Everyone’s Mac is a bit different. Not just the hardware side, there’s probably more in common with hardware than anything else. It’s how we customize our Macs that makes them really personal.
As a long-time Mac user (original 128k Mac; $2,495 with nothing on it) I’ve tried, thrown away, collected more than my share of Mac utilities. Some are used just to try them out but seldom get used again (can you say “iVeZeen?”). Some utilities are must have because they’re just so perfect for the task.
Secure file transfers with the FTP application Transmit is one example. It’s not on my list because it’s really a “specialty” application. Not everyone needs to transfer files. My Top 7 List of Mac Power Utilitities You Must Have (and can’t live without) is a list of utilities that virtually all of us can use; if we’re not using them, we should be.
If I had the money, I’d round up all Mac users and give each of you these 7 Mac Power Utilities. And you’d thank me. However, money is an object, so I’ll simply revert to the old fashioned way—a solid recommendation for each of the 7 (actually, 8; number 7 is a tie). Compare these utilities with your own experiences.
#1 – Best Mac Utility Ever
This honor belongs to James Thompson’s Drag Thing. There’s plenty of launchers around; some are quite good. This one is great. I’ve had it since the Mac OS 8/9 days and can’t imagine using a Mac without it. Drag Thing is much more than a launcher. It’s the short-cut window to your Mac. Totally customizable, simple to set up, and with more features that you can grow into.
It’s so good, I don’t understand why Apple hasn’t copied it and dropped it in as iLauncher or something. They did that with Sherlock vs. Watson, right?
Try Drag Thing. Try it for a week. Dink around with it. You won’t be sorry. Drag Thing can be set up to do some wonderful things; one click look at your hard disk; use it as a launcher for applications, utilities, documents, and much more. try the floating Processes Dock, or the handy Disk Dock. Click Here to view the features and download. It’ll be the best $29 you’ll spend on your Mac.
#2 – Best Mac Backup Utility Ever
Of course, this one is free for the basic version, and if it backs up your system and your hard drive dies, it’ll automatically be the best money you never spent on your Mac.
SuperDuper is the best backup utility on Mac OS X and I’ve tried all the good ones. What I like about SuperDuper is ease of use, simplicity, AND, a steady learning curve to some very advanced features.
The basic version (free) will simply clone your hard drive to another drive. Valuable files I still move to CD or DVD and get them out of the house for safe keeping. But the Mac “system” with files, utilities, applications, music, photos, movies, and so on doesn’t move well to CD or DVD.
SuperDuper clones the extra hard drive in record time. Better than that, SD will also undo a bad install from an errant application, or undo a bad Mac OS X upgrade or update. Click Here for the list of features and free download.
#3 – Best Mac Web Page Album Utility Ever
There’s just something about OS X that attracts quality developers. If you’ve ever wanted to take a gazillion digital photos and make a gallery, JAlbum is the ONLY application to look at.
You don’t have to publish all those photos to a web site, either. Publish them to a folder on your Mac and burn on a CD. Then share the gallery of photos with friends and relatives.
JAlbum has so many features it’s impossible to list them all. What’s great about this list of Mac Power Utilities is that you get to try them out. For free. Oh, did I mention that JAlbum is free. It isn’t often that the very best application in a given category is also free. JAlbum is. Click Here to read the details and download. Try for yourself. If you don’t like it, tell me.
#4 – Best Mac Graphic Utility Ever
Once you’ve used this application, there won’t be much argument. Now, for what it’s worth, this is not an application from Adobe or Macromedia or any major Mac developer. Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, et al, win the features war hands down. You’ll pay through the nose for those applications.
“You get to use it free during evaluation, but it’ll be the best $30 graphic application you can get.”GraphicConverter is free to try, costs less, tastes great, and is less filling.
It also works so well you’ll wonder why someone didn’t mention it before. If you’ve used GraphicConverter already, you know what I’m talking about. Think of it as a mini-Photoshop/Illustrator application built by the same folks who design Swiss Army Knives for a living.
Every graphic file format I could find is in GraphicConverter, as are most tools you’re likely to use in Photoshop Elements or Fireworks. GraphicConverter imports 175 files formats and exports 75. It’s optimized for G4 and G5 Macs.
You get to use it free during evaluation, but it’ll be the best $30 graphic application you can get. Compare that to $89 for Photoshop Elements, or $629 for Photoshop CS (yes, it’s not Apple’s to apples, but this is a budget utility).
Click Here for a look at the features list, and to download.
That’s 4 of the Top 7. Remember, #7 is a tie, so there’s really 8 utilities. Click Here for the next 4 Mac Power Utilities You Must Have.
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There’s something about “undo” that’s magical. Most Mac OS X applications of substance have an undo feature. Some have multiple undo levels so you can backup changes to just before you made that big mistake that wiped out half a page.
So it is with cut and paste. We all use cut and paste because it’s built in. How many times have you “cut” something (or copied) and then accidentally hit Command-X or Command-C again? That wiped out your previous “cut.”
