OptionKey
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Mac 101: Typing accents, remember the option key
Apple has a nice tip up this week on typing letters with non-English accent marks. As they point out you can use the Character Palette, but there's a much easier way that many of us often don't remember to use via the option key. To type an accent you just need to hit an option key combo then the letter that you want to take the accent. So for example, to type an umlaut hit option+u then the u to get ü. To type an acute it's option+e then e to get é; for a grave it's option+` then a to get à. The Apple tip lists all of these handy key combos plus a bunch more. If you often find yourself typing accented characters you'll end up saving a lot of time by memorizing these combos. And even if you don't remember them exactly, you can probably figure out the one you need if you just experiment with the option key.
TUAW Tip: View long file names faster in list/column view
A lot of Mac users know and love the Finder's column view. While I can't speak for Linux, I'm pretty sure it's a fairly unique view to Mac OS X, and it's a great way to browse and move files throughout your folder system. Today's tip, however, deals with one of the column view's occasional shortcomings: its relatively (default) thin column widths. Since long file and folder names get truncated in the column view, it isn't always easy finding just the right one in a long list of chopped-off and summarized names. Instead of holding your mouse over a long file or folder's name and waiting for its full title to appear as a tooltip, there is a much quicker way to do it: simply hold down the option key. This will cause the tooltip to appear immediately, and if you keep browsing in the same directory, you can let go of the option key as it actually toggles this immediate tooltip's functionality on while you remain browsing in that folder. This also works in file open/save dialogs, where the column view can typically get scrunched the most.via [apple.com/pro]
