Cool Mac Gear

You've really got to try WebDesktop 1.0. This cool little hack by Steven Frank puts a web browser on your Mac OS X desktop, and is designed to provide something like Windows' ActiveDesktop for OS X, albeit in a very limited way. It's only an almost instantaneous 20k download, so it takes little effort to check it out.

In short, WebDesktop allows you to view a web page layered over your desktop picture, with optional periodic refreshing.

WebDesktop has two modes, "active" and "inactive". When WebDesktop is "active", you can click on links on the web page to follow them, and scroll up and down the web page using the scroll bar on the right hand side. When WebDesktop is "inactive", you can't interact with the web page, but you can click on icons on your desktop, which is impossible when WebDesktop is active.

To make WebDesktop "active", click on its icon in the Dock. To make WebDesktop "inactive", bring any other application to the front. (Either by clicking on another window, or clicking on any other Dock icon.)

By default, pages in WebDesktop appear slightly "brighter" (more opaque) when WebDesktop is active, but you can adjust opacity in either mode in the preferences if you wish.

Control-clicking on WebDesktop's Dock icon presents a small menu: Back and Forward allow you to move back and forward one page, like in a real web browser. Open Location... allows you to type in the URL you wish to view. About WebDesktop displays program information. Preferences... opens the preferences dialog.

Refresh allows you to automatically refresh the currently displayed page at a set interval. This is useful for news pages and other sites that update frequently.

WebDesktop does not supportr advanced browser features such as: - Flash content
- Cookies
- Java
- JavaScript
- Text input in forms
- CSS, DHTML, layers

It works. It's not very fast at loading pages, but perhaps that's not the main point. The Applelinks home pag came up nicely, with clickable links.

I found that with a messy Desktop like mine, with a busy Desktop picture and 100 or so icons scattered about, WebDesktop's utility was limited. Too hard to read Web page content. However, for folks with a cleaner Desktop this thing could be useful.

System requirements:
Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) or higher

WebDesktop is freeware

For more information, visit:
http://www.panic.com/~stevenf/
or
http://www.panic.com/~stevenf/index.php?node=SoftwareProjects

Mouse Work

From Roger Harris

Hi Charles,

I was reading your latest article OS X Odyssey 229 and had to agree with some of your points.

I had a lot of complaints about OS X that went away when I got a new 867 DP tower. But there are a couple of annoying problems that remain. "What I don't like he is the slow, balky performance, the frequently ragged Finder response to keyboard and mouse input," The performance issues are largely gone with the new 867dp, but the "the frequently ragged Finder response to keyboard and mouse input" can be very annoying.

On my old G3 and OS X 10.1.5 everything was so slow that I didn't really notice the mouse problems in the Finder. This problem really showed it's self with the new 867dp. I thought some thing was wrong with the hardware. I called into Apple and even took the Mac to a new Apple store. None of the Apple folk knew what I was talking about and the problem had not been entered in the Apple data base (August).

The mouse problem lessened with the first update to Jaguar. And it helped my state of mind reading your complaints about this in earlier articles. I wanted to let you know that when you get a faster Mac this mouse and Finder response problem might seem worse at first use. After a while it does not seem as bad, but sometimes it is very frustrating. For me it is the only OS X problem that really makes the OS seem less mature than OS 9x.

The "missing Finder features" you mention can all be replaced with third party solutions, and I don't mind going that route. With FruitMenu and Windowshade X I find OS X on a fast Mac generally to be better than OS 9x, for my use. Using OS X full time has cured me of 9x withdrawal.

Thanks for the read
Roger Harris

Hi Roger;

As I said in the column, If I had a faster Mac with more video RAM, no doubt I would like [working in] OS X better.

I'm glad somebody else is noticing the crappy input response in X relative to the silky-smooth and dependable performance in this area in OS 9 (see Michael Snider's letter below).

Charles

Okay real world speed issues

From Richard Hadfield

Dear Charles,

Merry Christmas and a successful new year.

You wrote:

"However, with respect to OS X performance, the pismo is still hobbled by its 8 MB of VRAM and RAGE 128 video card."

Charles in my experience this is just uninformed rubbish. I have a Pismo and the OS X performance [10.2.3] is the same as in my G4 17" FP iMac. Both have 1gig RAM. The only difference that I can see between the 2 video cards is that the display on the iMac is just drop down dead beautiful. The 17" FP iMac is the best machine I have owned. Not because of speed issues but because of the beauty and clarity of the monitor display.

