotmail with Mac OS X Mail Using IMAP via IzyMail

To set up a Windows Live Hotmail account in Mac OS X Mail using IMAP (which allows seamless access to all your online folders) via IzyMail:
Make sure your Windows Live Hotmail or MSN Hotmail account is registered with IzyMail.

1. Choose Mail | Preferences... from the Mac OS X Mail menu.
2. Go to the Accounts category.
3. Use the + ("Create an account.") button.
4. Enter your name under Full Name:.
5. Type your Windows Live Hotmail address (e.g. "example@hotmail.com") under Email Address:.
6. Enter your Windows Live Hotmail password under Password:.
7. Click Continue.
8. Make sure IMAP is selected under Account Type:.
9. Enter "Windows Live Hotmail" (or something else explanatory) as the Description: for this account.
10. Type "in.izymail.com" (not including the quotation marks) under Incoming Mail Server:.
11. Enter your complete Windows Live Hotmail address ("example@hotmail.com", for instance) under User Name:.
12. Click Continue.
13. Enter "Windows Live Hotmail" under Description: for Outgoing Mail Server.
14. Type "out.izymail.com" under Outgoing Mail Server:.
15. Make sure Use Authentication is checked.
16. Enter your full Windows Live Hotmail address (e.g. "example@hotmail.com") under User Name:.
17. Now enter your Windows Live Hotmail password under Password:.
18. Click Continue.
19. Click Create.
20. Close the Accounts window.

Done!

Get Yahoo! Mail with Mail

With Mac OS X Mail, Yahoo! Mail and IzyMail, you do have the choice, but you can also use both side by side. IzyMail offers IMAP access to Yahoo! Mail, which means you'll see all your Yahoo! Mail folders in Mac OS X Mail, and if you move messages in Mail, they'll be moved if you access Yahoo! Mail in your browser, too.

You can also access your Yahoo! Mail account in Mac OS X Mail using the simple MacFreePOPs interface, which lets you download new messages with simplicity and speed.



Access Free Yahoo! Mail with Mac OS X Mail Using POP Over MacFreePOPs

To set up access to a free Yahoo! Mail account in Mac OS X Mail:

1. Install MacFreePOPs and make sure the freepopsd service is running.
2. Select Mail | Preferences... from the menu in Mac OS X Mail.
3. Go to the Accounts category.
4. Click + at the bottom of the Accounts list.
5. Type your name under Full Name:.
6. Enter your full Yahoo! Mail address (e.g. "example@yahoo.com") under Email Address:.
7. Type your Yahoo! Mail password under Password:.
8. Make sure Automatically set up account is not checked.
9. Click Continue.
10. Make sure POP is selected under Account Type:.
11. Enter "Yahoo! Mail" under Account Description:.
12. Enter "localhost" (without the quotation marks) under Incoming Mail Server:.
13. If you run into problems using "localhost", try "127.0.0.1".
14. Type your full Yahoo! Mail address ("example@yahoo.com", for example) under User Name:.
15. Mac OS X Mail probably has already entered your user name, and it's enough to append "@yahoo.com" to complete the address.
16. Click Continue.
17. Click Continue again, ignoring the error. We'll take care of that in a bit.
18. Make sure Password is selected under Authentication:.
19. Leave Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) unchecked.
20. Click Continue.
21. Select an existing mail server to send mail under Outgoing Mail Server:.
22. You cannot send mail through MacFreePOPs. If you have no outgoing mail server through your ISP, you can use a Gmail or AIM Mail account's.
23. Click Continue.
24. Now click Create.
25. Highlight the Yahoo! Mail account in the Accounts list.
26. Go to the Advanced tab.
27. Enter "2000" (not including the quotation marks) under Port:.
28. Close the Accounts window.
29. Click Save.

Access Free Yahoo! Mail with Mac OS X Mail Using IMAP Over IzyMail

To add a free Yahoo! Mail account in Mac OS X Mail using IzyMail, which provides access to all mail in all folders seamlessly:

