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What Do You Wish Your Mac Could Do?

Squire

Squire

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 8, 2003
1,563
0
Canada
I love my iMac and OS X. However, there are a couple of things that I wish I could do. (Maybe I already can but just don't know how.)

Here are my top 3:

1) Log Out then Sleep: I wish I could put my machine to sleep from the login window. There's a button there for shutting down but not one for sleep. (Is there on Panther?) Sometimes, after I log out, my computer doesn't go to sleep.

2) Adjust Startup Chime Volume: I mentioned this in another thread but I'll say it again. I can't seem to adjust the volume of the startup chime. I've tried holding down the "mute" button and lowering the volume beforehand but it just doesn't work. It's usually no big deal. At 5 AM when the kids are sound asleep though, it sounds really loud.

3) Disable the "Eject" Key: My 2-year old son is amazed by the CD tray on my iMac and, if allowed, he'd open and close it all afternoon with the keyboard. There should be a way to disable that key. I noticed the same thing at the Apple Experience Center in Seoul. They had eMacs set up on a low table with big cushions for kids to sit on and play games. I wondered how long it would take before someone ripped off a superdrive door.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Perhaps there are ways to get around these issues. If so, please let me know.

So what do you wish your Mac could do?

Squire
 
Well, to answer one of your requests, Panther does allow you to sleep from the login screen.

One of my requests is I wished my mac could talk to me in Majel Barrett Rodenberry's voice, you know, the computer from Star Trek. Call me a Star Trek nerd, but I think that would be the coolest thing in the world.
 
Yeah, I expect a lot of people wish it could wash, iron, and fold clothes as well.

I wish- and it seems this is something we'll see soon- I could send my iTunes tracks to my stereo in the living room. I guess an iPod will solve that one. In addition, I still get some attachments in email messages that won't open. Maybe I should give OpenOffice a try.

Oh, and MoparShaha...thanks. I'll have to try out Panther. (The educational discount is crazy on that.)

Squire
 
Originally posted by Squire
Yeah, I expect a lot of people wish it could wash, iron, and fold clothes as well.
Click to expand...

Well, it can fold. ;)
Dunno about clothes though.

I would like my Mac to go out and work all day so I can spend my life as one big holiday. Making coffee would be good too.
 
Originally posted by snickelfritz
I wish it had integrated DVR functions, like Tivo.
Click to expand...

TiVo would be cool.

Two other things:

1) I wish it had idiot-proof CD-RW operations.

2) I wish it had idiot-proof voice recording. (I was amazed at how easy that was on MusicMatch.)

As you probably guessed, I'm an idiot. I find everything else is so simple to do. Add idiot-proof versions of the top two on to OSX's feature list and I'd be happy.

Squire
 
Originally posted by Squire
Adjust Startup Chime Volume: I mentioned this in another thread but I'll say it again. I can't seem to adjust the volume of the startup chime. I've tried holding down the "mute" button and lowering the volume beforehand but it just doesn't work. It's usually no big deal. At 5 AM when the kids are sound asleep though, it sounds really loud.
Click to expand...

if you plug in some headphones to the Mac you shouldn't be able to hear the chime
 
Originally posted by Ambrose Chapel
if you plug in some headphones to the Mac you shouldn't be able to hear the chime
Click to expand...

Yeah, but I want to hear the rest of the computer's bleeps and blips through the speakers. Headphones are great for immersing yourself in another world but most of the time, I have to be able to hear other stuff. (By plugging in headphones, your speaker system is automatically disabled, isn't it?) I know it sounds petty but it's more of a compliment to the machine and the system. In other words, if the startup chime is one of the only things I complain about, it must be a pretty good machine.

Squire
 
Well one of the things I wanted was done in panther, the secure trash option. I found rm -p in the terminal wasn't that effective, and a little nerve-wracking (I had a bad terminal typo experience once).

But what I would like is the ability to adjust the pulse rate and light output of the power button when the mac is in sleep mode. I would leave my computer on all the time, but when I'm trying to get to sleep it bugs the hell out of me... but this would probably mean tinkering with firmware. :mad:
 
Originally posted by Raid
But what I would like is the ability to adjust the pulse rate and light output of the power button when the mac is in sleep mode. I would leave my computer on all the time, but when I'm trying to get to sleep it bugs the hell out of me... but this would probably mean tinkering with firmware. :mad:
Click to expand...
Yeah, that light is damn annoying when trying to sleep. On my PowerMac, I have to put a box in front of the machine at night. And I have to put a sweatshirt over my PowerBook too, otherwise the whole room lights up. Yes, the lights are pretty, but at night they're too much.
 
