Mac Gems of the Year 2010
With the end of the year just around the corner , and our our2010 Eddy Awardsand 2010 App Gems Awards in the history volume , it ’s time to take a look at the Mac Gems of the Year — the good of the jewels of the Mac package grocery . Mac Gems are by definition great , low-priced package , but these are the single that I finger stood out in 2010 for their utility , value , invention , or overall excellence .
We covered around 120 stone this year , and 15 of those product made my list . From tame Flash to converting video , launching app to slim typing , read vane articles to managing windows , these inexpensive covering and add - ons will help you get the most out of your Mac without blow your budget .
A couple interesting choice morsel about this yr ’s picks : Back in June , Ipicked my favorite muffin of the first one-half of the yr ; those production have hold up exceptionally well , with each making the final lean . And 2010 end with a bang for Mac Gems , as five of this year ’s leaning were reviewed in the retiring five week .
The winners
BashFlash ( ): If , like me , you detest the way Flash can bog down your internet browser ( and even your Mac ) , but you do n’t want to bar Flash totally , install BashFlash . This utility ’s card - bar icon alerts you whenever Flash begin to hog your central processing unit ; you could then quickly kill the Flash plug - in across all Safari Windows and tabs without otherwise trouble those WWW pageboy . BashFlash is a great full complement to Mac Gems All - StarClickToFlash .
DragThing ( ): A long - clock time stave favourite , DragThing lets you create multiple Dock - like , well , docks , each carry applications , brochure , files , disk , and more . Within each dock , you could create multiple layer containing different stage set of item . you’re able to open any item by get across it or by assigning it a keyboard shortcut . The up-to-the-minute version tally drawers ( docks that enshroud off the covert , slide into view only when you need them ) , clipping ( frequently used boilerplate text ) , leaping - load folders , and single file and booklet previews .
Dropbox ( ): In terms of the number of readers , my revaluation of Dropbox was the most popular Mac Gems review of 2010 … and it was published less than a week ago . But that response demonstrates the popularity of Dropbox , a combination of vane armed service and Mac OS X program that work together to make your data — specifically , the contents of a specialDropboxfolder on your Mac — approachable from anywhere and to keep that data synchronized between your computers . Drop a written document into your Dropbox pamphlet , and it magically appear in the Dropbox folder on your other Macs ; it ’s also instantly approachable from any gadget with a World Wide Web web browser app , or any iOS app that lets you catch or edit Dropbox - host files . Dropbox also automatically keeps older versions of each file , just in case you accidentally delete something of import . Use it for substitute , for establish your in - progress file and folders accessible from all your Macs , for keep stage setting in sync between computers , or for transferring information between your Mac and your iPhone or iPad . Just use it .
HandBrake ( ): A vet of many best - of - jewel lists , HandBrake remains the gold standard for converting videodisk to data format playable on iPhones , iPads , iPods , Apple TV , and other devices . The latest version rent you commute other video source , ameliorate carrying out , make out in both 32- and 64 - flake versions , render better TV preview , and includes a Modern Constant Quality fix that uses a varying bit pace to keep the character of converted telecasting more consistent from beginning to end . The raw version also let you fine - strain the size of it , cropping , and detail of video before converting , and can admit subtitles as separate chemical element .
Hazel ( ): Even though Hazel has been around for quite a while , it was n’t until my colleague Dan Miller survey it for Mac Gems that I realize how handy it is . In a nutshell , Hazel gives you the functionality of OS X ’s Folder Actions sport in a package that’smucheasier to utilize — no noesis of Automator or AppleScript required . In improver to a diverse selection of action that can be automatically applied to item in a folder , Hazel offers a slew of useful filter for restricting those actions to items that encounter your specific criterion . Hazel also includes methamphetamine hydrochloride - management and app - deletion feature . Hazel is n’t for everyone , but it gets the nod here for upstaging OS X ’s own Folder Actions feature by offering powerandease of use .
Instapaper (; also an Eddy Awards succeeder ): This Web avail is an integral part of my Web - browsing experience . Whenever I fall across an article that I want to read later , I just click the Instapaper linkup in my web internet browser ’s bookmark bar and the article is added to my Instapaper account . When I ’m ready to read the article , I can go to the Instapaper web site or plunge the Instapaper app on my iPhone or iPad , where the article has been reformatted for easier interpretation and leach of advert and other distractions .
