Michal Ždanský After a long time, we have another part of the utilities series, but this time a non-traditional part with applications for Mac OS X. We will show you some free but useful applications for your Mac that can make your work on your machine more pleasant and easier.
Onyx
Onyx is a very complex tool that can do a lot of interesting things. Its area of operation can be divided into 5 parts. The first part deals with checking the system, i.e. primarily the disk. It is able to check the SMART status, but it will only let you know in the style of yes, no, so it is only for information. It also checks the file structure on the disk and whether the configuration files are in order.
The second part deals with correcting permissions. Mac OS also runs a series of maintenance scripts that are scheduled to run daily, weekly, and monthly. In addition, individual "caches" of the system can be regenerated here, so you can start a new indexing of the spotlight, have initial startup applications set for individual file types, or delete .DS_Store files that have folder information and other things stored in them.
The third part is about lubrication. Here we will delete all other caches that are in the system, both system caches, which are worth clearing once in a while, and user caches. The fourth part is utilities, such as an overview of manual pages for individual system commands (available via man
), you can generate a locate database here, hide individual partitions for users and more.
The last part allows you to implement many tweaks for the system that are normally hidden. Here you can, for example, display hidden files in the Finder, or set the format and storage location for screenshots taken. As you can see, Onyx can handle a lot and should not be missing from your system.
Onyx - download link
BetterTouchTool
BetterTouchTool is almost a must for all Macbook, Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad owners. This application makes the most of them. Although the system offers a fairly decent number of gestures for a multi-touch touchpad, in reality this surface can recognize up to many times more gestures than Apple allows by default.
In the application, you can set up to an incredible 60 for Touchpad and Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse has a little less of them. It involves touching different parts of the screen, swipes and touches with up to five fingers, simply everything you could think of to do on a large touch screen. Individual gestures can then work globally, i.e. in any application, or they can be limited to one specific one. One gesture can thus perform a different action in different applications.
You can then assign any keyboard shortcuts to individual gestures that can trigger various actions in applications, you can also emulate a mouse press in combination with the CMD, ALT, CTRL or SHIFT key, or you can also assign a specific system action to the gesture. It offers a large number of these applications, from controlling Exposé and Spaces, through controlling iTunes, to changing the position and size of application windows.
BetterTouchTool - download link
jDownloader
jDownloader is a program used to download files from hosting servers such as Rapidshare or Hotfile, but you can also use videos from YouTube. Although the program does not look attractive and its user environment is different from what we are used to, it is able to compensate for this handicap with its functions.
For example, if you enter the login data for the hosting server that you have subscribed to in the settings, it will automatically start downloading files, even in bulk, after inserting the links. It also handles video servers, with the fact that in many cases it has no problem with bypassing the so-called captcha a system that won't let you go if you don't describe the corresponding letters from the picture. Not only will he try to read it, but if he succeeds, he won't bother you anymore and you don't have to worry about him. If it does happen that he does not recognize the given letters, he will show you a picture and ask you to cooperate. Captcha is constantly "improving", so sometimes even a person has a problem copying this code, but several people work quite intensively on this program and constantly improve plugins for individual services, so you don't have to worry about it being a problem. If it occurs, it is fixed very quickly with an update.
Other functionalities include, for example, automatic file unpacking after download, joining files into one if it is divided and you download it in parts. The option to automatically turn off the computer after the download is finished will also please you. Setting the time when it can download is just the icing on the cake.
jDownloader - download link
StuffIt Expander
Although Mac OS X offers its own archiving program, its capabilities are very limited, giving way to alternative programs such as Expander from StuffIt. Expander can handle practically every archive format, from ZIP and RAR to BIN, BZ2 or MIME. Even archives divided into several parts or archives provided with a password are not a problem. The only thing it can't handle are encrypted ZIPs.
Of course, Expander can also create its own archives using the drag & drop method via the icon in the Dock. You only need to move the files on it and Expander will automatically create an archive from them. The application can work with more than 30 different formats and is not stopped by strong 512-bit and AES 256-bit encryption.
StuffIt Expander - download link (Mac App Store)
Spark
Spark is a very simple and single-purpose utility that allows you to create keyboard shortcuts to launch applications or other actions. Although one would expect this feature to be already implemented in the system (such as in Windows), a third-party application is required for this. One of them is Spark.
In addition to running applications, Spark can, for example, open files or folders, perform various actions in iTunes, run AppleScripts or specific system functions. For each of these actions, you just need to choose the keyboard shortcut of your choice. With a daemon that runs in the background, you don't even need to have the app open for your shortcuts to work.
Spark - download link
I use The Unarchiver for unpacking, which is also free as a stuff expander and I'm more satisfied with it so far, I recommend trying it
Zipeg is also quite comfortable for unpacking
the given Spark link will take you to the IM communicator
here is correct http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/14352/spark
That Spark link leads to some IM client. You probably meant this: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/14352/spark
Thanks for the heads up, fixed
why haven't I installed any normal archiver/unarchiver on osx yet?
through which I can set how I will pack, can I view the archive without unpacking and unpack individual files by dropping? something like winrar on win.
Does anyone know of something like that?
macitbetter.com - BetterZip - offers a plugin for QuickLook as well
Oh, and also cake – http://www.kekaosx.com/en – that one is free, or even the WinZIP one :-) – http://www.winzip.com/mac/en/index.htm
Yeah sorry, Keka is more like The Unarchiver.
But there is still Entropy - http://www.entropyapp.com and the Stuffit, but in the Deluxe version
May I ask how your appearance is set in JDownloader? No matter how I choose, it still looks like Windows to me. Thanks, Kessa
Do you have Windowdecoration turned off? Otherwise, I'm fine with the most basic Synthetica Simple 2 D look.
Good day. Does JDownloader work for you? When I tried to install it, it gave me a message that the file is damaged and it cannot be installed...