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Mac OS X Snow Leopard: What's New for the Power User

A visual tour of the new Mac OS features that every administrator and power user will want to explore.

By Galen Gruman, Infoworld

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From Terminal to AppleScript, from Multilingual Setup to Security Settings

Mac OS X Snow Leopard comes with a bevy of new and enhanced controls aimed at the power user or IT admin. Here are the ones you'll find most valuable.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Customizing Search Scope

Snow Leopard's Spotlight search capability can now be customized using Finder preferences. You can now set the default search scope to be all volumes, the current folder, or the last scope set for a search.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Firewall Protection for the Rest of Us

Apple has reworked control over firewalls in the Security system preference. Rather than having to know port IDs and the like, you now simply select the applications or services you want to allow or block. You can also set signed software to be permitted through the firewall by default.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

The Password Pause

Snow Leopard now lets you set a grace period after the Mac goes to sleep or the screen saver comes on before a password is required. In a public or office setting, this can reduce security by providing a window of opportunity for an unauthorized person to access a Mac that has been left alone.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Chinese Strokes via Your Trackpad

If your Mac has a gesture-capable trackpad, you can enter Chinese characters by using your fingers to draw the strokes. (You first need to enable Chinese Handwriting in the Languages & Text system preference.) As you enter strokes, the on-screen preview lists likely ideograms from which you can then select.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Going Multilingual

The Input Sources pane of the Languages & Text system preference (called International in previous versions of Mac OS X) provides additional controls for working in multiple languages that include both right- and left-reading orders. Note also that the Character Palette has been renamed the Character Viewer, and there's now just one control to make these available via the menu bar. Also, the Japanese Kana Palette control is gone; it now automatically appears when you choose that input method.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

One Terminal, Many Sessions

The Terminal app, which exposes Mac OS X's Unix functionality, now supports split windows, enabling you to run multiple sessions in the same window. Of course, as in previous versions, you can also have multiple Terminal windows open simultaneously.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Script Editor Gets a New Name

The Script Editor app is now called AppleScript Editor, and it resides in the Utilities folder instead of Applications folder. AppleScript Utility has also been dropped. Its functionality is now exposed as AppleScript Editor preferences.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Folder Actions Made Simpler

Snow Leopard streamlines the controls to create, edit, and activate folder actions (scripts that run when a folder is opened). Rather than have separate editing and activation options in the contextual menu for a folder, there's just one option that opens a consolidated dialog box where you add, edit, remove, and activate scripts for the current folder.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Setting up Services

Along with Snow Leopard's contextual services approach (see the slideshow "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users") comes the ability to decide which systemwide services, or applets, are enabled, as well as to delete unwanted ones and to add news ones. You do this in the Keyboard Shortcuts pane of the Keyboard system preference.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Connecting Users to Directory Services

The Accounts system preference changes how you control a Mac user's access to directory services (Active Directory, Open Directory, or Mac OS X Server). Instead of running the separate Directory utility (now gone from the Utilities folder), you click Join in the Accounts system preference and establish the directory connection in the settings sheet that appears.

5 Things You Should Know about Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

See the InfoWorld slideshows: "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For all users" and "What's new in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: For office users."

Get all the details on the new Mac OS X in the "Snow Leopard Bible," by InfoWorld's Galen Gruman and Macworld U.K.'s Mark Hattersley.

Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.