10 Favorite Mountain Lion Features - Make Tech Easier

10 Favorite Mountain Lion Features Apple recently announced the newest Mac OS that will be hitting a Mac near you by this summer. The new OS is called Mountain Lion, an OS coming after the current OS X Lion model. Mountain Lion is an OS that incorporates a lot that went right with the recent iOS software, including many parts of the iPhone we all use everyday. This, in the end, is a move toward merging your iOS device and Mac, keeping them in sync. Let's take a look at some of the best features Apple released with Mountain Lion. Your Stuff, Everywhere iCloud now comes fully to Mountain Lion. If you aren't familiar with iCloud, it allows all of your documents, photos, iCal, Address Book, etc to be available over the air without having to be saved on a flash or hard drive. The cloud initiative is also found with many music sharing companies that allow songs to be available over the air for download once purchased. To use on your Mac, just sign in with your Apple ID. What ever you do on one device hooked up with iCloud, it will reflect on the other connected devices. It will be something you'll find yourself using a lot with Mountain Lion! iMessaging on a Mac Facetime become available on the iPhone, before appearing on the iPad, then Mac. Now, iMessage followed suit. First becoming an iOS feature, before appearing on the iPad, and now it replaces iChat with the latest Mountain Lion update. Now known as Messages for Mac, the new messaging hub allows you to chat on the same services available through iChat, however you can also iMessage between Macs and iOS devices. Messages for Mac also has the ability to send photos and files, and if the device you want to conversate with has FaceTime, you can even hold a FaceTime conversation by clicking the special respective button that launches the FaceTime application. Sharing Sheets Throughout Mountain Lion, you will see a special button called Sharing Sheets. This allows you to share photos, documents, and more through Messages, adding a bookmark, reading for later, and more. This is the best way to share everything from links you have found online to photos you have taken on Photobooth, to even photos you have collected in iPhoto. In iPhoto and Photobooth, if you have created a video or taken a photo, you can even share them on Vimeo and Flickr, respectively. Have a PDF document you need to run by the boss? Share it through Mail with Share Sheets. Did we mention there's also Twitter support? Tweeting on Your Mac With Share Sheets, you have the ability to share photos and links you have found onto Twitter. The tweeting feature and interface looks identical to that found on iOS. You have, what looks like a note card, where you can write your message, have the link or image clipped, and the ability to add your location. With a character counter on the bottom, you never have to worry about staying within the 140 characters. If you receive a mention or DM, you'll know with Twitter integration. Your Mac, Safer OS X Mountain Lion is there to make sure your Mac is safer than ever. This is done with the addition of Gate Keeper. This makes sure that the applications downloaded are of your consent. You have three options for protecting yourself. You can have no setting at all, allowing you to download just about anything anywhere, but you'll at least be protected in some minor way. You can set to only download from Apple accredited developers, simply those who have a Developer ID, or you can only download from the Mac App Store. Notifications in One Place Just like with iOS, Mountain Lion is bringing your Notification Center. If you aren't familiar with Notification Center, it is the hub for all of the notifications and alerts you get on your iPhone, and now on Mac. Notification Center will show you when you have a new tweet, when you've received a new Message, when you've missed a Facetime "call", and more. To activate, simply slide to the right with three fingers on your trackpad. To clear a notification, click the "X" or click to execute it. Just as is the case with iOS, you also receive discrete notifications without having to activate Notification Center, never having to miss a thing. Gamer Friendly Mac Game Center for iOS allowed you to keep of your stats and standings with the games you played alone and with friends. Now, Game Center has come to Mac. You can now check out your standings with the myriad of games available on the Mac App Store. Just sign in with your Apple ID to enjoy the fun. If you are already using Game Center on your iPhone or iOS device, all of your stats and information, including profile information, will match up. Have fun, but not too much fun! Remember Everything Reminders first appeared on iOS and it's an application I use about everyday to remember tasks I have to get done for the day. Now, Reminders is made available on Mac through Mountain Lion. Now you can remember everything that has to get done, from projects to groceries. Reminders for Mac also uses iCloud to apply additions and changes made on your Mac with the iOS devices connected with the Apple ID. Reminders are categorized, like on iOS, making for easier retrieval. Your Mac, On TV Want to show of an iMovie creation or footage from your latest vacation? Or maybe you want to show off spreadsheets or a PowerPoint presentation to a class or coworkers. Now, with Airplay Mirroring, you have the ability to play your Mac screen on the big screen, or at least how ever big your TV is. All you need to do is make sure your Apple TV box and Mac are under the same WIFI network, and then you're ready to begin. Notes for Your Thoughts Lastly, Mountain Lion finally has a stable, formal notes section. This allows you to add small pointers, instructions, or just reminders for yourself without having to waste a sheet of paper. If needed, Notes now allows you to add photos and attachments to your notes. Once your notes are completed, you can send them, through Share Sheets to Messages or Mail. Have a note you need to remember once you get back to your Mac? Notes allows you to pin them onto your desktop for later review. All of this works with iCloud, meaning the notes made, edited, and deleted on your Mac will reflect on your iOS device, vice versa. Which one is your favorite Mountain Lion features? 10 Favorite Mountain Lion Features originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS) Follow us at Facebook | Twitter

Using Kirjaudu to Change Windows 7′s Logon Screen Posted: 24 Feb 2012 04:58 PM PST There's a ton of talk out there about changing your logon screen manually, but many people – particularly those who are more tech-illiterate – would like a program that can magically do this with the click of a mouse. If you're one of the latter group of people, someone from Finland appears to have been listening to your grievances. Now, you can use Kirjaudu (which means "logon" in Finnish) and click a large button on the application to change that old, boring logon screen into a beautiful background. There's no crazy installation process, no adware obligations, and no insanely long processes involved in simply making the switch. The Problem Most People Face When Modifying Windows The majority of computer users would like to turn their Windows installations into something more personalized, much like how you can do it with certain Linux distributions. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't really want people messing around with their graphic interface, and why code it into Windows when there are many third-party applications (some even free for download) that can do these things? We're not exactly sure why Windows doesn't let you do things like changing the Start button or logon screen on your computer. Third-party applications simply suck, for lack of a better word, since most of them require you to pay and have very limited functionality in their trial versions. Some of them can even end up breaking your computer in ways you never thought possible. The free versions don't quite cut it either, and sometimes you want to do something simple without installing an entire suite for it. The problem isn't easy to address, and the alternative isn't any better: You would have to change your logon screen manually. So… Kirjuadu Comes to The Rescue Nobody likes to mess with the Windows registry. It's just one huge hodgepodge of disasters waiting to happen, especially if you have no clue what you're doing. A clever Finnish developer made an application that does it all for you, and you barely have to do any work to make it happen. Kirjuadu is available for download here. Not only is the application malware-free, but it's also open source for those techies that want to make the world a better place. Once you download it, simply open the EXE. You should see a window like this: That has to be the most oversimplified interface in the world. Yet, you can't argue with the fact that almost anyone can use it. Once you push the button, it will take you to a browsing window, where you can select the file that you'd like to change your logon screen to. Once done, you'll see the interface show the picture you selected on the right-hand side. Click "Start" and the application will change the logon screen for you. Restart your computer to see results. Please note: The developer of this application is not associated in any way to Make Tech Easier, and any bugs should be reported on the developer's project page here. Let us know what you feel about this program in the comments section! Using Kirjaudu to Change Windows 7′s Logon Screen originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS) Follow us at Facebook | Twitter