While most people are aware of the big - name software titles for the Mac — Microsoft Office , Adobe Photoshop , and the same — there are many great products out there that do n’t get the recognition , or even the awareness , they deserve . That ’s where we come in . Macworldmines the Web , sifting through cheap and lesser - known products from developers big and small to see those products that are deserving your time and grueling - drive space — the inexpensive software that , once you ’ve tried it , you ca n’t imagine using your Mac without . We call these program Mac Gems , and we cover them in our “ Mac Gems ” newspaper column in print and on the Mac Gems Weblog here onMacworld.com .
If you ’ve been watching the land site late , you may have noticed that we ’re well into “ GemFest 2009 , ” this class ’s installment of our yearly celebration of gems , where we feature a new Gem every day instead of the common two per week . But there ’s another reason to fete Mac Gems this week : We ’ve give Mac Gems theMacworld Superguidetreatment .
As with the other title in our Superguide serial , theMac Gems Superguideis a veritable greatest hits of Mac Gems . We ’ve gone througheverygem we ’ve ever covered — a number fast approach 1,000 — hold back compatibility with Leopard , manus - picked the good , and compiled them in a merriment , informative al-Qur’an . Within its 186 pages , you ’ll chance over 240 of our all - clock time favourite , organized by category . For each computer programme , we give you a abbreviated description of what it does , the URL of our full followup , and the URL of the developer ’s website for download .
Included are steal programs for increasing productivity , organizing your files , customizing OS X , and bushel common problems . There are groovy practical software for audio editors , graphic house decorator , students , Internet nut , and photographers . Some are standalone programs , while others are subtle tweak that make Mac OS X work the agency you wish it did . The one affair they all have in common is that each is a standout merchandise that wo n’t break the savings bank .
Whether you ’re a top executive user looking to get more control over your system or a Mac founding father searching for add - ons that will make your calculation life easier , this collection has something for you . You canpurchase and download the PDF versionof theMac Gems Superguidefor just $ 12.95 , or you canpurchase a print transcript for $ 19.95 or the PDF on a CD - read-only memory for $ 12.95 .
Of course , just because Mac Gems has gotten its own book , we are n’t resting on our laurels . This August will pit the fifth anniversary of the Mac Gems Weblog , and we plan to stay to search for the best in humble - price , gamey - note value Mac software .