Robin Williams’s Guide to the Most Overlooked New Leopard Features
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Well, we've all been inundated with (and loved every minute of) the great new features in Leopard. And Maria Langer has written a terrific article about her top 10 favorites. So, I thought I'd look at some smaller features that aren't so sexy on the surface but that continue to make the Mac so great to use.
Dictionary
I use the Dictionary/Thesaurus application so much that I put it in my Dock instead of taking the extra click to get to the Dashboard. But there's an even easier way to get to the definition or synonym of a word—the Dictionary panel. Once the Dictionary panel is enabled, you can Control-click or right-click on a word in Mail, TextEdit, a Safari page, a Note or To-Do item, or on text in any Mac app; in the contextual menu that appears, one of the options is "Look Up in Dictionary." This opens a tiny panel right there—instantly—with the definition, plus the option to find the word in the Thesaurus or to look it up on Apple's site if appropriate. Or click "More..." to open the Dictionary itself with access to Wikipedia.
To enable the panel, first open the Dictionary (it's in your Applications folder). In its preferences, click the button to "Open Dictionary panel."
Now, go to a Mac app and right-click (or Control-click) on any word. Choose "Look Up in Dictionary."
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