From the category archives:

Mac

How to make your own Ringtones from MP3s with Audacity

by Scott Strain on October 29, 2008

Linux Mac Windows

This tutorial will walk you every step of the way through creating a ringtone from one of your MP3 files, using the free and open-source software Audacity. Audacity is an Audio Editing tool available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. Though this tutorial uses Windows for the exact steps, Linux and OS X users should be able to follow along as well. [click to continue...]

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Codeweavers CrossOver software free today

by Ross McKillop on October 28, 2008

Linux Mac

Codeweavers is offering a copy of CrossOver for Mac (or Linux) for free - today only! The programs normally retail for $40, but will be available free of charge (one license per customer) until midnight CST.

via Switching To Mac

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A look at the Instantbird Beta

by Skyler Huse on October 17, 2008

Linux Mac Windows

So, I’m trying two new things with this post. The first is writing it as I’m looking into this application, and the second is actually using the application. It’s Instantbird, a cross-platform instant messenger built on Pidgin and Mozilla. It should be noted that this is far away from a stable release. [click to continue...]

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Simple Help Announcement: New Mac Site!

by Ross McKillop on October 13, 2008

Mac

If you’ve been wondering why there haven’t been any Mac tutorials lately, here’s the reason - I’ve acquired another site, SwitchingToMac.com. I’ll be leaving all of the existing Mac content here, but going forward, Switching To Mac will be where all my Mac/OS X focus goes. Simple Help will turn into a Windows and Linux (and Windows Mobile, Symbian, BlackBerry etc) site. If you’re an RSS subscriber because you liked the Apple content, you might want to unsubscribe from this site (you don’t have to) and subscribe to the Switching To Mac RSS feed instead.

Also, there’s a pretty active forum over there, with a lot of really helpful, friendly and active folks.

You may have also noticed that the massive majority of posts lately have been from folks other than myself. Ken Murray is a Linux genius and recent N95 owner, and Skyler Huse has been coming up with some great Windows stuff. This has allowed me to focus on getting Switching To Mac transferred (I had no idea domain transfers could be such a hassle), redesigned and a lot of articles queued. Ken and Skyler will continue to contribute to Simple Help, though you should see more frequent posting on my part too.

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How to install openSUSE 11 in OS X using Parallels - a complete walkthrough

by Ross McKillop on September 24, 2008

Linux Mac

This tutorial will take you every single step of the way through installing openSUSE 11 using Parallels Desktop 3.0 for OS X. [click to continue...]

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Sneak Peek: uTorrent for OS X

by Ross McKillop on September 22, 2008

Bittorrent Mac

Today on one of the popular Bittorrent sites, an early “alpha” version of uTorrent for OS X was posted. I’ve downloaded a copy, and below you’ll find a bunch of screenshots along with my initial thoughts. [click to continue...]

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How to install PC-BSD 7 in VMware Fusion

by Ross McKillop on September 22, 2008

Linux Mac

This tutorial will guide you every step of the way through installing PC-BSD 7 in VMware Fusion (version 2.0). [click to continue...]

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How to right-click using just your trackpad in Bootcamp, Parallels and VMware (OS X)

by Ross McKillop on September 17, 2008

Linux Mac Windows

There’s a well known feature/trick that allows you to right-click using just your trackpad in OS X. What’s slightly lesser known is that the same trick can be extended to XP and Vista running via BootCamp, or guest Operating Systems running in Parallels or VMware Fusion.

  1. For Operating Systems running on your Mac via BootCamp, all you have to do is place two fingers on the trackpad, and click the button. That will bring up the right-click menu.
  2. For guest Operating Systems running in Parallels or VMware Fusion, open the OS X System Preferences and select Keyboard & Mouse. Place a check in the box labeled For secondary clicks, place two fingers on the trackpad then click the button.
  3. Now when you’re running a guest OS in VMware Fusion, you can right-click by placing two fingers on the trackpad and clicking the button once.
  4. Same thing for Operating Systems running in Parallels.

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How to backup your files to your Dreamhost account (OS X)

by Ross McKillop on September 16, 2008

Mac

The popular web hosting company Dreamhost recently decided to change a policy they had in place that didn’t allow customers to use their storage space to backup files. Now you’re given 50GB of storage space to use as backup. This change in policy does come with one caveat - the backups aren’t backed up. So if for whatever reason the Dreamhost backup server that stores your files happens to die, your files die with it. So while you probably don’t want to make it your primary backup solution, it’s still a nice feature (since you’re already paying for web hosting). This tutorial will guide you through using mathusalem (free backup software) to automatically FTP the files you want to backup to Dreamhost. [click to continue...]

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How to jailbreak your iPod Touch running the 2.1 firmware (OS X)

by Ross McKillop on September 13, 2008

Mac iPod

This tutorial will guide you through the steps to jailbreak your first generation iPod Touch running the 2.1 firmware, in OS X. NOTE: this will not work on the new 2nd generation iPod Touch devices. [click to continue...]

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How to remap your keyboard in OS X

by Ross McKillop on September 8, 2008

Mac

DoubleCommand a free OS X Preference Pane that allows you to remap (some of) the keys on your keyboard. It’s particularly useful if you’re using a Windows keyboard with your Mac. [click to continue...]

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3 Tools to increase iWeb functionality

by Ross McKillop on September 5, 2008

Mac Web Design & Dev

The following addons and utilities will add a whole bunch of extra features to iWeb, allowing you to create even more robust web sites.

  1. iTweak
  2. Easy iWeb Publisher
  3. iWebSites

[click to continue...]

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How to display the lyrics of the iTunes song currently playing, on your OS X desktop

by Ross McKillop on September 3, 2008

Mac

Using DesktopLyrics, you can display the lyrics of the song currently playing in iTunes, right on your OS X desktop.

os x desktop with song lyrics displayed
[click to continue...]

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How to copy, reuse and even share multiple clipboard items in OS X

by Ross McKillop on September 3, 2008

Mac

Using the free (and beta) app Shadow, you can keep multiple items in your clipboard and bring them back for reusing. More than that, you can even share your clipboard across your network. Keep reading for an overview.. [click to continue...]

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How to sync your Windows Mobile device with your Mac

by Ross McKillop on August 29, 2008

Mac Windows Mobile

This tutorial will walk you every step of the way through installing, setting up and using SyncMate to sync your Windows Mobile device with your Mac.

Though SyncMate isn’t new, they’ve just released a version with a long awaited feature - the ability to sync using a locked Windows Mobile/Pocket PC device. The free version of SyncMate is limited to only syncing your Contacts and iCal calendar (and Google Contacts and/or Google Calendar) - but that’s more than enough for me. It’s also worth mentioning that you can also use SyncMate to mount your Windows Mobile device as a drive in OS X - and browse/transfer files to and from your Mac/device. Keep reading for the full walk-through. [click to continue...]

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