Apple - Mac OS X - What is Mac OS X

If you ever have to rename lots of files, resize images, or perform other computing tasks over and over, Mac OS X can make your life easier. It includes several integrated tools and technologies that allow you to automate common tasks quickly and simply.

Automator: Your personal automation assistant.

Automator in Mac OS X lets you build workflows that accomplish manual chores quickly, efficiently, and effortlessly. You don’t have to know any scripting languages or write any code. Instead, you create and execute automation “workflows” simply by dragging and dropping each individual step of a process. It’s like creating a kitchen recipe.

Automator comes with dozens of prebuilt actions you can use to populate your workflows. For example, say you want to resize dozens of images for an iPhoto slideshow. By dragging individual actions into a new workflow, you tell Automator which files to resize, how big to make them, and where to import them. Then run the workflow. Within minutes, all the images will be sized and placed in iPhoto, ready for your slideshow.

If you want to perform an action that’s not included with Automator, no problem. Simply have Automator record your actions as you perform them, then run the workflow again. You can save your workflows to use again, and even share them with friends.

AppleScript: Highly customizable scripting.

AppleScript takes automation even further. It’s an English-like language you can use to write script files that automate the actions of the computer and the applications that run on it. But it doesn’t only repeat your recorded actions. AppleScript can actually make decisions based on user interaction or by parsing and analyzing data, documents, or events. For individuals, AppleScript provides shortcuts for complex tasks such as naming files, resetting preferences, or connecting to the Internet. Many users find the dozens of scripts provided with Mac OS X to be essential helpers in their day-to-day Mac experience.

For professionals, AppleScript is like an extra pair of hands performing repetitive tasks, retrieving data and files from remote servers, and executing scheduled updates and errands. AppleScript can process hundreds of files while you focus on other issues. And for businesses, automated AppleScript workflows provide consistency, accuracy, and speed while reducing the cost of time, materials, and staff. You get more done in less time and with fewer mistakes. If you want to scale your business, automation with AppleScript makes it possible.

Services: Power when you need it.

The Services menu, available in the application menu of most applications, offers a wealth of powerful automation options. In Mac OS X, many applications and system components publish their abilities as “services,” enabling the functions of one application to be used with the items selected in another application. For example, using a Mail service from the Services menu, text selected in a Pages document can automatically be used to create a new outgoing message in Mail. Or the text of a long article displayed in Safari can be quickly summarized in a few concise sentences.

In Mac OS X Snow Leopard, services are more simplified, streamlined, and helpful. The Services menu is contextual, so it shows just the services appropriate for the application you’re using or content you’re viewing, rather than all available services. You can access services with a right click of your mouse, a Control-click of your trackpad, or a keystroke that you assign. You can configure the menu to show only the services you want, and you can even create your own services using Automator.