If you have a cluster of files to rename in OS X, it used to require one of three things: tedious individual naming, a third-party app, or some Automator wizardry. Not in Yosemite. Just highlight your files, right-click and select the “rename items” options in the contextual menu. Then select "format" in the dropdown to [...]

You won't find a shortcut to Software Update in the Apple menu anymore, but Apple hasn't removed the ability to quickly check for updates. If anything, it's gotten easier — next to the App Store menu item in Yosemite, you'll see a tally of your available updates. Just click and you’ll be transported to the [...]

Speaking of accessibility, Apple has added a cool new feature to make OS X even better for the blind. Turn on the new video descriptions feature and Yosemite’s voiceover will add a spoken voice to the video content on the screen, providing an even richer experience for the visually impaired. (MacLife)

Like iOS 7, Yosemite flattens and brightens OS X as part of its new interface, lightening the shadows and using transparency to generate depth and dimension. But if you're not running apps full-screen it can get distracting, so if you want to turn it off, you need only make a visit to the Accessibility settings. [...]

If you like to organize your apps in Launchpad, Apple has finally lifted the limit on how many can fit inside folders. They work similar to the way they do in iOS; once there are too many to display on one page, a tiny white dot will appear; swipe left or click on it and [...]

If you want your Mac to understand your words, you’ll need to turn that function on — like always — inside the Dictation & Speech pane in System Preferences. But if you want to enable Enhanced Dictation for offline use in Yosemite, it’s a separate 1.2GB download, so make sure you turn it on before [...]

Simply clicking the green button won’t enlarge windows anymore, but if you hold down the option key, it’ll mimic the old way of doing things. Apple also made it so you can double-click the title bar to make a window bigger, but if you’d rather have the old minimizing functionality back, just head over to [...]

OS X’s traffic-light window controls have done the same three things since we first laid eyes on 'em — red closes, yellow minimizes, and green embiggens — so we were surprised to learn that Apple has switched things up in Yosemite. Instead of getting a slightly bigger window when you click the green button, it’ll [...]

The Notification Center in Yosemite might look a lot like it does in iOS, but Apple has given us an old-fashioned way to organize our widgets. To change the position of any of your active widgets, simply drag them to where you want them to go and drop them in place. It's that easy. (MacLife)

You might have heard that Apple added widgets to the Notification Center in iOS, but it wasn’t as widely reported that they added them to OS X, too. They operate just the way they do on your iPhone and iPad; call up the Notification Center, and you’ll see all of your active widgets in a [...]