Small details I like in OS X Leopard: Spotlight
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) introduced Dashboard. A, sort of, invisible layer that a user can activate to access small programs, utilities, or information quickly. I never use Dashboard much. I haven’t found anything that I really need such quick access to, except calculator.
My workflow is now changing in OS X Leopard though. In Leopard Apple introduced a new feature to Spotlight: the ability to perform quick math formulas.
This is making my use of the calculator widget almost a non-occurrence. Spotlight can perform most calculations with ease (addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.) but it doesn’t stop there; Spotlight can manage exponential and square root calculations, plus a whole lot more.
I just finished listening to a podcast from Victor Cajiao of the Typical Mac User. Victor spends about 30 minutes reviewing some of the great new features in Leopard’s Spotlight. It’s worth a listen if, like me, you’re a frequent user of Spotlight. You can grab the podcast here.