Design Squid - Helpful Mac Apps
Design Squid - Helpful Mac Apps
There was a time when if someone told me that I'd be a Mac user, and what's more, that I'd like it, I would have had to insult their OS of choice. Part of belonging to Plain Black is using a Mac though... something that I managed to dodge for almost 3 years. I did some of my work on the Plain Black supplied Power Book, but for my day-to-day tasks of checking email, designing graphics, generating CSS and XHTML, Windows was where it was at. Somehow, that changed over this year's WUC. I was issued a brand-spanking new machine, a MacBook Pro, spec'd out with a designer in mind. I was smitten. I have done a fair amount of customizing of my Mac since then, and I thought I'd share some programs with the community that I use on a daily basis.
SMC Fan Control
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/23049 Ever use your notebook computer on your lap? Ever get scalding burns on your thighs because of it? Well then SMC Fan Control is just the app for you! It's a lightweight program that runs in the toolbar that lets you adjust the speed of the internal fans. So although your Mac may never be whisper quiet, it will be many degrees cooler. You can even set up profiles for different fan speeds and change them on the fly.
USB Overdrive
http://www.usboverdrive.com/USBOverdrive/News.html Although I'm a big fan of the Mac, I'm less a fan of Apple's wireless Mighty Mouse. It died on me recently (within the return period, thankfully), and I found myself trying quite a few mice before finally giving up and breaking out my old gaming mouse, a Razer Death Adder. It works well (even if it does lack a few features standard in more modern mice), but I found that I didn't have the level of customization with it that the Mighty Mouse came standard with. Not a big surprise there since the Death Adder is a Windows peripheral. Enter in USB Overdrive. This shareware program allows you to configure your mouse to a deliriously large extent. What I was particularly pleased with is that depending on the program you're currently running, you can change what the buttons on the mouse can do. Right now I have a few profiles set up, one for standard use, one for gaming, and most importantly, one for Photoshop. The mouse has 5 buttons (Left and right click, middle, then two buttons on the side). I normally have the side buttons set to use Spaces and Expose, but in Photoshop they work to Undo and pick up the Move tool. The program is free to use, although you will be prompted on startup to donate to the project. It's only $20, and for the level of control it gives, and the fact that it pretty much means you can use any mouse on the Mac, I'd say it's worth it.
Pipette
http://www.charcoaldesign.co.uk/pipette In an old Tips and Tentacles article, I extolled the virtues of a small freeware application for Windows called Color Cop. It was a color picker that sat on top of all your other windows and allowed you to sample any color on your screen, and then give you that color's RGB and Hex value. Completely invaluable for web work. I also cried that there (still) isn't a Mac version of this program, however Pipette comes close. Although it doesn't sit on top of all windows, it provides a very similar experience to Color Cop. The main difference is that it doesn't give RGB values for sampled colors, only hex. I can't say that this is as good as Color Cop, but it's a handy program nonetheless.
SoundSource
http://rogueamoeba.com/freebies/ If you use Skype or work at home, or just have a tendency to switch between your computer's speakers and a USB headset, this is a great program. Similar to SMC Fan Control, it sits in your taskbar and is very lightweight. All it does is allow you to switch between your different sound options without having to constantly go to the Sounds panel in the Configuration screen. I use this all the time to pop between my headphones and my computer speakers.
Re: Design Squid - Helpful Mac Apps·
I already use Pipette and love it. I've now picked up SMC Fan Control, thanks to this article, and am so relieved to not be regularly scalded. Thanks for sharing! |
