Comments on: A Better List of 35 Essential Mac Apps http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/ Fiction, opinions, and more Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:05:59 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Ian Beck http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/comment-page-1/#comment-14731 Ian Beck Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:36:52 +0000 http://beckism.com/bydesign/2007/10/a_better_list_of_35_essential_mac_apps#comment-14731 Thanks for the link! I hadn't come across that series of articles before. Thanks for the link! I hadn’t come across that series of articles before.

]]> By: Allan Moult http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/comment-page-1/#comment-14727 Allan Moult Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:46:45 +0000 http://beckism.com/bydesign/2007/10/a_better_list_of_35_essential_mac_apps#comment-14727 Ian, you can't go past Ethan's 5-part lesson in Hazel tactics starting here â?¦ <a href="http://kinkless.com/article/kinkless_desktop/1_no_mercy_cleanup" rel="nofollow">Hazel tutorial</a> Ian, you can’t go past Ethan’s 5-part lesson in Hazel tactics starting here â?¦

Hazel tutorial

]]> By: Ian Beck http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/comment-page-1/#comment-14726 Ian Beck Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:06:12 +0000 http://beckism.com/bydesign/2007/10/a_better_list_of_35_essential_mac_apps#comment-14726 Hazel is one of those apps that I keep meaning to try because it looks like it could easily become an integral part of my workflow, but I just haven't gotten around to it. The problem is that it's also one of those apps that requires a lot of setup, and some creativity to get things rolling. I'm glad you liked the Things screencast! Hazel is one of those apps that I keep meaning to try because it looks like it could easily become an integral part of my workflow, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. The problem is that it’s also one of those apps that requires a lot of setup, and some creativity to get things rolling.

I’m glad you liked the Things screencast!

]]> By: Allan Moult http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/comment-page-1/#comment-14725 Allan Moult Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:48:46 +0000 http://beckism.com/bydesign/2007/10/a_better_list_of_35_essential_mac_apps#comment-14725 Got here via the Things movie [great acting] and suggest you go and look at Hazel â?? an essential app. Set and forget. <a href="http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel.php" rel="nofollow">Noodlesoft</a> Got here via the Things movie [great acting] and suggest you go and look at Hazel â?? an essential app. Set and forget.

Noodlesoft

]]> By: Ian Beck http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/comment-page-1/#comment-13921 Ian Beck Mon, 15 Oct 2007 06:30:13 +0000 http://beckism.com/bydesign/2007/10/a_better_list_of_35_essential_mac_apps#comment-13921 @Daniel: It's on the to-do list; I've got a minor redesign that I'd like to perpetrate in the next week or two, and getting a MarsEdit badge in place of the ecto badge will definitely be happening then. :-) @Daniel: It’s on the to-do list; I’ve got a minor redesign that I’d like to perpetrate in the next week or two, and getting a MarsEdit badge in place of the ecto badge will definitely be happening then. :-)

]]> By: Louis http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/comment-page-1/#comment-13920 Louis Mon, 15 Oct 2007 03:57:45 +0000 http://beckism.com/bydesign/2007/10/a_better_list_of_35_essential_mac_apps#comment-13920 Glad to see I'm not the only one who didn't get the big bug thing. Keyboard support would be great and I hope it does get added. Thanks for sharing your opinion on Sticky windows. Glad to see I’m not the only one who didn’t get the big bug thing. Keyboard support would be great and I hope it does get added. Thanks for sharing your opinion on Sticky windows.

]]> By: Daniel Jalkut http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/comment-page-1/#comment-13919 Daniel Jalkut Mon, 15 Oct 2007 03:38:31 +0000 http://beckism.com/bydesign/2007/10/a_better_list_of_35_essential_mac_apps#comment-13919 Glad to hear you are enjoying MarsEdit ... maybe you'll consider putting MarsEdit's badge in your sidebar, too :) http://www.red-sweater.com/marsedit/badge.html Glad to hear you are enjoying MarsEdit … maybe you’ll consider putting MarsEdit’s badge in your sidebar, too :)

