Have you ever needed to install an application, complete with custom setup and preferences, onto a large number of machines? The free program InstallEase aims to help streamline this process (and keep you from reaching for the Maalox).
InstallEase enables the user to create custom install packages for any application. Once the custom install package is created, you can use it to install the same application, preferences and all, on any number of machines.
So how does it work? While we'd like to say "by using furry gnomes," alas, that is not the case. InstallEase takes automatic snapshots of your system both before and after installation. The program then compares the changed data and uses that data to create the install package.
If you really like to get your tech hands dirty, you can manually create install packages by dragging and dropping which files will be added onto the InstallEase interface.
InstallEase also features the ability to create an uninstaller, custom filters, and support for PKG, Iceberg Project, and DMG packages.
InstallEase requires registration, and is Mac only.
With the latest version of Messenger for the Mac, users can make free PC-to-PC calls (yes, a Mac is a PC too) to other Messenger buddies. You can also sign up for a Phone Out account to make calls to landlines and mobile phones. Or, if you want to go all the way, you can sign up for a Phone In account, which assigns you a number so people can call you on your PC.
In other words: picture Skype, but with a big yellow smiley face instead of a cool blue talk bubble.
Check out the Yahoo! Messenger blog for a complete rundown of the new features and a handy screencast.
Breakaway is the kind of tool that begs the question, "why didn't anyone think of this before?"
Simply stated, Breakaway will automatically pause your iTunes music anytime your headphones are unplugged.
We can see this as useful in two ways:
One, you won't have to suffer any more embarrassment when your headphones come unplugged and everyone becomes privy to the Rocky 3 soundtrack (we don't know about you, but "Eye of the Tiger" really gets our creative juices flowing).
Two, well, hmm...
Okay, so Breakaway is a one-trick pony. But it's a handy trick.
Breakaway is a free download, and requires Mac OS X.
Back in prehistory (or January, thereabouts) we talked a bit about webOSes, and the migration of Ewedrive to Desktop on Demand. This week we got a chance to play around with Desktop on Demand in more depth.
Desktop on Demand (DOD) is a true networked OS. It's a Linux based system, with a clean, clear GNOME interface. There is online storage, and a good mix of open source apps. Our little issue about using a browser to access a webOS to surf the web in its browser has been addressed in an innovative way: launcher clients.
Yes, DOD offers clients to launch the service. Truthfully, we heard this and got a little annoyed. But trust us when we say that this is actually a freakin' huge advantage over the old time webOS set ups. The clients are available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. They are small, and can be installed on a flash drive. If you want to keep one on a hard drive on a given computer, it runs from the downloaded location. Very easy, very unoffensive -- very personal, and very secure.
When the desktop opens, it doesn't open in a browser. Maybe this shouldn't sit better with us, but for some strange reason, it just does. It feels much more natural. There is less clutter and we could forget that we were using a completely different operating system underneath it all.
We recently previewed the new Evernote clients -- for web, mobile and Mac -- and now we've got even more details about what's in the works for this popular cross-platform capture tool. Evernote's CEO, Phil Libin, talked to Download Squad about Evernote's expanding catalog of features. The biggest news is today's launch of a desktop client for Mac. We also have 2000 invitations to the beta to share with Download Squad readers, so make sure you read this whole post to get yours!
Libin says the Mac client has been improved a lot even in the short time since demo videos were released on the Evernote website. We were already impressed with how nicely Evernote played with Apple's Photo Booth -- snap a picture of some kind of text, like a handwritten note or a business card, and Evernote will be able to recognize it and make it searchable. Libin says that, although Photo Booth works well for this, Evernote also has direct support for Apple's built-in iSight cameras.
As with the Windows client, all the memories you save in the Mac version can be automatically synced to your phone, your Evernote web account, and your other computers. This opens the door for some creative use cases: Libin says he gets around his poor sense of direction by saving his trip itineraries and Google Maps before he leaves the house. Another staff member took pictures of his prescription medications, so he could remember what they looked like and make the labels searchable. The Download Squad team down at SXSW could no doubt have used Evernote for another neat trick: taking pictures of people you meet at conventions -- Evernote will search the text on their nametags!
Symantec has introduced Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection for Mac, a new software package that combines Norton AntiVirus 2008 for Windows with Norton AntiVirus 11 for Mac.
This package was designed for Mac users who have Windows installed on their machine, either as a separate partition (Boot Camp) or through the use of virtualization software such as Parallels and VMWare Fusion.
You've got to hand it to Norton: like some sort of Corporate Kamasutra, they position themselves in every way imaginable in order to suck up the bucks in the ever-competitive anti-virus market. While this is really just a shrewd repackage of existing products, the marketing and the sticker price (a reasonable $69.95) should convince a lot of users to pony up the dough.
If only Macs needed an antivirus solution...then this product would be invaluable (okay, we were just trying to rile a few feathers with that last remark).
Norton Antivirus Dual Protection for Mac requires OS X 10.4.10 or higher on the Mac side, and XP or Vista on the Windows side.
SmartSleep 1.0 is a Mac preference pane designed for the MacBook or MacBook Pro that will help your computer get the most from its Da Vincian cat naps.
SmartSleep sets a schedule for your Mac laptop's sleep patterns: when your battery has a high level, SmartSleep sets the computer to sleep only (sans hibernation). If your battery goes below 20% (the default setting, user customizable) then SmartSleep will tell your machine to sleep and hibernate. If your battery sneaks below 5%, you should really find an outlet -- but in case you can't, SmartSleep will set the computer to hibernate only (thus preserving the battery completely).
SmartSleep also allows you to choose any one sleep setting as the default, useful if you want your computer to always sleep and hibernate, or hibernate only, etc...
Now some of you might be asking: if it ain't broke, why try to fix it?
SmartSleep was created to free the user from certain limitations of each individual sleep setting. If your computer is set to sleep only, for example, you cannot change the battery, because the battery is needed to keep the contents of the memory. If your computer is set to sleep and hibernate, there might be a significant delay before your computer actually goes to sleep because the contents of the memory are being saved to disk. SmartSleep maximizes the effectiveness of each setting to give you the fastest response time based upon your computer's current power state.
SmartSleep is a free download, Mac OS X only, and is best suited for MacBooks and MacBook Pros (trust us, you won't get much out of the program if you're on an iMac or Mac Mini).
Stomp, billed as the ultimate video recompressor for the Mac, has just been upgraded to version 1.4.
Stomp is a wonderful piece of software for performing quick and painless video compression. There are a number of presets, such as iPhone, Apple TV, and YouTube, or Web for easy email-able videos (because we're all tired of receiving one gigabyte DV files of your baby's first steps). Stomp also includes video effects, cropping, and a set-and-forget batch processing mode.
Stomp 1.4 has a few choice new features:
New support for any QuickTime movie exporter, which means you can export your file as an MPEG-4, AVI, or WMV (if you have Flip4Mac installed).
The new version is a test release so the old cartographer's adage applies: here there be dragons. The demo will leave a nice, shiny watermark on any video you compress. Removing said watermark will cost you $29.95.
Back in November, we posted about SyncMate, a freeware (for now) alternative for syncing Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices with a Mac, especially Macs running OS X 10.5 Leopard. Well, the program looked promising, but proved to be buggy and difficult to adequately use.
However, SyncMate has continued to evolve over the last couple of months and Eltima software recently released a new release candidate build that is free to download and use. We very, very basically tested the program with a friend's T-Mobile Shadow (the HTC Juno) on our Mac running Leopard 10.5.2 and were successfully able to sync contacts and our iCal calendar. We didn't try to do anything with iTunes or iPhoto synching, nor did we play with any of the SMS management tools listed on the SyncMate feature list but synching our contacts and calendar was pretty straight forward.
For Mac users, finding consistent support for Windows Mobile devices remains problematic. While programs like Missing Sync and PocketMac have improved their Leopard support considerably, each new OS update brings its own set of problems (and that's without even discussing some of the Entourage 2008 issues that some Windows Mobile users, and Blackberry users, have been facing). Obviously native support would be the best solution (ha!), but until then, it is good to have different options.
SyncMate might not be perfect, but it continues to improve and the developers are actively seeking user feedback. And at least during the continued beta, and now release candidate phase, the program is free (we're not sure what the pricing situation will be once SyncMate gets its first full release). If you have a Windows Mobile 5 o 6 device and are running OS X 10.4 or higher, give SyncMate a shot.
If you've been using a Mac since the glory days of System 7, you probably remember Hypercard. It was the workhorse app of choice for old-school Mac users to put together databases, presentations, and all kinds of other important information. Unfortunately, since Apple discontinued Classic, there's no way to run HyperCard on a new Mac. There's a workaround, though, in the form of Danny Goodman's HyperPort.
HyperPort extracts data from Hypercard files into text formats you can read on that brand-new MacBook Air. Goodman, who has been publishing books on software since the early 80's, has now released the utility as unsupported freeware.
HyperPort is actually a Hypercard stack itself, so if you've already gotten rid of your Classic OS installation, it might not be much help to you. We found it was worth downloading just for the nostalgia, though. The PDF user's manual is a fascinating faded scan of the 1990 original. So, while you're grabbing all those old names and addresses out of your Hypercard stacks, you can enjoy author Goodman's timeless sense of style. Is that a sweater vest, Danny?
Although there are a lot of different screencasting options out there for the Mac, in our opinion, none has had the power and features of Camtasia Studio (a Windows only app); until now.
