Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
Apple ’s latest versions of Safari and iTunes ( 4 Beta and 8.1 , severally ) offer many newfangled feature , but some folk music are nostalgic for The path thing Were — they’re not rooter of new interface element or nonpayment configurations in late variant of these apps .
If you ’re a frequent reader ofMac OS X Hints , you know that there are many “ hidden ” preferences in Safari and iTunes , most of them approachable via Terminal command . ( Rob Griffiths recently summarise a turn of these commands for Safari 4 genus Beta . ) But if you ’re not a rooter of Terminal , a couple vendors have create easy - to - use course of study for changing these hidden preferences . ( These utilities simply issue the Terminal dominate for you , behind the panorama . ) While some of the everything - but - the - kitchen swallow hole tweaking utilities out there have of late been updated to leave access to these options , the two programs below are simple and safe to utilise , easy to see , and loose .
Safari 4 Modifier
The sack of Safari 4 genus Beta brought many port changes to Apple ’s web internet browser , including a new tabs user interface . Unfortunately , some people are n’t fan of these new interface elements . Safari 4 Modifierprovides quick memory access to 14 hidden setting . Launch the political program , check a setting to enable it or uncheck the setting to disable it , and then relaunch Safari ( changes do n’t take effect until Safari is relaunched ) . Some of the most substantial scene you could change are :
There are also a few others ; give your black eye cursor over a setting for a second or two , and a tooltip will come along explaining the mount . ( Although several stage setting are dimmed on my Macs . ) There ’s also a push to realize the Recent Searches list .
Safari 4 Modifier is easy to employ and work well . One improvement I ’d like to see is for the developer to make it clearer that you want to relaunch Safari for your changes to take consequence . For model , an Apply button that , when tap , pops up a dialog with a subject matter such as “ For changes to take core , you need to relaunch Safari ” and buttons to Relaunch Safari Now or I ’ll Do It Myself after .
Change Hidden iTunes Preferences
With each giving new version of iTunes , it seems Apple makes a couple pinch that people do n’t like , while leave a back room access open , so to address , to return to the previous appearance or behavior . As a effect , over the past couple age we ’ve seen a acquire lean of hidden iTunes preferences . Doug Adam’sChange Hidden iTunes Preferences , for iTunes 8.0 and by and by , lets you do exactly what its name implies via a single window . The tweak include :
Make your change and get across on Apply ; you ’ll see a message that the variety has been made and you may plunge iTunes . If iTunes is running , you ’ll see a dialogue ask you to first drop by the wayside iTunes and then rejoin to Change Hidden iTunes Preferences and select Apply again .
( consort to the programme ’s ReadMe , you add the syllabus by set the program and an AppleScript , Change Hidden Prefs.scpt , in~/Library / iTunes / iTunes Scripts . However , this approach is mainly for convenience — it append a newfangled Change Hidden Prefs item to iTunes ’ script menu that , when chosen , launches Change Hidden iTunes Preferences . you may instead choose to drag just the covering into your Applications folder and launch it from there when need . )
If you ever require to erase a setting from your iTunes preferences charge entirely — that Indian file is a childlike XML text file , and each mount is just a bit of text — the program offers Delete Checked and Delete All command in the File fare . The program ’s support explains the possible reasons for using this feature : “ You may want to do this perhaps if a next adaptation of iTunes balks at these preferences or you decide that messing with the iTunes preference file is a bad matter . ”
Like Safari 4 Modifier , Change Hidden iTunes Preferences is simple and works . If you ’re not comfortable with Terminal bidding , it ’s a secure choice .