1. Make sure your Yahoo! Mail account is registered with IzyMail.
2. Select Mail | Preferences... from the menu in Mac OS X Mail.
3. Go to the Accounts category.
4. Click + under the accounts list.
5. Make sure IMAP is selected under Account Type:.
6. Type "Yahoo! Mail (IzyMail)" under Account Description.
7. Enter your name under Full Name:.
8. Type your complete Yahoo! Mail address under Email Address:.
9. Click Continue.
10. Enter "in.izymail.com" (not including the quotation marks) under Incoming Mail Server:.
11. Type your full Yahoo! Mail address under User Name:.
12. If your Yahoo! Mail address is qwertui@yahoo.com, do type "qwertui@yahoo.com" (omitting the quotation marks).
13. Mac OS X Mail probably has already entered the user name for you. If you already find "qwertui" in the User Name: field, just append "@yahoo.com".
14. Enter your Yahoo! Mail password under Password:.
15. Click Continue.
16. Type "out.izymail.com" (without the quotation marks) under Outgoing Mail Server:.
17. Make sure Use Authentication is checked.
18. Enter your full Yahoo! Mail address under User Name:.
19. Type your Yahoo! Mail password under Password: again.
20. Click Continue.
21. Click Continue again.
22. Now click Done.
23. Cloe the Accounts window.
24. Click Save.
25. Open the _Draft folder under Yahoo! Mail (IzyMail) in the folder list.
26. Select Mailbox | Use This Mailbox For | Drafts from the menu.
27. Open the _Sent folder under Yahoo! Mail (IzyMail).
28. Select Mailbox | Use This Mailbox For | Sent from the menu.
29. Open the _Trash folder under Yahoo! Mail (IzyMail).
30. Select Mailbox | Use This Mailbox For | Trash from the menu.
31. Open the _Bulk folder under Yahoo! Mail (IzyMail).
32. Select Mailbox | Use This Mailbox For | Junk from the menu.

Done!

USB 3 devices on Mac - FAQ

What is USB 3 ("SuperSpeed USB")?
USB 3 (also known as "SuperSpeed USB") is the latest USB standard which offers significant performance improvements over USB 2 ("Hi-Speed USB").

What transfer rates are offered with USB 3?

1. USB 3 can transfer data up to 5 Gbps.
2. USB 2 can transfer data up to 480 Mbps.
3. USB 1.1 can transfer data up to 12 Mbps.

Does USB 3 offer more power than USB 2 ("High-Speed USB")?
Yes, USB 3 devices can use up to 900mA of power (compared to 500mA used by USB 2 devices). You'll need to use a USB 3 cable to use the 900mA of power available. USB 2 cables don't support 900mA.

Some USB computer ports have a blue insert. Why don't I see blue inserts on my Mac's USB ports?
Some manufacturers use a blue insert to designate a USB 3 port or device. All USB ports on Macs that supports USB 3 are USB 3 capable and do not have blue inserts.

What USB 3 devices are supported?
All devices that conform to what is commonly referred to as the "2008 version 1 USB 3.0 specification" are supported.

Are USB 3 hubs supported?
Hubs that conform to what is commonly referred to as the "2008 version 1 USB 3.0 specification" are supported.

How do I get the best performance from the USB 3 ports?
The first device you plug in will configure the port, so always connect USB 3 capable hubs or devices first.

What happens if I plug in a USB 2 device into the USB 3 port first?
If you plug in a USB 2 hub first, all devices connected or "daisy-chained" to that hub will operate up to the maximum transfer rate of USB 2 speed (480 Mbps).

Is USB 3 supported in Windows 7 using Boot Camp?
Yes. To implement SuperSpeed USB support on Windows 7 using Boot Camp, download and install the Windows Support Software. See http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_10.7.pdf for more information.

Are there differences between USB 3 cables and other USB cables?
Yes. USB 3 cables:

1. Use more wires than other USB cables. This makes USB 3 cables a bit thicker than other USB cables.
2. Have a blue insert (usually).
3. Have an "SS" symbol on the computer connector.
4. Use a different connector on the device end than USB 2 cables.
5. Can deliver more power to an attached device (900mA).

Can a USB 2 cable be used to connect a USB 3 device to my computer?
If the device end of the cable fits into the connector on the device, yes. However, because it has fewer wires, you won't get USB 3 speed.

How can I determine if my device is connected as a USB 3 device?
Use the System Information utility.

1. From the Apple () menu, choose About this Mac.
2. Click More Info.
3. Click System Report.
4. In the Hardware section of the System Report, click USB.

You will see a USB 3 section and a USB 2 section. USB 3 devices will appear in the "USB 3.0 SuperSpeed" section. Other devices will appear in the "USB Hi-Speed" section. Clicking the disclosure triangle will allow you to see more detail on the devices connected.

I use virtualization software to run Windows on my Mac and my USB 3 devices don't appear to be operating at USB 3 data rates. What is wrong?
Some virtualization software does not yet contain support for USB 3. Contact the manufacturer of your virtualization software for more information.

USB 3 devices are not activating or not appearing on the USB 3 bus. What could be wrong?

