This icon: 
denotes a Dashboard Widget. Requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Inkscape 0.45  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, X11 Installed |
Price: $0 |
| Inkscape is an open source graphics editor that uses vector based images. If you have never used vector graphics before, they are very different from raster (bitmap) based images. With raster images, each pixel is basically set, making changes difficult or time consuming. But with vector graphics, the objects are not permanent. You can zoom, move, resize, color, transform, or do pretty much anything you want to every object on the canvas. It's a really cool way of creating graphics, that does take a while to learn, but is undoubtedly worth the time investment. Inkscape is by far the best free vector image editing I have used. The user interface isn't great, so the learning curve is steep, but it is much more powerful than other programs in its class. Professionals may find this program lacking, but for the infrequent "artist" like myself, it is more than adequate. |
NewsFire 1.4v69  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3 or later |
Price: $18.99 |
If you were like me, you heard a lot of people talking about RSS feeds. Safari has the built-in ability to read these, and Apple has even included a screen saver that can display RSS feeds while your computer is idle. But I didn't get what was so special about them, until I picked up NewsFire. Within 5 minutes of launching this application, I became hooked. By adding about a dozen feeds to NewsFire, I have found myself recovering a lot of wasted free-time that used to be spent loading all these different web pages. NewsFire displays your feeds in an email-like interface, which tells you when new feeds have arrived. If I need to go back and find an article, I can now simply use the built-in search feature which checks all feeds, instead of checking each site individually (and hoping their search engine has recently been indexed).
Note: Lifetime upgrades is an optional $9 addition to the price. I don't really like this business model, so I will also point you to an open source RSS reader named Vienna. |
Mac Pilot 2.1.7  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.2 or later |
Price: $19.95 |
| There are a ton of hidden features, settings, and optimizations built into OS X that you normally need the Terminal to activate. Mac Pilot aims to replace all those terminal commands with checkboxes, sliders, and pulldown menus (in other words, make them available for everyone). It has well over 100 different settings to mix and match, so you can make your computer behave the way you want. There are many other programs which help you enable similar settings, but none of them are as comprehensive as Mac Pilot. The only downside is the relatively sparse help for each item. As that improves, this will certainly be a must have application. |
Yep 1.1.1  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later |
Price: Version 1.1.x is $0.00, 1.2 and later will cost an undetermined amount |
| Billed as the iPhoto for your PDFs, Yep looks to organize your computer by keeping all of your documents in a central location. If you're like me, you have a complex structure to your documents folder that only you understand, and sometimes even you don't understand. With Yep, you can import your PDFs, which will automatically tag them with the most common words, giving you instant sorting based on the contents of your documents. Plus, you can scan in new documents, and see previews right from the Yep window. It's a pretty nice idea that has a lot of potential to take over your documents folder. |
shadowClipboard 3.0.3  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later |
Price: $15.00 |
| Possibly one of the best features of computers is copying and pasting almost whatever you want. It makes duplicating text, moving pictures, and so much more easier than ever before. But we are normally only limited to a single clipboard. Sometimes you need more than one, so you can decide what needs to be pasted where. That's where shadowClipboard comes into play. Not only does it allow you to have as many clipboards as you need, but you can also share your clipboards across a network. No more copying something on one computer, and then figuring out a way to get it to the other computer. This is definitely a boon to productivity. |
Noise Ninja 2.1.3  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3 or later, G4 or better CPU |
Price: $34.95 to $79.95 |
| Ever take a digital picture and have it come out grainy? We all have. Normally it effects cameras when the ISO setting is too high, but it can also happen at relatively low ISOs. Up until now, I thought I would have to live with the grain. But not with Noise Ninja. This humorously named application/Photoshop plug-in can enhance your noisy images like you never thought possible. No longer must you throw away pictures which could be revived to a near perfect state. Noise Ninja is by far the best tool of its kind I have ever used. |
ArtRage 2.1.1  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3 or later, G4 or better CPU |
Price: $0 and $19.95 |
| ArtRage 2 is a unique drawing/painting application that brings the physical art world to your computer. Choose to use colored pencils, paint sprayers, water colors, crayons, chalk, or even oil based paints. As you draw, the colors will mix, the bristle strokes will be evident, and you will think you really are working on a canvas. I even offers such things as image tracing, so that you can paint by numbers, or photo pinning which allows you to try to recreate a photo on your own. This is a great way to bring out your creative side. |
Chocoflop 0.45  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later |
Price: $0 |
