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How to bring back ‘Save As…’ to OS X Mountain Lion

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 · 12:08 pm · 31 Comments

“When OS X Lion debuted, our old-friend Save As… had been sent packing for a new imposter, Duplicate. We tried to like this new one, but wow was it not the same,” Rob LeFebvre reports for Cult of Mac. “Luckily, Mountain Lion has brought Save As… back, only in a sneaky, less than obvious way.”

Here’s “how to return good-old-Save As… to its former glory, in the exalted spot it used to reside in. Here’s how,” LeFebvre reports. “If you’ve upgraded to Mountain Lion, you’ll be able to do this right away.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: If you feel you must. But if you, do, you have to finally give Lion-style scrolling a chance. A day or two with it, and you’ll be just fine with it, we promise!

Categories: News

Tags: iOS scrolling, OS X Mountain Lion, OS X scrolling, Save As

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Comment Feed

31 Comments

Really

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 12:26 pm · Reply

It works great. I love it!
JerseyTrader

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 12:27 pm · Reply

Wow. Has Apple started hiring laid off Microsoft programers? “Duplicate” means to make an exact match (of what you don’t want it saved as). At least try “Export”. That gives the ability in many programs to change the file format so it can be used in another program’s standard file format.

Wow. Who do we e-mail our complaints to at Apple? Steve would never have let this happen.
- h2a
  
  Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 12:53 pm · Reply
  
  *whoosh*
  
  thats the sound of the entire point going over your head.
  
  If you’re about to change a file and want to preserve the original, duplicate it. There. Save-as all done.
  - qka
    
    Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 1:12 pm · Reply
    
    *whoosh*
    
    thats the sound of the entire point going over your head.
    
    For many people, you start modifying a document – a piece of code, a monthly report, The Great American Novel – and you realize the new version is greater than the original, and you want to fork a new file. Save As … is what you ant, and you don’t to have to jump thru hoops to do it.
    
    I remember a few years ago, the first time I used MS Word with the ribbon on a Windows box for a nonprofit I work with. I had updated an annual report document, starting with last year’s version, adding this year’s numbers. I’m all set, and then I go the Save As. It’s not where it had always been. Had to search high and low for it – MS had the same misguided idea long before Apple.
    
    My mother would have washed my mouth out with soap if she had heard my language during that experience!
  - Ballmer's left nut
    
    Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 1:38 pm · Reply
    
    @h2a
    Wow, another dick comment from MDN’s resident dick. Who would have thought it?
    - Derek Currie
      
      Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 3:02 pm · Reply
      
      Like you’ve never been a dick around here for incomprehensible reasons? Log, meet eye. Pot, meet kettle.
- Agent Provocateur
  
  Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 1:03 pm · Reply
  
  +1*10
- Stubbles
  
  Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 1:24 pm · Reply
  
  “Steve would never have let this happen.”?
  
  Lion debuted the Duplicate command. Mr. Jobs passed away after Lion was released. Clearly, he was around. If anything, Mountain Lion is going back to offering some kind of Save As… convenience.
Agent Provocateur

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 1:01 pm · Reply

“If you feel you must. But if you, do, you have to finally give Lion-style scrolling a chance. A day or two with it, and you’ll be just fine with it, we promise!”

Screwing up save and the effed up scrolling reversal is right up there with Ping and Thunderturd on the non-starter list.
- Memetech
  
  Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 2:09 pm · Reply
  
  I disagree. Natural scrolling worked for me from minute one. I do miss “Save as…” though. I can see the point of duplicate, as with versions saved, I use save as less. But when I do want to use save as, I get annoyed at duplicate.
- FTB
  
  Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 3:30 pm · Reply
  
  I Agree “natural scrolling” one of the WORST things Apple has ever done.
  
  if YOUR mac is the only computer you touch… fine.
  but EVERY other computer out there does not. Schools, Business, Library, Stores, ETC.
  
  I just hope Apple never forces the change, always leave it as an option.
- castelbuono
  
  Wednesday, August 1, 2012 - 6:23 am · Reply
  
  Natural scrolling works well on a trackpad, but it just doesn’t make sense with a mouse. It’s good to have the option to independently control movement for either device.
jtcdesigns

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 1:02 pm · Reply

Since Apple is more of a keyboard shortcut type of company… command-c then command-v makes a duplicate…. no need to search through a right click menu
- qka
  
  Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 1:13 pm · Reply
  
  In the Finder, not in the application where you want to Save as ….
  
