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If Apple's menu bar clock is too wimpy for your tastes, this will make you happy.
  technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

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Freeware and shareware gems for Mac OS X


March 12, 2003


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, The Post-Standard

   No Mac is an island, and that's true for OS X, too. Here are my Top 10 free (or almost free) utility programs for modern Unix-based Macintoshes.
   1. Pic2Icon. Mac OS X can show every image on your desktop and in other folders as a miniature of itself -- a thumbnail, in other words. The "Jaguar" version (OS X 10.2) creates thumbnails automatically, but Pic2Icon does a better job. Just drop a folder that contains images onto Pic2Icon. You can even choose how the thumbnail should be displayed.
   Web site: www.sugarcubesoftware.com. Cost: Free.
   2. Tinker Tool. Adjust dozens of hidden settings in OS X with this gem. Running OS X without Tinker Tool is like riding a bike backwards. Sure, you can do it, but why would you want to?
   Web site: www.bresink.de/osx. Cost: Free.
   3. ClearDock. I love the OS X Dock, but how come Dock icons look like they're pasted onto an odd strip across the bottom (or top or sides) of your screen? The Dock background is dumb. Get rid of it with ClearDock. Once you see how cool your desktop looks with Dock icons that hover in space, you'll never go back to the ugly old look.
   Web site: www.unsanity.com. Cost: Free.
   4. MacJanitor. OS X is Unix, and it does all those housekeeping tasks that Windows never bothers with. (Ever wonder why a Windows computer runs so badly? How about a zillion temporary files that never get deleted?) But the OS X housekeeping sticks with Unix tradition and is automatically scheduled for the middle of the night. If your Mac isn't running then, OS X skips the cleanup ... unless you use a utility such as MacJanitor to run the cleanup jobs at another time.
   Web site: www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5856. Cost: Free.
   5. Meteorologist. When I typed my home zip code into the location form while setting up this weather reporter, it came back in a few seconds with "Baldwinsville, NY" -- and I knew I was hooked. A quick click on the menu bar lets you see the weather in other locations, or you can just take note of the weather in your home town by looking at an icon at the top of the screen. (It's always visible.) Full reports are just a click away, too.
   Web site: http://homepage.mac.com/fahrenba/. Cost: Free.
   6. PTHClock. If Apple's menu bar clock is too wimpy for your tastes, this will make you happy. You can see both the time and the date at the same time and you can change the way each one is displayed.
   Web site: www.pth.com/. Cost: Free.
   7. Safari Enhancer. Safari is the best Web browser for Mac OS X, but Apple kept a few tweaks out of sight. Safari Enhancer even gives you a one-click way to add your Internet Explorer bookmarks (or the bookmarks from any other browser in OS X) to Safari.
   Web site: http://gordon.sourcecod.com/sites/softwarelist.php
   8. MacVCD X. Need a good way to play video CDs? Cough up a pair of ten-spots and get this VCD player. You'll never look back. (And if you've never made a video CD, this might encourage you to get going.)
   Web site: www.mirth.com. Cost: $20.
   9. iCal. You might want to argue that iCal, one of the best personal information managers yet invented, is hardly a utility, but I'll keep insisting that it's more useful than a zillion other programs -- and usefulness is what utilities are all about. iCal has a problem or two (it uses colors that are too faint, for one thing) but you just might fall in love with this wonderful calendar and scheduler.
   Web site: www.apple.com. Cost: Free.
   10. PCalc. Everybody needs a good calculator. Don't put up with a one that's almost good. This one has it all, and it even includes a "tape" so you can keep a record of your fidgeting.
   Web site: www.pcalc.com. (The site might be slow. Search Google for another download site if it does not respond.) Cost: Free.