Odd Mac Utilities I Don’t Use, Can’t Throw Away.

To be honest, these are either free Mac utilities or shareware that I’ve paid for. Everytime I install a new update to Mac OS X or buy a new Mac, I faithfully install these applications (and many others), though they seldom get used.

There’s nothing wrong with any of the applications on this list. For whatever reason, they just don’t get used like I thought they would. Or should. But I can’t bring myself to throw them away.

What’s the rule of thumb for clothing in the closet? If you haven’t worn it for a year, give it away or throw it away?

Maybe it should be the same with Mac utilities. It’s not. My Mac friends use some of these same utilities religiously, effectively, and probably couldn’t do without. For me, I could do without but I don’t.

Easy WMA
This nifty utility converts Windows’ WMA audio files to MP3 so they can be played on your Mac in iTunes or any other player. It works great. Yes, I have some songs left over from Windows PTP days. Not all have been converted from my Sony Vaio to my Mac. One day I’ll get around to it. But not now. Click Here for EasyWMA.

CopyPaste Lite
I really like CopyPaste. I’ve had it since the Mac OS 8 days. I upgraded to OS 9, then to Mac OS X. I didn’t upgrade to the OS X 2.0 version, though. Instead I settled for CopyPaste Lite.

This cute little utility gives you multiple clipboards and scrapbooks. It’s so much like the Mac it should be included in Mac OS X.

It’s not. I don’t use it. It’s installed and in the menu bar but I don’t use it. I’m too busy just involved in “cut and paste” and can’t think slowly enough to figure out which of the many “cut” pieces needs to get pasted. Click Here For CopyPaste Lite.

iPod.iTunes
I jumped all over this great little application when iTunes first hit the streets a few years ago. What a great little utility. iPod.iTunes syncs your iPod to your Mac. Wait. Doesn’t iTunes already do that? No. iTunes syncs your Mac’s music with the iPod, not the other way around.

This is so handy for a Mac that’s crapped out but your iPod still holds your music. With iPod.iTunes (now at version 2.6.7) you can get your new Mac synced up in a jiffy. Except I’ve never had a Mac die (at least, one that had all my iTunes music on it). Maybe I’ll need this one day. Click Here for iPod.iTunes.

The next few applications I know for a fact that my Mac colleagues love to use. I’ve got ‘em all on my Mac and don’t use any one of them.

Free Ruler
This is a ruler for measuring distance on your Mac’s screen. If you do web pages or other kinds of graphics, Free Ruler is perfect. First, there’s no other utility quite as good; it’s intuitive, simple to operate, accurate. Oh, and it’s free. Duh. I’ve just never had the need to use it. But it’s installed and running on my Mac. Click Here for Free Ruler.

Are you a Unix user or have Unix roots? If so, you probably love using the Mac. While I don’t mind mucking with the command line from time to time (you’re laughing now, I know it-- blondes named Bambi know such things), I much prefer point and click. Well, my Mac OS X friends said these two Mac utilities are the cat’s meow.

They’re not.

Cronnix
This nifty little utility (so I hear) is a simple Aqua front end to the Unix tool cron; a Unix system service that lets you schedule the execution of scripts, programs, applications, anything that can be started from the command line.

See the problem.

I know we have it running on our web site’s PowerMac G5s and it does some wonderful things. I don’t know what, though. It’s installed on my Mac but just sits there. Click Here to take a look at Cronnix. It’s free.

BatChmod
Unix is full of little utilities that can be run from the command line. So long as you know what to run and what to type. Changing file and folder privileges is for the privileged few so far as I’m concerned. Believe it or not, Tera Patricks uses this all this time, but she’s the Unix geek.

Not me. I have it installed on my Mac. I think it works (if there’s ever a problem with a file, I ask Tera or Jack anyway). Click Here for BatChmod.

WeatherPop Advance
OK, if you’ve been reading the site you know we like Mac utilities and one of Tera’s favorites is WeatherPop because it gives you a current temperature and an icon depicting the current conditions right in the menu bar.

That’s nifty alright. Except I don’t use it. I faithfully upgrade to every new version. I’ve installed it a few times to see if it works. It does. I don’t use it.

Why?

Well, I live in Hawaii. Our average summertime daytime high temperature is about 86 to 88. The average wintertime daytime high temperature is about 78 to 82. Whew. What a spread.

I ask you, is that worth worrying about? I think not.

Click Here for WeatherPop. If you live in someplace like Missouri (I spent a week in St. Louis one night) where the temperature goes up and down like crazy, fine. Not here.

Tera and Jack are always giving me Mac utilities to try out as if they’re the next greatest thing on the earth. They’re both modern day replicas of Tartuffe (a funny story by the French guy, Moliere), always looking for the next great thing. Me? I like my Mac as it is. Pure. Undefiled. Virgin-like.

So, what’s on your Mac? Do you have utilities you’ve bought, used, but don’t use anymore? Share your list with other readers and click the No Obligation, Secret’s Always With Us And Our Readers™ Comments link below.

Off Topic Note: Have you ever noticed how much Apple’s “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” television commercials remind you of Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote? Seriously.