Posts By: Gary Rosenzweig

There are many very useful Mac features and functions that users don't know about because they atre hard to find. You can batch rename files, dictate text, see a paper tape in Calculator, summarize text and easily remove ads from web articles.

Looks like the iPad has finally caught up with the Newton MessagePad! LOL.

A new feature in Pages 10.1 allows you to add a titla and a caption to objects such as images, shapes, tables, charts, videos and even text boxes. You can even add them to groups. This same functionality is also available in the most recent versions of Keynote and Numbers.

You can use the Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad to create a quick method to shrink an image before sharing it. With this more advanced Shortcut, you can choose a size in pixels or percent, and select the image format and quality.

If you need to open PDF files or just want a decent image editing app that doesn't cost too much or require a subscription, there are plenty of options in the Mac App Store and elsewhere. All of these and 64-bit apps that work with macOS Catalina and beyond. See https://macmost.com/mac-photoshop-alternatives.html for links.

Learn how to position and resize windows on your Mac by dragging the top, sides and corners of a window, and what various modifier keys do while dragging. You can also double-click, use snapping, and use hidden menu items to quickly move and resize windows.

The latest version of Numbers allows you to use regular expressions, also called regex, in formulas. Regex is very powerful if you can master it. You can use them to match patterns in text to perform otherwise difficult or impossible things in your spreadsheets.

One of the new features in macOS Big Sur is a whole new set of Alert sounds in System Preferences. They are actually the same alert sounds, but re-imagined. Apple says: <em>System sounds are all-new and even more pleasing to the ear. The new system alerts were created using snippets of the originals, so they sound familiar.</em> I created a video comparing them. But it was quite a task to pair them up since they have new names. The names match up in a fun, playful way too! Ping is now Pong, Frog is Jump, Hero is Heroine. Some are more subtle, like Bottle to Glass. Only one has the same name: Sosumi. Apple didn't want to let go of that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sosumi" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">little joke</a>. I'm not 100% sure I got Purr -&gt; Sonar and Tink -&gt; Pluck matched right. What do you think? I was making this just for Club MacMost. But I kinda like the result. Should I make it a regular MacMost video too? Maybe with some more explanation at the beginning and end?

Many people are experiencing problems with YouTube showing an error message instead of the video. Usually this is caused by an ad blocker browser extension.

If you want to maximize the size of a window on your Mac, using the obvious controls may not get you what you want. Full Screen mode removes the window from the current desktop and takes it away from other windows. Zooming doesn't always expand the window to fill the screen. Learn how to really expand a window to its maximum size.

A new feature in Keynote is the ability to place a video or audio clip across several slides. The media will continue to play as you advance through the presentation. You can use this to make better introduction slides or present a video over a series of slides with different information at specific times.

The Dictionary app on your Mac allows you to look up word definitions and so much more. There is also a thesaurus, special dictionary of Apple-related terms, and many more you can add. Plus, you can use it as a Wikipedia browser. There are also several ways to access dictionary definitions outside the app.

Big news today as Apple updated its three iWork apps. They all get these neat title/caption features for images. Numbers gets a powerful new set of functions. Keynote gets the ability to present in the window. That and much more. Watch and I'll watch through most of it.

There are many ways to control audio from your video clips or effects and music you bring into your projects. Learn how to control volume throughout the track, apply effects and more.

There are a few interesting new things in Safari that are worth knowing about. Here's a quick preview in Big Sur developer beta 2.

You can highly customize what your Mac looks like without having to buy or download any new software. You can change the Destkop background, move the Dock, make folder names and icons more interesting, add notes and pictures with Stickies, change the system alter sound and so much more.