[j.mac]

Hi

One of the best things about being a Mac user is hunting for little software "gems"

I thought it would be nice to recognise some of the apps that surface from time to time that are not too expensive and serve a real purpose when used on my machine. Maybe if we support these developers, who mostly give their time for little reward, we can encourage more innovation for the wider Mac community

Here is my starting top 10

1. Namely - search app for finding software on your system

2. Spotinside - app which allows you to quickly search for files or contents within files (super fast)

3. SizeUp - something which would be great if Apple could develop - means for re-sizing any open screen (Finder, Office document etc) - full size half size, quarter size

4. ForeverSave - file back up software - easily configurable, enables back up on the go - if a file falls over, recover a previous version from this app.

5. Vienna - open source RSS reader - just for those situations where you don't want to open a browser (would have nominated NetNewswire, except it now includes ads in the free version)

6. Grand Perspective - neat little app showing graphically what is taking up all the used space (Whatsize equivalent)

7. YouView/GetTube/MacTubes - any of these apps will allow you to find and download You Tube Videos

8. Phoenix Slides - little photo app, that can find photos anywhere - just in case you don't want to use iPhoto from time to time

9. Simply Burns - simple disc burning apps - simple interface, when all you want to do is burn something quickly

10. Quiet Read - menulet on menubar - drag a URL from the browser onto it and it keeps the address for a later read

(I reckon I can do another 10, but I will leave it here)

Anyone care to put up a batch as well?

[clinton1550]

I second Grand Perspective!

[skyhawkmatthew]

I third GrandPerspective!

I found that half my drive is taken up by iTunes, and another huge chunk by Aperture

[Ben_]

I'm a big fan of simplyburns, I just wish the development would continue. It seems like the project is practically dead. I would also mention the burning app "Burn". Simple but does the job.

Also, "The Unarchiver". Open source replacement for BOMArchiveHelper.app. It handles more compressed formats such as Tar, RAR (including multi part rar archives), 7-zip, StuffIt etc. Plus it is faster to open zip archives than BOMArchiveHelper.app. The only downside is the ugly icon!

[michaelgb]

I've just discovered GrandPerspective - wow! it is a colourful, fun and fast file listing - more fun than Finder.

[pmoeser]

I'd add Whatsize ... it reveals what's eating your hard drive by displaying file sizes in a browser.

Oh, and Path Finder. A seriously funky file browser/manager.

I reckon your first three apps there can be replaced with Spotlight.

For instance, think of a phrase, a number, a name. Search it with Spotlight, see what you get.

Number 8 can be handled by Finder.
Enable the All Images on the Sidebar preferences tab

[clinton1550]

I'd add Whatsize ... it reveals what's eating your hard drive by displaying file sizes in a browser.

Oh, and Path Finder. A seriously funky file browser/manager.

I reckon your first three apps there can be replaced with Spotlight.

For instance, think of a phrase, a number, a name. Search it with Spotlight, see what you get.

I prefer the Google Quick Search Box, it's faster than Spotlight and seems to be a lot smarter. It's a good application launcher, you only have to type the first three letters of the application's name and QSB finds it instantly, sometimes you only need to type the first letter if it's one you search for frequently.

Developed by the guy who used to make Quicksilver IIRC.

Path Finder is a must have for any power user, the Finder just doesn't cut it for serious file management tasks.

[Mychael]

No suggestions but a question. Are those programs/apps able to run on Tiger or are they all designed for 10.5/Intel macs

[skyhawkmatthew]

No suggestions but a question. Are those programs/apps able to run on Tiger or are they all designed for 10.5/Intel macs

Here's a rundown of the current versions' OS requirements:

Namely
10.5+

Spotinside
10.4+

SizeUp
10.5+

ForeverSave
10.5+ (10.6 recommended)

Vienna
10.5+

GrandPerspective
10.3+

YouView/GetTube/MacTubes
10.4+ / 10.5+ / 10.4+

Phoenix Slides
10.3+

SimplyBurns
10.4+

Quiet Read
10.6+

Many of these applications have older versions that will run on 10.4, you just have to look around to find them sometimes.

[MacDavo]

I used to be a huge fan of third party apps, but with each OS X release, I've tried to reduce them, only installing things I truly can't do without. I find MacHeist a great source of these 3rd party apps you might not otherwise be familiar with, and most of those I now run came via MacHeist.

