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How to undo a lot of Lion’s little changes using Terminal

Posted on July 27, 2011
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Mac OS X Lion has been out for about a week now, long enough for a lot of us to realize that there might be a couple of essential tweaks we’d really like to make to our new systems. However, if you want to disable some of the new animations, reclaim some lost space in Safari’s bookmarks bar, or try to roll back some of the iOS-ification that has gone on, the options available in those default preference panes just won’t cut it.

Luckily though, the good old ‘defaults write’ command for OS X’s Terminal.app is still around to help us pop open that hood and tweak all the stuff that can’t be configured with just a point and a click. Here’s a quick roundup of a few defaults write commands that might make your early days with the new big cat a bit easier.

A few words about ‘defaults write’

The ‘defaults’ command allows users to interact with their user defaults via the terminal (located in the Applications>Utilities folder). Users can read, write, and delete user preference values that often aren’t available for configuration within an application’s normal preference panel. These commands can all be executed via the Terminal, and reversed by simply repeating the command with the original value swapped in for the replacements below. In most cases you’ll have to restart the application you’re trying to tweak before you can see the command’s effect. If you don’t want to mess around with the terminal, I’m sure many of these commands will soon find their way into an updated version of Secrets, which is a GUI preference pane for configuring this type of behavior.

The roundup

  • Animations. There are a lot of new animations in Lion. New windows will warp into existence from a single point on the screen; email replies will fold their way out of threaded conversations; and desktops will go swishing by as you move from space to space. There’s at least two of these you can put an end to right now if you want:
    • Disable Mail Reply animations: “defaults write com.apple.Mail DisableReplyAnimations -bool YES”
    • Disable New Window animations: “defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool NO”
  • Character picker. If you’ve ever been frustrated by hunting around in the character viewer for accented characters like the “è” or the “ë” then you probably want to just leave this setting alone. If however, if you’d rather be able to hold down a key and just have it automatically repeat, like it used to, then this defaults write is for you.
    • Disable the character picker: “defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool NO”
  • Window restore. Want to keep applications like Preview or QuickTime from restoring old windows that happened to be hanging around the last time you quit? Just switch out the name “Preview” in the command below to target other applications.
    • Disable window restore: “defaults write com.apple.Preview NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool NO”
  • Bookmarks bar. You can get rid of both the Reading List icon and the Top Sites icon with this quick defaults write command:
    • Clean out icons from Safari’s bookmarks bar: “defaults write com.apple.Safari ProxiesInBookmarksBar ‘()’”
  • Save sheet shortcuts. Lion changes around the default save sheet shortcuts for a little added safety. If you’ve got a lot of muscle memory devoted to “Command-D” as the shortcut for “Don’t Save,” you can bring it back if you want — though to be honest, with “D” and “S” being so close together, I prefer the new settings.
    • Revert save sheet shortcut: “defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSSavePanelStandardDesktopShortcutOnly -bool YES”
  • iOS spell check pop-up. Part of the overall “iOS-ification” effort in Lion was to bring over those helpful but sometimes annoying little spell correction pop-ups you get as you type. The autocorrect can be enabled on a document by document basis with a right-click in “Spelling and Grammar,” but if you just want to kill it off altogether, you can.
    • Disable the iOS-style spell correct: “defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool NO”
  • ~/Library reveal. This last one isn’t technically a defaults command, but it’s too good to leave out. By default in Lion, user libraries are hidden. You can still navigate to the user library by holding down the “option key” while in the Go menu in the Finder, but if you want to restore ~/Library back to it’s proper place, just crack open the terminal and enter in the command below.
    • Restore ~/Library visibility: “chflags nohidden ~/Library”

I’m sure more hidden commands will surface as folks begin to settle into the new OS. I grabbed as many as I could find floating around, but if you’ve got some additional ones you’d like to share, please do so in the comments.

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How to De-iOS-ify Mac OS X Lion [Mac OS X Lion]

Posted on July 26, 2011
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Mac OS X Lion was designed to bring the best of iOS to the desktop, but perhaps you don’t believe there is such a thing. If you want to get rid of all the iOS-inspired stuff found in Lion, here’s how to do it. More »







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Quick Solutions to Mac OS X Lion’s Most Common Installation Issues [Troubleshooting]

Posted on July 25, 2011
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Operating systems were always installed by disc (or disk, if we’re looking back that far), but Apple decided to change that with Lion. That comes with some benefits, but with most firsts it also comes with a lot of buggy problems. Here’s how to fix some of the most common. More »







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How to Update to Mac OS X Lion Without Losing Your Current Installation [Mac OS X]

