The Mac world might not be drowning in software the way Windows is, but that’s not to say there’s a shortage. No, the OSX software scene has never looked healthier. Moreover this is one journalist who’s constantly amazed at the quality and inventiveness of Mac developers. Here at Geekosity, we’re huge fans of simple software simply made and so, to kick off our new website, here’s 10 of our favourite Mac utilities.
10. Fresh – Ironic Software – $10 – v1.1.1 – Download
We’ve all been there. You download a file to a random location on your hard drive and then spend the next 15 minutes searching for the bloody thing. Fresh is here to fix that particular very irritating issue. It keeps track of all the new files and folders that are appearing on your Mac and enables you to go straight to them with a click of the mouse.
Fresh is made up of two bars. The top bar is the list of files that have most recently been saved to your hard drive. The bottom list (called The Cooler) is where you can drag and drop files that you’d like to keep track of. To work with a particular file you can either double-click on it to have it open in the default application – or drag it to the desktop or an application.
9. Amnesty Singles – Amnesty Widgets – $9.95 – v1.5 – Download
The Dashboard has never done that much for me. I can kind of see the point of it, but the reality is that if I want a sticky note on my screen I want it there all the time, not just accessible only after pressing a hotkey. However there are some superb Dashboard widgets that I always wished I could run off the desktop and not just in Dashboard mode. And while I know abou the developers toggle where you drag stuff off the Dashboard and onto the desktop, it’s not the most flexible solution. So when I chanced on Amnesty Singles I was a very happy chappy.
What Amnesty Singles enables you to do is transform Dashboard widgets into full blown applications. The process is simplicity itself – you just drag the .wdgt file onto the Amnesty window and, with a deft sleight of hand, the program makes a transportalbe executable that you can put in the Applications directory with the rest of your stuff and run when you want. In the example above, I transformed the excellent BBC Radio widget into an executable.
8. Overflow – Stunt Software – $14.95 – v2.5.5 – Download
There have been plenty of solutions to fix the problems with OSX’s Dock, which tends to get cluttered very quickly. None of those solutions are as simple or effective as Overflow, however, which is like having a (whispher it) Windows start button in your dock.
To add applications, files or folders to Overflow you simply click the Edit button and drag them into the window. Categories can be created in the bar on the left and the size and grid dimensions of the window can be altered to suit.
7. ShoveBox – Wonder Warp Software – $24.95 – v1.7 – Download
This is one of those cool little utilities that you wonder how you did without. Shovebox, as the name implies, is a program designed for the storage of miscellaneous ’stuff’. Found an interesting web page but don’t have time to linger on it? Capture the link in ShoveBox. Written a shopping list on a post-it and want to save it for later? Hold it up to the iSight and save it instantly in Shovebox. Collating some text for an article you’re writing? Just add them to notes in ShoveBox.
ShoveBox lurks on the menu bar until you need it. It can capture text, images (both pre-saved and captured via iSight) and whatever the contents of your clipboard are. Notes are saved in the Inbox and, if you wish, you can organise them into folders or export them. The program even has a rules system whereby entries complying to certain features (a word or url for instance) have actions automatically assigned to them – such as placing them in a specific folder.
6. Default Folder X – St Clair Software – $34.95 – v1.7 – Download
OSX’s Finder is undoubtedly the best window/file manager on any operating system, however like most aspects of the operating system – it does have its flaws. Default Folder X vastly improves the default Open/Save dialog box by giving you access to recently used folders without the painstaking slog downwards through your file heirachy.
The core of the program lies in the five buttons arranged vertically on the right of the dialog box. These give you access to default folders (per-application), computer (your whole Mac heirachy), favourites (folders you’ve added), recent (folders you’ve used recently) and finder view. If you’re not sure where a file is, you can search within Spotlight right from the Open/Save dialog window too.
5. CopyPaste Pro – Script Software – $30 – v2.05 – Download
Billed as ‘Time Machine for your Clipboard’ – CopyPaste Pro is indispensible for anyone who juggles lots of text. As you cut and paste everything you do is recorded and stored by this utility and, should you need it, you can call up those prior copies. CopyPaste Pro stores your clips in newest-first format, with everything easily accessible from the menu bar.
One of the most powerful features of CopyPaste Pro is the ability to store clips you’ve made in archives. You could use this, for instance, for selecting important sections of a text – just work your way through the document copying anything that interests you and at the end you have all your choices neatly stored in one archive. CopyPaste also has various tools for cleaning up text – it can remove email quotes, fix word-wrapping and indentation and sort out upper and lower cases.
4. CoverSutra – Sophiestication Software – $14.95 – v2.1.7 – Download
The first time I downloaded CoverSutra it was because I wanted to achieve one very specific thing – I wanted one of those cool album covers on my desktop which changed according to whatever I was listening to at the time. CoverSutra fulfilled that requirement but I soon discovered it was far from a one trick pony.
CoverSutra excels as an iTunes controller. It enables you to background iTunes to the dock and use a simple pop-up window when you want to change tracks or volume levels. The software integrates with Last.FM to record your average track change and has a very cool music search tool available straight from the menu bar. Rock on.
3. Google Notifier – Google – $free – v1.10.4 – Download
If you use Gmail (and if you’re not – why not?) then this little utility is a god-send. The notifier reguarly checks in with Google for email and forthcoming calendar events and displays the results on the menu bar.
When you receive an email via Gmail there’s an audible notification, growl notification and the menu bar icon gets highlighted. The number of unread emails in your inbox is displayed over the top of the Gmail icon. To read a specific email all you need do is highlight it the notifier and you’ll be taken directly to it in Google Mail.
2. 1Password – Agile Web Solutions – $39.95 – v – Download
If there’s one program that I’d be absolutely loathed to part witih, then it’s this one. 1Password has not only brought a considerable degree of simplicity to my online life, but it has saved my arse on more than one occasion. At its simplest it is a password recorder – every time you visit a website and login it can record those details and play them back when you revisit the site in question. All of which means that you can use long and hard to crack passwords without having to worry about remember them all, because all you need to do is remember 1Password’s one password.
1Password can remember and play back passwords you enter in Firefox or Safari. It can remember multiple passwords for the same site. If you want you can also use it for complete form filling by using its Wallet feature. It can safely store your credit card details too, so that when you’re desperate to make the online purchase everything’s to hand.
1. Leap – Ironic Software – $35 – v1.1.0 – Download
Spotlight is a god-send, there’s no two ways about it, but it’s not the best designed tool in Leopard’s armoury and it’s far from exhaustive. No – if you want the be-all and end-all of OSX search tools, then you need Leap. This incredibly powerful tool enables you to quickly track down a file or folder – even if you can’t remember what it’s called, where it was saved or when you made it.Leap enables you to be as vague as you like about searches – and still find what you’re looking for. It’s incredibly easy to narrow things down once you have a basic search in place. You can discount files by date, or type or tag. You can bookmark common searches and you can output the results of search data. Want a record of all the word documents you created between February and June 2002 – easy. Need to find all the .psds on your Mac created since last week – easy. It’s a leap forward, that’s for sure.
