Mac Must Knows

Dashboard is great. Tons of cool widgets that let you do almost anything.

But having all these widgets does affect your computer.

Each widget needs a bit of memory to run. Some more then others.

Certain widgets need so much space they will slow down your computer. The ones that keep updating to show new info are probably the worst.

Don't feel like you can't have these widgets. I use them, they're great.

But if you want to give your computer a little boost just open dashboard and remove the widgets you don't need/use. Doing this will help take some strain off your computer.

If you don't use dashboard, why not disable it? This too will save you some energy.

The easiest way to disable dashboard is with Onyx. It's under: Parameters ---> Expose and Dashboard.

If you don't want to download Onyx you can turn it off with Terminal... it's more technical but you can do it.

This guide will tell you how to do it: http://www.macworld.com/article/46236/2005/08/disabledashboard.html

Good Luck!

Did you know that you can run Leopard in tons of different languages? And not only leopard, most of your applications probably have a few language translations.

All this language support takes up space though. And more then a few megabytes. Getting rid of the language files you don't need could easily scrape 5gb off your hard drive.

So how do you choose the ones you want and get rid of the ones you need?

It can be done with a program called "Monolingual". It let's you choose the language files you want to use and get rid of the ones you don't.

Start by opening it up.

In the languages section check all the languages you aren't going to use and uncheck the ones you will.

Next simply click remove and your done!

You'll be amazed at how much space this saves.

Removing unnecessary code saves disk space and speeds up your computer.

Most applications are made to run on Intel and PPC computers. This means there programmed to run for 2 different configurations. But nobody has both, they either have one or the other.

So why keep configurations for something you don't have?

Well now you don't need to. Programs like Xslimmer remove the unnecessary code, leaving you with only what you need.

This makes the application run faster and also saves you disk space.

Unfortunately removing unnecessary code is the one thing that you need to pay a bit of money for.

Xslimmer is not free. It costs 12.95.

I'd say it's worth it because it does more then just remove unused code. It will also get rid of language packs you don't use (another thing to save space).

You can learn more about Xslimmer here.

Keeping your software up to date is a great way to make sure things are running their fastest.

Developers are continually updating their software. They fix code errors and optimize the current code. This makes the software run faster, less likely to crash and so on.

Just make a point of setting your software to check for updates or do it yourself.

Some applications don't have anything that let's you check for updates though. In this case you can go to the site where you downloaded it and check that you have the newest version.

But let's face it. Do you really want to do this with ALL your applications? I don't think so.

Luckily I know a good solution.

Download the AppUpdate widget. It's a widget that checks that all your software is up to date. It makes all this much easier and quicker.

Read more about AppUpdate here.

System Preferences does not only help modify programs that came with your computer, it also works with programs you've installed.

If an application has it's own spot in system preferences it most likely runs on startup and is using up power.

It is a good idea to keep an eye on what you have installed. Check the "Other" section for things you don't use very much.

Whatever you don't use, get rid of. These types of Apps usually come with Uninstallers that will do the job. Run the Uninstaller to remove the program.

Now in the unfortunate event where the Uninstaller is lost you can do 1 of 3 things:

1. Download the program again and see if it comes with an Uninstaller.
2. Invest a bit of money in a program like AppZapper. It allows you to properly remove any plugins, programs or special settings you have on your computer.
3. Leave it alone.

This may not sound like much, but doing this can really lessen the load on your computer.

Mac is prepared to fit all possible needs. It has settings to help people with problems hearing and seeing, settings to share internet, settings to share files.

This is all great, but not everyone needs it and it slows your computer down.

To see what's turned on open your system preferences.

What we will be checking is:

• Universal Access

• Speech Recognition

• Bluetooth

• Internet Sharing

Universal Access is for people who have impaired vision and/or hearing. So naturally if your hearing and sight is fine, you don't need it. To turn it off open system preferences and click "Universal Access". Just quickly go through and check it's all set to off.

Speech Recognition let's you tell the computer to preform certain tasks using the mic. I personally never use it because a mouse and keyboard do the job. If you don't want it on click "Speech" in the preferences and turn it off.

Bluetooth can be used to connect things wirelessly that are close by. This could be a mouse, a keyboard or even your cell. If you use anything that requires bluetooth, leave it on. If not you can turn it off. This can be done as always through the system preferences under "Bluetooth".

Internet Sharing is very handy for expanding your wireless network. It let's other people near your computer connect to the internet wirelessly. In some situations this may be very useful, but if your not using it your just slowing down your computer. To turn it off go to the preferences and uncheck it in the sharing section.

So there you have it, four services you can turn off to make your computer run a little bit faster.

"10 Ways To Speed Up Your Mac": Clean Useless Startup Items

When you log on to your computer, it has a few programs that it loads as soon as it starts.

The more it has to load, the longer it will take to load. You can cut down the load time by removing some of these startup items.

To do this go to:

System Preferences --> Accounts --> (Click the account you want to clean) --> Login Items

There you can find a list of Applications that launch at the start.

Look through them to see which ones you don't need.

When you find one you want to remove click it to highlight it and click the minus button.

Do this with all the accounts you want. This will make your computer start and run faster!