Posted on April 11, 2011
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Despite our initial skepticism, there are some pretty compelling features in Mac OS X Lion. That said, it’s still a beta and running it as your primary OS is a little risky for several reasons. If you want to give it a shot without the risk, you don’t have to give up your current OS X installation or even boot from an external drive. Here’s how. More »







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Back Up and Move VirtualBox Machines with an XML File Edit [VirtualBox]

Posted on December 1, 2010
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VirtualBox is surprisingly easy to use for creating an OS-inside-an-OS, unless you have to move or back up your huge VDI machine files. You can avoid non-starting machines, however, with an XML file tweak. More »







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How to Test Drive Android on Your PC Without Buying a Phone [How To]

Posted on July 14, 2010
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Interested in test driving the latest version of Google’s Android OS without buying a new mobile device?  Here’s how to run Android on your PC for free with the Android SDK Emulator. More »







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The New iOS4 Shortcuts, Features, and Settings You Need to Know [IOS4]

Posted on June 21, 2010
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Apple just released iOS4 for the iPhone and iPod touch, and now that you've downloaded and upgraded to the much-hyped iDevice update, here's a look at the new shortcuts, settings, and features you'll need to know—and want to use. More »









iPhone – Apple – ipodtouch – Smartphones – Handhelds

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Partition Wizard Manages and Fixes Your Hard Drive for Free [Downloads]

Posted on April 6, 2010
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Windows: Partition Wizard does everything you’d probably need a partition tool to do, and does it on 32 and 64-bit systems. That alone puts it ahead of some other Windows-based partition tools. The bootable CD and simple controls are a nice bonus. More »






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Jolicloud Netbook OS Is a Bit Like Chrome OS with Awesome Desktop Applications [Screenshot Tour]

Posted on December 10, 2009
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Chrome OS is a promising cloud-based operating system, but the big complaint most people have about it is that Chrome OS is entirely browser-based. New netbook OS Jolicloud is a lot like Chrome OS, but with the addition of killer desktop apps.

Before you even consider Jolicloud, you may want to look at their big list of compatible devices. It’s pretty huge, and I’d also suspect not complete. I’m actually testing it in a virtual machine and it’s working just fine, and it would probably work on a fair amount of other hardware.

Think you’d like to try it out? You can install it easily from Windows using a simple installer. Rather than wipe out your Windows installation, it simply carves out some partitioned space on your hard drive so you don’t have to worry about ditching Windows altogether just to try it out. Ready to give it a try? The installation is pretty straightforward, but if you want a little hand-holding, check out the gallery below.

Once your Jolicloud installation is complete, you’ll end up at the login screen.

Enter the username and password you created during installation, and when you log in, you’ll end up staring down the Jolicloud netbook launcher screen.

You'll also be prompted to set up your Jolicloud account at this point, but unfortunately the specialized Jolicloud accounts—which is part of what makes Jolicloud so cool—requires an invitation code, so you'll probably want to sign up for one ASAP. If and when you do sign up with a Jolicloud homebase, you'll get access to the Jolicloud App Directory pictured below.

It's from this directory you can install your favorite programs—from Skype and Dropbox to Boxee and Spotify in a single click. When you're logged in to Jolicloud, you've also got access to your social stream:

…and a convenient update manager:

In short, Jolicloud is a very impressive looking netbook operating system. Sure it's just a specialized interface running on top of Ubuntu and powered by a lot of Mozilla Prism packages. The App Directory makes the operating system—as TechCrunch accurately put it—feel like an iPhonesque OS for netbooks. And unlike the current state of Chrome OS, the current alpha release of Jolicloud is actually pretty well supported.

It's probably a little unfair to compare Jolicloud to Chrome OS, since they are ultimately very different in their approach, but they are both aiming for the same market—your netbooks. If you've given Jolicloud a try in the past or just want to weigh in on its looks from the screenshots, let's hear your thoughts in the comments.






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The Human’s Guide to Running Google Chrome OS [Chrome Os]

Posted on December 2, 2009
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Two weeks ago Google released the source code of their upcoming Chrome OS operating system, and thanks to some fast and hard-working developers, you don’t have to be a coder to try it out.

While Google’s official word is that you have to build Chromium OS from source to try it out on your computer, several developers have released installable builds that save you the trouble. Let’s take a look at how to take Chromium OS out for a spin without typing make or build.

Setting Expectations: Meet Your New Bicycle

Before you get started, you should know that Chrome OS (or in this early development stage, Chromium OS) is an operating system that essentially consists ONLY of a browser. You can't install applications or twiddle with settings—Chromium OS feels like it's just Google Chrome with no layer between it and your computer. It's a neat idea, but kind of disappointing for software geeks who like lots of settings. It acts just like a regular old browser with not too many innovations, except that it's lightning fast. For more on Chrome OS's backstory, see our first glimpse at Google Chrome OS.

