Macworld's best tips, tricks, and How-To's

Is Time Machine all you need?

Although any backup is better than no backup at all, Time Machine may not protect your data to the extent or in the way that you need. A few significant weaknesses offset its impressive strengths.

  • Playlist: Sing along with your iPodLots of CDs provide the lyrics in the liner notes, but songs purchased from the iTunes Store or ripped from your CDs don’t include that information in the file. Nevertheless, iTunes and your iPod can still help you sing along.
  • Working Mac: Spice up your slidesTired of rehashing the same static presentations? Consider adding movement. Used judiciously, animations can add power and pizzazz to your presentations, and they can often illustrate a point better than words alone.

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  • Is Time Machine all you need?
    Although any backup is better than no backup at all, Time Machine may not protect your data to the extent or in the way that you need. A few significant weaknesses offset its impressive strengths.
  • Playlist: Sing along with your iPod
    Lots of CDs provide the lyrics in the liner notes, but songs purchased from the iTunes Store or ripped from your CDs don’t include that information in the file. Nevertheless, iTunes and your iPod can still help you sing along.
  • Working Mac: Spice up your slides
    Tired of rehashing the same static presentations? Consider adding movement. Used judiciously, animations can add power and pizzazz to your presentations, and they can often illustrate a point better than words alone.
  • Excerpt: Take Control of Easy Backups in Leopard
    The inclusion of Time Machine as part of Mac OS X 10.5 shows the importance of good backups for every Mac user. And while backing up and restoring files may be easier than before, you’re still going to need a place to store all that data. In this excerpt from his Take Control of Easy Backups in Leopard ebook, Joe Kissell tells you what to consider when shopping for a backup drive to hold all that Time Machine-saved data.
  • Fitting your files on a MacBook Air
    If you’ve ordered a MacBook Air, you’ve got some storage decisions to make. The 80GB of storage that ships with this thin notebook goes against the trend of higher-capacity hard drives. But not to worry—Joe Kissell has some advice on how to make sure all your vital files and applications fit on your new laptop.
  • Mobile Mac: The portable hotspot
    If you travel with colleagues for business trips, or if your multiple-Mac family brings its laptops on vacation, getting Internet access for everyone can be an exercise in configuration frustration. There is an alternative: a cellular router.
  • Back up multiple computers with Time Machine
    If you have more than one Mac but don’t want to use a separate hard drive to back up each one, Time Machine can help.
  • Playlist: Digitize your cassettes and LPs
    If your music collection stretches back several decades, odds are you have at least a few beloved analog titles on cassette or vinyl. They need not languish unloved and unheard simply because they’re in an old format.
  • Automator Power: Variables and looping
    Automator includes dozens of built-in variables, such as dates, times, and system information. With looping, you can repeat actions or groups of actions a set number of times.
  • Excerpt: Avoid iPhone navigation and typing hassles
    New to the iPhone? Then you'll need to learn how to master its MultiTouch interface. In this excerpt from the new Take Control of Your iPhone ebook, Ted Landau shows you how to understand iPhone gestures, make text more readable, and master the onscreen keyboard.
  • PC World: HDTV buying advice
    PC World tells you what to do when you're ready to buy a high-definition television set.
  • Understanding and using Leopard's firewall
    OS X has long included a basic firewall, but Leopard takes this fundamental security technology in a new and innovative direction. Rich Mogull looks at Leopard's firewall, how the 10.5.1 update changed things, and configuration options.
  • Excerpt: Avoid file-sharing risks
    File sharing helps coordinate group projects, create a central archive of files, and share media. But before you dig into the details of how to share files, consider the risks of file sharing. Glenn Fleishman does just that in this excerpt from his new ebook, Take Control of Sharing Files in Leopard; he also looks at what actions you can take to avoid such risks.
  • Tracking down trouble with the Console
    Your Mac talks to itself a lot. OS X takes copious notes on what its various parts are doing; your applications send a constant stream of status messages to the operating system, too. All these notes and messages are stored in log files, which can be really handy when you need to troubleshoot your Mac.
All Topic Tips, Tricks, and How-To's
  • Is Time Machine all you need?
    Although any backup is better than no backup at all, Time Machine may not protect your data to the extent or in the way that you need. A few significant weaknesses offset its impressive strengths.
  • Playlist: Sing along with your iPod
    Lots of CDs provide the lyrics in the liner notes, but songs purchased from the iTunes Store or ripped from your CDs don’t include that information in the file. Nevertheless, iTunes and your iPod can still help you sing along.
  • Working Mac: Spice up your slides
    Tired of rehashing the same static presentations? Consider adding movement. Used judiciously, animations can add power and pizzazz to your presentations, and they can often illustrate a point better than words alone.
  • Excerpt: Take Control of Easy Backups in Leopard
    The inclusion of Time Machine as part of Mac OS X 10.5 shows the importance of good backups for every Mac user. And while backing up and restoring files may be easier than before, you’re still going to need a place to store all that data. In this excerpt from his Take Control of Easy Backups in Leopard ebook, Joe Kissell tells you what to consider when shopping for a backup drive to hold all that Time Machine-saved data.
  • Fitting your files on a MacBook Air
    If you’ve ordered a MacBook Air, you’ve got some storage decisions to make. The 80GB of storage that ships with this thin notebook goes against the trend of higher-capacity hard drives. But not to worry—Joe Kissell has some advice on how to make sure all your vital files and applications fit on your new laptop.
  • Mobile Mac: The portable hotspot
    If you travel with colleagues for business trips, or if your multiple-Mac family brings its laptops on vacation, getting Internet access for everyone can be an exercise in configuration frustration. There is an alternative: a cellular router.
  • Back up multiple computers with Time Machine
    If you have more than one Mac but don’t want to use a separate hard drive to back up each one, Time Machine can help.
  • Playlist: Digitize your cassettes and LPs
    If your music collection stretches back several decades, odds are you have at least a few beloved analog titles on cassette or vinyl. They need not languish unloved and unheard simply because they’re in an old format.
  • Working Mac: Fix Mac slowdowns
    Does your Mac seem to be getting slower over time? This probably isn’t your imagination. As you use your computer, a number of factors can gradually lead to poorer performance. Luckily, it’s easy to solve most slowdowns and restore much of your Mac’s original pep.
  • PC World: HDTV buying advice
    PC World tells you what to do when you're ready to buy a high-definition television set.
  • Understanding and using Leopard's firewall
    OS X has long included a basic firewall, but Leopard takes this fundamental security technology in a new and innovative direction. Rich Mogull looks at Leopard's firewall, how the 10.5.1 update changed things, and configuration options.
  • Excerpt: Avoid file-sharing risks
    File sharing helps coordinate group projects, create a central archive of files, and share media. But before you dig into the details of how to share files, consider the risks of file sharing. Glenn Fleishman does just that in this excerpt from his new ebook, Take Control of Sharing Files in Leopard; he also looks at what actions you can take to avoid such risks.
  • Improving AirPort's range
    While Wi-Fi signals are supposed to reach 150 feet in any direction from a gateway, that optimistic number is rarely reached indoors.
  • Your photo here
    A print isn’t the only way to show off your photographic endeavors. Whereas photo-based gifts were once limited to mouse pads and mugs, now you can customize far more interesting objects with your favorite pictures.
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