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One of the things about the OS nine Finder I missed from the get go with OS X is the little custom "launcher" I use, which is simply a pop-up folder full of aliases of the applications I use regularly or frequently, configured to display as Button view icons. To launch a program, all I have to do is click the pop-up tab and then single-click the desired application alias, or shift click a bunch of aliases. As soon as I finished, the folder collapses of the way again. It's simple, fast, lightweight, and trouble-free.

In OS X, I made a similar application alias folder and parked it in the Dock. But it's just not the same. It will open with a single clack, but you have to close the window manually. There is no Button view in OS X, so you have to double-click to launch programs. You can also control click on the folder icon in the Dock to display a text list of the content and launch from it with single clicks, but that requires scrolling usually, and there is a significant lag in the list opening response.

There are of course numerous third-party program launcher hacks and utilities, which have their respective virtues, but most that I've tried, as with substitutes for the old Classic 0S NotePad, want to do too much for me, and bog down in complexity. However, one that hit the sweet spot of useful function combined with simplicity is Tigerlaunch (see Odyssey 192) which does just one thing, and does it very well. Tigerlaunch has become my main OS X stand-in in for the pop up folder launcher in OS 9.

Another lightweight (i.e.: fast) launcher application that I checked out this week is freeLauncher, which like a Tigerlaunch, is freeware. Instead of a menu bar icon, freeLauncher puts a small, blue tab in your Finder window that can be positioned either in the center (why ???) or at the left of the screen. When you click on the tab, expand into a small window with several feature options available.

The main one is an application launcher. When you first start up freeLauncher, a Setup Assistant appears that allows you to scroll through a list of the applications in your Applications folder and add the ones you select to the f freeLauncher list. After which, when you click on little blue tab, you get instant access to your watch her list--much quicker than control-clicking my folder of the leases in the dock, and quite similar to the functionality provided by Tigerlaunch.

However, there's more. There are also configurable menu selections for Documents, Folders, and Favorites The pull down menu also facilitates selection of a couple of useful little desktop accessories. There are an alarm and a calendar, and the "CharFinder" window that displays alternate font characters, with a pull down menu to select from the fonts you have installed.

I may have missed some of the desk accessories' features because documentation with freeLauncher is unfortunately very minimal. The program is quite intuitive, so it wasn't difficult to discern its basic functions, but it would be nice to have a bit more extensive instructions than are found in the "Essential Tips" window.

freeLauncher at this stage of development is also just a buggy. I found that the little blue tab is sometimes stubborn about staying where you put it, which of course doesn't make it unique among icon in OS X.

freeLauncher is a decent little helper, and if its functionality sounds like it might appeal, why not give it a try?

System requirements:
• Mac OS X
 
freeLauncher is freeware  
   
For more information, visit:
http://homepage.mac.com/lucasraggers/

A replacement for Windowshades

From Peter J. Pedersen

Dear Charles W. Moore,

It is possible to gradually wean one away from windowshading but only by installing the Minimize-in-Place feature that was NOT released in 10.2. That decision is probably the clearest indication of the present lack of an overall paradigm for OSX' UI in Apple's development plans; furthermore, it clearly indicates a lack of understanding of the working needs for those that do not have a 21" screen on which to manipulate the substantial number of applications that OSX invites the concurrent use of. To put it more briefly: user life without Minimize-in-Place is comparable to finding healthy pigeons on Trafalgar Square.

The Minimize-in-Place feature is circulated on the 'net and is installed the "normal" way. It is small, remains in place through upgrades, and is - contrary to the explanations given by Apple spokespersons when asked about the decision not to include it in OSX - both stable and fully compatible. To mention but ONE advanced feature: the minimized windows can be put wherever you want them (I like to take them by the sub-icon that indicates to which application they belong and drag them so far to the left on the screen that only part of the sub-icon can be seen - space is at a premium on 14.1" PBs, as you know). Furthermore, when you click them so they grow to normal size, and then minimize them again, they shrink back to the place where they were put last time. Imagine that: one of the few features of the OSX UI that remembers its place - and then it was Steved!