LaunchBar ( ): speak of Mac Gems veterans , LaunchBar is one utility many Macworld editor could n’t get by without . It shape much like spot in that you press a keyboard cutoff ( Command+Spacebar by default ) and then type a few letter of the name of the detail you want to open . But LaunchBar is more well-informed than Spotlight — it can make educated guessing about what you need to afford , and it learns the alternative you make for particular abbreviations . It can also run scripts ; countenance you browse files ; lease you graze and searchwithinsome applications ’ data point ; ascendence iTunes , and much , much more . The previous version of LaunchBar even admit amultiple - clipboard utility .
MagicLaunch ( ): Snow Leopard no longer uses file Maker codes to find which broadcast open a data file when you double - click it . Magic Launch restores this capability : Whenever you double - clack a document , Magic Launch rootle the written document to the programme of your choosing . In improver , you could produce rule for care special character of file . For exemplar , you could force .jpg files sporting the Finder ’s red recording label to spread out in Photoshop but those with a green label to open in Preview .
Neu ( ): Windows has at least one feature I ’d love to see OS cristal appropriate : the capableness to speedily make a young text file right in the current brochure . Thanks to Neu , I ’ve got that lineament in Snow Leopard . In fact , whenever you ’re work in a Finder windowpane , Neu yield youfiveways to make a fresh text file : a systemwide menu , Neu ’s Dock menu , the Finder ’s Services submenu ( in the Finder fare ) , the Finder ’s contextual menus , or either of two configurable keyboard cutoff . Whichever approach you use , you’re able to choose from a customizable list of possible document case — and even papers templates . you may also opt to automatically spread the resulting data file in the appropriate syllabus , and to rename the new file as it ’s created . ( Neu is a worthy renewal for NuFile and Document Palette , two older Gems that are no longer available . )
Printopia ( ): This OS hug drug add together - on fulfills the hope of Apple ’s AirPrint feature by letting you print from iOS 4 devices to any printer connected to your Mac . ( The initial firing of AirPrint lets you print only to a limited number of AirPrint - compatible printers . ) But it adds some great extra features , as well , such as twovirtualprinters — Send To Mac and direct To Dropbox On Mac — that let you quickly save a PDF of a document , or a JPEG or PNG reading of an image , from your iOS equipment to the Documents or Dropbox leaflet , respectively , on your Mac . The Send To Dropbox feature of speech is the easiest and degraded path I ’ve notice to get iPhone screenshots onto all my Macs , and I regularly use the Send To Mac choice to redeem revenue from Mobile Safari . Oh , and Printopia also works with any Mac running OS X 10.5 or later , permit Leopard users habituate AirPrint , too .
TextExpander ( ): Of all the text - extend utility program — which permit you assign abbreviation to frequently used text ( snippets ) , mechanically substituting the appropriate snippet when you type an abbreviation — TextExpander is my pet . you’re able to place snippets into groups that are available on a per - software basis ; include key stroke within snippet ; and include variables , such as the current date and meter or the content of the clipboard , within snippets . I also screw that you could sync your snippet between Macs using Dropbox or MobileMe , and there ’s even an iOS translation that also syncs with your Mac .
Witch ( ): This 2006 Gem was updated significantly in 2010 — enough so to repeat as a Gems standout . Witch provides an alternative to Mac OS X ’s build - in Command+Tab software whipper , but instead of restrict you to just switching between unfastened programs , Witch exhibit a grouped lean of all windows in all software , allow you quickly switch to — and execute actions on — any of them . The biggest new features include Quick Look preview of window from within the Witch switcher and support for Snow Leopard ’s Spaces multiple - workspace system ; you may even enable “ Spaces badges ” that help oneself you distinguish which windows reside in which workspace . you may perform actions — such as close , quit , skin , minimize , unminimize , and reveal in Finder — on windows and broadcast from within Witch , and much , much more . Witch is easily one of the most utilitarian utilities on my Macs .
YoruFukurou ( ): If you ’re active on Twitter and have n’t yet found the thoroughgoing Mac Twitter node , chink out this little - live Gem , which includes all the characteristic you ’d have a bun in the oven along with a slew of clever additions . For example , tap a message from a particular person , and all messages from that person are instantly highlighted . If the selected subject matter is part of a conversation , all the substance in that conversation are likewise highlight , though in unlike colors . you could quickly filter the message list to view only a conversation , only tweet from a special user , or only tweets containing a particular keyword or username . You also get tablet for different eccentric of content , custom searches and linguistic rule , built - in image trailer , auto - completion of usernames and hashtags , a flock of keyboard shortcuts , and myriad alert and notification options .
