Virtually free
Parallels and VMWare Fusion at up to $90 a pop get most of the attention when it comes to solutions for running Windows at the same time as Mac OS X. Sure, you could use Apple’s included Boot Camp, but you have to reboot every time you want to switch platforms. So how does a freeware maven cope?
LowEndMac has the lowdown on how to use VirtualBox. As recently as a year ago, the Mac version of this free alternative wasn’t ready for prime time, but things have changed a lot since then.
VirtualBox is now backed by Sun Microsystems and an exploration of the website shows strong support from forums, mailing lists, bug tracking and IRC. Installation takes about half an hour. If you’re up to it, this is your freeware path of choice.
Update: Installation time corrected to about half an hour.
Posted Tuesday, July 22, 2008 in How-to
Getting the jump on GIMP
Wouldn’t it be great if there were a freeware version of Photoshop. Many point to GIMP as the answer, but there hasn’t exactly been a stampede in that direction. One reason is because you need to have X11 running at the same time. With Leopard this isn’t quite the nuisance it used to be, because X11 is now pre-installed. And it should be pointed out that even with X11 running, the interface — while not perfect — still looks pretty good.
Luckily, progress is being made on making GIMP more Mac-friendly over at the Wilber loves Apple project. Installation is easier and there is an active forum to help you along the way. They say a native version is in the works, but there is no word on when it will see the light of day.
Perhaps most daunting of all is that GIMP has a reputation for being hard to learn. Mac users are accustomed to jumping in and intuitively figuring out a program. You likely won’t be able to do this with GIMP, but there is help for those willing to persist. Tutorials and support forums abound, and you can find a good roundup of them at Techzilo. The tutorials are aimed at everyone from the beginner to the expert looking to create special effects.
Posted Saturday, July 19, 2008 in How-to
Distinguished folders
The latest from the suggestion box is a program that places pictures on your folders to help you distinguish one from the other at a glance. Apple has helpfully done this to a certain extent already — there is a musical note on the Music folder, a downward-pointing arrow on the Downloads folder, and so on. They’re subtle and elegant, as you would expect from Apple, but for some people they’re hard to see. And besides, there are the folders you create on your own that don’t have the advantage of Apple’s artistry. The Games folder is an obvious one. I’ve used the Pac-man icon in the past, but it currently sits blank.
So what to do? You could spend $29 on CandyBar, and it may indeed be money well spent. But we’re all about freeware, so why not try Telling Folders? It has a very simple interface. You fire it up and it asks you to drag and drop an image onto a nice big target. You can choose whether to put a border on it. Then you drag and drop the folder you want to change. And that’s it. It’s almost too easy, which is why we suggest taking it to the next level with another freeware app called Iconverter.
This nifty little program lets you extract an icon and create an image out of it. You could use it, for example, to illustrate articles about Mac freeware — as we have done here. Or you could take that image and drag it onto Telling Folders. I used Iconverter to create a PNG image from the Pac the Man icon with an invisible background. I dragged it onto Telling Folders with the option for no border ticked. I then dragged in the Games folder and — voilà! — I have a beautiful new Games folder distinguished by one of the greatest freeware games ever (as shown above).
By the way, Telling Folders is made by omz:software, the same developer who brought us SketchBox, which we wrote about recently.
Posted Wednesday, July 16, 2008 in How-to
Dealing with Windows files
No matter how hard we try to keep the Dark Side out of our pristine Mac universe, the occasional Windows file (.prn, OLE, CHM, MHT, UIF) still makes it in. Chris Pirillo has Mac freeware solutions for dealing with them.
Posted Thursday, June 19, 2008 in How-to
Quicksilver's clipboard explained
More instructions on how to get the most out of Quicksilver — this time it’s the clipboard.
Posted Monday, July 23, 2007 in How-to
Ripping lessons
Ripping DVDs has become a popular pastime for Mac users, and many of us are using the freeware Handbrake to do it. But it’s one thing to download a program and another to actually get some use out of it. Macinstruct comes to the rescue with a detailed tutorial, complete with screenshots.
Posted Friday, April 27, 2007 in How-to
Clearing the clutter
For those with messy desktops, Freeverse has created a new app called Think. It’s an innovative way of focusing on your work. It neatly hides all the programs you’re not working in, along with any Finder windows you happen to have open.
There does seem to be a demand for this — just look at WriteRoom, a text editor that blocks out distractions so you can concentrate on your writing.
I never really thought about it before, but I seem to have my own system — and it doesn’t require running any extra programs. It’s called, ahem, being organized.
1. Organize your programs. I’m typically running three programs at any one time: Camino, Mail and NetNewsWire. I keep the windows for each of these programs exactly the same size and in exactly the same place. So if I’m in Camino, for example, the Mail and NetNewsWire windows are nicely hidden behind it. You might think it’s a nuisance to have to keep everything lined up, but you only have to do it once. The windows remember where they were between launches.