I don't know how long you have been using Macs but you seem to have lost sight of the fundamental I/O problem. If you want a fast machine you install a fast hard drive. My 8600/300 21" CRT has a SCSI RAID Cheetah drive setup.....now this is fast, very fast. In fact it don't come any faster. Unless you use a RAM disk..which I do.

I installed a 5400 RPM hard drive in my Pismo and the OSX response time is a quantum leap from using the old drive with slower RPM. I repeat; the video card on the Pismo has not "hobbled" its OSX performance. It matches and is sufficient for the machine.

Well now that I have sorted out the hardware for you. I'll get on to the software. Are you still listening? Not too busy being busy?

Three very, totally, must not do without,and essential OSX applications are:

1] Apples' disk utility....repair disk permission frequently. Like every second day. Don't ask me why...you figure it out. You want speed then do it. No time? then go for a walk and smell the trees. 2] MacJanitor...... do all tasks daily. No time? Yeah right! 3] MemoryStick......watch your RAM usage and watch what happens when you run MacJanitor. Listen for pageouts.

Pageouts.....now how about you do research into how OSX uses RAM. You could learn something:-)
Don't listen to unix folks telling you just because your using X hard disk maintenance is a thing of the past....in their dreams!

6 hours downloading 10.2.3 oh you poor fellow!! Is this a Canadian thing.....can't they give you a decent service in the forest? It took me 3.5 mins. In NZ we have ADSL connections. Last time I had a modem like yours was 1995. Oh also, did I tell you we have the America's Cup. That must be the difference:-) No it's not, it's the sunny days..... 30c right now, 12 noon Christmas day. Must go and fire up the barbi.

Cheers Richard.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you, Richard.

Uninformed rubbish? I think that's a bit strong. It is an established fact that OS X Quartz Extreme requires 16 megabytes of video RAM for minimum support, and 32 MB for full support. The Pismo's 8 falls considerably short.

I've been using Macs for 10 years. As regards hard drive performance, I don't dispute that the 20 GB hard drive in this Pismo is not particularly zippy. The 10 GB drive I had in my WallStreet was noticeably more responsive.

However, many of my complaints about OS X Finder response pertain to things like scrolling, window opening and redraws, menu response, switching between open applications, and such like, which don't really get into the hard drive. The perceived main culprit is lack of muscle in the video support department.

Also, if the hard drive were a complete dog, I would not be getting the excellent performance in OS 9.2.2 on this machine that I am. Performance when booted in 9 is completely satisfactory. Same hard drive.

Also, the iListen dictation application, which is quite hard drive intensive, runs about twice as fast in OS 9 on this machine as it does in OS X. Same version (carbon application) and same hard drive. If hard drive performance were the sticking point, it would seem that it would show up in both OSs.

I did recently repair the permissions. Disk Utility found plenty to repair, but I didn't notice any subsequent significant improvement in performance. I will have to get around to checking out MacJanitor and MemoryStick. However, as I have noted many times, OS 9 does not require any babying or frequent maintenance at all. At least in my experience. I run Norton Disk Doctor, and Disk Warrior maybe three or four times a year whether it needs it or not.

Actually, I have several 56K modems, including the built in one in the Pismo, but they don't connect at more than 26,400 bps on a good day here, and frequently less than that. Consequently, I do most of my downloads with a 33.6 Global Village Platinum modem hooked to my old UMAX S-900 which seems to get every bit as good performance, or even better, on our ancient, poorly maintained, copper phone lines.

ADSL? I wish! We are 50 miles from the nearest town, and that's also where the nearest DSL is.

Charles

Should You Have To Work To Like An Operating System?

From Ken Cavaliere-Klick

I have used probably a dozen operating systems across all sorts of platforms over the years. I, too, want to like X. I like the concept but the execution leaves me cold. The "i" stuff I have no use for and the interface just strikes me as gimmicky. I can no longer complain about peripheral support since drivers are available. I'm not fond of first generation drivers, though. The lack of decent video support and the inability to do much of anything about it in an old iMac stops me dead in my tracks. That's too much of a compromise. Buying a newer iMac gets me the video, doesn't much resolve the gimmicky feel and is a heck of an expensive thing to do.