http://www.red-sweater.com/marsedit/badge.html

]]> By: Ian Beck http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/comment-page-1/#comment-13917 Ian Beck Mon, 15 Oct 2007 03:12:25 +0000 http://beckism.com/bydesign/2007/10/a_better_list_of_35_essential_mac_apps#comment-13917 Ah, Sticky Windows. Sticky Windows sounded like a really cool application when I first heard about it (shortly after version 2 came out, if I remember correctly). However, it's one of those apps where the developer appears to have gone amazingly far overboard when it comes to delivering form over function. The preferences screen is a great example of why I uninstalled the program within ten minutes of installing it. It's a giant pink bug. When Sticky Windows is activated it has a pulsating heart in the middle. WTF? In my opinion, great interface design includes two things: it looks great, and it makes using the program really, really easy. Sticky Windows looks great, but in a way that is completely baffling and that has no obvious purpose other than being different. I'd rather have really ugly access to the few settings you can customize than a giant, hideous bug. I downloaded the most recent version, and it looks like they've actually fixed some of the other stuff that I found so distressing. When I tried it you couldn't set your own color other than their hideous pink; that is thankfully fixed. I still despise their preferences pane, though. I also wasn't impressed with their customer service. When I tried the program out, I dropped them an email with a description of some bugs I'd come across and some feature requests, and they never even responded to say "thanks for the bug report." Lastly, the program has absolutely no support for keyboard use. It is strictly a mouse-only program, which pretty much shoots down its main potential usefulness for me (using a hotkey to send a window to a tab, and being able to quickly cycle though tabs with the keyboard). All of which combined to make me conclude that Sticky Windows isn't essential; it is rather a neat idea that is unfortunately little more than glitz. On the other hand, I suspect that for people who never touch the keyboard if they can help it the program could be a moderately useful way to keep track of their various windows without wasting Dock space on minimized windows. But it certainly isn't an essential program for people whose computer/Mac use is part of their professional life. Ah, Sticky Windows. Sticky Windows sounded like a really cool application when I first heard about it (shortly after version 2 came out, if I remember correctly). However, it’s one of those apps where the developer appears to have gone amazingly far overboard when it comes to delivering form over function.

The preferences screen is a great example of why I uninstalled the program within ten minutes of installing it. It’s a giant pink bug. When Sticky Windows is activated it has a pulsating heart in the middle. WTF? In my opinion, great interface design includes two things: it looks great, and it makes using the program really, really easy. Sticky Windows looks great, but in a way that is completely baffling and that has no obvious purpose other than being different. I’d rather have really ugly access to the few settings you can customize than a giant, hideous bug.

I downloaded the most recent version, and it looks like they’ve actually fixed some of the other stuff that I found so distressing. When I tried it you couldn’t set your own color other than their hideous pink; that is thankfully fixed. I still despise their preferences pane, though.

I also wasn’t impressed with their customer service. When I tried the program out, I dropped them an email with a description of some bugs I’d come across and some feature requests, and they never even responded to say “thanks for the bug report.”

Lastly, the program has absolutely no support for keyboard use. It is strictly a mouse-only program, which pretty much shoots down its main potential usefulness for me (using a hotkey to send a window to a tab, and being able to quickly cycle though tabs with the keyboard).

All of which combined to make me conclude that Sticky Windows isn’t essential; it is rather a neat idea that is unfortunately little more than glitz.

On the other hand, I suspect that for people who never touch the keyboard if they can help it the program could be a moderately useful way to keep track of their various windows without wasting Dock space on minimized windows. But it certainly isn’t an essential program for people whose computer/Mac use is part of their professional life.

]]> By: Louis http://beckism.com/2007/10/essential_apps/comment-page-1/#comment-13916 Louis Mon, 15 Oct 2007 01:39:31 +0000 http://beckism.com/bydesign/2007/10/a_better_list_of_35_essential_mac_apps#comment-13916 Great list (couldn't agree more with you about NewsFire) - Just curious, what is it about Sticky Windows that you don't care for? Great list (couldn’t agree more with you about NewsFire) – Just curious, what is it about Sticky Windows that you don’t care for?

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