Power User shortcuts?

[dylanemcgregor]

Hi all,

I've been using a Mac on and off for a few years now, but mostly in a really casual way, so there was no real reason for me to spend the time learning keyboard shortcuts and other tricks for efficient using OS X.I'm now in the position that I'm using OS X about 30% of the time for "work" type projects and my inability to do things as quickly on the Mac as I can on the PC is beginning to hurt. I've done some searching, but have only been able to come up with partial answers at best for the following questions so I'm hoping someone can give me further guidance.

1) On Windows when I want to launch a program quickly I use Windows Key - R to bring up the run dialog and then type the name of the program. The only equivalent I've found on the Mac side is to open up the Terminal and type in something like "open /Applications/iCal.app/" which obviously involves a lot more typing then in Windows, plus I have to open Terminal, which I can't find a keyboard shortcut for.
(In case you are wondering why I want to do this instead of just opening from the dock, about 50% of the time I'm using VLC to remote into the Mac, which makes using the mouse difficult because of the time lag.)

2) Anyway to map a dedicated "delete" (in the Windows sense) key to a Macbook keyboard? My work involves lots of text editing, and using a key combination for deleting forward is not optimal.

3) Is there an easy way to tell visually (without having to use Expose) how many windows you have open for each application?

4) Is there an easy way to toggle between all open Windows instead of just all open applications? I often have a couple of Word, Excel, and Firefox windows open that I'm moving data between and on Windows alt-tab is great. Not sure the best way to things as quickly in OS X.

4b) I don't suppose there is a way to have cmd-tab only show you applications with open windows, instead of all open applications?

Thanks for your help.

-Dylan

 

[clevin]

Hi all,

1) On Windows when I want to launch a program quickly I use Windows Key - R to bring up the run dialog and then type the name of the program. The only equivalent I've found on the Mac side is to open up the Terminal and type in something like "open /Applications/iCal.app/" which obviously involves a lot more typing then in Windows, plus I have to open Terminal, which I can't find a keyboard shortcut for.
(In case you are wondering why I want to do this instead of just opening from the dock, about 50% of the time I'm using VLC to remote into the Mac, which makes using the mouse difficult because of the time lag.)

try spotlight, cmd+space to open it, and type the name of app to find it, arrow key to select it, enter to run it.
quicksilver can do the same thing, so does google desktop for mac osx

3) Is there an easy way to tell visually (without having to use Expose) how many windows you have open for each application?

4) Is there an easy way to toggle between all open Windows instead of just all open applications? I often have a couple of Word, Excel, and Firefox windows open that I'm moving data between and on Windows alt-tab is great. Not sure the best way to things as quickly in OS X.

right click icons on the dock ?

4b) I don't suppose there is a way to have cmd-tab only show you applications with open windows, instead of all open applications?

Thanks for your help.

-Dylan

don't know


Im not all knowledgeable, so wait to see if other tips come up.

 

[Santa Rosa]

Look into the program Quicksilver for No 1, it might do some of the other things you want to do as well!! Its very powerful.

 

[I'm a ROb]

Perhaps you want to take a look at this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/342295/

especially post #4 about Witch.

 

[dylanemcgregor]

Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't had a chance to check out Quicksilver yet, but Witch definitely seems cool. I'm having trouble getting it to download right now, but I'm sure I'll be able to get that working when I have a little more time to play around.

Just wish I would have asked this question a couple of years ago now. 🙂

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Have you tried Cmd-` for switching between windows in the same program? I know it doesn't work *exactly* the way that Windows does, but it does the job for me.

 

[dylanemcgregor]

Have you tried Cmd-` for switching between windows in the same program? I know it doesn't work *exactly* the way that Windows does, but it does the job for me.

I just found out about this when trying to find an answer yesterday and it is a nice feature to have. It is kind of nice to have dedicated shortcuts for both switching applications and for switching windows in a single application. My only problem with it (and I'd probably get used to it after using it) is that it doesn't give you the preview so if you have a few windows open in the application it makes switching between them harder.