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Open Files with Finder's App Switcher
Say you're in the Finder looking at a file and you want to open it with an application that's already running but which doesn't own that particular document. How? Switch to that app and choose File > Open? Too many steps. Choose Open With from the file's contextual menu? Takes too long, and the app might not be listed. Drag the file to the Dock and drop it onto the app's icon? The icon might be hard to find; worse, you might miss.
In Leopard there's a new solution: use the Command-Tab switcher. Yes, the Command-Tab switcher accepts drag-and-drop! The gesture required is a bit tricky. Start dragging the file in the Finder: move the file, but don't let up on the mouse button. With your other hand, press Command-Tab to summon the switcher, and don't let up on the Command key. Drag the file onto the application's icon in the switcher and let go of the mouse. (Now you can let go of the Command key too.) Extra tip: If you switch to the app beforehand, its icon in the Command-Tab switcher will be easy to find; it will be first (or second).
Visit Take Control of Customizing Leopard
Written by Matt Neuburg
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Published in TidBITS 626. Subscribe today to receive TidBITS in email every Monday.
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| QuicKeys X 1.5 Adds Menu Support
by Matt Neuburg 
QuicKeys X 1.5 Adds Menu Support -- CE Software has released QuicKeys X 1.5, a new version of its automation utility (see "QuicKeys X: The Return of the Ghost" in TidBITS-602). You can now choose menu items by name or position; this doesn't work in every application, though (Eudora, for example, or Classic applications), but another new feature, Menu Clicks, largely makes up for this lack. Menu Clicks are actually a specific use of the new Multiple Clicks shortcut, a sequence of clicks which you can easily define and edit, and which QuicKeys X performs rapidly. CE Software added some window actions such as closing, collapsing, and zooming a window, but other basic window manipulations from earlier versions, such as cycling to the next window, are still missing. Also new are shortcuts to start and stop Classic, the interface for connecting to network servers has been improved, and Click shortcuts can once again be defined relative to the screen, a window, or the mouse. On the downside, shortcuts that insert text (as opposed to typing text) now force the text to be Helvetica 12 rather than taking on the font and size attributes of the insertion point. CE fixed this bug within hours of us reporting it; look for a version 1.5.1 to appear in a few days. QuicKeys X 1.5 costs $80; CE charges $16 to upgrade from QuicKeys X 1.0. Upgrades from versions of QuicKeys compatible with the classic Mac OS cost $65. A 30-day demo version is available as a 7.6 MB download. [MAN]
<http://www.quickeys.com/products/qkx.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/06603>
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