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).
Written by
Matt Neuburg
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QuickTime 6.3 Adds 3GPP, Improves iApp Support
by Geoff Duncan 
Apple has released QuickTime 6.3, the latest version of its foundation digital media technology. Version 6.3 offers improvements to DV audio and video synchronization (helpful for video authoring applications) along with specific improvements for Apple's Keynote, iMovie, and iDVD applications. Version 6.3 also includes "automatic detection of streaming transport," which, though unspecified, presumably means QuickTime better handles media being accessed via network streams rather than from local devices.
<http://www.apple.com/quicktime/>
Perhaps more significantly, QuickTime 6.3 also includes support for 3GPP media, an extension of the MPEG-4 standard aimed at delivering rich media over wireless broadband networks (like Apple's AirPort) to a variety of wireless devices. (3GPP stands for 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Apple has collected together some basic information and pointers about 3GPP on its Web site. The format is seeing growing use among mobile phone and PDA users in Asia and Europe.) QuickTime 6.3's 3GPP support incorporates an H.263 video codec (often used in video conferencing), an AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate) audio codec (which is a narrowband codec especially useful for speech), and support for 3G Text (TX3G) which is a text track that can be synchronized with audio or video. The basic idea behind 3GPP support is that people creating content in QuickTime could deploy that content to wireless devices like mobile phones, PDAs, and computers using a single format, and have the media automatically scale to the capabilities of the device.
<http://www.apple.com/mpeg4/3gpp/>
QuickTime 6.3 is available as a 20 MB download via Software Update; a separate stand-alone installer is also available. 3GPP playback and authoring support requires the 3GPP component, which must be downloaded separately. QuickTime 6.3 is available for Mac OS X 10.2.3 or later, Mac OS X 10.1.5, Mac OS 8.6 or 9.x, and Windows 98/Me/2000/XP; 3GPP support is not available for the classic Mac OS. Updating to QuickTime Pro - which unlocks authoring features in the QuickTime applications - still costs $30.
<http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ standalone/>
<http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/3gpp/>
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