My bigger problem is I am not quite sure I want to dive further into yet another proprietary system. Apple is a niche market as it is and X is a sub niche within that. It's not a comfy feeling. Since I am not cemented to any one app I can easily drift into other platforms. All platforms have their compromises. Effectively, X has left me at a cross road. Stay or go. Until I make that decision, I have no reason to move beyond 9.2.2 or 10.1.5, now unloaded.

I am curious to see how Apple sorts this out in 2003. I do wish they would get off the "i" kick, get the core functions sorted out and streamline that bloated front end.

Ken. Cavaliere-Klick

Hi Ken;

I like the appearance of OS X, but it would be nice if they offered another, minimalist "skin" option with pure GUI function and no eye-candy for when you hve the need for speed. A color version of System 6 appearance would suit me fine.

I'm going to stick with Apple and OS X.

Charles

From Romeo B. Mariano, M.D.

Dear Charles,

I read your article "OS X Odyssey 229 - Should You Have To Work To Like An Operating System?" with interest.

I have a Powerbook G3 Pismo with 640 MB RAM and a faster 45 GB IBM harddrive, partitioned into a 20 GB Mac OS X partition, a 20 GB Mac OS 9 partition, and a small 2 GB Mac OS 9 partition which has a stripped system folder for use in Classic. I also have a second 20 GB hard drive for use in the right side media bay. I hook up the Powerbook G3 to a 21-inch monitor run at 1280 x 1024. I keep my documents in my Mac OS X user documents folder.

I have been using a Mac since April 1984 - nearly 19 years ago. I had been saving up for a computer at the time. Certainly the IBM PC was a more mature product. But like you, the interface blew me away compared to the CL interface of computers of that era. I spent $3500 for the original 128K Mac and the Imagewriter printer, along with $10 for each 400K floppy. It was well spent.

When Mac OS X 10.2 came out, I finally made an almost complete switch from Mac OS 9, except for the occasional program that needs to be booted in Mac OS 9 rather than in classic.

I realize you miss some features of OS 9. But many of these features may be added to Mac OS X. Noting your past objection to having to use third party substitutes, realize that many features in OS 9 use to be third-party add-ons later incorporated by Apple (e.g. the menubar clock which we take for granted was originally written by a blind computer programmer, who gave it away as freeware). Extensions are part of the pioneering spirit that exists in Mac enthusiasts.

Examples of features that may be added:

• Window Shading. Windowshading was originally a third party add-on. This is the feature I also missed most. I added it by using WindowshadeX by Unsanity software. It works great!

• Application Menu. I used ASM. It also works great!

However, I found that by setting the Dock to Autohide, and by placing it on the LEFT side of the screen (where it does not obstruct nearly any program), I essentially had an ASM-like switcher menu. Selecting an Icon on the dock while pressing the option-key also hides other applications except the selected one. This made the application menu redundant, so I removed ASM.

• Customizable Apple Menu. I used Fruitmenu by Unsanity software. It allows you to customize the Apple menu to your heart's content.

However, I now use DropDrawersX by Sig Software - which allows me to have tabbed pop-up windows on any side of the screen. I use one tabbed window on the bottom of the screen each for: Applications, Folders, Online apps, Utilities, Graphics, Sound, Games, Databases, Desk Accessories and Medical apps and documents. A single Apple menu doesn't provide the flexibility and organization that DropDrawersX does when you have multitudes of apps and documents. I can add to and remove items from DropDrawersX tabbed windows on the fly. I remember when I use to have to scroll down the Apple menu because it was so long.

I also placed the Favorites folder on the Dock. When I select it, a pop-up menu of my Favorites, including folders and their subfolders, shows.

• Finder Labels. This was my second most missed feature. I added it using LabelsX from Unsanity software. Viola! It's here!!!

Remaining missing features:

• No "Buttons" option in the View menu. Perhaps this will be added in Mac OS X 10.3. I hardly used it. The buttons took too much space. I prefer double-clicking to launch or open items since this keeps the user-interface consistent.

• No Control Strip. Yes, the control strip gave you one-click access to modify settings such as the sound level, monitor resolution, internet connection, and the location manager. Menubar icons do take up space. But the sound level, monitor resolution, internet connection settings are available on a Menubar icon. The location setting is under the Apple menu. These are the most frequent settings I use. For quick access to the System Preferences, I use Menuprefs - a menubar icon which pops down a menu of all the system prefs. I also use Fruit Menu's ability to show the prefs in a submenu.

