Six months ago I have came upon Google Notifier, a small app for Mac OS X menu bar that let user know of any new email that arrived in hist Gmail account. Recently I have found another one and no doubt with much better look – Notify, by Vibealicious.

Notify nests in Mac OS X menu bar, with a nice looking icon and a number of unread emails. Clicking on the icon opens main window of application that shows newest messages. Notify supports many Gmail accounts, and in the future versions it will also support other IMAP accounts and Gmail for Apps. Double clicking on a message opens it in Gmail window in default web browser.

Notify configuration is very simple.

It also supports Growl notifications.

You can get it at: http://vibealicious.com/apps/notify/

If your Mac hard disk is divided to many system partitions or if you want to boot another OS from external device fast and only once, without changing the booting preferences you should try QuickBoot by Butterd Cat Software.

I honestly admit, I had no possibility to test that app, for I have neither other system partitions nor external drives with other OS. All of my Macs have just one Mac OS X installed. However, some of you may find it useful. I would like to know your opinions.

Quickboot is available at: http://buttered-cat.com/products/view/quickboot

Having Polish iTunes account I can only use AppStore, iTunes store is closed for us. The only way to have full iTunes library legally is to copy my CDs. This way requires user to add artworks manually, but first one must scan or find them on the internet. Ther are few very good websites with a free cover arts, however you can use a free application for Mac OS X -Artwork Gofer by ObjectStack.

If there are songs in your iTunes library that missing the artwork you need to select them and switch to Artwork Gofer and click the search button. Program will find all available cover arts and present them in a Cover Flow view, adding small information about the resolution of each cover. This function alows to chose the best quality version of a picture. Then you only have to click on Add Artwork and it will be copied to iTunes and attached to the selected songs or just one song.

Song in iTunes library without cover art

After use of Artwork Gofer

You can get it at: http://objectstack.com/artwork-gofer

It’s been long time since I reviewed apps written in Adobe Air or time trackers. It is time to reviewed time tracker written in Adobe Air – simple and free of charge work timer tracker for freelancers – Hourly 0.2 by Husky Coding house, available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.

Application enables creation of many projects with separated tasks. Actually this is all what it offers. This is enough for users who work on one computer only and who don’t need much sophisticated tool.

You can get it at: http://huskycoding.com/hourly/

Two months ago, on my blog I published in parts review of new MacBook Pro 13″ – the lower in the line of MacBooks presented on WWDC 09 in June. Since that time my MBP 13″ is my primary mobile computer, used not only in travel but also when I sit comfortably in a seat in my living room or in the garden. So far I hadn’t imagined work on laptops with a screen bigger than 13″, it’s been suited me fine. However, thanks to Apple Poland, I have just discovered pros and cons of working on new, 15 inches MacBook Pro. The top model in the line up of MacBook Pros introduced during the WWDC 09 (17 inches MacBook Pros were introduced almost 6 months earlier, and of course they are the real top of all MacBook Pros Unibody).

In a review of MBP13″ I compared it with his old ancestor – MacBook White (C2D late 2007). This time I am going to compare two MacBook Pros the low end and high end models of the same line of products.

The reference point is not only MacBook Pro 13″ but also the reviews. I am going to review everything in the same order as I did before.

Let’s start from the beginning – the cardboard box. It is of course white and apart of size it is completely the same as the one 13 inches model.

It is not only the same form the outside but also from the inside. There is a small box for power cable and plug, and a black envelope with installation discs and manuals, hidden under the laptop.

The most visible and perceptible difference between those two laptops is their size and weight. MacBook Pro 15″ is much heavier and less handy if you have to carry it with your hands. It is about 0,5 kg heavier than 13 inches model. To be honest MacBook Pro 15″ is still handy comparing to the majority of PC 15 inches laptops.

Closer look shows also a differnce in the available ports. MacBook Pro 15″ has more ports than its 13 inches brother. MBP 15″ has headphones nest and line in/mic instead of one headphones/mic in MBP 13″. Other ports are the same, and are: magsafe nest, lan, Display Port, FireWire 800, two USB ports and SD card slot, and batter charge indicator. Both machines are the same thick, I mean slim.

Although, Apple have just introduced 15 inches MacBook Pros with anti-glare screen, I got the glossy one. As in the 13 inches model, so in 15 inches model the mirror effect is mostly visible when screen or laptop is switched off. During the work only the black frame reflects things, but after a few hours or days it is easy to get used to it.

