We revisit one of OSXs most misunderstood features this week and that's the latest version of Automator in Leopard.

Automator is a way of creating special applications or plugins that allow you to "automate" repetitive tasks. Each workflow is built up from a number of predefined actions that are bundled in with most of Apples own applications and an increasing number of third party applications. Initially introduced in Tiger, Automator has received a significant make over in Leopard with the introduction of some brand new features, mainly the ability to record tasks using the new "Watch Me Do" feature along with the introduction of user and system generated variables to use in your workflows.

So if the thought of AppleScript sends shivers down your spine, check out some the new features of Automator.

The show covers:

• Automator Basics
• The revised Interface
• Creating a Sample Workflow to resize images
• Creating a Sample Workflow with Text and Speech
• Saving Workflows as Applications
• Saving Workflows as Plugins
• Creating a Sample Workflow with "Watch Me Do"
• Creating and Scheduling an iCal Plugin

This weeks show also includes an Extra! section only available to ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members:

• Variables in Automator
• Creating a Sample Workflow including Variables

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Preview is one of OS X Leopards hidden gems. So much so, that most people are only aware of a fraction of its somewhat surprising range of features and capabilities!

Preview received a complete makeover with the release of Leopard, providing you with lots of additional power and flexibility. The great thing is, it's free and it's on all Macs so you never have to falter to make that image correction when your favourite shareware or freeware application isn't installed on someone else's Mac.

In this show, I'll take you through all the basic features of the latest version of Preview including:

• Image Capture
• Viewing Single and Multiple Images with Preview
• Slideshow Views
• Managing Images within Preview
• Color Correction
• Image Annotation
• Image Conversion and Resizing
• Opening and Re-arranging PDFs
• Annotation and Mark Up of PDFs
• Searching
• Bookmarks

See, I told you there was a lot to Preview!

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Time Machine must be one of the most useful features of Leopard and should be mandatory for all Macs users. The fact is many people don't backup their critical or precious personal data and leave it until it's too late. Time Machine takes away the pain of undertaking and organising your backups but it does need additional investment in hardware. A simple firewire disk is adequate for most people, but what if you have several Macs? What if you'd like to buy a new disk but you want that wireless router as well?

The answer is to take a look at Time Capsule, the latest backup device from Apple designed specifically for Leopard users and Time Machine. But in fairness, to call it just a backup device does it a disservice. It's a multi-function machine with many roles:

Backup Device - 500GB or 1TB of storage built right in. Enough to service a single mac or multiple macs. Centralise all your Time Machine backups.
Wireless Device - Includes a full blown 802.11n wireless hub allowing you to create a wireless network or join an existing wireless network. You can backup your devices wirelessly and automatically.
GigaBit Network Switch - Includes three wired Gigabit ethernet ports so you can connect wired devices to your network.
Expandable - Add additional USB drives to expand your storage - never run out of space for your backups!
Print Server - Connect a printer and access your printer across the network from both wired and wireless devices.

The real beauty of Time Capsule is just how easy it is to setup and use and that's where this weeks show comes in. In the show I cover:

• Time Capsule Overview
• Typical Networking Scenario
• Installing & Configuring Time Capsule
• Adding Additional Storage to Time Capsule
• Access Time Capsule with Time Machine

As well as Time Capsule, Apple have also introduced the ability to add additional USB storage devices to existing Airport Extreme devices. It's not as straight forward as Time Capsule but if youe have an existing Airport Extreme, it's an extremely cost effective way of centralising your Time Machine backups. Consequently the show also covers:

• Adding Drives to Airport Extreme
• Configuring AirPort Extreme Disks
• Accessing Airport Extreme Disks via Time Machine.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Busy, busy week! Apple finally released Leopard 10.5.2 and in a flash, put right a lot of the issues and complaints people were having with the User Interface. So this week I take a look at some of the changes in the new update and the best way to install it.

