Snow Leopard's smaller changes

Easier event editing in iCal

In addition to its support for Exchange 2007, iCal gets a welcome interface tweak. When Apple introduced the version that shipped with Leopard, many Mac users were upset that editing an event appeared to be a two-step process: Double-click on the event to view an Info window and then click an Edit button within that window to actually move to a window that displays editable text. (In truth, you could cut to the chase by selecting the event and pressing Command-E.) Still, it was a big-enough complaint that Apple’s done something about it. You can now open an event-editing window by double-clicking on an event. To turn this feature on, choose iCal: Preferences, select the Advanced preference, and enable the Open Events in Separate Windows option. If you’d prefer to not have little windows popping up every time you double-click on an event, you have another option as well: a new Inspector pane that gives you instant access to any selected event. To use it, choose Edit: Show Inspector. A floating window will appear. Now when you click on an event, its details appear in the inspector and are fully editable.

Additionally, Snow Leopard’s iCal includes a new way to set up an iCal server account. Open iCal’s preferences, select the Accounts tab, and click the plus-sign (+) at the bottom of the window. An Add An Account sheet appears and walks you through the process of setting up a CalDAV, Exchange 2007, Google, or Yahoo account.