Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The desktop space will now change as soon as you touch the edge of the
screen. I find this useful, but if you'd like a split-second delay before the
desktop space switches, try the following:
DEFAULTS WRITE COM.APPLE.DOCK WORKSPACES-EDGE-DELAY -FLOAT 0.15;KILLALL DOCK
To revert to the default second or two delay later, open a Terminal window,
and type the following:
DEFAULTS DELETE COM.APPLE.DOCK WORKSPACES-EDGE-DELAY;KILLALL DOCK
Using Keyboard Shortcuts
Another way of very quickly switching program windows between desktops
is to use keyboard shortcuts. This isn't quite as quick as the secret setting
described earlier, but it's worth investigating.
First you must enable keyboard shortcuts for each of your desktop spaces.
This can be done by opening System Preferences (Apple menu→System Pref-
erences), selecting the Keyboard icon, then clicking the Keyboard Shortcuts
tab. Select Mission Control in the list on the left of the window, and then
check the entries on the right that read Switch To Desktop 1, Switch To
Desktop 2, and so on, for all the desktop spaces you have configured.
From then on, moving a program window from one space to another is a
matter of clicking and holding its title bar and then hitting the keyboard
shortcut for that space, which will be a combination of
CONTROL
plus
1
,
2
,
3
,
and so on, relating to the number of the desktop space.
Tip 106
Protect USB Memory Sticks
Lots of people use USB memory sticks to transfer data from one computer to
another or just to keep their files with them at all times.
OS X lets you format a USB memory stick so that its contents are encrypted.
You'll need to enter a password whenever it's inserted.
Essentially this turns any USB stick into a ultra-secure portable file storage
device, of the type often sold at a premium. However, there are a number of
caveats, as follows:
