Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard"

Mac OS X 10 is the tightest version of the OS yet. When I first tried a Mac (back in the 8.6 days), I was very dissapointed at how things were set up and how different they worked compared to everything else. As the OS X version began to be mainstream, I just had to change my mind completely. I 'switched' from being a dedicated Windows user after 9 years of Microsoft tolerance. I'm happy with my Dual 1.25 G4 especially after installing OS X 10. I have no reason to switch back. I do web work on for use on a Linux server, so it makes sense that I want to do my development on a system based on a *nix architecture. It works well with all my Pee-Cee co-workers and the program set I use daily is just as good, if not better, on my Mac.

Update 12/2007: I'm all Leopard these days on my Mac Pro Dual 2.0 dual-core beast. Leopard isn't without it's quirks, but is still quite slick. I'll update the screenies below some day, for now they're still the old Tiger screenshots.

Screenshots:

Full Desktop

Exposé (which is awesome)

Spotlight Search Index

Tips:

1. Just try it the Mac Way
   If you're a recent switcher and are hesitant to do everything 'Mac', my advice is to just try it... you'll most likely like it. I wasn't going to stop using Outlook for my email (on my PC), but after giving Mail a try, I haven't looked back.

2. Organize Your Applications
   The Windows Start panel is a helpful (although slow and bloated) way to navigate to your programs. If you keep your applications folder organized (ie: putting like programs in folders and/or sub-folders), you can drag the App's folder onto the right hand side of your dock for right-click (ctrl-click) access to all programs you don't want to 'feature' on the dock.

3. Customize Your Icons
   To give folders, files and/or programs a bit more descriptive look, OS X gives you the ability to change the icon. Find or create an icon. Copy the new icon in the Finder, right(ctrl)-click on the item you wish to change, select Get Info, click on the icon in the Get Info window, select Edit / Paste from the menu bar. That's all there is to it. If you ever want to revert to the original icon, get back into the Get Info window, click the icon and select Edit / Cut.

	Desktop hack David Pedersen - david at upsys dot dk	Aug 16, 2005
	Is it some sort of plugin/program you're running on your desktop ? (the one where icons are sorted in "groups", with the boxy backgrounds), in the "full desktop" image..
	jasonk - jasonk at jasonkenison dot com	Aug 16, 2005
	I've been waiting for someone to ask about that... no, it's not a program, just a modified wallpaper graphic. It's set up so that the icons arrange themselves aligned with these boxes.
	Ben Grove - bg4273 at missouristate dot edu	Feb 4, 2006
	About your desktop, you say it's a modified wallpaper graphic, did you make it or can you get it somewhere
	Ben Grove - BennyGrove at gmail dot com	Feb 4, 2006
	I was just wondering if you made the modified wallpaper graphic or can a person buy it somewhere
	Desktop Wallpaper: Update jasonk - jasonk at jasonkenison dot com	Feb 5, 2006
	I just took the default Aqua.jpg background file (or any other) and created boxes where my icons go in Fireworks, and added text and icons... pretty simple thing to do. I'm currently working on a Konfabulator Widget that lets you place these on the desktop w/o the need to edit your wallpaper jpg. I'll post info here if/when I get that done.
	Anonymous - bg4273 at missouristate dot edu	Feb 5, 2006
	Sounds Good. Thanks
	Re: Desktop Wallpaper jasonk - jasonk at jasonkenison dot com	Apr 6, 2006
	Ben (and anyone else who wanted it), Click Here to download a Yahoo! / Konfabulator Widget that will float the icon boxes on the desktop. It's designed for 1280x1024, since that's what I've got, and should be able to be positioned appropriately if your desktop view is set with the following: Icon Size: 32x32 Text Size: 10pt Label Pos.: Right Snap to Grid (checked) Feel free to edit and distribute if you want. I don't have time at the moment to make it any more robust or user-editable.
	Anonymous	Apr 10, 2006
	Thanks man, It's perfect
	Ben Grove	Apr 11, 2006
	When I open it up, it has a kon file name, is there something i need to do inorder to get it to work? Is it made for macs? I understand if you don't have time to answer these questions but the idea is so cool.
	Re: Ben Grove jasonk - jasonk at jasonkenison dot com	Apr 12, 2006
	When I download and unzip, I get a .widget filename. Be sure you have Konfabulator (Yahoo! Widgets) installed to use this file. It works on Mac and PC (I'm sitting in front of both right now, and just confirmed that)... however, the size and placement of the boxes are designed for the specs above on Mac OS X.
	Ben Grove	Apr 18, 2006
	WOW, I'm an idiot, It works Great! Thanks man
	Ben Grove	May 3, 2006
	It's me again, um I was wondering what program I could edit this in and if there is a way that my icons would automatically line up in them or if i have to do it myself
	Re: Ben Grove jasonk - jasonk at jasonkenison dot com	May 3, 2006
	How about this... send me a full-screen screenshot of your desktop with all of your icons arranged how you want them. I'll edit the widget graphic to match your specific background. if you want a different title for each "pod", let me know that too. If you want to extract the widget elements and edit the file yourself, feel free to do so. You'll need Yahoo!'s Widget Converter (http://widgets.yahoo.com/workshop/)

 
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