8 underutilized, but very useful tools from the OS X

Every Mac comes with a set of pre-installed applications that are included in OS X, and is stored in the "Programs" folder. There's a package of iWork, Contacts, Calendar and many other useful applications. But other than that in the "Programs" there are still the "Utilities" folder, which holds no less useful tools. Perhaps you have already used some of them, but in fact there are more than you think. The "utility" has 8 exciting tools that will help you in many situations.

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monitoring system

This utility allows you to monitor CPU usage, memory, and power consumption. Recently, the most interesting for MacBook owners. Some applications, such as Photoshop, use a huge amount of resources, even in a time when you are not working with them. These applications also include browsers, including Safari, so if you need to get the most autonomous time work - have a look on the "Energy Efficiency" and make sure that no application is not abused resources. You can take a kind of habit, and from time to time to open "Activity Monitor", watching the CPU, memory and other computer resources.

bonus. Icon "Monitoring System" in the dock can be used to display useful information: CPU load, CPU history, network load and drive operation.

Turn the display on, you can right-click on the icon in the Dock and choosing an item from the menu Icon in the Dock.

Console

Many users install and test a number of new applications. Often, we use them for a couple of days and then deleted. Unfortunately, some remote applications can keep running your background processes that use system resources and slow down your Mac.

One way to find out what is happening on your Mac - is a utility "console". When you open it, it will pick you up screen that will show many different kinds of gibberish. But do not be scared, watch him for a few minutes and you begin to understand how it works - all events taking place on the computer, up to send or receive messages in instant messengers, are displayed in the system magazines.

I had a case when I was using Google Calendar with the wrong password and the application tries to synchronize every two minutes, giving about 20 bugs. I was able to find it through the "console" and I fixed a bug that reconfiguring the account. If you see a lot of the same mistakes in the "Console", but did not know to which application they are - just zaguglit them. Copy the error code and paste it into the search engine to get more information.

bonus. If you "suspect" a particular application - you can use the search and filter the results to narrow down the search. To do this, type the first letters of the application name into the search box at the top right.

Colorimeter Digital Color

This tiny tool can be very useful for you if you are a designer or web developer. With it you can quickly and easily be able to determine any color on the screen. After opening the utility, you can hover over any area of ​​the screen and touch Shift + Commmand + C copy its RGB color palette, sRBB, Adobe RGB. You can then paste the color code in any application.

disk utility

OS X automatically performs a lot of action to clean, remove the old log files and maintaining the "health" of the hard disk. However, it will be even better, if you open the "Disk Utility" from time to time (but not too often, one once a month - more than enough) and do preventive maintenance, checking the disk, and then correcting the permissions and disk. It is a safe procedure, however, is not superfluous to make a backup copy. If a problem will take place - "Disk Utility" will fix them for you.

screen Capture

OS X has default opportunities to work with screenshots, so there is no need for fully third-party applications. All you need to remember - this is a combination of keys Shift + Cmd + 3 and Shift + Cmd + 4That make a screenshot and snapshot selected area of ​​the screen, respectively. If you need to copy a screenshot to be inserted into any application, simply add to the above key shortcuts Ctrl - screenshot will be immediately copied to the clipboard.

bonus. Sometimes, to shoot some of the menu is not easy, so do not be amiss to take advantage of the screen image on the timer, which enables you to take a screenshot with a 10-second delay.

Bunch of keys

Safari remembers for you and always offers account passwords for all the sites you visit. It's pretty cool, especially in terms of safety, but sometimes it is necessary to view a particular password. This will help the "Keychain Access" that manages all your passwords and through which you can view any of them, by entering your password.

bonus. The utility settings, you can enable the display of icons in the menu bar, by which you get quick access to all functions of the application.

VoiceOver utility

Your Mac is able to talk and you are likely to know about it. However, most people never use VoiceOver. Basic functionality is rather limited, if you open its options from the system settings by selecting "Universal Access". But if you open the tool itself, you will find there a lot of settings, with which you can play.

System Information

This utility knows about your computer everything. You can open it and see the specifications of the hardware and software stuffing your Mac. There's more information than is necessary for most users, however, there are plenty of reasons to look there. For example, you can save your exact specifications, including version numbers and serial numbers, which can be useful to you in case of loss or theft of your Mac.

Open the utility and click Command + S - it will keep record of the system in XML format on the desktop. Drag a file into the Dropbox or another safe place away from your computer. If anything happens, you are able to answer any detailed questions about your computer.

bonus. With the help of system information you can find out the exact number of cycles the battery of your MacBook. To do this, open Report System — Hardware — power — About the battery and see information about the health of, there must have item "number of charge cycles." Compare this figure with the stated number of cycles allowable for your model, and you will be able to estimate what battery life you still have in stock.

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We have questions, comments or suggestions? Welcome to the comments - I'm always happy to talk and help. Stay tuned, there is still a lot of interesting things!

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