One important advantage MiP has over windowshading is that the minimized window can be identified not only by its sub-icon but also by looking at its shape which has the same proportions as the "grown" window. That way you learn to distinguish windows by giving each one slightly different proportions.

Should you be interested in installing MiP, you can find it on the 'net. If not, contact me and I will help you find it. It is a MAJOR improvement in work organisation on OSX.

Regards,

Peter J. Pedersen

Hi Peter;

That's one I hadn't heard of. I'm downloading it now, and will try it out on the iBook. I'm still running 10.2.1 on the Pismo, so I can't try it there yet. Thanks for the tip!

Charles

Thanks!

From Robert Domingo,

Hi Charles,

Thanks for devoting an entire column to my OS X native software question!

My current suite of applications is heavily influenced by your past recommendations, so I'm happy to hear that there are good OS X native versions available.

Eudora -- I was especially happy to hear that the OS X version is pretty much the same as the OS 9 version. I prefer Eudora to Mail. iCab/Netscape -- I'll need to download some of the browser choices you mentioned and pick which one(s) work best for me. Tex-Edit Plus -- Spell check! I have no reason to use a full word processor anymore.
SoundJam -- I'll finally get a copy of iTunes to play with. Appleworks -- I use it for its basic spreadsheet capabilities.

Here are other applications that I use:

iData Pro (contact manager) -- formerly InfoGenie, happily there is an OS X native version
Z-Write (list manager) -- there's an OS X compatible version ScrapIt Pro (scrapbook) -- an OS X version is in progress, so I'll either use Classic or try out your suggestion of Notepad Deluxe

While I'm migrating to OS X sooner than I anticipated, it's exciting to start my own "OS X Odyssey". I'll first see if I can get by with just the Dock, though I'll miss many of the components of the Classic OS Finder (Control Strip, Application Menu, Apple Menu, Windowshading) If not, I'll try some of the shareware apps you've listed in Shareware Beat.

Thanks again for your suggestions,
Robert Domingo

OS X apps, Notepad or database replacement

From Darryl Burgwin

Hi Charles,

Have you looked at Dan Schimpf's MacJournal 2.1. This is a Cocoa app that is very well designed and works flawlessly in my experience. It is so well designed that back in May 2002 it won the Apple Design Award in the student category. And it is freeware although you can make a donation to the author, if you are so inclined. A great deal. The following is from the website (http://homepage.mac.com/dschimpf):

MacJournal is a program for creating, modifying, and managing a personal journal. It can be used for diaries, logs, most anything. And, because it's written using Cocoa in Mac OS X, it supports all the cool OS X doodads you would expect. Things like toolbars, spell checker, font and color panels, localization, and drawers are all utilized to provide you with a useful and consistent interface with that of Mac OS X.

I use it as a basic notepad/database for saving texts bits I come across in my online travels. My favourite feature: It installs a "MacJournal>New Entry with Selection" service in the Services menu. With this you can make an entry of any text from any Services aware app. This is very convenient.

Best,
Darryl Burgwin

Hi Darryl;

Looks like a nice app, and I'm downloading it to check out.

Charles

Deleting OS 9

From Tom Fallon

Charles Moore -

I am purchasing a new Macintosh and do not wish to use OS 9. I want to use only OS X, Jaguar. How do I go about deleting OS 9 successfully?

Tom Fallon
Maine

Hi Tom;

Personally, I don't understand why you (ano others, like my son) are so all-fired anxious to get rid of OS 9. ;-) After all. it could come in handy once in a while, and you don't have to start up Classic Mode if you don't want to.

However, if you must, it's dirt-simple. Just drag the OS 9 System Folder to the Trash and flush. That's it.

Charles

Re: Deleting OS 9

From Tom Fallon

Charles Moore -

Thanks for your reply.

I want to make things simple for myself since I am not a techie. I got Mac for its simplicity, a fact that has changed obviously, with continuous change one must learn. My thinking was that I would have only one OS on the new computer and in time the old computer will not be in use. I'll then have learned OS X.

