Evan Kleiman
- 2002.10.21
Q. Are there any replacements for Apple's dinky utilities
included with OS X?
A. When you look around the "Utilities" folder on your OS X
computer, you see many different applications that Apple has
provided. You see even more when you look in other folders. With
programs like iTunes and iPhoto, what's there to want in an
Apple-included application?
Well, if you haven't noticed, the non-iWhatever programs have
been pretty much neglected since version seven of the OS. In fact,
many of them even have the same interface.
So what do you do when the Apple-included utilities fall short
of what you need?
CPU Monitor
The CPU Monitor is supposed to give you some insight into your
computer. Well, I'm not sure about you, but a little blue jumping
bar doesn't really give me much information, so I use Xmonitor. It offers you
all kinds of good information, like CPU usage, memory usage, IP
connection status, and more.
Location Manager
Location Manager is an application many people used in OS 9.2
and earlier. However, Apple didn't find it necessary to even
include it with OS X. Location X
is a great replacement - it fills the void left by Apple. It has
options for plug-ins and the option for third party support, which
means new features can be added.
Calculator
Macs are capable of very complex mathematical equations. So why
does it only come with a simple four-function calculator? Beats me!
But, anyone who does anything more than simple adding needs a
better one, should use Calculator+. It offers many
statistics and advanced arithmetic features, as well as memory
options, and its interface is less confusing than that of the other
calculators available on the Internet for OS X.
Get Info
The get info box has always been the one incredibly lackluster
part of the OS experience. Ever since the beginning. While we don't
have applications like Snitch anymore, we do have ones like
SuperGetInfo
by Bare Bones Software. It adds such features, as the ability to
look up type and creator and preview the file, and it is fully
integra table with other Bare Bones Software Programs.
While everything might not be perfect with OS X, these
utilities can make things a little better.
