Most of us use keyboard shortcuts everyday. Probably the most common are Command-C for copy and Command-V for paste. For a lot of people having to selected Copy-Paste from the edit menu everytime they needed these functions would be unthinkably slow. But OS X offers a rich array of keyboard shortcuts that are far less known, but equally as empowering. For example, did you know that Option-Command-W will close all open windows in an application? Or that Option-Command-Up Arrow will take you up to the parent folder of the directory you are currently browsing while closing the currently open window? The Apple document Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts has a comprehensive list of OS X shortcuts you may find useful. A few more fun ones include:

• Command-` : Everyone knows Command-Tab, but this will cycle you through the windows of an application instead of the applications list
• Command-Shift-4, then Spacebar : Make a screenshot of the selected window
• Control-Command-Eject : Quit all currently open applications and restart

It’s helpful to bear in mind that almost all moderately complex applications have additonal shortcuts that can be useful for speeding up you work as well. Next time you are in your favorite application take a closer look at the menu and try memorizing the shortcuts for a few of your more commonly used functions. You may be amazed at the difference it makes.