Maybe you are right, however. If I do not have to use Classic. I can do this anyway and won't have to tinker. I was thinking last night maybe I should leave things alone until Apple comes out with a new OS which will ditch OS 9/Classic. I'll then be safe.

Thanks.
Tom

Hi Tom;

You probably can't go too far wrong wrong either way. You can trash OS 9 as you originally proposed, or just leave it on the hard drive and ignore it until you're sure you will never need it for anything. It shouldn;t require any tinkering. I'm guessing that Classic Mode will be around for a while yet, but the new PowerBooks unveiled at MacWorld Expo can no longer boot directly into OS 9.

Charles

Safari Shootout

From ,David Chilstrom

In your recent benchmarks you tested Safari and three other web browsers against four pages on different web sites. That is, of course, a microscopic sample of the four billion or so pages on the internet. Still, as four pages relevant to you, it may be an adequate personal benchmark if those sites constitute the bulk of your browsing experience. However, as an objective measure of what others might observe, the sample is far too small to be meaningful.

Another difficulty I had with your numbers was in your method. As Dan Knight mentioned, with revolving banner ads, the actual content of each page may change from test to test. Even with static content, rendering time can vary dramatically based on server load and the second by second responsiveness of the network between your computer and the web server. I duplicated your test using Safari only, and it was a though I were using 5 different browsers. Following your method, I cycled through your test pages and continued using Safari for a total of 5 passes through each page. Below are my highs and lows, using an iBook 600 and connected to the net via modem for each page.

Results in seconds.

http://www.applelinks.com : 41 / 27

http://lowendmac.com/index.shtml : 32 / 21

http://www.nationalpost.com/national/ : 62 / 71

http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/radar/xgo_e.html : 14 / 13

Except for the Weather page, Safari handily trounced itself in each shootout. You can arrive at a fairly reliable number (good enough for government work, anyway) by taking 5 passes at each page, tossing the high and low numbers and averaging the other 3.

You should take into account that by testing on a G3 based machine, you could be unfairly hobbling any browser that leverages Altivec for rendering pages. This could dramatically improve performance. You can account for the G4 factor by having a reader run your tests on a G4 machine, or note that factor in a disclaimer.

By clearing the cache each time, you are introducing artificiality into the test and possibly skewing the results. A browser's speed at accessing page elements in the cache is certainly a factor, though possibly negligible. Another test could be run with cache uncleared to see if each browser's scores hold up under that scenario.

While I share your skepticism at Steve Job's "sweeping, categorical, unqualified statement that “Safari is the fastest browser on the Mac...” , I still have a lot more confidence in iBench as an objective testing tool for real world browser performance than I would on anyone's subjective observations. While you presented your benchmark's as objective support for your first impressions of Safari's performance, the numbers are neither accurate nor are they based on a sample remotely large or varied enough to be significant.

Even accepting Apple's iBench scores as valid, the difference between Safari's numbers and Chimera are hardly enough to send Chimera packing. The real case that Apple is making is that it's now time to boot IE off the Dock. I'll certainly buy that.

Cheers,
David Chilstrom

Hi David;

My little test was not intended to be a challenge to MacBench, but rather just to see if the stopwatch would confirm my gut impression that Safari was slower. It did.

Those four pages represent a real world frame of reference for me because I visit them almost every day, and therefore they give me an indication of how a browser performs relative to the performance I'm used to. I never represented them as anything more than that (I never referred to them as "benchmarks", and I clearly explained my methodology). However, in a couple of years of running similar comparisons, I've had pretty consistant results. You could argue cleared cache/not cleared cache either way. I dump my browser caches frequently anyway, so empty cache page load performance is relevant to me.

As for the G3 machine issue, I'm perplexed at your objection. There are millions of G3 Macs in use. I just bought a brand new one and I anticipate that I will be testing software and reporting my impressions on G3 machines for several years to come, something for which I make absolutely no apology.

Charles

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

CM

Charles W. Moore

Cool Mac Gear