  Big difference.
Jim

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 1:19 pm · Reply

It was a solution looking for a problem that wasn’t there. Everyone knows save as, and changing it to duplicate added NO benefit except frustration to the user which is not how apple is supposed to roll. Duplicate = Fail.
- Mark
  
  Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 2:54 pm · Reply
  
  +1K
David F.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 1:29 pm · Reply

I agree, MDN, about the scrolling. I made the switch right after I installed OS X Lion last year. It took me a day or two. Now the other way doesn’t seem so natural anymore.
Derek Currie

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 3:12 pm · Reply

I was wondering how people would react to ‘Duplicate’ in Mountain Lion.

It makes sense logically from a code geek point of view. One never edits an original piece of code. Instead, one ALWAYS works on a duplicate in order to be able to fall back to the original if you frack up your code.

Historically, this was sort of the concept behind the age old UNDO command. This safety-first philosophy also became the default in image creation and editing apps.

IOW, the philosophy behind ‘Duplicate’ is nothing new. I’m used to it and find it interesting to make it a default on OS X. However, killing off (hiding) ‘Save-As’, which is a traditional GUI command from yonks back in time, is ridiculous. I can only think that Apple wanted to simplify the menu commands while forcing this safer approach to working with edited files.

Let Apple know your opinion on the subject. I strongly suspect that ‘Save A’s will return some time in the future, perhaps in a 10.8 update.
- Derek Currie
  
  Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 3:16 pm · Reply
  
  ERROR: Read “I strongly suspect that ‘Save As’ will…
  
  (at least I didn’t type ‘save ass’)
Nic900

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 3:42 pm · Reply

Don’t want to keep relearning he basics. Thank you for bringing back (kinda) save as. Now don’t do it again!
Jeff II

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 4:17 pm · Reply

I really don’t see the point of this tip as 10.8 brings back the “Save As…” capability by simply pressing the Option key when you select the File menu. There it is: “Duplicate” changes to “Save As…” Easy peasy.
- Brian
  
  Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 7:07 pm · Reply
  
  @Jeff II:Anyone who quotes Sam Axe of Burn Notice is a friend of mine. You rock!
  
  If we ever meet, the mojitos are on me.
  
  Long live Bruce Campbell!
  - Jeff II
    
    Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 8:51 pm · Reply
    
    I’m honored!
- Jd
  
  Wednesday, August 1, 2012 - 10:59 am · Reply
  
  I totally agree with you. It’s the way I’ll do it
Cubert

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 10:08 pm · Reply

I think there is a terminal hack out there that will permanently replace duplicate with save as.
- Piccio
  
  Wednesday, August 1, 2012 - 2:47 am · Reply
  
  find it – share it, please
me

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 - 1:38 am · Reply

my question is, why take save as out? how much extra code do they really save by doing that? just because ipad and iphones don’t need to manage files like a computer, doesn’t mean the save as feature should go away, for people who create tons of files, it’s a critical option to have… someone with a brain please inform the ones without one that it’s a foolish move to take it away…
AltiVec Guru

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 - 2:40 pm · Reply

‘Duplicate’ is an Edit menu function. Or a Finder file-copy function. What works best, as originally intended: Save As…
MM

Thursday, August 2, 2012 - 12:52 am · Reply

Apple needs to apologize for its arrogance at removing the SAVE AS feature, and, when bringing it back, not even putting it in the main menu. It reeks of techno-arrogance.
- Mike
  
  Thursday, August 2, 2012 - 3:33 pm · Reply
  
  +1
  
  Apple has been pulling way to many bone-headed MS-esque moves since Steve left us. I thought Apple was dedicated to a natural, intuitive user experience. Instead we are getting clouds and bloat and unintuitive crap shoved down our throats. Hell, even Apple ads are going to pot. Not cool, Apple. Not cool at all.
b9bot

Monday, August 6, 2012 - 1:14 pm · Reply

The Cult Of Mac has the instructions to bring back save as just like it was before. I’ve had no problems using it since I did there tip.