Featured Article: Editorial - iMac Ten Years Later: Another Dent in the Universe
TMO Quick Tip - Calculator: More Than Meets the Eye
by , 7:30 AM EDT, March 10th, 2008
Apple's Calculator application is pretty handy for basic mathematic calculations, but by default it doesn't do much for the scientific or programmer types out there. With a quick switch, however, it can handle those tasks, and it even supports Reverse Polish Notation, too.
![]() Apple's Calculator application. |
|---|
To switch to an alternate view in the Calculator application, just choose View > Scientific, or View > Programmer. Each view displays an alternate feature set geared toward either scientific or programmer-related equations.
![]() Calculator's Scientific view. |
|---|
You can jump back to the standard Calculator view by choosing View > Basic. All three modes also support RPN, or Reverse Polish Notation, so most everyone's calculating needs can be handled with Apple's seemingly simple Calculator application. You can enable RPN mode by choosing View > RPN Mode.
![]() Magic Number Machine |
|---|
If you need even more than Calculator can offer, take the free Magic Number Machine for a spin. It offers support for large expressions, and includes data drawers for statistical data, linear regressions and gaussian elimination. It also does a good job with complex and hexadecimal numbers and displays your equations as you enter them.
Jeff Gamet is TMO's Morning Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.
if you have tips or tricks to share, or Mac-related questions you want answered.
Observer Comments
Recent Headlines - Updated Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
- Tue., 8:35 AM
- Apple Rolls Out "New Get a Mac" Ads
- 8:10 AM
- PageSender 4.3 Enhances Menu Options, More
- 7:40 AM
- Podcast - Apple Weekly Report #125: iPhone Expansion, NBC and Zune, Apple's Eco-stance
- 3:10 AM
- MS Office 2008 SP1 Improves Stability, Security, More
- 3:05 AM
- Microsoft Says Visual Basic Returning to Office
- Mon., 10:25 PM
- Podcast - Mac Geek Gab #152: Have I Been Hacked?
- 4:50 PM
- Subversive T-shirt Buried Under Apple's Boston Store
- 3:45 PM
- Cover Stream 2.0 Gets Search Filter and Integrated Song Browser
- 3:10 PM
- iPodObserver - Apple Confirms a Steve Jobs WWDC Keynote Address
- 2:05 PM
- iPO Editorial - Making Sense of an iPod superTouch
- 1:10 PM
- TMO Appearances - TMO's Dave Hamilton to Speak at Seacoast MUG
- 12:35 PM
- Google Releases YouTube Upload App, Vidnik
- 11:40 AM
- Analyst: Apple to Sell 11M iPhones in 2008, 17M in 2009
- 11:05 AM
- Hot Forum Topic - Reader Reactions: The Unavailable iPhone
- 10:35 AM
- Apple's Boston Store to Open on May 15
- 10:05 AM
- QuickerTek Intros MacBook Air Battery Extender
- 9:40 AM
- iPodObserver - Rumor: New iPhones Now, Tablets at WWDC
- 8:40 AM
- Pixelmator 1.2 Draftsman Adds Rulers, Adjustments
- 8:15 AM
- iPodObserver - iPhone Unavailable at US, UK Apple Store
- 8:00 AM
- iPO Ted Landau's User Friendly View - In search of headphones for my iPhone
- 7:30 AM
- iPO Quick Tip - iPhone: Saving SMS Messages to Your Mac
The Mac Observer Reader Specials
- Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
- Other World Computing: Power up your PowerMac G4! Make you trusty PowerMac G4 like new again with up to 2.0GHz Processor Power. G4/1.2GHz for $199, Dual 1.8GHz $498, & More Plug & Play for like new A-OK for OS 9 & OS X, etc.
NEW MacPro Memory 800Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB Kit $104 / 4GB Kit $184 / 8GB Kit $362 Click to Maximize your Macs...
Mac observers can now play Party Poker for Mac as well as Mac casino games by going to MacPokerOnline.com.For the latest Apple products use Ciao a comparison website to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate cell phones.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.




