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    Top 3 Productivity Features in Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks

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      If you haven’t already taken the plunge and upgraded your Mac to Mavericks, you’re definitely missing out on a ton of fantastic features. Mavericks was made available as a free upgrade to all Mac users back in October of last year, and we’ve highlighted some of the awesome built-in features that can save you precious time and enhance your productivity at home or in the office. And, to nudge procrastinators into upgrading.
      1. Enhanced Dictation
      If you don’t feel like hand-typing all of your documents and can’t afford a secretary, take advantage of Maverick’s new enhanced dictation.
      The enhanced dictation provides major upgrades in functionality not found in previous operating systems. In order to unlock its full potential, you must first navigate to the Dictation and Speech settings in your system preferences. Once there, make sure that dictation is turned ON, check the box that says “Use Enhanced Dictation”, and your Mac will install a download on your computer.

      Once configured, you can then use dictation without the need of an internet connection. The standard keyboard command for accessing dictation is the function key. Simply tap the key twice and start speaking. Dictation will type out what you’re saying immediately after you say it, and there is no longer a limitation to the amount of time you can speak.
      You can verbally dictate punctuation as well as create new paragraphs, so you can quickly and easily construct an entire paragraph or a whole paper. Dictation can be used anywhere in the OS where you would normally type, which makes it a very useful and timesaving tool.
      2. Text Expansion
      Text Expansion is another feature that comes fully loaded in Mavericks, which negates the need to purchase third-party software such as aText or TypeIt4Me. It was available in older operating systems, but it’s worth revisiting in Mavericks.
      With text expansion, you can create a predetermined keyword which will expand into something longer. For example, if you’re constantly typing out the same drawn out blocks of text, create a keyword for it and save yourself the hassle.
      To create your shortcuts, visit the Keyboard section of your system preferences and click on the Text tab.

      Bonus Tip: Text expansion is also available on the mobile OS, as well. You can find it under General > Keyboard > Shortcuts.
      3. Tabbed Finder
      For those of us who are likely to have several finder windows open to show various projects, tabs may be your new best friend. Similar to how you use tabs to consolidate windows in Safari, you can now use tabs to do the same thing in Finder.

      Opening up a new tab is just a keyboard command away (Command +T). You can even consolidate windows that you already have open by going to Window in your menu bar and clicking on Merge All Windows.
      Working with tabs within the Finder makes it easy to navigate and access multiple projects simultaneously. The tabs really shine when it comes to moving files and folders between locations. You can simply drag and drop your file from one tab’s listing directly onto another tab on the tab bar. If you want to drop into a folder within a tab, pause briefly on the destination tab until it opens, and then drop in the desired folder.
      These are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Mavericks has to offer. Head over to Apple’s website for a complete list of new and improved Mac OS 10.9 features.
      Is there a feature of Mavericks that you have found to drastically improve your home or office productivity? Let us know in the comments!
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