Flex TextEdit's powers Page 2 of 2

Inside eight of this program’s most overlooked abilities

Great TextEdit add-ons

While TextEdit is certainly more powerful than most people realize, it may not have every feature you want. Here are some tools that can fill the gap.

WordService TextEdit’s text-manipulation features do not include such niceties as the ability to quickly capitalize entire words, replace straight quotation marks with curly ones, sort paragraphs, remove line breaks, and more. Fortunately, Devon Technologies’ free WordService ( ) adds a slew of text-tweaking features to the OS X Services menu (TextEdit: Services).

Use this menu (or keyboard shortcuts) to insert dates in any of several formats, indent text, or trim line endings in files that have extra spaces (these often show up in text from e-mail messages).

NanoCount Whether you need to tally your word count for a class assignment or for National Novel Writing Month, TextEdit’s lack of a word-count feature can be a pain. Paul Gorman’s free NanoCount fills the void by providing a small floating window that regularly updates the word count of your frontmost TextEdit document. You can even set a target word count, and a progress bar will show how close you are to your goal.

Nisus Thesaurus The free Nisus Thesaurus for OS X 10.3.9 and later, from Nisus Software, gives you a multitude of ways to find the right word. Open it as a stand-alone application, or just select a word and access the tool through the Services menu (TextEdit: Services: Nisus Thesaurus). Instead of offering only synonyms and antonyms, Nisus Thesaurus gives you the option to see words that are similar to or the opposite of, or more general or more specific than, your word. You can also look at words that your word forms a part of (for example, bed and bedstead ), and more. Built around the WordNet database and containing more than 120,000 words, this tool offers unique ways of finding the mot juste.

[ Kirk McElhearn writes about Macs, OS X, iPods, and more. Check out his Web site, Kirkville. ]

Handy Mail tips

Whether you’re reading, composing, or searching messages, e-mail dominates the typical workday. These tips can make dealing with Apple’s Mail (bundled with Mac OS X 10.4) a little easier.

Search Swiftly Looking for all the messages from a particular e-mail address? It’s not necessary to type or copy and paste the address into the search field—just drag a message from that person into the search field. When you do, Mail automatically extracts the address and starts the search as soon as you release your mouse button.

You’re not limited to looking only for messages from the chosen e-mail address. Mail remembers which settings you used the last time you searched (for example, Entire Message, From, To, or Subject). When your results appear, take a quick look at which button is selected above the message list and click on a different one if necessary.

Try Some Shortcuts When you’re reading a message, hover the cursor over the address or contact name to reveal a small white triangle. Click on this to access a pop-up menu full of helpful options. Choices include Create New Smart Mailbox, Spotlight e-mail address (to find all messages received from and sent to a particular address), Add To Address Book (to add the addressee to your contacts), and more.

Prune Your Recipients List Mail simplifies addressing your e-mail messages by autocompleting some addresses for you. But what if Mail keeps putting in an old one? Choose Window: Previous Recipients to see a list of all the addresses to whom you’ve sent e-mail messages. Select the ones you’d like to remove, and click on the Remove From List button. The selected addresses should no longer appear when you begin typing an e-mail address.— Christopher Breen and Rob Griffiths