Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
LaunchBar : I list LaunchBar first because it ’s my Numero Uno of must - have Gems . From clamant app first appearance and papers opening , to quick Website searching , to easy script running — all with just a few primal presses — LaunchBar makes me and my Mac ’s program more productive . And in a soupcon — or , say , if I was forced to choose a circumscribed identification number of must - have broadcast — LaunchBar can even take the place of a multiple - clipboard utility such as PTH Pasteboard Pro . ( See how I squelch in a mention of another Gem ? )
1Password : This compounding of a standalone program and a seamlessly integrated web browser app add - on lets you lay in passwords and other personal information in a untroubled database that ’s accessible across all your browsers ( and syncs with fellow traveller iPhone and iPad apps ) . I love that you’re able to also save multiple logins for any land site , as well as shop multiple identicalness ( name , address , etc . ) and credit - card records that you’re able to automatically enter on any vane varlet .
1Password
1Password
ClickToFlashandBashFlash : While technically two products , these two study so well together that I ’m officially designating them two sides of the same Mac Gems coin . ClickToFlash lets you selectively opt which Flash capacity Safari should exhibit , block everything else . BashFlash monitors the Flash mental object youdoallow , allow you kill Flash — without touch Safari or other Web content — if it set about out of helping hand .
Default Folder X : Each year , I enquire if an update to Mac OS X will render Default Folder X unnecessary . Each class , I continue to be thankful that Default Folder X subsist . This public-service corporation dramatically enhances Open and Save dialog , letting you attribute a default folder to each lotion and making it easier to get at latterly used , favorite , and currently opened folders . It also call up the last folder and file away you accessed in each programme — something the stock Open and Save dialogsstillcan’t do .
DocumentPalette : This great utility lease you create a new document in the current folder by urge a keyboard shortcut — you just choose the type of new document from the palette that appears . When you make as many text file each day as I do , the convenience quick sum up . UPDATE : Sadly , it appear as if DocumentPalette may no longer be useable . And my pet choice , NuFile , does n’t currently lick with Snow Leopard .
1Password
Dropbox : While we have n’t ( yet ) officially review Dropbox , it ’s most by all odds a stone . Thanks to its unseamed Finder integrating , no other service or program I ’ve test makes it easier to keep information in sync between my computers and to partake in Indian file with protagonist and category .
NetNewsWire : In my telephone circuit of employment , I need to keep up with portion of WWW news . I ’ve tried many RSS ( news - provender ) readers for the Mac , but I keep coming back to NetNewsWire , thanks to a great interface and many useful feature . It also syncs with Google Reader , which mean my feed and reading progress are synced between my Mac and my favourite RSS reader for iPhone and iPad . NetNewsWire
ScreenSharingMenulet : Mac OS X ’s Screen communion lineament is a vast boon to my productivity , as I regularly put to work on multiple computers in my bureau . But initiating Screen Sharing connections is much more of a hassle than it should be . ScreenSharingMenulet simplifies the process with a commodious systemwide menu listing all local computers with Screen Sharing enable .
NetNewsWire
SuperDuper : Although I could rely on Mac OS X ’s Time Machine backup feature to keep my data secure , I also desire a bootable clone — an accurate transcript — of my hard drive , update regularly , so I can be back up and extend quickly should disaster work stoppage . SuperDuper is my favorite instrument for sustain such a backup .
TextExpander : Without TextExpander , which mechanically pastes frequently used text edition whenever I typecast a comparable abbreviation — my daily productiveness would plummet . I use it for “ typing ” boilerplate textbook , for formatting HTML and Markdown for article , for remembering complex entanglement - search strings , and much , much more .
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[ Dan Frakes is a Macworld senior editor program . ]
UPDATED 8/31/2010 , 1:50pm to note availability of DocumentPalette .