| Chocoflop is currently an alpha-stage (my contain bugs) software that has a lot of potential. It's meant as a low-cost alternative to high-end graphics programs such as Photoshop or Corel Painter. Obviously it won't have as many features as those programs, but it's still very useful for many people. It's extremely fast at everything (loading, saving, applying filters, adding effects) which makes it great if you want to make just a small change to a graphic. Chocoflop currently has a limited painting tools set, but features many built in filters, and has a plug-in architecture which allows you to easy install filters and effects created by other users. This program could certainly turn into one of the best free graphics programs ever created. |
AirTrafficControl 1.3.0b2  |
System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later  |
Price: $0 |
| If you have an Apple laptop, you have undoubtedly traveled with it. While traveling, it's very likely that you have searched for wireless networks to latch onto for a bit of web surfing. But finding an open network is a pain without third party software. There are various standalone apps, but only a few widgets to help perform this task. AirTrafficControl is the best of them all. It will tell you the networks within range, their strength, channel, and encryption method used. Just open your dashboard to have access to all this great information. This widget has completely replaced my need for a "sniffer" application. |
AppZapper 1.6  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later |
Price: $12.95 |
| Windows users are used to programs installing files all over their hard drives, making uninstaller applications a necessity. However, under OS X these programs are, for the most part, unneeded. That is, until you run into those programs, especially demos, start placing visible and invisible files all over the place, cluttering up your disk. This is where App Zapper comes in. With a simple drag and drop, it will find all the files installed by an application, and remove them from your hard drive. Sure, it's possible to do this by hand (with the terminal, in the case of invisible files), but that's time consuming and can be dangerous. This program is a must for anyone who wants a clean Mac. |
Mac HelpMate  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3 or later |
Price: $0 |
| The world of OS X shareware is full of troubleshooting tools that provide this feature, while another tool is need for that feature, and so on. Mac HelpMate aims to solve that by providing all the troubleshooting tools you need in one application. Not only does it do the normal things like cleaning cache and repairing permissions, but it also provides GUI access to hundreds of command line tools, provides extremely in depth hard drive info, optimization tools, and much more. This is definitely a utility every Mac user should keep handy. |
Jahshaka 2.0rc3  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3 or later |
Price: $0 |
| Jahshaka is not a program for creating tongue twisters, but rather an open source tool for creating OpenGL effects. No longer do you need a server farm working on rendering effects for hours on end to create a single frame. Now you can add flashy titles, cool morphs, 3D animations, and much more on your home computer, for free! Obviously a program of this caliber has a high learning curve, but it's worth it if you want to give your movies the eye candy you thought only Hollywood studios could provide. |
Conference Call OMNI 1.4  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later |
Price: $0 |
| Conference Call OMNI is the ultimate Dashboard sports schedule. It can track your favorite team in seven different sports, including both professional and college teams. Not only do you get to see the upcoming schedule, but you can see the results from the previous games at a glance. Moreover, you will always know how your team is doing with the ever present win-loss record. The only problem I have with it is how slow it can be to update. Sometimes you have to wait up to 8 hours before a game's results will be shown. Otherwise, it's a great widget, and I highly recommend it. |
iAlertU 0.12  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later, MacBook or Macbook Pro |
Price: $9.95 |
| iAlertU turns the sudden motion sensor (used to park the hard drive in case of a fall), in the new Intel Mac laptops into a security alarm. Using the included remote control, you can activate the alarm as you walk away. If some unscrupulous individual comes along and tries to take your Mac, and alarm will sound and the screen will flash until you deactivate the alarm with your remote. this software can also use the built-in iSight camera to take a photo of the perpetrator, can sound the alarm in the event of an unplugged power source/trackpad usage/keyboard usage, and will even continue to sound the alarm if the laptop is closed. It's an ingenious use of the sudden motion sensor that may just keep your MacBook in your possession. Take a look at iAlertU in action at YourTube. |
iConceal 1.0  |
| System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later, Java 1.4.2 or later |
Price: $0 |
| iConceal can help keep your files safe from prying eyes. Using either the application or the menu bar item, you can encrypt files using a password. Do decrypt the files, simply double click them, and you will be prompted for the password. It can't get much easier than that. The files/folders are encrypted using the popular Blowfish algorithm (up to 448 bit), which means they should be completely safe. Not only is this a great way to keep files on your computer secure, but you can also transfer sensitive files to others (assuming you both have iConceal and know the password) without worrying that the file will be intercepted by an unscrupulous person. A very good application for those who are concerned about security. |
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Arbitrary Quote: Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former - Albert Einsetin