As in the smaller model, the screen is beautiful. There is no big reflects, colors are nice and they are pretty the same under different angle.

The new MacBook Pro 15″ I got for testing, has been my primary laptop for next 7 days. I am of the opinion that the best way to test it is to work on it every day. I have installed all applications I use on my other Macs. Also I install applications I test on daily basis. Apart of its weight, 15 inch model is more comfortable than the smaller one. It is much nicer to keep big hands on the bigger aluminum body. New MacBook Pro 15″ seems to be created especially for big hands. The bigger screen resolution (1440 x 900 pixels) alows to display more things. Those advantages costs some mobility, but not much. MacBook Pro 15″ is bigger and heavier but it is very easy to carry in a bag (like Crumpler Bag for laptops). My arm is fine with it.

In the next parts I will deal with more technical details and performance, especially battery and two graphic cards onboard (GeForce 9400M with 256 MB RAM and GeForce 9600 GT with 520 MB RAM).

P.S. Desktop wallpaper is by user Stocks Photography and is uploaded by DeskLickr App straight from my favorites on Flickr.

Not so far ago NetNewsWire turned into Google Reader client, and now it seems that it is a Google Reader clients’ boom. I have just came upon a new app of that kind – Gruml. for Mac OS X.

Gruml’s interface is similar to NetNewsWire, but it is obvious, since both apps have typical Mac OS X Leopard interface. Left panel contains list of channels, folders with groups of channels of the same criteria and other options typical for Google Reader. There are stared items, shared items, notes, people you follow etc.

Similarly like in the other applications that contain news or messages (i.e. mail apps), all unread news are bold and on the left panel you will find a small icons with numbers aside folders or channels. Gruml shows both text and pictures and opens links in its internal web browser.

Gruml alerts about new news displaying the number of unread messages aside the icon in menu bar and on the icon in system dock. In addition it shows HUD window with preview of the list of unread news. It also support Growl notifications.

Gruml is for free (at least for now). You can get it at: http://www.grumlapp.com/

QuakeLive by Id Software – a web browser version of the one of the most popular First Person Shooters is now available for Mac OS X.

QuakeLive is available through web browser. At the beginning the game was available only for Windows. There are 40 arenas for players and 5 game models.

So far the game is Safari Only, latest version of Firefox causes issues. The game requires Mac OS X 10.4 so it will work on older Macs.

To play the game you have to register and set up an account at quakelive.com.

Some switchers from PC to Mac usually look for Mac replacements or equivalents of some of their favorite Windows apps. I dare say this is an independent process, no matter where are you from and what is your nationality (well, at least in the countries and cultures where computers are available). There are for sure different habits. Once I read that some applications are popular only in some nations – this concerns Total Commander (Windows two column file manager), based on the old idea of classic file manager – Norton Commander. When I switched to Mac, I had been looking for a replacement of that Windows app. I have found a number of apps more or less useful, simple or with a wide spectrum of additional functions. Which one is the best? It is rather difficult question, it depends on needs and likes of each user.

The newbie to Mac OS X will probably find a few apps that remind in some extent Total Commander for Windows. These are xFolders, muCommander and Forklift. There are of course more apps with two columns interface and I am going to deal with all of them I know. More advanced users can use Unix/Linux Midnight Commander via Terminal after installing MacPorts.

xFolders

xFolders by Kai Heitkamp, was one of the first file managers that refereed to its DOS original. xFolders is a simple but fast file manager with two columns interface. No doubt it refers to Norton or Total Commander with the bottom buttons for file operations. Shortcuts are even the same: F5 – copy, F6 – move and so on. Navigation is also typical for windows. Instead of CMD+ Arrow Up or Arrow Down, it uses Enter (to open folder or file) and Backspace (to go up in the hierarchy of folders). xFolders lacks FTP/sFTP client. It has its own terminal and file preview (but it can not challenge Mac OS X Quickview). xFolders is free of charge and it is avialable for both Intel and PowerPC Macs.

You can get it at:http://www.kai-heitkamp.de/cms_en/main.php?content=9&module=0

muCommander

muCommander is free app written in Java by a group of developers (including one Polish – Mariusz Jakubowski). It is available on almost all operating systems that can run Java apps. Disadvantage of such solution is efficiency and speed of Java apps – they are sometimes slower than apps writen in native environment of exact OS. Usually this is not noticable. I have to admit that muCommander moves forward – the latest versions are faster than the previous ones.

muCommander interface is available in a few styles – OS X style, Linux style or style that follows the classic Norton Commander. Similarly like in the classic Norton Commander or Midnight Commander the basic file commands are available via buttons on the bottom of the window. The same as in originals, you can navigate through folders using Enter and Backspace.