• No Put Away command. I haven't used this in years. On recollection, this requires the Finder to remember the last location a file was stored in.
Thus, if you move the file out of its original location, you can use "Put Away" to place it back. Hopefully, again, it may be added in OS X 10.3. Since it requires a smarter Finder, it can't easily be added by a third party.

There are some features of OS X that OS 9 does not have, which I love:

• PTHClock. It is a menubar clock which shows simultaneously the time AND date. Plus, if you clock on it, out pops a very handy calendar!!!. I no longer have to click on the clock to get the date.

• CeePeeYou. It is a menubar item that shows the percentage of maximum workload of each processor that is used by the Mac. This allows you to determine how many more applications you can use simultaneously. I prefer using my Mac to the max.

• iTunes just works better.

• Variable Size Icons, the Aqua interface. They are gorgeous. Having to use Mac OS 9 is such a let down.

• Printing to formerly PC Only Printers. No wonder Powerprint wasn't ported to Mac OS X. GIMP-Print with ESP Ghostscript are open source products that do it for FREE. You can now print on HP PCL-language compatible printers for which there was no driver in Mac OS 9, with only a need for a USB to parallel printer adapter if there is need for one.

• Customizable Toolbar for Finder Windows. I place often used folders and applications on the Toolbar. For example, for my downloads folder, I have Stuffit Expander on the toolbar. I only have to drag the stuffed file to it to decompress it. How handy! Having the file-path there via pop-up menu rather than having to remember to press the command key while pressing on the title of the window is very handy.

• Easy Network Connections to PCs and other computers. You use to have to purchase Dave or some other utility to do this in Mac OS 9 - at high cost.

• Stability and Multitasking. This topic has been beaten to the pulp. But I feel so much safer and secure in doing work in Mac OS X than in Mac OS 9. Safety leads to creativity - much as the Undo command gives you freedom to make mistakes in graphics programs. I can print to several USB printers at the same time. This crashes OS 9 reliably. I can run mission-critical databases in Filemaker while surfing the web, a very dangerous activity in Mac OS 9. Web surfing is the primary and most realiable reason OS 9 crashed for me. I love the ability to multitask, using several programs at once. Again, this may lead to a crash, is unreliable, or not possible, in OS 9. Since I tend to think non-linearly, OS X's ability to multitask allows me to be more creative and productive in what I do than with OS 9. To paraphrase you, compared to Mac OS 9, Mac OS X 10.2.3 "is more stable, has more features, and just works."

One change in the interface I would dearly love to have in Mac OS X: Allow users to drag windows - or even resize them - from all four sides and corners. Mac OS 9 at least allowed you to drag a window by all four sides.

On a related note: I believe you need a faster and larger hard drive for your Pismo. 4 GB for the Mac OS X partition is probably choking it, like having too little RAM. When I upgraded to the faster and larger IBM hard drive, Mac OS X was much snappier in applications which use the hard drive often such as the Finder, Photoshop, etc.

Sincerely,

Romeo B. Mariano, M.D.

Hello Dr. Mariano;

We have the same model PowerBook and RAM support, but you HD and partition map are much more ideal than mine.

I had WindowShade X and FruitMenu installed for months, until last week. Please see Odyssey 227 and 228. I am planning to reinstall WindowShade X. I will probably hold off on FruitMenu for a while.

DropDrawersX is an application I've been meaning to try out for sometime. Sounds good.

In OS 9 you can resize the buttons so that they are no larger then the standard icons. If you don't like single-clicking to launch applications, the Dock must annoy you.

Menu Bar Icons are a poor substitute for the Control Strip, which I use extensively in OS 9. Third party Control Strip additions never seemed to cause any problems in OS 9.

I usually have somewhere between 15 and 25 applications running in neither OS 9 or OS X. With 640 megabytes of RAM I have not had any problems with running out of memory in OS 9. I do prefer appearance of the Aqua interface to OS 9 Platinum. I do very little printing. I'm not much of a window toolbar fan, and rarely use any of the tools other than the View change selections. I'm sure that X's easy network access to Windows systems it very convenient if you need it. I don't, and I've found networking with OS X more cranky then the good ol' Chooser.

