Macworld's top picks for enhancing the newest Mac OS
By Robert C. Eckhardt
Now that Mac OS 8 is here, third-party enhancements are obsolete, right? Well, not quite. Despite many advances in the new operating system, one thing hasn't changed: there's still room for improvement, and that's where utilities come in. I canvassed Macworld's editors and contributing editors to find out which utilities they use. I ended up with a collection that spans five key areas: performance, telecommunications, keyboard shortcuts, text management, and organization. These system enhancements will make Mac OS 8--and you--even more efficient and productive. For a firsthand look, check out the demo versions and shareware at www.macworld.com/more/.
Enhanced Performance
Many of us bought a Mac so we wouldn't have to tinker under the hood. But several worthwhile utilities can do some useful tinkering for us.
RAM Doubler 2.0.1
With RAM prices at rock bottom, it makes sense to stock up. Even so, there's a place for RAM Doubler from Connectix, which can triple your installed RAM (up to 256MB).
I've found RAM Doubler to be remarkably stable. It can also boost RAM efficiency (see the screen shot "Using RAM Efficiently"). If you have a Power Mac and turn off virtual memory for better performance, the computer automatically turns off file mapping. Consequently all your native applications require more RAM. RAM Doubler turns file mapping back on; native apps once again require less memory and you recover megabytes of real RAM--I recovered a hefty 15MB from my standard suite of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Adobe Photoshop.
DiskExpress II 2.21
Some people never defragment their hard drive--and never notice the difference. But if your work involves high-speed input and output, such as audio or video, or if you use Netscape Navigator with its cache option turned on, optimizing, or defragmenting--reuniting the pieces of individual files scattered across a drive--is essential for best performance.
Symantec's recently released Norton Utilities for Macintosh 3.5 contains a major revision of the formerly undistinguished defragmenter Speed Disk. Now Power Mac native, the new Speed Disk defragments selected files as well as entire drives, has a clearer and more comprehensive fragmented-file display, and can organize your defragmented disk for general use (which groups files by type) or for a specific purpose, such as multimedia, software development, or CD-ROM mastering. Symantec also says the new version is up to twice as fast.
If you already own Norton Utilities, you may find Speed Disk adequate. But DiskExpress II from Alsoft has been my first choice for defragmentation for many years.
It watches me as I work; notes which files I use most often; and when it defragments my drive, it tightly clusters the files I use most often, further speeding performance. It can also defragment drives on a user-defined schedule, such as when you're at lunch or during the weekly staff meeting.
Although not yet Power Mac native and rather dated in appearance, DiskExpress II remains my current pick. (An upgrade, DiskExpress Pro, in the works at press time, was scheduled to ship in July; it will be Power Mac native.)
Editors' Choice
DiskExpress II 2.21
Four Stars/7.8
Intelligently defragments hard drives for optimum performance.
Company: Alsoft (281/353-4090).
List price: $89.95.
RAM Doubler 2.0.1
Four Stars/8.6
As much as triples your RAM, plus reduces the amount of RAM required by Power Mac-native applications.
Company: Connectix (415/571-5100, www.connectix.com).
List price: $99.
Help for the Telecommunicative
With most of us online these days, utilities that were once the province of a hardy few are now everyday necessities.
StuffIt Deluxe 4
One such indispensable tool is StuffIt Deluxe from Aladdin Systems. My copy of StuffIt has never met a downloaded file that it didn't like--and decompress without complaint. With companion utilities DropStuff and StuffIt Expander on the desktop, all I have to do is drop a file on the appropriate icon to compress or decompress the file, or I can install a menu that compresses or decompresses highlighted files on command.
As a Netscape Navigator helper, StuffIt Deluxe works quietly in the background, it can create self-extracting files (which you can give to people who don't have a decompression utility), and it's great for archiving no-longer-needed documents as well.
Tex-Edit Plus 2.0.1
Once upon a time I was overwhelmed by e-mail and newsgroup digests that were almost unreadable because of all the line feeds, carriage returns, and oddball characters. Then I got Tom Bender's shareware Tex-Edit Plus. (All the shareware mentioned in this article is available from www.macworld.com/more/).
