AppleScript

Former AppleScript lead Sal Soghoian writes about automation for MacStories

After Apple terminated his position as Product Manager of Automation Technologies for “business reasons,” Automator and AppleScript evangelist Sal Soghoian is now guest blogging about these technologies over at MacStories.

In his first post for the publication, Soghoian shares his thoughts on Automator, AppleScript and similar services versus app extensions. Soghoian spent almost 20 years leading AppleScript, Automator and related technologies at 1 Infinite Loop.

Pro tip: make an applet that quits all opened Mac apps instantly

Those of you with Macs know that you can’t just click on the Close button to exit out of most apps. Instead, you have to physically quit those apps after you’re done using them.

On the other hand, if you just can’t be asked to take the time to do that, we’re going to show you a really easy way to make an applet that can be used to quit all of your Mac’s running apps at once.

How to quickly switch between Mavericks and Yosemite beta

Following Apple’s release of a public beta of OS X Yosemite, iDB reader Antony Verros sent us some code he wrote in AppleScript, which allows users to quickly restart a computer and automatically boot up in the installed OS of choice. For anyone who installed the OS X Yosemite beta on a separate partition, this is an easy solution for booting up into Yosemite or Mavericks without having to hold down the Option key on boot to select the desired partition. The script can even be tweaked to work with BootCamp.

While it’s mostly a matter of time-saving convenience, this method can prove to be quite advantageous over time, particularly for users who find themselves frequently switching between OSs, whether it be a Yosemite beta, Mavericks, or Windows 7. Having an easily accessible application for booting into another OS while making a sandwich or refilling a cup of coffee, versus having to wait around to hold down Option, can be highly useful…