Mac-lover John Gruber predicts that Chrome OS will be the operating system on your secondary computer; he says that Google’s betting that instead of two cars, you just need a car and a bicycle. Meet what might someday become your new bicycle.

Testing Method 1: Run Chromium OS as a Virtual Machine

The easiest, surefire way to try out Chromium OS without even rebooting your computer is running it as a virtual machine. If you’ve got a Mac or an incompatible PC and you just want to see what Chromium looks like without having to restart or worry whether or not your internet connection or keyboard will work, this is the way to go.

What you’ll need: First you’ll need software that can run virtual machine images; I’d recommend you go with the free, cross-platform VirtualBox. Secondly, you’ll need to download the prefab Chromium OS virtual disk image. For the price of a free site registration, you can download a working virtual machine from gdgt.com.

How to boot it: If you’ve used VirtualBox before, firing up Chromium OS in it isn’t much different than any other operating system. When you create the new image, set the OS Type to Linux/Ubuntu as shown.

Then, use the vmdk file you downloaded from gdgt as the virtual boot disk.

For a detailed step-by-step screenshot tour, check out The How-To Geek’s guide on how to run Chrome OS in VirtualBox.

The disadvantage of this method is that Chromium OS won't be as fast as the operating system is designed to be, because it's running in a virtual machine—in other words, you won't get to see Chrome OS's amazing boot time or snappy responsiveness. The advantage of this method, however, is that your internet connection, keyboard, and mouse will work whether or not they're on Google’s list of approved hardware.

Testing Method 2: Boot Chromium OS from a USB Drive

A virtual machine is just that—virtual—and you want to see the real thing. You can run Chromium OS natively on your computer from a USB stick if you’ve got the right hardware.

What you’ll need: To boot Chromium OS natively, you’ll need a netbook or laptop known to work with Chromium OS (note: that list isn’t exactly complete, so your mileage may vary if you try gear that’s not listed), a 1 gigabyte USB drive, and the bootable USB image. Download the “Diet” Chromium OS for a 1 gigabyte USB drive here. (Thanks to Hexxeh for offering these!)

Note that the USB stick method does NOT work on Macs. (See below.) Also, a Chromium live CD is not available because it needs to write to the disk; therefore, a writable USB stick is the way to go.

How to boot it: The USB build developer Hexxeh describes how to prepare your USB drive for booting on Windows:

Download Image Writer for Windows and extract the program. Launch the program, and select the image (chromiumos.img) and your USB drive letter from the drop down box. Click “Write”. The install image will then be copied to the drive. Once it’s done, close the program and you can then boot from the USB drive.

Mac users can prepare the USB drive as well, but remember, Macs cannot boot into Chromium OS from the USB drive. Linux users, here’s how you can install the image to the USB drive.

Now that your USB drive is bootable, shut down your computer, insert the drive, and start your computer. As it’s booting, hit the boot menu key and set your computer to boot from the USB drive. (The boot menu key and method for setting the boot drive to the USB stick varies from computer to computer; check your user manual or Google your model to see how to do it.)

When your computer starts up for the first time, if you’re using Hexxeh’s build, the username and password are both facepunch. Normally these login details will be your Google account username and password, but if your machine is not yet connected to the internet, facepunch it is. If all goes well, your keyboard, mouse, and wireless or Ethernet adapter will work with Chromium OS and you’ll be in the cloud in seconds. If not, check this hardware compatibility list for more info about what might or might not work with your computer.

For an alternative to Hexxeh’s USB build, check out the handy torrent with instructions from MakeUseOf.com. (Note that the default login username and password is different than Hexxeh’s build in the MakeUseOf.com build.)

If you’ve got an ASUS Eee PC and you’ve already downloaded the virtual image in the first method, you can turn that into a bootable USB stick as well. Here’s how to create a USB stick from the virtual image and boot up your Eee from it.

If you’re already running Ubuntu Linux (Karmic Koala) on your laptop and you can’t get Chromium OS to work with your Wi-Fi card, Linux user Lee Briggs explains how you can patch the USB build with your current drivers.

The main advantage to testing Chromium OS using a bootable drive is you’ll get the native experience with the speed and responsiveness of a real computer. The disadvantage is that your current hardware might not work with Chromium OS.

What’s your favorite method for test-driving Chromium OS? Was it worth the time? Are you using it regularly? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Gina Trapani, Lifehacker’s founding editor, looks forward to Chrome OS’s official release. Her weekly feature, Smarterware, appears every Wednesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Smarterware tag feed to get new installments in your newsreader.






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