As for stability, OS 9 has been extremely good to me in this respect. And while the OS X system it rock solid, applications running in OS X are definitely not, and in my experience have been more likely to go down without warning then the equivalent programs in OS 9. I have lost more unsaved work OS X in the past three months than they have in OS 9 in the past year, and I've been runing in X substantially less than half the time.

I agree completely with you although window dragging. Something I forgot to mention in my list of OS X Finder shortcomings.

As I noted to Richard above, I agree that my hard drive is less than optimum, and I don't doubt that four gigabytes is inadequate for an OS X partition, even though Apple still says 1.5 gigabytes is enough.

Charles

OS X Odyssey 229

From Evan Evanson

You wrote:

"I also don't like it that a lot of the Finder features I've come to depend on in OS 9 are gone, with no adequate substitutes. To wit: yadda yadda yadda...
· No Put Away command"

Edit\Undo, or Command-Z - all the functionality of "Put Away", and more! (Now how much would you pay?)

Evan Evanson

Hi Evan;

But Edit/Undo only works if you use it right away. Very poor substitute for the Put Away command.

Charles

Odyssey 229 Feedback

From Michael Snider

Hello Charles,

Sorry for the length of this. In Odyssey 229, you made a more-or-less canonical list of your problems with OS X, and I think it deserves a response from another long term (17 years) Mac user--but one who is dismayed to discover anything that needs to be done in Classic, much less in a boot from 9. I'll start with your missing features, then return to your more general comments.

• Window shading, which I miss more than any other OS 9 finder feature" I used to use window shading before I got machines that would do readable 1024 OS X 768 resolution (my dual-USB iBook), though I don't think I ever depended on it to the extent you do. May I suggest LiteSwitch (http://www.proteron.com/liteswitchx/) and LaunchBar (http://www.obdev.at/products/LaunchBar/). If they don't work for you, the problem may be the amount of screen real estate you have, which would be an argument for a TiBook rather than an iBook--but consider that the low-end iBook is more than twice as fast as your Pismo. And, if you really need window shading, it's reported to working correctly now. Remember that it started as a 3rd party extension in the old OS.

• No "Buttons" option in the View menu. I liked being able to launch things with a single click from any window." This was actually a violation of the Mac UI guidelines -- 1 click to select, 2 to act. But I found it useful, too. Nowhere near as useful as LaunchBar.

• No Application menu (No, the jack of all trades and master of none Dock is not a satisfactory substitute)"
LaunchBar and LiteSwitch. The Dock does nothing on my machines but display the running apps.

• No Control Strip (again, neither the Dock nor Menu Bar Icons are as good)"
Here it's probably just taste and habits, but I always hated the Control Strip. It was constantly in the way (kind of like the Dock ;-)), and Control Panels provided most of the same functionality. I don't miss them either, and I'm glad OS X went back to 6's way of consolidating system preferences.

• No customizable Apple menu"
Again, taste--and again, LaunchBar does everything the old Apple menu could do except turn directories into menus (that's in the Dock if you want it), and LaunchBar performs the functionality--quick access to buried files and apps--much more cleanly. That lets the new Apple Menu do what it does cleanly--control system-wide functionality.

• No Put Away command
Put Away is particularly puzzling, since there is no reason to have to first find a file, then move it to the desktop, then open it, rather than to work on it from the place where it's already living. If this is truly a near-essential feature, please explain.

• No Labels "
I agree that these were nice, but a near deal-breaker? How? I suppose, that if you put all your files in a lump somewhere (like the desktop) then the ability to sort by label is necessary. But why not put things in project-centered folders? It's related, I guess, to missing Put Away.

"I don't like for the fact that stuff doesn't necessarily stay where you put it on the Desktop like it does in OS 9." Agreed--but the desktop is much less efficient for large numbers of files than the multi-column Finder window. 10.2.3 has just about got keyboard navigation right.

"What I don't like is the slow, balky performance, the frequently ragged Finder response to keyboard and mouse input," These are problems with your particular installation of OS X--while nearly everyone, including me, acknowledges that some interface elements perform more slowly in OS X than they would in 9 on the same hardware, many users report overall increases in productivity under OS X, even with older hardware. This is particularly true of machines in heavy and varied use dealing with graphics, video, and music. You and I have been through the "ragged" response before--I've looked some more, and you appear to be the only one suffering from it. Clean install!

