Expert’s Rating

Our Verdict

Cocktail performs 20 arrangement tasks and interface adjustment , arranged in five introductory categories : Disks , System , Files , web , and Interface . Similar to MacJanitor and Tinker Tool , it can run sustentation tasks such as doctor your system ’s permissions , prevail the book that your Mac would run if it were on in the middle of the night , blue-pencil unnecessary stash files , and put double whorl arrow at the top and bottom of windows ( instead of just at the bottom — the only choice available via Apple ’s General predilection back breaker ) .

Some of Cocktail ’s other features admit arcane but often useful tasks such as renewing DHCP leases on a mesh ( I ’ve regain this feature handy ) , building symbolic link ( the Unix equivalent of Apple ’s data file assumed name ) , blue-pencil archived system logs and DS_Store file , and letting you view unseeable files in the Finder .

Many of these cognitive process , such as permissions repair , can be done with Apple utilities , from within Terminal , or even with one of the said utility , but it ’s overnice to have them all in one place , and Cocktail ’s dashboard - style port is smart and well designed .

As with any service program that alters OS X ’s Unix codification , you could cause some damage with Cocktail if you do n’t bang what you ’re doing — so be careful . Journaling in particular is something we recommend that casual users give alone ; it ’s primarily intended for Mac OS X Server installations , and Apple left it out of the standard OS X induction for good cause .

Strong Safety

In Macworld ’s May 2003 ” More Mac Software buy ” blowout , we covered quite a few options for back up your organization , including SilverKeeper ( ) , Déjà Vu ( ) , ChronoSync ( ) , and ExecutiveSync ( ) . Another choice is SweetCocoa ’s iMsafe ( ) , which I think is as good as any of those utility .

The $ 15 iMsafe can back up folders and files to disc ( or an online relief location ) , and it can synchronize two sets of folders or disc — so you may always have an accurate copy of your home MP3 subroutine library at work , for example . you could easily make multiple support and synchroneity set , and you could run each sic manually or schedule day-by-day or weekly run times . There ’s not a band to say about iMsafe beyond the fact that it function ; of all the inexpensive OS ecstasy backup utilities I ’ve tried , iMsafe is the most flexile and the easiest to practice .

With so many free or inexpensive options for backing up your Mac , you have no self-justification for lost data point . If you own a portable hard drive ( or an iPod ) and bird stuff between work and home , a relief and synchronization utility is one of the best investments you could make .

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Sometimes you just ask to make noise , and if a set of drums is n’t nearby , turn to Zygoat ’s Doggiebox ( ) , a $ 29 program that turn your Mac into an electronic musical rhythm corner .

Doggiebox is an easy - to - use drum sequenator that let you use a virtual membranophone kit to create tympan track of limitless length and change tempo and time signature . create rhythm patterns is as dim-witted as selecting the drumfish sound you want and then get through on the pattern power grid . Throughout the unconscious process , you’re able to listen to your makeup by simply pressing the spacebar — and cancel notes is just as easy as adding them .

The program number with two consummate sample drum kits , which let in multiple sounds for high hat and other cymbals , snare , tom - tom , and kick drums . you may also well create kit by import audio sample .

Once you ’ve created your metal drum tracks , you could play and modify them inside Doggiebox , or you could export them as a sound data file in any of nine professional and consumer audio recording data formatting , include AIFF , Wave , Wave64 , and Paris .

Doggiebox is not a MIDI program ; it wo n’t drive a drum machine or plug into software system such as Emagic ’s Logic Platinum or Steinberg ’s Cubase . It is , however , a really cool tool for public presentation , transcription , or just playing around . tick off out the two audio frequency sample Zygoat has posted on the Doggiebox site , or download the demo version and make your own racket .

One Step at a Time

If you sting a lot of standard candle ( beyond iTunes euphony CDs ) , Roxio ’s Toast 5 Titanium is the best plot in town . It ’s quicker and more flexible than Apple ’s Disc Burner , and it supports more formats , including VideoCDs , Enhanced Music CDs , personal computer - only discs , and DVDs . But it also costs $ 100 ( download , $ 90 ) , and you may purchase a billion blank CD - Rs for that amount — so it ’s understandable that many mass who burn down only a few disk here and there want to practice the barren stuff Apple pile with every Mac .

If you want to maximize your CD space when induce backups of booklet and files ( and as I noted earlier , you should be backing stuff up regularly ) , you more often than not have one option : select about 650 MB of data and burn a full disc . Generally , though , you ’ll line up that you ’ve puzzle loads of cauterise CDs with 100 MB or less on them . Partially full compact disc may not pose a financial load given the inexpensiveness of vacuous medium , but they can be uneconomical in the recollective ladder — and they ensue in lots more CDs to store ( and to search through when you ’re having trouble finding a file ) .

If you ’d wish to be more efficient about backups , take a look at James Sentman ’s $ 17 cadmium Session Burner ( ) . This practical app claim advantage of a little - be intimate feature article embedded in every candle burner and in Mac OS — the capacity to say and write multisession disc .

Simply put , a multisession cadmium lets you write individual mass until the disc is full . After each burning session , the political platform creates a newfangled volume on the CD ; when you put on the disc on your Mac ’s desktop , each volume ( or session ) shows up as a disjoined CD icon . Apple ’s built - in disk - burn feature ca n’t produce multisession discs ( although it can be done with Disk Copy ) , but tot CD Session Burner to your Mac make doing so a piece of cake . CD Session Burner has an uncluttered interface with few buttons , and it does all of its magic in the background .

Finding the Time

CD Session Burner is a gem that adds functionality to an existing Mac atomic number 8 feature . Script Software take a dissimilar approach with its $ 20 iClock ( ) , choosing or else to build an staggeringly enhanced renewal for OS X ’s computer menu - bar clock .

Apple ’s menu - measure clock is moderately simple ; you get limited display options , listed along with the appointment in a drop cloth - down carte du jour . iClock lets you bestow the date to the clock and deepen its color and face ( for some understanding , you ca n’t make the clock an icon ) , but the program has much more depth than that . It let in features such as a timer , a stopwatch , floating calendar and redstem storksbill , times for metropolis around the reality , and an OS 9 - style program carte du jour . The timekeeper is specially utile — you could set up it to play a organisation phone , expose an alert , launch apps or documents , and even break away handwriting .

For many mass , iClock will be overkill — it ’s more than I need , although its app - flip card does tilt the balance in iClock ’s favor — but if you want your menu ginmill to give you more than just the fourth dimension , iClock is a good lieu to start .

— — — — — - Go to www.macworld.com/macgems to see an index of all of our Mac Gems reviews .