These changes have been tested using Mac OSX 10.5 and Mac OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard). They are provided with no warranty and are to be used at the owners risk, Lacey Tech Solutions is not liable for any damage or data loss as a result of using these hacks. We advise everyone to make a full backup of all data on their Macbook before using any of the information contained below.
Show hidden files in Finder
I was recently trying to find a hidden file on my Mac, and it wasn''t an easy task! In the end I found a nice terminal command that allowed me to force Finder to show hidden files.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder
Disable the Crash Dialog Box
This disables the quit dialog box when an application crashes. Type prompt to enable again.
defaults write com.apple.CrashReporter DialogType none
2D Dock
This quite a popular hack for the people running Leopard and don't like the 3D feel of the Dock, this changes the default 3D dock to a flat 2D version.
Force 2D Dock
defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES killall Dock
Revert back to using the 3D Dock
defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean NO killall Dock
Change the Format ff Screen Shots
If you're like me and you use the screen shot function (CTRL + SHIT + 3), you may want to change the format of the images, and the easiest way to change this is using the Terminal. Where jpg is in the code you can change this to the format your want, png bmp gif etc. You need to restart your Mac for the changes to take effect.
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
Enable The Path View In Finder
This is one of may favourite hacks because it lets me see the current path of the Finder window I'm using, and it's great if you work with a lot of windows.
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES
Menu Bar
Turn The Menu Bar White
If you don't like the menu bar in its cool transparent glory you can change it to solid white. This requires you to enter your password and you will need to restart you Mac for the changes to be applied.
sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables' -dict 'CI_NO_BACKGROUND_IMAGE' 1
Turn The Menu Bar Grey
If you don't like the white menu bar then you can change it to solid grey instead.
sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables' -dict 'CI_NO_BACKGROUND_IMAGE' 0
Revert The Menu Bar Back To Default
If you prefer the transparent menu bar and you want it back type the following into Terminal.
sudo defaults delete /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables'
Speed Up Dialogue Boxes
Most dialogue boxes have a cool animation effect that looks cool. If you want to speed this up you can change the speed at which is renders so it appears almost instantly.
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSWindowResizeTime 0.01