Re: What Do You Wish Your Mac Could Do?

1) Log Out then Sleep:
Click to expand...
The Login Window on Panther has a sleep button, but I think you can also just push the hardware power button on your Mac (if it's a flat-panel iMac, the one on the back, otherwise, the glowing button on the front). That should force the computer to sleep, even from the Login Window.

2) Adjust Startup Chime Volume:
Click to expand...
Just plug some headphones in before you first start up then unplug them later. They only disable the speakers for as long as they're attached.

I wonder if it's a bug with your computer, though (tried zapping the PRAM?), since every single Mac I've ever owned (in the 680x0 days through my G5) respected the last volume setting before it was shut down for the startup chime. I don't remember whether mute works, but setting the volume low then shutting down made for a quiet startup chime.

3) Disable the "Eject" Key:
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure there are 3rd party utilities that'll do this. Try searching on VersionTracker.

Personally, there's honestly nothing realistic I can think of that I wish my G5 could do that it won't. I wish the graphics card fan was quieter, but that's different.
 
Makosuke,

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try to hit the power button next time I log out. As far as the chime is concerned, I've just been unplugging the speakers. Then again, if I can get the computer to sleep whenever I want, I won't have to shut down as often and, therefore, won't hear the chime. ;)

I'll check out Version Tracker for the eject key disabler.

Thanks.

Squire
 
Maybe....

:D
 

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I just want it to talk to me. You know, when a program keeps crashing, it would be nice if the computer could say "Hey line 3456 in this program's code is just ****ed up, so it will always crash no matter what you do." Would save me a lot of time.
 
Funny stuff.

Makosuke: Thanks for the tip. Hitting the power button works like a charm.

How about CD-RW compatibility? CD-RW discs do work, right? Is there some trick to it? And, if so, why? Is Apple against re-writable discs or something?

Squire
 
Fantastic..

Originally posted by Giaguara
Save my dreams in quiktime or text format.
Click to expand...

That's an idea, I could iron if I get my dreams in QT .... But from the real/personal point of view, I wish my simulation program at work to be a mac app, so I could afford a G5... it's pretty off topic but I would like to be more between macs, there are Dell boxes everywhere and my PB is the beautiful thing inside the room. BTW, is there a way I do a normal call from my mac, using microphone and speakers, you know, something I just dial the number and could speak without having a device in my hand or ear? sometimes, tele-conference is needed, but still haven't got it...
 
Password to Remove Screensaver/Sleep

I have my computer set so when you wake up from sleep or from the screensaver, you have to type in your password to get access. In Jaguar, you can start typing your password to wake it up. In Panther, you have to wait several seconds for the dialog box to appear by clicking/hitting any key before you start typing your password. I realize this is a minor annoyance, but it does slow you down. Any thoughts on why this was changed??
 
I wish Apple would put a Power Button back on the keyboard. Its a pain in the butt reaching aroud the back of my Flat Panel iMac to turn the darn thing on every morning.
 
Originally posted by MoparShaha
On my PowerMac, I have to put a box in front of the machine at night. And I have to put a sweatshirt over my PowerBook too, otherwise the whole room lights up. Yes, the lights are pretty, but at night they're too much.
Click to expand...

:) I put an old scarf on my powerbook light to cover it up! People have told me to put tape around the light on the CPU and monitor for the desktop, but the LED is so bright you need ugly electrical or duct tape. Even then you need a lot of it to cover up the refraction in the clear plastic of the monitor. :mad:

3) Disable the "Eject" Key: I'm pretty sure there are 3rd party utilities that'll do this. Try searching on VersionTracker.
Click to expand...

Couldn't this be done with an apple script? Just set up the eject key to trigger a MP3 file with you saying "Quit playing with the Keyboard!":D
 
simply disconnect the keyboard from your computer lol

Imo, I dont think apple worries about lil kids harassing the eject key, thats not their main concern.
 
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