It’s easier than you might think.
I bought a 15-inch MacBook Pro about a year ago. I use it primarily as my “test mule” — the computer I run software on when I’m writing about the software. But recently, I signed a contract to create a video training course for macPro Video. I’d record the video on my MacBook Pro using some high-end recording hardware. The hardware’s install guide requires a minimum of 1 GB of RAM, which my MacBook Pro had. But it also recommended 2 GB of RAM. More RAM is always better than less, so I looked into upgrading.
I found compatible RAM on the 4AllMemory.com Web site. LIke most RAM suppliers, 4AllMemory makes it easy to find the right RAM for your computer by letting you tell it exactly which computer you have. In my case, I have a MacBook Pro 2.16GHz 15.4-inch computer. The page for that computer offered a bunch of options.
I was shocked by the price. And, as usual, I must digress to explain why.
Back in 1989, when I bought my first Mac — a Mac IIcx — I upgraded the RAM from the 1 MB (not a typo) on board to 2 MB (not a typo) by installing four 256 K (not a typo) RAM SIMMs. The cost for that upgrade: $750 (not a typo).
The single 1 GB SO-DIMM I needed for my MacBook Pro would cost me $29.99 with free shipping.
As discussed in “MacBook Pro: How to install memory” on Apple’s Web site, RAM is very easy to install. The only thing you need is a size 0 or 00 Phillips screwdriver. The instructions on that page are step-by-step, with diagrams that show you each step. While I recommend that document as required reading before a memory installation, I took some photos this morning to supplement those steps.
Here’s how I did the job.
First, I shut down the computer. Then I laid out a dishtowel on my kitchen table and put the closed computer upside down on the towel (to protect its footless top from scratching). The bottom of the computer looks like this:
Next, I removed the battery by pushing up on the two sliding latches that hold it in place and pulling the battery out. That exposed the three small screws that hold the RAM cover in place. I removed the three screws with the Phillips screwdriver. In this photo, two of the screws have already been removed:
With all screws removed, I lifted the RAM cover off, exposing the RAM slots. As you can see here, there are two slots; one is filled with a 1 GB SO-DIMM and the other is empty. A diagram illustrates how the slots work. Basically, the DIMMs slide in at an angle and then get pushed down parallel to the computer’s body.
I lined up the new DIMM’s pins and notch with the slot on the computer and firmly pushed in into place. Sorry about the bad focus in this shot:
Then I pushed the entire DIMM down until it locked right above the other DIMM:
After that, it was just a matter of screwing the RAM compartment cover back on and replacing the battery. When I started up the computer, a quick peek at About This Mac confirmed that the computer recognized the new RAM.
Total time elapsed: 5 minutes. But that’s because I stopped to take pictures.
Here’s the Display panel of the Display preferences pane on each display. I won’t go into detail on the usual settings; I cover all that in my Leopard book. Instead, note the Gather Windows button. Clicking this button moves all the open windows to that display. You might find this handy if you have a second display connected and you don’t want to power it up. What I’ve discovered is that your Mac will remember where an application’s windows were the last time you ran the application and will reopen the windows there. The Gather Windows button moves those windows to the display you click the button on.
To set up the positioning of the displays, click the Arrangement button on the main display’s Display preferences pane. The Arrangement panel, shown here, displays the two displays as they are arranged. In my setup, the two displays are physically side by side with the Samsung a little lower than the iMac. You can drag the boxes to reposition the displays and I highly recommend that you do so if you need to. For example, if your second display is on the left, drag its box to the left of the main display. This way the mouse behaves logically when you drag it from one screen to another. (This, by the way, would be a great practical joke to play on a friend with two displays; just switch the boxes around to drive him nuts!)
Of course, you can set many of the Options in the Displays preferences pane if you turn on the Displays menu. Here’s what my Displays menu looks like with both displays connected. As you can see, I can enable/disable mirroring, set resolution for either display, or open Display preferences. Saves the bother of going into the Displays preferences pane for making minor adjustments.
DoBeDo 4.0
I like DoBeDo because of its extremely flexible display options, which you can access on the back of the widget. You can set sort options, how long completed items are displayed, how far in the future items should be displayed. You can also choose from among 4 predefined styles and how much detail should appear in the dialog you use to add a new item.You can also print a to do list — which is something I can’t seem to do from within iCal itself. That alone makes it a good tool for managing things to do. I’m very glad to have it back.
To Do Widget
To Do’s customization features are a bit limited when compared with DoBeDo’s. You can set sorting options, but you can only select whether completed items show or don’t show –rather than allow them to be displayed for a limited number of days. One nice feature is the ability to set the font and font size, although the options are limited. I absolutely hate Apple’s choice of Marker Felt font,which is the default for To Do, so it was nice to be able to change it to one I prefer.
Choose a different application from the pop-up menu (shown here). If you choose Other, you can use a standard Open dialog to choose another installed application.
But did you know that when your Mac displays an authenticate dialog like the one shown here, if your Caps Lock key is down, it automatically displays a little icon in the password field to tell you about it? Just press the Caps Lock key again to turn off caps lock and the icon goes away.
It’s a 
If necessary, click the General button in the preferences window’s toolbar to display General options.
Get Specified Finder Items identifies the disk.
If necessary, click the General button in the preferences window’s toolbar to display General options.
Create a new event for the date and time you want the script or action to run.
To display the Previous Recipients window, choose Window > Previous Recipients. As you can see, it lists all people you have sent e-mail messages to. Names preceded with a tiny Address Book icon are people in your Address Book file. You can sort the list by any column; just click it.
Manually type in a new spelling for the word.
Right-click (or Control-click) on the word you added to the dictionary in error. Then choose Unlearn Spelling from the contextual menu that appears. The word is immediately flagged as a possible problem again.
Click the Options button and use the dialog sheet that appears to set options, including whether slides should be presented in a random order, how many rows of mosaic tiles should make up the image, and the speed at which the mosaic image should be built. Click OK to save your settings.
Command-Spacebar activates the Spotlight menu on the far right end of the menu bar. You can then type your search word or phrase into the field at the top of the menu.
Command-
Return opens a selected item.
If you know in advance that you want to start a computer in Target Disk mode, you can click the Startup Disk Mode button in the Startup Disk preferences pane, shown here. This immediately restarts the computer in target disk mode.
The Tab key advances you to the next area of a dialog. So, if a dialog contains multiple text boxes for entering information, tab moves you from one to the next. You can tell when an item in a dialog is active because a blue border appears around it or a blue (usually) selection bar appears within it (or both, depending on the item).
Pressing return or Enter “clicks” the default button in the dialog. The default button is blue and pulsating — it stands out from other buttons in the dialog.
You like the Go To Folder dialog that you can use in the Finder? Well, you can also use it in an Open or Save As dialog. Just press Command-Shift-G while the dialog is open. You can then enter a path to the folder you want