"and the general lack of flexibility, user friendliness and dependable behavior that I have in OS 9."

As for user-friendliness and dependability--if I remember correctly, Charles, you didn't know about shift-clicking to extend a selection until a few months ago. In the old OS you seem to have found something that worked well enough and stuck with it rather than exploring--and I'd suggest that that was because you had learned, as had I, that the Mac OS was brittle, that changes tended to break things--your "carefully pruned" extensions, your "relatively clean" system folder. Nothing is more revealing than watching how quickly a Windows user reduces the old OS to uselessness. Remember those pathetic frozen Macs in Sears and Circuit City? OS X is much more robust and yes, more intuitive, except perhaps to old fogies like us who are fooled by the superficial resemblances to the old OS. I think that's the reason even the boot screens have changed--to discourage Classic expectations from the get-go.

Best of luck to you, and Merry Christmas,

Michael

Hi Michael;

No need to apologize for the length. I enjoyed reading your comments, as always.

Briefly in response:

I appreciate than many of the shortcomings I cited can be mitigated or solved with third-party hacks. My point was that this should not be necessary.

I will be reinstalling WindowShade X

I guess the Dock is a violation of Mac UI giudelines too. ;-)

I've kind of settled on Tigerlaunch plus the Dock positioned at the right of the screen as a tolerable substitute(s) for the Application Menu

I love the Control Strip. I just set an F-Key Hot Key and I can hide/show it with a keystroke.

I can live without Put Away, but it was convenient. I tend to do everything from the desktop, and frequently do drag folders and documents there from elsewhere temporarily.

I usually have 100 or so icons cluttering up my Desktop.

Viz. the ragged input response issue, see Roger Harris's letter above. (It's not just me!; it's not just me! ;-) )

Re: flexibility, I wasn't realy referring to Finder navigation. A few examples: being abole to drag a system around from drive to drive or computer to computer without having to reinstall; being able to create a bootable system folder with just a System file a Finder file, and a couple of other bits.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too.

Charles

Windowshading

From Yoon Ha Lee

Dear Mr. Moore,

From someone who adores Mac OS X and finds it painful to return to OS 9 or Classic, but doesn't grudge you your preferences -- I, too,
find there is no substitute for WindowShade X, and it hasn't caused any performance issues on my iBook (running 10.1.5). With LaunchBar and WindowShade X, I find it hardly necessary to use the Dock at all, which spends most of its tenure hidden. So yes--it's not just the Mac OS 9/Classic holdouts, there's at least *one* OS X aficionado who finds windowshading indispensible.

Yoon Ha Lee
http://pegasus.cityofveils.com

Re: Should You Have To Work To Like An Operating System?

From Douglas Godfrey

You should try out and recommend OS X add-ons that restore the missing OS 9 features. How about a column dedicated to customizing OS X for the best user experience where add-ons can be reviewed and critiqued.

Readers should be encouraged to try out the better tools and to pay the Sharware Fees to support the tool's developer(s).

======================================================

What I don't like he is the slow, balky performance, the frequently ragged Finder response to keyboard and mouse input, and the general lack of flexibility, user friendliness and dependable behavior that I have in OS 9.

==> partially fixed by Renicer v.1.1.7 by Northern Softworks.

Other things I don't like for the fact that stuff doesn't necessarily stay where you put it on the Desktop like it does in OS 9.

==> Set ALL finder windows to "Hide Toolbar", "Show Statusbar",
Icon size 32x32, Text 10 pt., "label bottom", "Snap to Grid" on,
"Show Item Info" off, "Show Item Preview" off, "Keep Arrainged" off.

With these settings, desktop and window Icons stay where you put them.

OS X (as of 10.2.3) still frequently forgets a window's settings for
"Hide Toolbar" and "Snap to Grid" and does not update a window's
free space unless you empty the trash (and there was something to empty)

I also don't like it that a lot of the Finder features I've come to depend on in OS 9 are gone, with no adequate substitutes. To wit:

• Window shading, which I miss more than any other OS 9 finder feature

==> Completely fixed by WindowShade X from Unsanity LLC

• No "Buttons" option in the View menu. I liked being able to launch things with a single click from any window.

==> Not Available on OS X

• No Application menu (No, the jack of all trades and master of none Dock is not a satisfactory substitute)

==> Almost completely fixed by ASM from Frank Vercruesse.
You can still tell the difference between Classic and OS X
applications since the menu bar, Applicaton Menu and Apple Menu
all change.