Wouldn’t it be great to have multiple levels of Cut and Paste? Or multiple levels of Copy and Paste? If you’ve been a Mac user for any length of time you already know there’s an application called, you guessed it, Copy Paste.
#5 – Best Cut And Paste Utility Ever
This one has been around on Mac (and Windows for many years. Script Software started the original multi-level copy and paste routing back in the early 90s (the Mac’s dark years).
There’s two versions now; CopyPaste and CopyPaste Lite. My favorite is CopyPaste Lite (it’s cheaper; I’m a low-end kinda gal). Who needs it? Anyone who uses Copy/Cut and Paste. Writers, editors, graphics folks, students, teachers, web designers, or anyone who uses the clipboard (don’t we all?).
{embed=ads/Content”}CopyPaste Lite gives you multiple “clips” of both copy and paste items in a small, floatable dock that you can move around on screen.
Roll your pointer over the dock (about the size of a capitalized, bold-face font) and the list of copied items shows up. Select the one you want, and paste.
It’s about that simple and there’s no reason that CopyPaste Lite isn’t built in to Mac OS X. Once you’ve used it you’ll find it hard to imagine not using it in the future.
CopyPaste Lite also sets up a contextual option for the mouse (right click for two-button mouse): Control-Click gets you additional options in the pop up menu. You can copy things (almost anything) into one of the slots, then paste it later. CopyPaste is $30 but the Lite version (which I still use) is only $8.00.
I doubt if you can find a better utility for $8.00. Click Here for the features page and the free download. Oh, you get to use it for awhile to see if you like it. You will. Yes, there’s other copy and paste utilities (iClip for one). They do essentially the same thing so I’ve opted for the one I’ve used and the lower price.
6 – Best Mac Weather Utility Ever
Everyone complains about the weather but no one does anything about it. Well, if you install WeatherPop on your Mac, you’ll still be able to complain about the weather, and not do anything about it—while working on your Mac.
I chose WeatherPop for my list because I’ve used it for years and it works. I’ve tried others. Some even give more information or more graphics or are bigger and take up more space. WeatherPop is the choice.
“The only negative about any menu bar application is that the menu bar is limited on space.”WeatherPop fits in the Mac’s menu bar and displays conditions with a graphic and the temperature of the city of your choice. There are two versions from which to choose. Free and not so free.
Choose WeatherPop Advance, the not so free (it’s $8.00; what is that? Two trips to Starbucks?). The icons in the menu bar are in color, you can choose multiple cities and have the conditions and temperature cycle, and anyone who can make a utility application so useful for so little compensation deserves, well, uh, er, compensation.
The only negative about any menu bar application is that the menu bar is limited on space. Throw in other menu bar items such as the Clock, iChat AV, Bluetooth, Airport, Sound, and CopyPaste, and there’s not much room for the weather.
Note to developer: is there a way to ALSO put WeatherPop in the dock?
No flames, please. I know there’s a couple of other weather applications that do just that; either float in a separate window or display conditions in the dock. My preference is for an application to keep working when others don’t and WeatherPop does.
Besides, I have a 23” display now so menu bar space isn’t limited so much. Click Here to get your WeatherPop for free.
# 7 – Best RSS Newsreader(s) Ever (tie)
I’m preaching RSS these days. Not all the mainstream media sites have picked up on the value to readers (maybe they’re afraid they’ll lose advertising impressions), but RSS is here to stay and works very well.
The first RSS Newsreader I used is still one of the best. NetNewsWire Lite from Ranchero Software. It’s big brother has a ton of great features, but to get started go with the free version. NetNewsWire is a great example of why great applications come to the Mac first. It will help you find the RSS links on web sites (there are three links on this site; home page, lower left hand corner). Drag and drop prevails.
” It’s like getting the headlines and a summary of 100 web sites delivered right to a window on your Mac. Automatically.”Here’s why it’s a tie. I’ve been using a new RSS newsreader for a couple of weeks. It’s not even at version 1.0 yet. This reader is called NewsFire. It has fewer features (by far) than NetNewsWire Lite, yet is superbly elegant, totally drag and drop when it comes to finding RSS on web sites.
NewsFire is also Mac “intuitive”. That means it’ll take you all of about seven minutes poking around to get it to work. Open it up, find the RSS link on the home page of this site, drag the link to the left hand column of NewsFire. Bingo. It works.
Oh, what does RSS do? It’s like getting the headlines and a summary of 100 web sites delivered right to a window on your Mac. Automatically. Then you can scan the headlines and select which article you want to read. One click and the article shows up in your browser.
If you’re tired of clicking and browsing through dozens of web sites each day, you’ll thank me once you try RSS. Oh, they’re free.
Click Here to find Ranchero’s NetNewsWire, both regular and lite versions. Click Here for the NewsFire home page and download.
That’s the top eight of my Top 7 Mac Power Utilities You Can’t Live Without.
Amazingly, not everyone may agree with those on my list. It’s even possible that I overlooked one, maybe even two power utilities. Probably not (but maybe; it’s late at night). What’s on your list of Mac power utilities? Care to share? What’d I miss? To share your favorite power utility, click the Comments link below.
