May 23, 2013 - 10:32 AM EDT — AAPL: 445.38 (+4.026, +0.91%) | NASDAQ: 3498.965 (+33.722, +0.97%)

The best new shortcuts and trackpad gestures in Apple’s new OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

Thursday, July 26, 2012 · 12:06 pm · 19 Comments

“OS X Mountain Lion brought with it a world of new keyboard shortcuts and trackpad gestures that make working with your Mac faster and easier,” Alan Henry reports for Lifehacker. “We’re still getting used to many of them, but here are some of our favorites right out of the gate that you should definitely learn.”

Finder Shortcuts
• Bring back “Save As” by Holding the Option key when in the File menu
• Launch Mountain Lion’s new Dictation app by pressing the Function key (fn) twice

Application Shortcuts
• Disable Notification Center for one day by Alt + Left-Clicking
• Look up a word in the dictionary by tapping it with three fingers

More shortcuts in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: OS X Mountain Lion’s dictation feature works so well that we almost teared up with joy! That’s not an overstatement. Dictating the tags for this article and parts of other articles is a real boon for us. We’re going to be double tapping the function key a lot on our Macs! In fact, this Take was dictated using OS X Mountain lion’s dictation feature. We only had to go back to capitalize the “T” in take.

Categories: News

Tags: gestures, keyboard shortcuts, Mountain Lion, OS X, shortcuts, trackpad

Thank You for supporting MacDailyNews!

 Apple 13.3" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i7 2.0GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 4000, Mac OS X Lion (Z0ND-20GHZ8GB512) only $2,159.99
 Secret Sale Exclusive for MacMall Valued Customers Only
 Apple 15.4" MacBook Pro (with Retina display) quad-core Intel Core i7 2.3GHz/16GB RAM/256GB FS/IntelHD Graphics4000/OS X Lion (Z0MK-15-2.3-16-256RT) only $2,333.99
 Apple Blowouts: Up to $649 OFF on Last Gen Macs. Prices start at $1,999.99 w/ Free Upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion & Free FedEx Overnight ends 02/08 6:15PM PST.
 Apple 13.3" MacBook Pro dual-core Intel Core i7 2.9GHz, 8GB RAM, 750GB 5400-rpm hard drive, Intel HD Graphics 4000, Ships with Mountain Lion (MD102LL/A) only $1,419.97

Comment Feed

19 Comments

Cubert

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 12:26 pm · Reply

The dictionary look up one isn’t new. It’s in Lion also.
Macidiot

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 12:43 pm · Reply

I upgraded to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, but my Mac mini still doesn’t have a microphone. No dictation for me. I also thought the upgrade might install one of those SSD drives people are raving about.
- curtieuk
  
  Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 2:34 pm · Reply
  
  I think you are ‘spot on’ with your name and your observations macidiot. I’ve been wondering which button to press to activate the retina display I’ve beeb hearing about.
  Curtie
Pirate

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 12:46 pm · Reply

Dictation only works when you can think ahead about what you’re going to say. It’s almost more work than just typing as you think and re-think.
- alcancun
  
  Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 1:25 pm · Reply
  
  You’re right, you have to think before you speak. That’s probably a good practice for a lot of people on this forum. I am using the dictation feature to write this message. It takes a little practice, and the ability to break up your thoughts into smaller pieces… but once you get the hang of it it’s a real lifesaver if you hate to type.
Agent Provocateur

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 12:55 pm · Reply

• Bring back “Save As” by Holding the Option key when in the file menu.
Creates a duplicate under another name. Not the same.
- rwahrens
  
  Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 2:04 pm · Reply
  
  That’s what Save As does. It just closes the current document and puts you into the new one. I’m guessing from your remarks that the new Save As leaves the old one still open. Is it in the background? I’ll have to look when I get home.
el guapo

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 1:17 pm · Reply

So how many gestures are there now? 10 or so?

Yet by default the magic mouse has right click disabled because it’s too hidden / complicated for the masses…
MDN Reader

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 3:00 pm · Reply

But you forgot to capitalize L in lion.
Will

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 3:09 pm · Reply

How about scrolling in Safari in Mountain Lion? Did I miss something or is that gone or does it have a turn on switch someplace?
- Karl Snow
  
  Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 3:56 pm · Reply
  
  Yes, what happened to Safari scrolling!
  - Karl Snow
    
    Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 5:38 pm · Reply
    
    …can’t scroll anywhere, Mail, Safari, etc etc
bkire

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 7:50 pm · Reply

In Dictation after the fn fn keystroke, just hit fn once or twice when done (you don’t have to click the Done button).
Nothefinder

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 9:48 pm · Reply

“Finder Shortcuts

Bring back “Save As” by Holding the Option key when in the File menu.”

That has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FINDER.
Hg Wells

Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 11:02 pm · Reply

Dictation has not worked particularly well for me. Some words it just doesn’t get. (Is there a way to teach it?) As many different ways as I have said, “avert,” it has gotten it wrong. Doesn’t do too well with “famine” either. “Innumerable” has been inconsistently transcribed…consistently. And more.
bigbubbadude

Friday, July 27, 2012 - 12:03 am · Reply

The dictation feature is working pretty well for me. I’m using it now. Innumerable came out fine, but then I don’t really use that word too often. Subvert, invert, avert (dictated Albert). Well it’s not perfect, but I’m sure it’s going to get better. Maybe it will help me improve my pronunciation ha ha.
- Hg Wells
  
  Saturday, July 28, 2012 - 12:14 am · Reply
  
  Thanks for the report, BigBubba. I am hoping it improves with use but am still clueless how it can learn to be better without input/corrections.
GASMAN

Friday, July 27, 2012 - 11:37 am · Reply

I guess MacDailyNews has had more luck using dictation. I turned it on and have been using it right away, but it has not been anywhere near flawless. Supposedly, it is to get smarter as you use it, but if I can’t correct the things it gets wrong, how is it to get smarter? It is definitely a step in the right direction and I like that it is available. As with most things Apple, I am sure it will get better with time and feedback. On a scale of 1 to 10, I think I would rate it at a 6 right now. This was typed.
- GASMAN
  
  Friday, July 27, 2012 - 11:51 am · Reply
  
  As soon as I posted my comment, I used dictation and read my exact typed comment from above. I had to do it in two separate sections as it timed out about half way through the post. There were a few mistakes. I did not correct anything. What worries me about this is that with the mistakes, I have to go back and find them or risk sending something that does not make sense. At this point, it takes longer to go back and proof read and make sure dictation got it right than it does to type it correctly in the first place. Again a useful tool for sure, but hopefully we will see improved versions. This was the result from dictation. This was a much better result than some other results I have had. I upper cased the variations.
  
  I guess Mac daily news has had more luck using dictation. I turned it on and have been using it right away, but it has not been anywhere near flawless. Supposedly, it is to get smarter as you use it, but if I can’t correct the things THAT IT’S wrong, how is it to get smarter? It is definitely a step in the right direction and I like that it is available. As with most things Apple, I am sure will get better with time and feedback. On a scale of 1 to 10, I think I WAS RATED AT LEAST six right now.
  
  Not bad.