HOTTIPSMORE MARVELOUS OS 8.5
There is no question in my mind that OS 8.5 is a worthwhile upgrade. The simple fact that it includes the full professional version of QuickTime 3.0 makes it an especially juicy deal. (QT Pro was a $29.95 upgrade just a few months ago.) That aside... what are some other compelling reasons to upgrade? Step into my parlor...
SHERLOCK
Sherlock is obviously the biggest news on the OS 8.5 front. But besides having a cute little names, what's the value here? Sherlock is your Macintosh's Find File feature on steroids.
First: Sherlock is able to create an index of all the files on your hard disk. This greatly speeds up the find process; especially if you need to look for files on a multitude of disks. But where it's especially useful is while using Sherlock's new Find by Content option. Find by content searches within the files on your hard drive to locate words. So when you're searching for Aunt Mabel's famous fried chicken recipe you can search for the word "Crisco." Because Sherlock has indexed your hard drive a search like this will take seconds instead of hours. The indexing feature can also be scheduled to run while you're away from your Mac.
Here's how to use Sherlock's Indexing feature.
1. Open Sherlock (Sherlock from the Apple Menu or Command-F from the Finder.)
2. Select the Menu called "Find."
3. Choose the Item called "Index Volumes...
4. Select the volume(s) that you want to index and press the index button.A word to the wise here...
If you have a large hard disk with an enormous amount of data be prepared to wait awhile. Since the indexing program is looking at every word in every file on your hard drive the initial indexing process can take some time.
SHERLOCK INTERNET SEARCHES
Have you ever noticed how - when you're searching the web - you typically have to schlep from one web site to another in search of your desired information? Sherlock does away with all of that. Now, using any number of your chosen search engines, you can look for anything on the web using Sherlock. Not only will you be able to find the information, Sherlock will also sort the information according to relevance. Not too shabby huh? So, you want to search for a new book by your favorite author at both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Using Sherlock plug-ins for both sites you'll be able to search both sites simultaneously.
There are literally dozens of Sherlock plug-ins available for almost anything imaginable (See the Hot Files section.) And also a cool, free plug-in manager ala ConflictCatcher called Sigerson. Combined these make a powerful web-searching pair.