Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Daniel's Advice

Four Useful Utilities for OS X

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.

Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.

Recent Mac Daniel columns

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.