On my list in no particular order are:
iStat Menus - monitor CPU, RAM, NW & HDD stats plus others. Also has a far better system clock.
Fresh - Tracks all your most recent documents. Much faster than Finder smart search. Print a PDF and drag it from Fresh to your email.
The Hit List - Fantastic todo item manager. Designed for speed and ease of use.
Growl - Popup notifications for a wide array of apps.
1Password - Remembers web passwords and auto fills forms, syncs with iPhone app
Splash ID - Another password manager, but better as a wallet IMO. Also syncs with iPhone app
Adium - Multi protocol chat client
SpeedDownload 5 - Download manager with advanced resume functionality

Productivity/Development
Pear Note - Absolutely killer audio/video recorder for meetings,lectures etc with note taking (This would kill on a true tablet with stylus input!!!)
Sequel Pro - MySQL database client based on CocoaMySQL
svnX - Easy to use GUI for SVN
TrueCrypt - Easy to use file/volume encryption utility. If you need data security, use this
Zend Studio 7 - If you're remotely serious about developing PHP applications, this is a must have

[skyhawkmatthew]

I used to be a huge fan of third party apps, but with each OS X release, I've tried to reduce them, only installing things I truly can't do without.

Exactly the same for me. I quit Quicksilver today and am going to try and spend a week without it, using Spotlight instead.

I find MacHeist a great source of these 3rd party apps you might not otherwise be familiar with, and most of those I now run came via MacHeist.

Same for me as well - my main gain from MacHeist has been The Hit List - I use it every day for managing my schoolwork.

My commentary on these apps:

On my list in no particular order are:
iStat Menus - monitor CPU, RAM, NW & HDD stats plus others. Also has a far better system clock.
I used these extensively for years until I realised they run the CPU at a constant 5-10%, hammering battery life.

Fresh - Tracks all your most recent documents. Much faster than Finder smart search. Print a PDF and drag it from Fresh to your email.
Used it for a while, didnt' get it - trying to get to use it.

The Hit List - Fantastic todo item manager. Designed for speed and ease of use.
As I said above- LOVE IT! (can't wait for iPhone app!)

Growl - Popup notifications for a wide array of apps.
Can't live without this one.

1Password - Remembers web passwords and auto fills forms, syncs with iPhone app
Used it for a while, it became annoying, went back to Keychain.

Splash ID - Another password manager, but better as a wallet IMO. Also syncs with iPhone app
Never used this one.

Adium - Multi protocol chat client
Use this every day.

SpeedDownload 5 - Download manager with advanced resume functionality
I don't use this.

Productivity/Development
Pear Note - Absolutely killer audio/video recorder for meetings,lectures etc with note taking (This would kill on a true tablet with stylus input!!!)
Sequel Pro - MySQL database client based on CocoaMySQL
svnX - Easy to use GUI for SVN
TrueCrypt - Easy to use file/volume encryption utility. If you need data security, use this
Zend Studio 7 - If you're remotely serious about developing PHP applications, this is a must have
All N/A again.

[MacDavo]

I quit Quicksilver today and am going to try and spend a week without it, using Spotlight instead.

It interesting to hear you say that because I know you were a big fan. I tried a number of times to use QuickSilver, because so many people swore by it. Personally it just didn't do a thing for me. I didn't use it beyond what I'd use spotlight for.
Maybe if I'd used it before spotlight it might have gelled. As it was, Leopard came out not long after I got into Macs; or to a point with OS X where I kind of got the whole spotlight thing for launching apps.

iStat Menus:
I used these extensively for years until I realised they run the CPU at a constant 5-10%, hammering battery life.

I'd say it's probably gotten better over the years, and the real trick to these monitoring apps is to sample and trend. On this basis, drop the sampling rate down, because what's you're really looking for are trends, not what the system is doing at any microsecond in time. The RAM and NW are two of the most useful measurements in my book. RAM because you can detect bad apps that eat RAM. NW because you can see if you're "leaking" data to a rogue process.

Fresh:
Used it for a while, didnt' get it - trying to get to use it.

I probably had the same problem early on until I started realising how useful it could be.
Say you print something to PDF and want to email it. Start the email, popup Fresh with the hotkey, and the PDF will be in the Fresh files.
I have to do a lot of csv exporting, importing and emailing. Fresh again comes in handy for this. It's so much faster than finding the file in the file system. Bear in mind, I've never used the desktop to store files; not even temporary ones.

I vastly under utilize the "Cooler" in Fresh that allows you to keep specific files a hot-key away.

The Hit List:
can't wait for iPhone app!

Ditto. That would make this the absolute #1 todo list manager. ATM I do quick todos in notes on the iPhone and email it to myself so I get it when I start the next day.

[mickdevlin]

ATM I do quick todos in notes on the iPhone and email it to myself so I get it when I start the next day.

