Copyright 2007, 2008 Claire J Rottenberg

Even though Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) has been out for several months, there are reasons to continue using Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4). Tiger has many special features that make working with it an enjoyable experience. These features are also in Leopard, but Tiger provides stability that does not yet exist with Mac OS X 10.5.

Spotlight

Spotlight is the superfast search technology that was introduced with Mac OS X Tiger and it has amazed even my "stuck in Windows by choice" friends. Type a search term in the Spotlight search box or in a Finder window search box and Spotlight searches on all your hard drives and starts displaying results instantly. You can refine searches in many ways, including limiting locations to search, setting search criteria and searching for only particular types of files.

Spotlight isn't limited to just searching from the Finder - it exists throughout Mac OS X 10.4 and can be accessed from within any program. In addition, many programs, including third-party software, utilize Spotlight for superfast searching of data contained within just that program.

If you haven't been using Spotlight, give it a try now. Just click the little blue circle in the right-hand corner of any menu bar, type a search term in the text box that appears and sit back and marvel at the instantaneous results.

Widgets

Widgets are small applications that run from within a special part of Mac OS X Tiger known as Dashboard. You access Dashboard by clicking the black clock-like icon on the left end of the Dock, next to the Finder icon. When you click the icon, you'll leave the Finder Desktop and enter the Dashboard environment.

You'll see several small panes on the screen - these are Widgets provided by Apple. Try some to get a feel for how Widgets work. If the Apple Widgets don't excite you, you can find more at MacUpdate or Apple's Widget download page. Once you find a few Widgets you like, you'll probably be accessing Dashboard on a regular basis.

Smart Folders

Smart folders are special types of folders that contain links to files that meet specified criteria that you either set manually or create from Spotlight searches. Unlike regular folders, Smart folders change dynamically, as you add, change and remove items from your computer. For example, if you create a folder that contains only files created "today," the contents of the folder will change every day.

Smart folders, like Spotlight, exist in Mac OS X Tiger programs, including many third-party programs. For example, in iTunes, you can create Smart playlists, in Mail, you can create Smart mailboxes and in iPhoto, you have Smart albums.

If you haven't tried Smart folders, or any of their program varieties, create one today and see how much easier it is to organize your music, photos, email, and files with Smart folders.

Automator

Do you get tired of repeating the same tasks over and over? Wouldn't it be nice to let an application do the work for you? Enter Automator, Apple's answer to quick and easy programming for the non-tech/non-geek Mac user. With Automator, you can create small applications that let you automate many ordinary tasks. For example, I often need to take a screenshot of an application window and then open the image in GraphicConverter, so I created an Automator application that does this for me. I've placed an alias to the application in my Dock and I just click its icon every time I need a screenshot.

With Automator, creating a simple application can take just minutes or, if you're into programming, you can create more complex programs that combine Automator actions with AppleScripts. For examples of what you can do with Automator, visit my Automator downloads page.

With Tiger, you can find and organize any data on your computer with Spotlight and Smart folders, automate many of your repetitive tasks with Automator and use the time you save with Spotlight, Smart folders and Automator to play with Widgets.

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