few tools that i miss / general

[thatsmega.net]

Hey

Absolutely love my new ibook, expose is so great! It's a wonder windows haven't copied it !


There are a couple of things I miss from windows and would like to get on the mac (tiger os) if possible.

Firstly, I always used to have a permenant address bar in my start menu, does something similar exist for the dockbar? (I don't think I'm interested in a dashboard feature)

Internet explorer on the PC had a handy set of tools so I could set a character up as a means of searching a website from any address bar.

E.g. "G Darren" would search google for 'darren'

"EB Darren" would search ebay for darren.

On the PC i use a program called shortkeys which lets me type a preset string of characters within ANY application/text box and it replaces it would something else.

E.g. "mysi g" becomes
--
Darren
http://www.thatsmega.net


Also, is there a way to disable smooth fonts on screen? I hate fuzzy looking text, i want it much crisper...

thanks!

Darren

[mdavey]

Internet explorer on the PC had a handy set of tools so I could set a character up as a means of searching a website from any address bar.

E.g. "G Darren" would search google for 'darren'

"EB Darren" would search ebay for darren.

You can do this in Firefox or Camino but not Safari currently. Once you have added the bookmark, choose "Show all bookmarks" and edit the one you have just added. Add a keyword (e.g. G or EB in your example) and edit the URL replacing the search parameter with %s (e.g. for google http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%s). Now when you type "g darren" you'll get a list of hits for "darren" on google.co.uk.


Also, is there a way to disable smooth fonts on screen? I hate fuzzy looking text, i want it much crisper...

Yes, click on the apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen and navigate to System Preferences then Appearance. At the bottom of the dialogue are two settings you can try changing.

[Will Cheyney]

The only search tool that has similar features to that is Inquisitor.
Download: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/21991&vid=220020 - a version 2 is available but I don't think it's as tidy as version 1. All the 'extras' are a waste of time in my opinion).

Anyway. That will allow you to use Safari in a similar way. Instead though, you type 'Darren' into the Safari search bar and press an additional key on the keyboard to signify where you want to select. E.g. 'Darren' > Press return searches Google. 'Darren' > Press return and control searches eBay... etc. You can customise the settings in the Inquisitor settings.

As for font smoothing, I suggest you keep it on. After a couple of days you'll get used to it and hate viewing non-antialiased text. Trust me...
If you really do want to turn it off though, launch your system preferences, click the 'Appearance' icon and use the last option to adjust font smoothing options (see attachment).

Hope this help!

[thatsmega.net]

none of these options seem to have any effect on the display