I have a workaround you might consider, especially for recurring todo items: create a calendar in iCal called Pseudo Events and assign todos to that. This eliminates the need to email anything as the calendar is synced via MobileMe.

[mickdevlin]

One app that has yet to be mentioned that several people in this forum use is Little Snitch. That is a great (Snow Leopard-compatible but still only 32-bit) app that is both cheap and fully fulfils its purpose. It's also useful if you suspect that a site in a browser is not responding as a glance at the monitor in the menu bar will tell you if anything is being downloaded.

[skyhawkmatthew]

It interesting to hear you say that because I know you were a big fan. I tried a number of times to use QuickSilver, because so many people swore by it. Personally it just didn't do a thing for me. I didn't use it beyond what I'd use spotlight for.
Maybe if I'd used it before spotlight it might have gelled. As it was, Leopard came out not long after I got into Macs; or to a point with OS X where I kind of got the whole spotlight thing for launching apps.

I'd say it's probably gotten better over the years, and the real trick to these monitoring apps is to sample and trend. On this basis, drop the sampling rate down, because what's you're really looking for are trends, not what the system is doing at any microsecond in time. The RAM and NW are two of the most useful measurements in my book. RAM because you can detect bad apps that eat RAM. NW because you can see if you're "leaking" data to a rogue process.

I used to find Quicksilver indispensable, but through Leopard, and more so Snow Leopard, Quicksilver has become unstable and buggy through lack of proper development. It's sad, but it's time to lay an old friend to rest.

Google Quick Search Box fills much of Quicksilver's hole relatively effectively (It's developed largely by the original developer for Quicksilver, IIRC).


On that note of just periodically checking the stats - that's what I've started to do instead - and using the iStat Pro Dashboard widget instead of the menu items. Then I get the stats I want without crowding my menu bar and hitting my CPU so much.

[mickdevlin]

On that note of just periodically checking the stats - that's what I've started to do instead - and using the iStat Pro Dashboard widget instead of the menu items. Then I get the stats I want without crowding my menu bar and hitting my CPU so much.

I've only ever used the Widget, not the menubar version.

[MacDavo]

for recurring todo items: create a calendar in iCal called Pseudo Events and assign todos to that. This eliminates the need to email anything as the calendar is synced via MobileMe.

On the whole I don't have recurring todo items. Anything I have to do on a recurring basis gets it's own iCal entry. The situation I find myself in, is getting ready in the morning and mentally running through what I have to remember to do. A lot of this is little stuff from the previous day, that hasn't made it to my main todo list.

The reason notes works is it's speed and ease. You're thinking of the stuff, not the tool you're using to record it. This is what makes Hit List itself so good. You hit Enter and type to add an item, just as though you were typing a note.

I'd certainly welcome any suggestions anyone has around this scenario. I find iCal a little clumsy even for just putting in a reminder. EG: setting the name, the time, remembering to set an alarm. Selecting the right calendar. It's very clunky.

One app that has yet to be mentioned that several people in this forum use is Little Snitch.

That thing is so seamless I always forget it, but well picked up. The only minor irritation about LS is when you're quickly trying to do something, often in a presentation, and it keeps popping up with alerts. "JUST GET ME A DAMN CONNECTION NOW! ENOUGH WITH THE QUESTIONS RIGHT!"

Sure you can toggle it off, and sometimes I do when it's really driving me insane. Aside from that it's quite good. I would argue however that you kind of have to know what you're about to use it effectively.
When I'm not sure about a connection I'll only ever select until quit. Everything else I select Forever.

[mickdevlin]

I'd certainly welcome any suggestions anyone has around this scenario. I find iCal a little clumsy even for just putting in a reminder. EG: setting the name, the time, remembering to set an alarm. Selecting the right calendar. It's very clunky.

It is a bit clumsy, but at least the Snow Leopard version has corrected some of the problems evident with the Leopard version (e.g. no need to click Edit after Get Info.)

That thing is so seamless I always forget it, but well picked up. The only minor irritation about LS is when you're quickly trying to do something, often in a presentation, and it keeps popping up with alerts. "JUST GET ME A DAMN CONNECTION NOW! ENOUGH WITH THE QUESTIONS RIGHT!"

Sure you can toggle it off, and sometimes I do when it's really driving me insane. Aside from that it's quite good. I would argue however that you kind of have to know what you're about to use it effectively.
When I'm not sure about a connection I'll only ever select until quit. Everything else I select Forever.

It can be annoying and I agree that only expert users will get the most value from it.

[jlshnng]

I would be interested in a new top 10 with the latest apps! Maybe even top 20