October 30, 2003 2:36 AM PST
Panther "Where is it?" questions
Since Panther was released last Friday, we've received a good number of questions asking where familiar features of Jaguar have gone (or stating that such features are "missing"). In many cases, the functionality users are looking for has simply been moved or renamed. Below are a few of the most commonly "missed" utilities; this is not an exhaustive list, but it should solve some mysteries for a few users:
- Disk Copy The disk image-mounting functionality of Disk Copy is now built into the Finder. (Actually, the Finder uses a background application called DiskImageMounter, located in /System/Library/CoreServices, to mount images.) Most of the other features of Jaguar's Disk Copy, and a few new features, can be found in Panther's Disk Utility.
- Process Viewer In Panther, Process Viewer has been replaced by the new -- and significantly improved -- Activity Viewer.
- Apple System Profiler In Panther, Apple System Profiler has been replaced by a similar utility called System Profiler.
- Print Center Jaguar's Print Center has been replaced by a new utility called Printer Setup Utility. (There are also a few settings in the Print & Fax panel of System Preferences, including a working way to choose which printer should be the default; Jaguar allowed you to choose a default, but if you selected a different printer in a print dialog for a particular print job, that printer became the default.)
- CPU Monitor This utility has also been rolled into the new Activity Monitor.
- Key Caps Key Caps is no longer a part of OS X; however, you can access most of its functionality from the new Keyboard Viewer palette in Panther. To access Keyboard Viewer, open the International panel of System Preferences and click on the Input Menu button. Check the box next to Keyboard Viewer, and then enable the "Show input menu in menu bar" option. With these options set, you can access the Keyboard Viewer at any time from Panther's input menu (which looks like a tiny flag, using the flag of the current language used by OS X). Unfortunately, one limitation of Panther's Keyboard Viewer is that it doesn't provide a text field; Key Caps would allow you to find a particular character and type it, then copy it from Key Caps for pasting into another application. In Panther, Apple suggests using the Character Palette (also available from the input menu) for this.
with 10.2 still on it and copy over the Key Caps app. It works just fine in
Panther. You can also get it out of the Previous Systems folder if you did
Archive/Install.
Why bother? Keyboard Viewer has exactly the same function. And
whereas it doesn't allow copying to the clip board, it will function as a
keyboard, so if you click on the key combination you want, it will enter
that into your app. You can even see the keys get pressed as you type
on the regular keyboard!
paste when you can now use the keyboard viewer to enter characters
directly into your active document - it's now one step instead of 3
steps!!!
This is a real boon for lefties, such as myself, who always found it very
awkward to use the number pad positioned on the far right of the
keyboard.
Its also a great way to access the Expose F-Keys when you are mousing...
This app is a great improvement over Keycaps.
(Want to see a cool effect??? Open Keyboard viewer and watch it while
you type into your document.... all the keys you hit are simultaneously lit
up in the viewer!!!)
missing from the System Preferences. I'm sure it's moved somewhere"
Help
Thanks,
Stan
I found it under Accounts.
Stan
It's been moved to System - Accounts. Each user has their own Startup Items, as well as Security options, a picture, Password, and the ability to make them an Admin.
In "System Preferences" go to "Accounts" pane. Click your user name and
then the "Startup Items" Tab.
in it (I regurarly use two different keyboards). I can't see anywhere this
Keyboard Viewer (but it is on my hard drive).
That's different than the Keyboard Viewer (but I think it might be handy
to leave visible if you switch keyboard layouts frequently!).
To get to Keyboard Viewer, go to the International pane of System Prefs.
Click on "Input Menu". Then make sure the checkbox next to "Keyboard
Viewer" is checked. Quit System Prefs; now you should be able to select
the Keyboard Viewer from your Keyboard menu...
Good luck,
John-o
longer available in Panther! :(
- by richieny November 2, 2003 1:35 PM PST
- Character Palette still has Keycaps (or a Keyboard Layout function), if
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(12 Comments)you enable Keyboard Viewer (under System Preferences/
International).