This app can challenge Finder or other file managers. It has FTP/sFTP client, it supports other protocols too, including SMB, NFS, HTTP or native Mac Bonjour. There is also a function of mass file name change.

mUCommander does not support Quickview, pressing space selects a file. Preview of the files is available by pressing F3 key (which requires to use combination of FN and F3 keys), which is not best possible solution.

muCommander supports file archivers and compression. It opens and compress Zip, RAR, TAR, gZip, bZip, ISO/NRG and AR/Deb. If we need to change something inside Zip package we do not need to unpack it.

muCommander is available at: http://www.mucommander.com

Forklift

Forklift by Binarynights.com is the app I have been using for over a year and there is no any signs that it would change. Forklift is a two column file manager but it does not reffer much to classics like NC or MC. Forklift mixes Finder functionality with functions known from Windows Total Commander. There is typical Mac OS X blue stripe of locations, shared folders etc. Entire interface is pure Mac OS X and it is available only for Mac OS X. Like in finder, you have to use CMD+Arrow UP or Down to navigate throughout the folders and to open files. Shortcut keys are the same like in Finder. Forklift supports Quickview and multitab browsing (like in Safari or Firefox). We can open many locations and quickly switch from one to another.

App has also an FTP/sFTP and Bojnour client. It can connect to almost every storage device. This is also my favorite FTP client. It support mass changing of file names, and can safely delete apps and associated files. There is also interesing function called SyncBrowsing that enables easy browsing and creating backups (original location in one column, and backup location in the other), or updating files on servers. Forklift supports SmartFolders and Growl notifications.

With all that functions it is not for free. You have to spend 19,95$. 15 day trial version is available at: http://binarynights.com/

Pathfinder

Pathfinder by Cocoatech is a interesting extended file manager with very flexible interface that enables two collums view. It reminds a bit both Finder and Forklift, however it can encompass more views and options than its rival.
We can divide the window to many panels with lots of information and view options – including CoverFlow.

Pathfinder has also its own file clipboard – very usefull option!

App supports multitab browsing

It is available at: http://www.cocoatech.com/

June

June by As Is Technology is a simple and minimalist file manager in style of old Norton Commander or Midnight Commander.

Actually only the file browser panel is in text mode and in style of those classic file managers. June offers only a basic file operations. Navigation is also typical for those old classics, and to open file or folder you have to press Enter. June by default shows hidden and system files, that can be a bit messy for a ordinary computer user (I mean not a geek person). You have to know a folders structure of Mac OS X to get where you want to. Well, it is for free and it is still under develop. Authors ask for donation to help and speed up that process.

You can get it at: http://www.asistech.org/

It’s been long time since I have reviewed screensaver for Mac OS X. Indeed, those apps somehow have been ignored for a long time, but from the other hand I haven’t found any interesting screensavers worth of review on my blog. This time I have came upon a hypnotic screensaver that reminds me also a Star Wars, with a small detail to be accurate. This is Osirus screensaver by Töshöklabs.

Osirus draws thousands of concentric geometric figures, half circles half squares, by default in concentrical position. That reminds me Star Wars, a terminal slots used by R2D2. As for the screensaver is concerned, user can choose a color options and position of the figures. They can be drawn in a random position.

It’s strange, but some people reported that the newest version of the screensaver works only on Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Luckily the older version for 10.5.8 is still available on the server.

Sirus website: http://toshoklabs.com/download/macosx/screensavers/osirus/
Sirus for Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8: http://toshoklabs.com/download/macosx/screensavers/osirus/osirus1.1.5.dmg

Not so long ago on my blog I have mentioned about possible date of release of Snow Leopard, scheduled for end of August and the Gold Master status of the latest build of that OS. Today emerged first pictures of possible Snow Leopard packaging.

Those photos shows Portuguese distribution (system itself is multilingual). I am not sure if those photos shows real Snow Leopard packaging or are they just fake. If they are real, that would mean that Mac OS X Snow Leopard is ready for distribution and installation discs are being manufactured right now. It would also mean that further patches and changes in the system would be provided with official system updates.

I found those photos at AppleInsider.