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The number of video conversion programs available makes choosing a good one difficult. Though it's basically functional, the lack of features and problematic setup make VidConvert for Mac a less desirable option.

VidConvert is available as a free trial version with a three-minute conversion time limit; the full, unrestricted program requires payment of $7.99. The program installs quickly. Unfortunately, after initiating the program, the user must complete an additional download from a separate site before conversion can take place. This second download requires Terminal operations, which is a lot to ask of all but the most experienced Mac … Read more

When using some common sandboxed applications in OS X such as TextEdit, you may run into an issue where the program experiences file access errors for which you may not even receive a notification. For example, if such an error occurs in TextEdit, you may see a warning stating that you do not have permission to access a file you are trying to open, or you may just find yourself unable to save a new or existing file you are currently editing.

In addition, access restrictions in sandboxed applications may result in odd file-saving behaviors in which multiple copies of … Read more

If you are a longtime Mac user who simply could not bring yourself to throw away your old systems, then you may still have an old Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) keyboard such as the Apple Extended Keyboard II lying around. Despite being an older style, many of these keyboards were quite well-made and if only they had USB connectors instead of their ADB connections they could be put to good use on modern systems. It turns out, this is quite doable.

Recently tech hobbyist Scott Vanderlind found that by adding a small USB controller to the keyboard, he could tap … Read more

Today game developer Electronic Arts has announced that the much-anticipated SimCity for Mac will be available for purchase on June 11.

The latest version, which is stripped of any version number and is being simply called SimCity, was announced on March 5 for both OS X and Windows, and was initially released for Windows early last month, but in an EA blog post today Lucy Bradshaw, senior vice president and general manager of EA's Maxis label, is quoted as saying the Mac version of the software will be out in two months' time:

This might be a tip only the Anal-Retentive Chef could love, but I kind of like it. If you'd like to add a bit of order and structure to your Mac OS X Dock, there is a way to add spacers, which let you separate the various icons into distinct groups.

To do so, open Terminal and then copy and paste this command:

defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}'

Followed by:

killall Dock

The command places an invisible space on the right side of your Dock. You can drag to reposition this spacer … Read more

Here's the scenario: you have selected a large number of files on your Mac to move to a new folder, and when you go to drag this highlighted group of files to the new folder, you realize you forgot to create the new folder in the first place. Your painstakingly selected files ready are ready to go but they don't have a destination. You could create a new folder on your desktop or another folder for these files, but one misplaced click when you return to the folder with your carefully selected files could deselect them all.

To … Read more

In the OS X Security system preferences you can set the system to require a password when the system wakes from sleep or after the screensaver has been active for a period of time. However, you may run into a few cases in which entering your account password then does not work.

One cause can be if you have recently changed the name of your user account. For authentication, OS X will use either the short or long username, along with any aliases that you have associated with your account. However, if you have changed the long username for your … Read more

The home computing revolution of the 1980s and '90s was defined by a battle between two titans: Apple and Microsoft. After its IPO and the introduction of the Macintosh, Apple was riding high.

The company started losing the PC market in the '90s, though. Microsoft released Windows 3.0 as a cheaper alternative to the Macintosh in 1990, but it was the release of Windows 95, which brought a comparable GUI (graphical user interface) to PCs, that really hurt Apple. And Apple also suffered from a lack of vision, owing to the absence of its visionary leader, Steve Jobs, from … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions on whether it is possible to prevent drives from spinning up at boot, system fans increasing noise when watching video files, and options for managing birthday events in the OS X calendar. I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Prevent drive spin-up at boot. MacFixIt reader Samuel asks: