MacPilot Review: System Tweaks for Apple Geeks
If you haven’t already picked up the MacUpdate Holiday bundle for this season, you may want to give it some more consideration, especially if you’re a fan of customization. MacPilot 3.2, a new version of the robust system tweak and maintenance application from Koingo Software, is here to solve all your winter maintenance woes.
Consider the following: you’re a competent Mac user, but you take Terminal’s name literally and you wish there were an easier way to tweak your Mac experience to be just the way you need it to be. MacPilot steps in to offer you a surprising number of system customization options, along the same lines as Cocktail, TinkerTool and Onyx — except better, according to the installation notes.
Spore: Mac Gaming Evolves
Since it seems to be a common belief that video games are to Mac users what telephones are to the Amish, it’s refreshing to see a technological design visionary like Will Wright acknowledging that gaming is just as sought-after, if only less accessible, for Mac users as for PC junkies. To that end, he has taken one of many pioneering steps with his newest brain child, Spore, in releasing the game simultaneously for the PC and Mac –- as a single hybrid DVD.
Adobe Unveils Creative Suite Four (CS4)
For a number of weeks now, Adobe has been tantalizing their loving horde of followers with the promise of a “Brilliant Event” taking place on the 23rd of September – that’s today. It wasn’t really too much of a mystery though, as it was clear from the start that the big event is the unveiling of the long-awaited next installment in their multi-purpose creative design software package: Creative Suite 4. Interestingly, Adobe has chosen to call this their biggest software release to date, and when someone like Adobe says that, people take note.
Cross-Platform Collaboration With OpenHuddle.com
The problem with many modern-day collaboration applications is that they tend to centre their functionality around their home operating system. Instant messaging clients may let you chat and share files with groups of other users, but what happens if the messaging client that your Windows friends use doesn’t get along with the client your Mac and Linux friends favour? With the explosion of web-based applications popping up these days, it’s no surprise that a solution to this little problem has recently appeared in the form of OpenHuddle.com
Mellel: More Competition for Word
If you’ve ever had to use your computer to put words on a page for an essay, a business letter, or that book that you definitely will finish some day, then chances are good that you’ve encountered Word. Once upon a time, Microsoft Word was the standard for any kind of writing work, but now that more and more developers are rising up to challenge Microsoft’s monopoly, Mac-based writers have an increasingly large number of options when choosing a word processor to suit their needs. Among them is Mellel, a surprisingly robust competitor from RedleX.
Think: Distractions Not Included
Working on your Mac these days can be quite exhilarating; with all the wonderful apps and tools at your disposal, multi-tasking has become easier than ever. The downside, of course, is that now there are so many things on the go to help us be more organized, more productive, and more efficient with our work that it’s becoming harder and harder to focus on actually doing it. The folks over at Freeverse are here to help, though, with their deceptively simple piece of productivity software called Think.
Shoebox: Of Photos and Footwear
Recently, professional photographers around the world rejoiced in unison when Apple released version 2 of its acclaimed Aperture software — the one-stop photography management studio software. When we reviewed Aperture 2, it was inevitable that comparisons would crop up between it and its less-iLife-friendly competition from Adobe — Lightroom. The conclusion seemed to be that, while both solutions offered a slew of impressive editing features, Aperture was ultimately better suited to managing larger photo collections.
Psi: Multi-Platform Messaging
In a world where the vast majority of your contacts will be busily communicating with MSN, Yahoo, AIM, and ICQ, it’s hard to imagine that there’s much of a market for alternative chat clients. After all, what kind of advantages could they possibly offer over these massively-funded, professionally-scripted corporate mainstream clients?
Apples and Oranges: Meet the New MacBooks
Well, folks, it looks like Apple’s really taken their “Tuesday Newsday” philosophy to heart here; yet another major announcement hit the feeds this morning as the new generation of MacBooks was released, along with their beefy brothers the MacBook Pros. This latest iteration of the lean machines is as impressive as ever — displaying a variety of new features on the surface as well as brand new Intel Penryn chips under the lid (as it were).
Relationship: Getting Along Has Never Been Easier
Let’s face it: relationships are complicated things. Between keeping track of personal details, remembering dates, communicating efficiently and more, it’s a small wonder that we manage to get along at all.
And that’s just with personal relationships — what about professional relationships, where sometimes the extent of your contact with an individual is a series of digital transactions?
Jumsoft jumps to the rescue with an update to one of its award-winning pieces of productivity software, aptly named Relationship. This little gem is a piece of customer relationship management software geared towards the small business market. With its attractive price tag and competitive features, it’s easily established itself as a staple of the consumer corporate world, and the 1.1 update brings only improvements to the tried-and-tested formula for success.
