haxies, docklings, etc. - which are useful?

edX

edX

mac shaman
it seems like somebody is constantly coming out with a new haxie. some seemed suited to a wide variety of users, some to only specialized use, and some i can't even grasp what they do. what are some of the ones you find useful and why? Here's a few of mine -

Show Desktop - this hides all open apps with a single click on it's dock icon.i just recently discovered it and now think it is one of the most useful ones i have.

Dock Switcher - now that it has a true dockling and menu bar switcher, i think this multiple dock haxie is the best. of course i thought that when i bought it and am now even more convince. but i haven't checked out others recently either.

Classic Spy - i still use classic ocassionally and it's nice to have a reminder that i have it open. if i do, it keeps me from putting off some task in a classic app since i won't have to wait for launching. or i can remember to turn it off and get back some speed.


I used to love ASM, but the change to a $15 cost has brought me around to learning to rely on the dock more. that and dock switcher's menu list. i'd gladly pay $5 for it, maybe $10, but going from free to $15 seems pretty greedy to me. anybody who wants write an equivilent and price it appropriately will have my money. of course, i really wish apple would just bring it back as an a pref option to accomadate their upgraders from os 9.
 
Metallifizer. It allows you to switch on / off the metal look of any cocoa app. (iTunes is carbon) so if you get tired of Safari's etc metal or want metallic mail.app, try that. (But you can do that with the devp' tools..)

Windowshade X. This allows you to play with the transparencies. Takes more ram to play .. but looks cooler, maybe. But you can add alpha level to your system with devp' tools..
 
PTHiTunesNotifier- you know how at the beginning of music videos they always put the artist/song/track/etc. info? Well, this will do the same thing for your iTunes that are playing in the background. The song info displays in a little transparent box that you can format and place however you like. Very classy.
http://pth.com/Products/index.html
 
i second pthitunes notifier. the latest version is awesome with different transitions and hotkeys.

virtual desktop: multiple desktops. can't live without it.

soundOut: menu bar app for switching the output target for your sound. i'm constantly switching between speakers/headphones/soundsticks, so this app is fantastic for me.

spy: the best cpu viewer imo. simple and elegant. belongs in my menubar now.

windowshade: i second this one as well. very useful until i got...

minimize in place: part of jaguar that got scrapped, i use it constantly.
 
Synergy - controlling iTunes via hotkeys (from any proggy) or menu bar. I use F9 - show song info, F10 - back, F11 - pause, F12 - forward Couldn't live without it :D

menu meters - cpu, HDD, i-net and ram info in my menu bar

both on versiontracker.com
 
Konfabulator widget called NewsWidget - display BBC, Wired, VersTracker and many others on a little floating window. The iTunes controller is good too.

TinkerTool is fine too.
Some haxies such as Labels X and Windowshade are great too. Although I'm fighting to make my system as light as possible.
 
Konfabulator is great, very useful. Check out the post here and on Apple's pages about enabling the PDF button on Print Manager. I have found that to be very useful.
 
Dockprefs-- Useful, especially if you have a multi-button mouse (or don't mind Control-clicking). Shows a list of installed prefpanes in System Preferences via Dock menu. Quick access to prefs.
 
Originally posted by edX
Show Desktop - this hides all open apps with a single click on it's dock icon.i just recently discovered it and now think it is one of the most useful ones i have.
Click to expand...

Yes! EVERY Windows machine i had, HAD TO have it in the Quick Launch, the ONLY Thing i ever had there! ... so so handy for me, didn't realise there was something like it for X too! .. i need to check that, is it on Version Tracker? I've not Mac, until my Cube comes, 2morro, or at the latest Weds, but thats one thing i need! .. is it a Dock Icon or something? ...

Adambyte ... that App sounds cool, i have to check that too!! ... nothing like the little things, to wow Windows users! :p

NeYo
 
I almost forgot!

setichatstatus

I like how it publicises what track iTunes is blaring out, through the "message" part of iChat, and neat little extra which is kinda neat, especially when a few buddies use it too! ;)

Neyo
 
I think there's a newer/more elaborate version of this haxie, neyo, called ics (ichatconstrolstatus). Check Vers.Trk.
 
I can't live without

MenuCalendar - a month-view drop down calendar

and my favorite:
Menulator - an inline menu calculator - see the calculations in the menu bar and copy the results, then collapse it into an icon with a keyboard shortcut

another indispensable one:
searchling - keyboard shortcut from any app brings up a form that lets you search google (and all subsections of google), dictionary.com, versiontracker and others. you can also add other web sites if they pass keywords in the URL and you can get around an XML document (I added an item to search the function list at php.net)! - this one is truly incredible!

also good:
MiCal - gives you a menu that shows today's events for the selected calendars

HomeLand Alert - put an icon showing the current torrorist threat level (sadly only the national level)
 
Originally posted by edX
I used to love ASM, but the change to a $15 cost has brought me around to learning to rely on the dock more. that and dock switcher's menu list. i'd gladly pay $5 for it, maybe $10, but going from free to $15 seems pretty greedy to me. anybody who wants write an equivilent and price it appropriately will have my money. of course, i really wish apple would just bring it back as an a pref option to accomadate their upgraders from os 9.
Click to expand...

Don't fork over money. I've been using X-Assist.


Plus, a great weather menu program is Meteorologist. It's free/donationware also.
 
My favorites:

Launchbar - great way to avoid navigating through folders to get to apps or commonly used documents. Didn't think I'd like it until I tried it. Now I'm addicted!
MaxMenus - 100% customizable, drag-n-droppable, always-available pop-up windows in the corners of your screen.
LiteSwitch - apple-tab the way it was meant to be! Better even than the Windows version of application-switching.
uControl - trackpad scrolling! (and more)

Also can't live without:

USB Overdrive - best Mac mouse driver in existence for multi-button mice.
SoundOn - background app that stops sound hardware from "falling asleep" on many machines, eliminating a very annoying delay when trying to play music, system sounds or change the volume.
PTHiTunesNotifier - Yes! Like everyone else said, the best iTunes menubar controller.
PTHClock - so that you can display both the date and the time in the menubar, and a pop-up calendar to boot.
PTHPasteboard - very helpful background app if you copy-cut-paste much.
ProcessWizard - great menubar way to increase/decrease application priority as well as kill any processes you want to.
EscapePod - background app activated by pressing ctrl-alt-delete that will kill an application that has frozen the gui often when cmd+option+escape won't even work.

Oh yes, and of course:
Konfabulator - Just look at the name, it's gotta be cool! :D
 
Originally posted by Satcomer
Don't fork over money. I've been using X-Assist.
Click to expand...

Thanks!!! that's pretty much what i wanted. amazing that because it's a background app it's still working thru 10.2.4 whereas many system hacks had to be rewritten and suddenly became shareware. too bad the developer didn't keep working on it like the read me says he was going to. this app was last released ages ago in os x time.

neyo, if you haven't found it yet - here's the link to Show Desktop at versiontracker.

this thread is going good. i'm learning alot. let's hear some more - or even other descriptions of why some of the ones so far are useful.
 
LiteSwitch X can be set to change the window layering behavior to "Single Application Mode", eliminating the need to use Show Desktop. To go to the desktop (Finder), simply click on the desktop, the Finder icon in the Dock, or Option+Tab to the Finder and all other apps will be hidden automatically.

(BTW, I'm still running LiteSwitch X 1.0.1 since my mantra is free, free, free. I would rather use Option + Tab than pay for the use of the Command key as an option.)
 
yea, the liteswitch i looked at was a pay app. and another of those that seems more than its worth. but while showdesktop can be configured to leave up one app, that's not how i use it. i have it so it hides ALL apps and just leaves finder windows and the desktop. if i've got 3-5 apps up and i want to get to my desktop to install the latest download from versiontracker, i just click once and i'm there. now that i have x-assist (thanks again), i can hide a single app or all apps other than the front one from there.
one nice feature of show desktop is that i can then unhide the apps one by one from its dock menu. and all for free.

i've also picked up soundout so far but haven't installed it yet. this may be just what i'm looking for to be able to keep my headset, for use with viavoice, plugged in all the time.
 
oh, one apple script that i recently found is a must have for me since i'm 'terminally illiterate' - Spindown Fix. this sends out a command line that keeps my external drives from spinning down. my maxtor goes down after about 5 mins and then spins back up every time the desktop or finder dialogues are accessed. it's time consuming, annoying and puts unnecessary wear & tear on the drive. one click and an admin password and this problem is solved. it has to be rerun after a reboot though.
 
I like this thread! ... the haxies and such are amazing! ... i want my mac, to try some of these out! :(

Anyone posting, wanna post pics, for a Poor XP User (for a day or so) ? << Play Guilt Card ...

... Grabs Violin >>

Neyo
 
I have an old (1.0) version of LiteSwitch which is 100% free and works just as well as the current version except for a few bells & whistles, I believe. I'm pretty sure the only reason they called it a ".5" upgrade to the current version is because they wanted to start charging for it. The only reason I've upgraded is because I thought it was worth the $15 and wanted to show my support.

Anyway, anybody who wants a copy of a fabulous, fully functional and free (hey, that's 4 f's! :D) application switcher (Liteswitch 1.0) just send me a pm and I'll put it up on my .Mac drive fer ya. I don't believe there's anything illegal about that since 1.0 was and always has been free, but somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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