With an unmistakable, don't-mess-with-Texas style, this text editor cleans up untidy e-mail files with a single command and performs more difficult jobs with a dialog box full of cleanup options.
Tex-Edit Plus can also handle text files too big for SimpleText; display previews of graphics files in its Open dialog box; count the words in a selection or document; search for and replace text according to font, size, style, and color; play sounds embedded in files; and even read my e-mail out loud (Texas drawl not included).
Editors' Choice
StuffIt Deluxe 4
Four Stars /7.3
If you got a file off the Internet, StuffIt can almost certainly decompress it for you.
Company: Aladdin Systems (408/761-6200, www.aladdinsys.com).
List price: $129.95.
Tex-Edit Plus 2.0.1
Four Stars /7.9
Cleans up messy downloaded text files effortlessly; handles files too large for SimpleText.
Author: Tom Bender (members.aol.com/tombb).
List price: $10 shareware fee.
dealing with words is what most of us do most often. Consequently we can all reap big benefits from even small improvements in the text-management process.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Minimizing mouse movements and keystrokes saves you time and can help prevent repetitive-strain injuries.
Kensington MouseWorks 5.02
It's worth buying a mouse or trackball from Kensington Microware just for the software. With Kensington MouseWorks, you can program the buttons on a Kensington input device so that one click--or a click-and-key combination--invokes any of a variety of mouse movements or key commands, calls up a QuicKeys shortcut or a pop-up menu, types predefined text, or opens a menu of active applications (see the screen shot "Mouse-Button Shortcuts").
I use a trackball and a mouse, so being able to define a different speed and acceleration for each is handy. When I press certain modifier keys, MouseWorks slows the cursor to a crawl for precision work or restrains it to horizontal or vertical movements.
QuicKeys 3.5.2
Macros are the classic example of efficient shortcuts. While there are several macro utilities, almost all my Macworld colleagues find QuicKeys by CE Software the best compromise between power and ease of use. I use it to enliven my function keys -- so they can, for example, launch and switch among applications--and to assign convenient keyboard combinations to commands that lack them, multistep actions, or boilerplate text. You can also use QuicKeys to process multiple files with one keystroke and to create tool bars full of shortcuts. Although still far from perfect -- there are many things that it can't do, and it's a major RAM hog --QuicKeys remains the Mac's most useful automation tool.
TypeIt4Me 4.7
Riccardo Ettore's shareware TypeIt4Me takes its cues from shorthand-style abbreviations, automatically converting them into full words, phrases, and even paragraphs (available at www.macworld.com/more/).
Once you teach TypeIt4Me what to do, al immediately becomes Abraham Lincoln, mw becomes Macworld, and so on. Properly trained, the program can eliminate hundreds or thousands of keystrokes, and it corrects common misspellings. However, I find text expansion occasionally annoying--when I want to write a note to Al, for example, not Abraham Lincoln.
AliasDragger 1.0b1
Perhaps the simplest and most elegant Mac shortcut is found in Leonard Rosenthal's freeware AliasDragger (available from www.macworld.com/more/). With AliasDragger installed, I press the control key, click on an icon, and drag it to where I want the alias to appear. The original file stays put; the software creates the alias and deletes alias from the name. Couldn't be simpler.
Editors' Choice
AliasDragger 1.0b1
Four Stars/7.7
Makes alias creation a snap.
Author: Leonard Rosenthal.
List price: Freeware.
Kensington MouseWorks 5.02
Four Stars /8.3
Offers superior control over cursor movements and input-device button functions.
Company: Kensington Microware (415/572-2700, www.kensington.com).
List price: Sold with input devices such as the Thinking Mouse ($109.99) and the Turbo Mouse ($169.95).
QuicKeys 3.5.2
Four Stars /8.2
This is the best--but still imperfect--compromise between power and ease of use in a macro utility. Company: CE Software (515/224-1995, www.cesoft.com).
List price: $119.
TypeIt4Me 4.7
Four Stars /7.5
Automatically expands user-defined abbreviations in any application.
Author: Riccardo Ettore (72277.1344@compuserve.com).
List price: $30 shareware fee.
