tell application “application name”
activate
end tell
for example:
tell application “Mail”
activate
end tell

to quit use:
tell application “application name”
quit
end tell

Simply put those lines in for every application that you want to launch or quit, respectively, and then choose File –> Save As –> and save it as an application. You can then drag it to the dock and launch/close everything with one click.
I also map network drives and other such customizations, but that might be getting a little too in depth for most new to applescript.

When I have downloaded the latest Anacron 3.3 it told me:

“This version has been updated with a Universal binary for both PPC and Intel architectures. It will run on Leopard (MacOS 10.5), but is not needed because the Leopard launched will correctly run skipped events when the machine is next awake.”

As Anacron 3.3 stopped running, I have completely uninstalled it in accordance with Anacron’s instructions but I can’t find any records of Leopard’s running automatic maintenance in /var/log/ .
Does that mean that the maintenance is not running or that it is no longer listed in /var/log/? Is it listed anywhere at all?

When I have downloaded the latest Anacron 3.3 it told me:

“This version has been updated with a Universal binary for both PPC and Intel architectures. It will run on Leopard (MacOS 10.5), but is not needed because the Leopard launched will correctly run skipped events when the machine is next awake.”

As Anacron 3.3 stopped running, I have completely uninstalled it in accordance with Anacron’s instructions but I can’t find any records of Leopard’s running automatic maintenance in /var/log/ .
Does that mean that the maintenance is not running or that it is no longer listed in /var/log/? Is it listed anywhere at all?
Wacek

It’s quite weird, I don’t really consider myself a power user by any means, and I don’t really think these tips are indicative of a power user – certainly one who uses some of OSX’s less obvious and more useful features, but not power. In my mind, a power user has a library of apple scripts, automator actions and awk scripts so that they barely even have to touch the keyboard any more!

Find it in your Applications folder and play around a bit.

@Salil – I have my Zoom feature turned off because, like you, I discovered it only by accident and had no idea what was going on! If you want to enable zoom, go into System Preferences under Universal Access. You’ll see ‘Zoom’ spelled out in huge letters – just click the ‘On’ preference check box. By default, holding down control and scrolling in (with a trackball on a mouse or with two fingers on a notebook) will magnify the screen area around your cursor. Scroll back to get back to a normal state.

I personally don’t find it very useful, but I can see how it would be to some.

Great comments! Cheers, everyone.