Scott Explains

Typing accented characters in OS X Lion

Typing accents on the Mac has always been a pain. Sure, you could enable the Character Palette to make it easier, or remember the key combinations of some common accented characters, but aren't computers supposed to make our lives easier?

Yes, they are. And OS X Lion makes typing accented characters much easier. Here's how to do it:

1. Type as you normally would. When you get to the character that requires an accent hold the key down.
2. A menu pops up (seen to the right) with a few options. Hit the number under the accented character you want.

You'll never misspell résumé again (except when you're taking screenshots for a blog post, that is)!

Make Lion more like Snow Leopard with two changes

Hurrah! Lion is now available with all sorts of new, shiny features. There are also a couple of changes that long time OS X users might find irksome: no indication of what apps are running in the Dock, and "natural" scrolling.

Quick! What apps are running in my Dock? You can't tell, can you? Neither can I, but there is a way to bring back those helpful little lights under each running app OS X users have become accustomed to.

App indicator lights

Launch System Preferences by clicking on the System Preferences icon (pictured above).

Click on "Dock" in the Personal row.

And the Dock options reveal themselves.

At the bottom you'll see a checkbox labelled "Show indicator lights for open applications." Make sure it is checked.

Ahh, now we can tell that I have Safari, iTunes, System Preferences, Outlook, Twitterrific, NewsRack, Acorn, MarsEdit, and ScreenSteps.

Scrolling

Scrolling in Lion works in exactly the opposite way you're used to on the Mac, but just like it does on iOS (iPhone, iPad) devices. When you drag two fingers  down on your trackpad (or Magic Mouse) the content on your screen scrolls up, and when you drag up on the trackpad the content scrolls down. The idea is that you're using your finger to actually push the content on your screen like it is a piece of paper.

Can't stand it? Here's how to change it: back in System Preferences select either Mouse or Trackpad (depending on which you have attached to your Mac). I'm writing this on a MacBook Pro, so I'm going to click on Trackpad.

Click on the Scroll & Zoom and uncheck "Scroll direction: natural."

Scrolling is back to the way it should be, gosh darn it!

The Mac OS X Lion Project Book

I wrote a book about the Mac! Exciting, I know.

More details over at my personal blog.

What does this mean? Well, obviously, I hope lots of people buy many, many copies. But it also means that I have lots of free time on my hands. The book is done... and now I can return to blogging here (I know, I know).

Look for new content here starting tomorrow (funny how that works!).