![]() BetterTouchTool (donationware, currently in alpha) offers the ability to assign custom gestures to perform a wide range of system tasks, including opening and closing windows, invoking Mac OS X features like Dashboard and Exposé, launching applications and websites, adjusting preferences such as sound and brightness, controlling iTunes, and mimicking specific key combinations or mouse functions such as right-clicking. Next up are more ambitious multitouch extenders. Support for Apple's Magic Trackpad is planned for MagicPrefs, but no timetable for that addition is available. As of this writing, both of these products work only with Apple's Magic Mouse. MagicPrefs (free) and MouseWizard ($5) add support for multiple-clicking and augment the existing swipe/pinch/drag gestures they also let you automate a wide variety of tasks, such as copying/pasting, switching spaces, and launching applications using the Magic Mouse. If you don't want to wait to get more gestures and capabilities, however, you don't have to: There are several utilities available for getting your multitouch groove on in Leopard and Snow Leopard (but not earlier Mac OS X releases).įirst up are two tools that simply expand on Apple's existing multitouch features. Whether Apple will offer even more advanced gesture support is an open question, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some more in the final release. Among the new gestures demoed on Apple's Lion page are rubber-band-style scrolling, enhanced pinch and zoom functionality, and full-screen swiping. In Lion, Apple has promised to bring even more iOS-style multitouch gestures and visual responses to Mac OS X. Apple has expanded these gestures in more recent MacBook models, as well as in its Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad peripherals. The original MacBook Air pioneered the use of the trackpad for multitouch gestures - pinching, swiping, and the like - in 2008. ![]() Note: A version of DropCopy for iOS is also available it lets you send files on a Mac to an iPhone or iPad (or vice versa), or share files between two iOS devices.Īpple has been bringing multitouch features into Macs for a long time now. One major difference between AirDrop and DropCopy is that AirDrop requires user confirmation before a transfer takes place (a big plus when connected to public or office networks), whereas DropCopy does not. (Users specify where they want copied files to be placed when they install DropCopy.) DropCopy also allows you to transfer contents between the Clipboards of two Macs. Drag the files onto a specific Mac to copy them to that Mac. Dragging files to the Drop Zone will display a list of available Macs with DropCopy running. When installed on two or more Macs on a local network, an icon called the Drop Zone appears on the desktop of each. (It costs $5 if you need to install it on more than three Macs.) Its goal is essentially the same as AirDrop's. There aren't many third-party options that mimic AirDrop, but DropCopy is a free app available for Macs running Snow Leopard, Leopard, or Tiger. If he or she accepts, the file will be added to that user's Downloads folder. That user will see an alert that you are sending a file, with the option to accept or reject the transfer. To send a file, simply drag it to a user's name. Click AirDrop and you'll see a list of Mac users with AirDrop enabled who are connected to your network. Lion will include a feature called AirDrop that simplifies the process and offers a bit more security.Īccording to Apple, AirDrop will be listed in a Finder window sidebar. That's great, but to share a file with someone, you must know the name of their Mac, that Mac must have file sharing turned on, and you must have access to an account on that Mac (unless the other person has left guest access enabled, which is never a good idea for security reasons). Bonjour, Apple's no-configuration network protocol, makes it easy to locate Macs on a local network that have file sharing active - they simply show up (along with any non-Mac computers or file servers) in the sidebar of Finder windows. Pricing varies depending on the type of account you have and on the amount of space you use.Īpple has always aimed to make file sharing as simple as possible. There is very limited restore capability connected to a free Dropbox account, but a Pro account offers a feature called Pak-Rat that provides extensive restore or rewind capabilities. That feature isn't included in the Mac Dropbox app but can be easily accessed by logging into your account at the Dropbox website. Although most commonly used to share and sync files across multiple computers and mobile devices, Dropbox does offer version tracking. ![]() Another option that offers some Versions-like features is the Dropbox online storage service.
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