More Manageable Text
Adobe Type Manager Deluxe 4.0
After years of watching Symantec's Suitcase and Alsoft's MasterJuggler duke it out for the font-management heavyweight title, Adobe has finally entered the ring with ATM Deluxe 4. Sporting the same high-quality, on-screen display for PostScript fonts as basic ATM (which is free with Adobe type packages and most applications), ATM Deluxe also offers on-screen antialiased fonts, intelligent font substitution (in documents containing fonts you don't have), and Multiple Master font support.
In its new font-management module, grouping fonts in sets is easy, and turning fonts or sets on and off is quite Conflict Catcher-like. ATM's font manager also clearly labels listed fonts as PostScript or TrueType, displays font samples on request, checks for font damage, and if necessary automatically retrieves fonts when you open a document that requires them.
ATM Deluxe has definitely delivered a knockout punch to its rivals.
TypeTamer 1.1.8 and Adobe Type Reunion Deluxe 2.0
For organizing your Font menu, the choice is between ATM's sidekick, Type Reunion Deluxe, and TypeTamer from Impossible Software. Both products cost $60. Both automatically group related fonts into families and let you group font families into sets (by function, type of font, whatever). At the top of the Font menu, Font Reunion shows the most recently used fonts; TypeTamer displays the fonts used in the current document.
Type Reunion can show each font name in its own typeface and it allows you to rename fonts, a handy option to have with Multiple Master fonts. With TypeTamer, I can scroll through the Font menu using the letter keys and display sample text or a complete character set without leaving the menu (see the screen shot "Entering Hard-to-Find Characters").
Choosing between these two programs depends to a great degree on your personal preferences; Impossible Software offers a demo version of TypeTamer on its Web site so that you can at least see how well this utility works for you. Personally, I prefer TypeTamer for its separate in-use font list and Font menu that scrolls in response to keyboard input.
Spell Catcher 1.5.7
Why should you use ten mediocre spelling checkers that operate ten different ways in ten different programs, when you can use Spell Catcher from Casady & Greene in all your applications?
Spell Catcher can check both interactively and on command, and operating it entirely from the keyboard is as easy as it gets. Its suggested spellings are almost always right on the money, and it can also correct capitalization, punctuation, double spaces, double words, and other errors. It's fast, and if you use Spell Catcher interactively, its glossary option works like TypeIt4Me, expanding user-defined abbreviations into full words. If there's a better spelling checker around, I haven't seen it.
BigThesaurus 2.1
However, there is a better thesaurus than Spell Catcher's, and it's BigThesaurus from Deneba. I find this program easier to operate from the keyboard, and its entries are more clearly organized and usually offer a larger choice of synonyms and antonyms.
Unlike Spell Catcher, which has but a single window, BigThesaurus allows me to view multiple entries at the same time, each in its own window, which I find helpful when I'm searching for the perfect word.
Editors' Choice
Adobe Type Manager Deluxe 4.0
Four Stars/7.2
New font-manager module proves you can teach an old dog new tricks--and beat the competition. Company: Adobe Systems (408/536-6000, www.adobe.com).
List price: $99.95.
Adobe Type Reunion Deluxe 2.0
Three Stars/6.8
Groups fonts in the Font menu into families and user-defined sets; lets you rename fonts or display them in their own typeface for easy identification.
Company: Adobe Systems (408/536-6000, www.adobe.com).
List price: $60.
BigThesaurus 2.1
Four Stars/7.7
The most complete, easiest-to-use electronic thesaurus available.
Company: Deneba Software (305/596-5644, www.deneba.com).
List price: $29.95.
Spell Catcher 1.5.7
Four Stars/7.8
Fast, well-designed spelling checker can be operated entirely from the keyboard.
Company: Casady & Greene (408/484-9228, www.casadyg.com).
List price: $59.95.
TypeTamer 1.1.8
Four Stars/7.3
Groups fonts in the Font menu into families and user-defined sets; lets you scroll Font menu from the keyboard, and more.
Company: Impossible Software (714/470-4800, www.impossible.com).
List price: $59.95.
Better Organized
Scrapbooks and notepads can get as disorganized as the real thing, and control-panel and extensions folders can get pretty anarchic as well--that is, unless you enlist some help.