Also, I've been holding off doing a show on Spaces, the virtual desktop management system in Leopard, as I must admit, I did find it a little buggy! Hopefully 10.5.2 has fixed that so the second part of the show is all about Spaces. In this section I cover:

• Spaces Concepts
• Setting Up Spaces
• Moving Between Spaces
• Visualising Spaces

This weeks show is the first that contains an Extra! section just for ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members. In this additional section I cover:

• Moving Apps & Objects Between Spaces
• Organising Spaces by Task

Some major changes to the show format this week in that I've introduced a brand new theme and and transition clips. The new theme was commissioned from Geoff Smith, podcast theme maker extraordinaire! To celebrate, I spent some time putting together a new opening sequence, a new chapter marker and a new ending. All in motion graphics. I hope you like them!

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Another Members show this week and it's part 2 of the iCal tutorial. In this weeks episode, I look at some of the more advanced capabilities of iCal that make it such a powerful planning and sharing tool. In addition, I also take a look at some third party tools that enable you to extend the capabilities of iCal and also integrate and syncronise with Google Calendar.

The show covers:

• Time Zone Support
• Sharing Calendars including
• Exporting
• Publishing
• Subscribing
• Syncronising Calendars including
• .Mac Sync
• iPhone Sync
• Third Party Integration
• BusySync for sharing iCal calendars
• Spanning Sync for integration with Google Calendar

Don't forget that the members version of the show has embedded chapters so you can go straight to the section that you want or easily skip sections.

LInks mentioned in this weeks show:

ScreenCastsOnline Forums
The MacBites Podcast
BusySync - See update below
Spanning Sync
UK Affiliate Link for .Mac

Update 31/12/07 - In case you were not aware, BusySync has just been upgraded to sync across the WAN (ie via Macs connected across the Internet not just the local LAN). The press release can be found here. If you're interested in learning how to configure the new WAN features, see this section of the user's guide.

This weeks show is an Extra Members show and is available in Apple TV HD format (1280x720), Enhanced Desktop ED Format (960x540) and iPhone/iPod resolution (640x360). For full details on how easy it is to become an Extra! member and get this show along with the next six months worth of weekly shows PLUS access to over 120+ Mac based tutorials, just follow this link.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
The free show (or trailer) is at a much lower resolution.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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I've been holding off doing a show on iCal for a while now, but I'm glad I did. Leopard and the iPhone has brought a new lease of life to iCal, the calendar application included with Mac OS X.

Under the hood, there's a ton of cool and really useful features that now make iCal a credible and reliable tool to help you plan, organise and share your busy schedule.

In fact, there's so much stuff to cram in, I've had to split the show into two parts! In this first part, I cover:

• iCal User Interface Basics
• Creating and Managing Calendars
• Calendar Groups
• Creating and Editing Events
• Setting up Mail for iCal invitations
• Using Invitations to Setup Meetings
• Mail Integration
• Using Data Detectors in Mail
• Setting up To Dos via Mail

Part 2 will be along shortly looking at some of the more advanced features of iCal.

This weeks show is an Extra Members show and is available in Apple TV HD format (1280x720), Enhanced Desktop ED Format (960x540) and iPhone/iPod resolution (640x360). For full details on how easy it is to become an Extra! member and get this show along with the next six months worth of weekly shows PLUS access to over 120+ Mac based tutorials, just follow this link.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
The free show (or trailer) is at a much lower resolution.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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This weeks' show is the last Leopard related screencast for a couple of weeks, and it's all about a couple of the most controversial aspects of Leopard, and that's the Leopard Desktop and Stacks.

These two areas seem to have been the most contentious, what with the missing rounded corners, the translucent menu bar and the perception of the 3D dock as being just eye candy! Not to mention the dubious visual metaphor of Stacks using the foremost icon in the dock - very confusing!

Well in this weeks' show, we'll examine all these features and look at some resolutions using some free third party applications. So this weeks show covers:

• New Menu Bar
• Recreating Rounded Corners
• Turning off the Translucency
• Configuring New Screensavers
• Customising the 3D Dock
• Stacks Overview
• Fixing Stacks Visuals
• Creating a Recent Items Stack

As promised, here are the links to the various utilities used in this weeks show:

OpaqueMenuBar
Displaperture
Leopard Docks
Stack Overlay Icons
mac OSX Hints

This weeks show is an Extra Members show and is available in Apple TV HD format (1280x720), Enhanced Desktop ED Format (960x540) and iPhone/iPod resolution (640x360). For full details on how easy it is to become an Extra! member and get this show along with the next six months worth of weekly shows PLUS access to over 120+ Mac based tutorials, just follow this link.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
The free show (or trailer) is at a much lower resolution.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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The first full show on one of Leopards most unique features - Time Machine!