1. Sometimes unplugging and plugging the device back in can resolve the issue.
2. Try plugging the device into another USB port on the computer.
3. Check to see if there is a firmware update available for your device from the manufacturer.
4. If it came with an AC adapter, use it.
5. Try restarting your computer.
6. Try a different USB 3 cable.
7. Try a different USB 3 hub.

I sometimes have difficulty with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices when USB 3 devices are attached to my computer. What could be wrong?
Some USB 3 devices, hard drives in particular, can generate radio frequency interference that can cause Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices operating in the 2.4GHz band to have issues communicating with your computer. Do not place hard drives or other USB devices behind the rear of your Mac near at the hinge of your screen. The antennas for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are located there, and USB 3 devices placed there may interfere with your wireless connections. See this white paper for more information.

Does your Mac qualify for free 10.8 upgrade?

Here is a simple chart to determine if your Mac qualifies for a free Mountain Lion 10.8 upgrade.
You will need to know your exact purchase date of your qualifying Mac.
10.8 was released July 25th, 2012

In simple terms, you either need:

1. A qualifying 10.7 Mac purchased on June 11, 2012 to July 25,2012, then you have until Friday, August 24, 2012 to upgrade to 10.8 for free.
2. Bought a qualifying new 10.7 Mac on or after the July 25,2012 which you then have 30 days to request a free 10.8 upgrade from the date of purchase.

You can find out about the OS X version on your Mac by going to the Apple Menu > About This Mac.

Visit this page to get your free upgrade:
https://www.apple.com/osx/uptodate/
If you don't qualify you can visit the App Store and upgrade for a fee.

If you don't qualify and angry you can't get a free upgrade, don't blame us!
Go here and direct your frustrations here:
https://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Get RSS Menu Extension for Safari 6

What Does It Do?
Adds a simple menu button to your Safari 6 toolbar.
Opens feeds either online in Google Reader (no account required) or in your native news reader app (Vienna, Reeder, NetNewsWire ...).
Toolbar button badge shows how many feeds available on current page.

Download latest RSS Menu extension for Safari 5 or 6.

Apple Support Communities

You can use Apple Support Communities to get help with Apple products from other users around the world. Browse existing questions, ask a question of your own, and receive answers by email. The communities thrive on users helping users, so let others know when an answer helped you or solved your question.

• Getting started
• Overview
• Creating your account
• Searching
  
  Asking and answering questions
• Asking questions
• Answering questions
• Monitoring questions
• Responding to answers
  
  Personalizing your experience
• Managing email subscriptions
• Customizing your view
• Adding products to your profile
  
  Building your reputation
• Reputation points, status levels, and privileges

Install Windows 8 on a Mac

If you would like to install Windows 8 Consumer Preview on your Mac follow this simple guide.

1. Download Windows 8 Here.
2. Burn Windows 8 to a DVD using Disk Utility (Found in Applications/Utilities).
   
   
   
   
   
3. Open Boot Camp Assistant (Also found in Applications/Utilities).
   
   
   
   
   
4. Click Continue.
5. If needed download the drivers, make sure to save them onto a USB Stick.
   
   
   
   
6. Partition the drive to the sizes you want or, divide equally.
   
   
   
7. If you havent already, insert your Windows 8 DVD and click install. Your Mac will auto-restart after partitioning your drive.
8. Once Windows loads choose your preferred languages.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Type in the Activation Code: DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J make sure to write it down now.
10. Agree to the licence, Click next.
11. Choose "Custom Install".
12. Select the Drive labeled BootCamp and then click Format.
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. Click Next, Windows will now install.
14. During the install your Mac may reboot a few times, once its done you'll be greeted with a personalize screen, Choose your preferred colour and then click next, now either use the express settings or customize to your preferred settings.
15. Once your done choosing your settings you have an option to sign in if you dont want to click "Dont want to sign in with a Microsoft Account." and you can setup a local account. (After re-installing Windows 8 I've realized you can only setup a local account as you wont have an internet connection, the screenshot below was from inside a virtualbox running on OS X which of course was connected to the web). 
    
    
    
    
16. Install the BootCamp Drivers you downloaded and saved to a USB stick earlier. To do this click on the Desktop tile, then Open Windows Explorer on the task-bar and navigate to your USB stick, and the double click on the BootCamp setup.exe, it will auto install the required drivers after you will need to reboot.

Windows will now boot by default to choose which OS to boot, (Windows or OS X) hold ALT on boot. To change the behavior to boot by default into OS X you can do this with either Boot Camp control panel on Windows selecting Startup Disk or choose Startup Disk in System Preferences on OS X.