Conflict Catcher 4.0.2
Apple is as guilty as the rest of making chaos out of order in the System Folder. Although Apple's latest, better-designed Extensions Manager tries to solve the problem, Conflict Catcher 4 from Casady & Greene is by far the best way to understand, organize, and control start-up documents of all kinds.
With Conflict Catcher, turning control panels and extensions on and off and organizing them in sets is just the beginning. Conflict Catcher can also tell me the function and memory usage of all my start-up items, automatically test for conflicts, sort start-up items in ten useful ways (including by the program that installed them), manage plug-ins for programs such as Netscape Navigator and QuarkXPress, and even direct my Web browser to the update page for a specific item or to Casady & Greene's extensive reference database. Recipient of a rare five-star rating, Conflict Catcher deserves them all.
ScrapIt Pro 5.33
Sadly, Mac OS 8's Scrapbook still doesn't allow you to assign titles or keywords to clippings, view more than one clipping at a time, or search for clippings. One reasonable fix is the Now Scrapbook part of Now Utilities ($89.95; see Reviews, March 1997) from Now Software (503/ 274-2800, www.nowsoft.com). For my money, the best scrapbook going is shareware ScrapIt Pro by John V. Holder, which can open up to 20 scrapbooks and display each scrapbook's contents as a scrolling list (see the screen shot "A Better Scrapbook") or as a collection of thumbnails. (ScrapIt Pro is available at www.macworld.com/more/).
The software automatically titles a text item with the item's first few words. It allows me to edit the text in a clipping and copy just part of a text or graphic clipping. I can attach a comment to any item and search for text occurring in the titles, comments, or bodies of all items. ScrapIt Pro fully supports drag and drop, and I particularly like the fact that I can add blank text items for on-the-fly notes.
Companion utility QuickScrap adds hot keys for copying and pasting directly into and out of the Scrapbook or its own multi-item clipboard, and--I found this especially handy--it allows me to name clippings when I copy them, for easy retrieval later.
DragStrip 2.0.1
Finding an application launcher with the perfect balance between maximum functionality and minimum screen clutter is not easy. Clear winners in the latter category are CE Software's QuicKeys (see the "Keyboard Shortcuts" section) and Now Utilities' Now Menus, which can install an applications and documents menu for each user of a shared computer.
But for those who like to see their choices all laid out in front of them, DragStrip from Natural Intelligence is it. Its button strips are compact, and it's a separate application (no extensions headaches here). Buttons can represent applications, documents, folders, groups of items, clippings (text, graphics, sounds, and so on), Control Strip modules, and special DragStrip modules (such as a calendar displaying phases of the moon).
It's easy to assign buttons a function via drag and drop, and many buttons can display pop-up lists of folders and documents. Since I'm trying to go mouseless, I especially like being able to select strips, navigate from button to button, and "click on" buttons using the keyboard.
Editors' Choice
Conflict Catcher 4.0.2
Five Stars/9.3
This is a nearly perfect, and virtually essential, start-up document manager.
Company: Casady & Greene (408/484-9228, www.casadyg.com).
List price: $99.95.
DragStrip 2.0.1
Four Stars/8.1
Versatile, feature-packed file launcher is well worth the premium price.
Company: Natural Intelligence (617/876-4876, www.natural.com).
List price: $59.95.
ScrapIt Pro 5.33
Four Stars/8.0
Edit text, copy part of an image, and find items by title or contents in up to 20 open scrapbooks. Author: John V. Holder (www.northcoast.com/~jvholder).
List price: $20 shareware fee.
Macworld's Buying Advice
You probably don't need every one of the utilities I've described here (none of the experts I polled use all of them). But no matter which ones you decide to work with--whether they're revving up your system performance, simplifying your online experience, cutting down your keystrokes, taming your text, or helping you get organized--these top-notch programs can make your life a lot easier by saving you time and trouble (see www.macworld.com/more/ for a firsthand look at most of them). Best of all, a handpicked utility collection will enhance your Mac OS 8 upgrade, fixing the system software deficiencies that vex you the most while it boosts your productivity. Now there's an offer you can't refuse.
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Contributing editor ROBERT C. ECKHARDT thanks the Macworld editors who assisted with this article and who, like him, find utilities indispensable.
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September 1997
page: 130
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Copyright © 1997 Macworld Communications, Inc.