• No Control Strip (again, neither the Dock nor Menu Bar Icons are as good)

==> Possibly fixed by OpenStrip from
<http://www.strout.net/files/OpenStrip.sit.hqx>

• No customizable Apple menu

==> Almost completely fixed by FruitMenu from Unsanity LLC
You can still tell the difference between Classic and OS X
applications since the menu bar, Applicaton Menu and Apple Menu
all change.

• No Put Away command

==> Possibly can be fixed by a menu item launching an AppleScript
that uses the Command Line DiskTool program to eject the
selected volume. Use Fruitmenu to define a command key to
launch the AppleScript.

• No Labels

==> Completely fixed by Labels X from Unsanity LLC

• No Appearance Sounds

==> Completely fixed by Xounds from Unsanity LLC

Other OS X Interface Enhancements:

From Unsanity:
Application Enhancer
Silk
Menu Extra Enabler
Dock Detox
ShadowKiller

St. Clair Software:
Default Folder X << Super Boomerang for OS X >>

Doug McClure:
RCEnvironment << Set OS X Environment Variables for GUI users >>

Marcel Bresnic Software Systems:
TinkerTool << Control the OS X Finder >>

Northern Softworks:
Renicer << Set OS X application piorities >> Trash X << OS X trash on the Desktop >> Hostal << Manage OS X Hosts file (Kill all popup adds) >>

Allesandro Levi Montalcini:
USB Overdrive << A "Must Have" for anyone wth any non-Apple USB device >>

J. Schrier:
Swap Cop << Relocate the OS X Swap File >> MonoLingual << Remove all unwanted Language Localizations & save 200 meg >>

WunderMoosen
The Moose's Apprentice << Manage the Unix side of OS X with a GUI >>

Stefan Lange-Hegermann
ManThor << GUI to display UNIX MAN pages >>

Sebastian Krauss:
Locator X << GUI for the UNIX Locate command >>

Alex Keresztes and Greg Novick:
Location X << OS X Location Manager >>

Rainer Brockerhoff:
XRay << the UNIX side of Get Info >>

Mike Bombich:
Carbon Copy Cloner << A "Must Have" to backup your OS X Startup partition >>
Relocate /User to another disk
Create a Bootable OS X CD

Fixamac Software
Print Center Repair << Fix a wonky printer >>

ApesSeekingKnowledge.net:
Keep Sendmail happy << fix startup delays and mail problems caused by Sendmail >>

Jean-Pierre Stierlin:
macSSH << A "Must Have" for anyone with a network of OS X macs >>
macSFTP << A "Must Have" for anyone with a network of OS X macs >>

macTechnologies
MacTFTP Client << Carbon TFTP client (update router firmware) >>

http://www.tynsoe.org
Tynsoe Services Manager<< OS X GUI client to Start and Stop UNIX Daemons >>

miscelaneous:
Cronathon << Run CRON tasks from mthe GUI >> 24U Appearance OSAX << A "Must Have" for anyone with AppleScript Apps >> DesktopRebuilder X << Rebuild the OS X "Desktop File" to fix Generic Icons >>

Missing and Definitely Needed:
InternetConfig X 2.5 << release canceled at Apple's Request >>

Seamless Classic
A Classic application should be indistinguishable from an OS X Carbon Application except for the color of the Apple Menu Icon.

Classic Open/Save Dialogs should all be the same (future version of Default Folder?).
Classic and OS X Menu Bar should be the same (future version of FruitMenu for Classic?).
OS X Windows should have a grabbable border (Duality?, ThemeMachine?) SCSI Device support (a Classic implementation of SCSI Manager 4.3 that passes all
SCSI requests to OS X to be processed)
USB and FireWire Device support (forwarding USB and FireWire I/O requests to OS X).

Hi Douglas;

Thanks for the summary of OS X helper apps and hacks.

I've tried and reported on quite a few of them here in the Odyssey, and have posted briefs about most of them in Shareware Beat.

Check out Odyssey 227 and 228 for why WindowShade X and FruitMenu are currently uninstalled.

Charles

The OS X Odyssey archives may be accessed here:
http://www.applelinks.com/news/odyssey/

CM

Charles W. Moore

Cool Mac Gear