Zooom ( ): Like MondoMouse , one of my all - clock time favs , Zooom lets you move , resize , and identify windows without having to first switch to them and without having to position your cursor over a thin claim bar or a tiny resize corner : You just move the mouse cursor over any visible part of a windowpane , press the appropriate modifier keys , and then drop behind . It ’s a unmanageable construct to explicate , but a feature that reveal its utility almost forthwith once you render it . Zooom adds a feature of speech called Magnetics , which can snap a windowpane ’s border against other object — windows , the side of the screen , the edge of the Dock , and the like — making it easier to perfectly position or resize a windowpane .
Honorable mentions
Of naturally , there were mickle of other great program and add - ons in 2010 — after all , every Mac Gem is , well , a precious stone . Here are a few other pet that did n’t quite make the cutting .
Flux ( ): Using your location , the time , and the type of inflammation in your office , this utility automatically shifts your display ’s brightness and colour counterpoise as evening approach in society to mimic the normal passage from hopeful , higher - temperature day - like lighting to sonant , lower - temperature indoor kindling . The goal is to scale down eye strain and head off sleep problem lend on by working ( or playing ) in front of a bright computer silver screen late at nighttime . I was ab initio a morsel skeptical , but Flux win me over — it ’s been running on my Mac since I reviewed it .
FolderGlance ( ): Due to substance abuser misplay — and byuser , I mean your humble Mac Gems editor program — the eligibility periods for the 2009 honor and this class ’s award left a small disruption in the calendar . FolderGlance was a dupe of that interlude , so I ’m including it here . Put simply , FolderGlance modify the Finder ’s contextual menus , admit you to catch the contents of folders and filing cabinet , and perform action on those items , with a simple right - click . ( It ’s a lot like previous Gem FinderPop . ) you may also allot special folders to always look in the Finder ’s contextual menus for nimble entree , and you may move itemsintofolders using FolderGlance ’s menus , as well .
Leech ( ): When you download as many files as I do each day , no web browser ’s build - in download managing director shinny . I demand something more capable , and I ’m stuck on Leech . From the same developer as Witch , Leech offers a mass of power - user feature for download single file and carry off those downloads , such as the capability to waiting line , pause , and re-start downloads , even across restarts of your Mac ; and rules for determining where specific type of files are download and how they ’re processed . For example , any file I download from Apple ’s various download servers are mechanically sent to myApple Downloadsfolder rather of~/Downloads .
MaxMenus(Promising Prospect ): This utility — which lets you make multiple usance , hierarchical menus for quickly accessing and working with your favorite files , leaflet , and programs — was a understudy of mine many years ago . ( It was actually a Mac Gem waaay back in 2002 . ) But as of early this yr , MaxMenus had n’t been updated in a duo old age , it did n’t make for with the current adaptation of OS X , and the developer seemed to have closed up workshop . Then , out of nowhere , a Snow Leopard - compatible beta version appeared , and I ’ve been ( re)hooked ever since . regrettably , development has n’t ( publicly ) advance past that beta , but I bear on to apply it dozens of times each day . Here ’s hoping we see an prescribed dismissal soon .
Soulver ( ): tell “ Soulver is a calculator ” is a morsel like saying “ the iPhone is a phone . ” Soulver is indeed a computer , but it changes the fashion you think about using a calculator . Instead of coming up with the correct par or formula , you’re able to perform most calculations by typing them the way you ’d think of them . For example , you could figure the cut-rate sale Mary Leontyne Price of a Blu - ray histrion by typing15 % off $ 169.99 , or reckon out the telephone number of sec in July by typing31 days in second . you may also easily convert currency ( $ 75 in Yen ) , see the current price of Apple stock ( AAPL ) , and use plebeian scientific variables ( sherlock ) . Soulver also include a telephone number of spreadsheet - like feature article , and you’re able to save or export your reckoning sessions .
A Gem within Gems: Sparkle
Finally , I want to give one more congratulatory shout - out to Sparkle , the software - update computer code thatwon an Eddy awardthis year . In short , Sparkle is responsible for the utilitarian message you get from many third - company political program telling you , “ A new version ofapplication nameis useable ” and letting you upgrade to that new version with a click . Sparkle ’s developer , Andy Matuschak , cater Sparkle for free to Mac developers , and developer have responded in drove — most of the Gems mention above use Sparkle to help you guarantee you ’re always tend the late and greatest version .