ScreenFlow from Vara Software is, quite frankly, the best screencasting application for the Mac that we have seen to date -- and trust us, we've tried them all. Taking advantage of Core Animation (making this a Leopard only application), Quartz Composer and a custom 64-bit enabled compression system, ScreenFlow can capture DVD playback (see our screencast below for a demo), 3-D game playback and can also simultaneously capture from your screen and your iSight or DV camera -- meaning you can create a screencast that can show you as you speak.
ScreenFlow's recording algorithms are great, truly, but what really made us excited were all the built-in post capture editing tools. It is very, very easy to add animations to a screen capture, highlighting one window, zooming in on part of the screen, isolating the mouse pointer (and adjusting the opacity of the non-isolated area), and more. Editing is where Camtasia absolutely owns any other screencasting application (regardless of platform), and while ScreenFlow might not be as advanced as Camtasia at this point in time -- it's only at version 1, and it already does the really big stuff.
ScreenFlow is $99.99 and a full functioning demo is available here, you can use all the features, your videos will just have a watermark on the top.
The latest release for Mac OS X Leopard, 10.5.2 is now available The update, which weighs in at a whopping 343 megabytes if you choose to download the combo update from Apple.com or a slightly less mammoth 180 megabytes from within Leopard's Software Update tool.
While the full list of changes are available here (and more detailed security update information, here), these are the highlights:
Resolves Airport issues that result in kernel panics when running certain programs (we'll let you know if this means Azureus won't kernel panic on us anymore)
Updated Stacks option adds "folder view" for all of us annoyed at seeing a document or file instead of our folder of choice.
You can turn off menu bar transparency (that should thrill many) and overall menu translucency has been reduced.
Fixed an issue where set-up assistant could randomly start up
Adds a menu bar option for accessing Time Machine
Additional RAW and iSynch support for new devices
All in all, it looks like a more than worthy update. Several of us have already installed it on our machines and are enjoying tinkering with the new features.
As always, we recommend making back-ups of any critical or important files before upgrading your system. After installing 10.5.2, users are encouraged to download the 48.9 megabyte Leopard Graphics Update 1.0.
SuperDuper!, the long loved Mac backup utility, has finally been updated for Mac OS X Leopard.
You might be wondering how SuperDuper! finds a niche even after Apple's own backup utility, Time Machine, has been integrated into every Mac with Leopard installed. The developers of SuperDuper! think of their relationship to Time Machine as complementary rather than competitive. Here's why:
SuperDuper! is for the disasters, the floods, the clicking hard drives, the machines that refuse to boot, whereas Time Machine's strength lies in the easy recovery of a single folder, file, or group of files. Time Machine can restore a full system, but that's not its bread and butter (and restoring from Time Machines requires you to have your Leopard DVD at hand).
SuperDuper! creates a bootable clone of your hard drive (which you can even place side-by-side with a Time Machine backup, if you have the space). Even if the original hard drive has been rendered unusable, you can boot from the clone and continue working. Tres cool.
The SuperDuper! 2.5 update is free for all registered users.
Xslimmer is a program for the Mac that reduces the space claimed by Universal Binary applications and their language localizations on your hard disk. The programs remain fully functional, and you reclaim some coveted hard drive space. It's a win-win. Now you're beginning to see why we call this program "phat" (pun certainly intended and hopefully understood).
So how does Xslimmer work? By removing the variations of a program's code that does not apply to the architecture of your machine. When a Universal Binary application is created, it contains several versions of the code: a version intended to run on PowerPC machines (like G4 or G5 Macs), another one meant for the more recent Intel machines. This ensures universal platform support, but it bloats the application size. Xslimmer will remove the pieces of code that will never be run on your machine. Voila! More hard drive space, same programs.
Open Terminal is a small program that provides quick Terminal access directly to specified folders. For instance, if you're five folders deep in Finder and realize you need Terminal access to that folder to edit a .plist, it's a pain to launch Terminal and type cd /users/todd/folder1/folder2/folder3. Instead, you could use Open Terminal in one of three ways:
Drag the "folder3" icon onto Open Terminal which will launch a Terminal window already active in "folder3"
Stick Open Terminal in your Finder toolbar (hold down the Command key while dragging the .app onto the toolbar), so you can drag "folder3" onto the Open Terminal icon directly above the folder list
Install the included contextual-menu plugin which will add an option in the right-click menu to launch Open Terminal to your desired folder (this requires installing Open Terminal and having it run in the background)
Open Terminal 2.0.4 is only for Leopard and supports Terminal tabs, but the developer has older versions available for Mac OS 10.2 through 10.4.
Windows XP users should check out the "Open Command Window Here" powertoy for similar functionality. Vista users can hold the shift key while right-clicking a folder and click "Open command window here" in the context menu.
Have you ever needed to install an application, complete with custom setup and preferences, onto a large number of machines? The free program InstallEase aims to help streamline this process (and keep you from reaching for the Maalox).
Yahoo! has just released 
Back in prehistory (or January, thereabouts) we talked a bit about webOSes, and the migration of 
Back in November, 
Open Terminal
