Mac OS X's Exposé & Spaces

Some of Mac's handiest features are its Spaces and Exposé functions but not enough people know about them. Especially Exposé when it's used with Mac's Active Screen Corners (ACS). For those that don't know what any of this means, Exposé is a window management tool that displays all the open windows on the screen and Spaces is a virtual desktop manager. Spaces is a great way to keep yourself organized. For example, I usually have it set to 4 virtual desktops. I have one for my media (music and movies), one for browsing, one for tasks in the Finder, and another for my schoolwork.

Now Exposé is a little different but just as handy. Exposé was made for those that get over-whelmed with all the open windows and can't find what they're looking for. All one has to do is press a button on their keyboard or click on an icon on the Dock and all the open windows, or all the windows for the active application, will be displayed. But there is one more way to activate Exposé and that's through the Active Screen Corners.

ACS works by moving your mouse toward any of the 4 corners of your screen. It has to be exactly on the corner for it to be activated. First, if you've never heard of ACS, then you probably don't have any active corners yet. Go into the System Preferences, choose the Exposé & Spaces on the top row, and you will be greeted with a picture of a desktop with options on each corner. Here you can choose what each corner can do. It can display all the open windows, all of the open windows for the active application, hide all the windows and display the desktop, display all of the virtual desktops in Spaces, and many other actions.

The combination of Exposé and Spaces with the Active Screen Corner's can be a great organizational help when it's used properly. Don't just stop with Exposé & Spaces. Look through your Mac's preferences and see what else you can tinker with.