We all know what Leopard is supposed to do but in this show I take you from the basics of using Time Machine with the Finder, through iPhoto integration and even take a peek at Time Machine support in OSX Leopard Server. This weeks show is a free show, but I've included a special Extra! members only section at the end of the full show covering some of the more advanced features.

This week's show covers:

• Time Machine Basics
• Using The Finder in Time Machine
• Spotlight Integration with Time Machine
• iPhoto Integration with Time Machine

The Extra! members section also includes:

• Using Storage on Other Macs for Time Machine
• Setting up Personal File Sharing on Leopard
• Sneak Peak at Screen Sharing
• Sneak Peak at Using Leopard Server for Time Machine

Look out for more Leopard related screencasts in the coming months.


Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
The free show (or trailer) is at a much lower resolution.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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Yes, it's finally here - this week is the Leopard install show! If you've been hanging on and haven't installed Leopard yet, now you can learn all about the final preparation, a cool way to create a backup of your Leopard DVD plus the different options and customisations available when you install the big cat!

This week's show covers:

• Considerations Before Install
• Creating a bootable image of your Leopard Install DVD (optional)
• Using iPartition to dynamically resize partitions (optional)
• Final preparations
• Removing APE to prevent installation hangups
• Leopard Installation - Upgrade
• Leopard Installation - Archive and Install
• Leopard Installation - Erase and Install
• Using Migration Assistant

LInks to this weeks Software:

Special Pre-Order Discounts for Leopard:

US
Mac OS X 10.5: $109 (Save $20)
5-License Family Pack: $189 (Save $10)

UK
Mac OS X 10.5: £79.98 (Save £5.02)
5-License Family Pack: £119.98 (Save £7.02)

Links to the software used in this weeks show:

SuperDuper
iPartition 3

This weeks show is an Extra Members show and is available in Apple TV HD format (1280x720), Enhanced Desktop ED Format (960x540) and iPhone/iPod resolution (640x360). For full details on how easy it is to become an Extra! member and get this show along with the next six months worth of weekly shows PLUS access to over 120+ Mac based tutorials, just follow this link.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
The free show (or trailer) is at a much lower resolution.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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At last! The launch date has been announced, the DVD printers are churning out copies of Leopard and all we have to do now is pre-order and wait for the big day!

Well we could sit and wait, but there's lots of things we can be doing in the meantime to ensure that our Macs are fit and ready to receive Leopard. More importantly, there are things we can do in advance to make sure that the installation or upgrade goes smoothly and that we are in a position to recover if things don't go as well as planned.

Yes, this week's show is all about preparing for the Leopard install and what sensible steps you need to do in advance.

One of the major things is ensuring that you have a good bootable backup of your Mac BEFORE you even think about upgrading. In this episode, I take you through some of the options for getting an external hard disk that can dual as both a bootable backup of your current system and also be configured to act as your Time Machine backup at the same time! I also cover some simple housekeeping steps to weed out the data and applications that clutter up your hard disk. The show covers:

• Selecting an External Hard Disk
• Partitioning your new disk
• Creating a Time Machine volume
• Creating a Bootable Backup using Superduper
• Testing your Bootable Backup
• Disk Housekeeping
• Identifying large files with Grandperspective
• Removing Applications with Appzapper
• Updating Applications with AppFresh

LInks to this weeks Software:

Special Pre-Order Discounts for Leopard:

US
Mac OS X 10.5: $109 (Save $20)
5-License Family Pack: $189 (Save $10)

UK
Mac OS X 10.5: £79.98 (Save £5.02)
5-License Family Pack: £119.98 (Save £7.02)

Links to the software used in this weeks show:

Carbon Copy Cloner
SuperDuper
GrandPerspective
AppZapper
AppFresh


This weeks show is an Extra Members show and is available in Apple TV HD format (1280x720), Enhanced Desktop ED Format (960x540) and iPhone/iPod resolution (640x360). For full details on how easy it is to become an Extra! member and get this show along with the next six months worth of weekly shows PLUS access to over 120+ Mac based tutorials, just follow this link.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
The free show (or trailer) is at a much lower resolution.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

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