A Mac OS X/UNIX newbie asked me if there was any way to show all the hidden files in Mac OS X so that he could browse the UNIX directories when using the Finder. Since there may be others out there that have the same need/want I thought I would share an easy way to show and then hide all hidden files within the Finder.
To show hidden files: open the Terminal application and type: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE. In order for the Finder to recognize the change, restart the Finder by then typing: killall Finder.
To hide hidden files: open the Terminal application and type: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE. In order for the Finder to recognize the change, restart the Finder by then typing: killall Finder.
[tags]Hidden Files,defaults write, Mac OS X[/tags]