2. Organize the Finder. I read somewhere that having a lot of folders and files littered about the desktop can slow down your computer. The recommendation was to create a special folder for the desktop, and put all the cluttery stuff in there. So that’s what I did. I’m not exactly a neat freak. I just keep all the junk in one spot. The result? A desktop that doesn’t need to be hidden because it’s not a mess.
Of course, the way you organize your Mac will no doubt suit your own way of thinking. But remember that organization does more than save you the trouble of downloading another app like Think. It also helps discipline your mind. And in the end, as we all know, it’s a strong and healthy mind that gets things done.
Posted Tuesday, February 6, 2007 in How-to
Alert yourself to Mac freeware
We’ve already told you how to find Mac freeware by using StumbleUpon’s Firefox add-on. And here’s another way: with e-mail notifications from Google Alerts.
Once you’re at the Alerts website, you simply fill in a form and Google does the rest. The most important part is the search terms. We filled in “mac freeware” (without the quote marks). From there, you can choose whether you want Google to search news, blogs, the web, groups or comprehensive — which means all of them. We chose “comprehensive.” The next step is to decide whether you want to receive e-mail once a day, as-it-happens or once a week. We found “once a day” to be satisfactory. The last step, of course, is to provide your e-mail address. Google promises not to sell or share it.
Google then sends you an e-mail that asks you to verify that you do indeed want to receive the Alerts. This is a nice feature to ensure you don’t get something you don’t really want. And by the way, every Alert has a link that allows you to cancel them at any time.
Our experience in the couple of weeks that we’ve been receiving Google Alerts has been a mixed bag. What we’re getting are references to articles that have the words “mac” and “freeware” in them. But that doesn’t necessarily translate into “mac freeware.” Some of the references seem only peripherally related to Mac freeware.
Still, as with any service of this sort, if you’re willing to sort the wheat from the chaff, you’ll find some nifty stuff. It was, for example, an Alert that brought Jake’s top 10 Mac freeware to our attention.
We’re going to keep the Alerts coming for now. It’s only once a day, and the list of links is far from onerous. Best of all, it means another source of news for thriftmac readers.
Posted Friday, February 2, 2007 in How-to
Stumble upon some Mac freeware
Many visitors to thriftmac arrive here via StumbleUpon, a cool service you can add to Firefox. It creates a toolbar across the top of the browser that allows you to click a button and be randomly taken to a website within the category of your choice.
You could, for example, set it up so you’re taken to websites in the Mac OS category. Better than that, you can put in keywords to refine your journey even more. Given our reason-for-being here at thriftmac, I tried “mac freeware” and “os x freeware.”
The results weren’t as good as I had hoped. With “Mac OS,” I arrived at websites almost exclusively about Macs. Virtually every one of them had cool stuff to check out.
But narrowing things down to “mac freeware” didn’t turn out so well. A lot of the websites were actually about, ergh, Windows freeware. And some of them didn’t seem to have anything to do with freeware at all.
Still, I did come across a few gems. For example, Partners in Rhyme has a whole bunch of free audio software. Then there was CocoThumbX, which allows you to create thumbnail pictures. The Place For It All has a long list of recommended Mac apps, many of which are freeware. And What Do I Know has an article about Teleport, a program that makes life easier for those working with two displays.
The great thing about StumbleUpon is that you never know what you’ll come across next. Be careful of its addictive nature, though. You’ll find yourself always wanting to stumble “just one more time.”
Posted Tuesday, January 30, 2007 in How-to
Full-steam-ahead writing
Those of you searching for the ideal writing program will be interested to know about the freeware Writer, which is based on the idea of a typewriter. Yes, a typewriter.
There are many reasons why you might want such a thing, but it boils down to creating an environment where you can simply bang out a first draft without having to worry about the niceties. For example, if you make a mistake, you just strike it out. It’s messy, but at this point you’re essentially spilling out the contents of your mind. You can fix it up later in a full-featured word processor.
Writer is based on an idea proposed by designer Khoi Vinh, who explains it in-depth at his Subtraction blog. (You should pay this website a visit regardless of your interest in writing—Khoi Vinh is one of the top-notch designers of our time.)
I understand to a certain point why people want programs like this. They have a problem (the need to write something) and they look to software to solve it. But like any other human endevour, good writing can only be helped along so much by outside influences. What it really requires is learning and practice.
The learning comes from books, classes, mentors and the like. The practice you can do anywhere at any time. I’ve been writing for such a long time that I’ve almost forgotten what it was like to struggle to get a few words on a page. But I can offer a couple of strategies that require no downloading whatsoever.
First, think of writing as a conversation going on in your head. Imagine you’re talking to someone who is very good listener and pretty much agrees with everything you say. What you tell that person makes a good beginning for an article.
Second, after you’ve written a sentence or two, try reading it out loud. We all know how to talk. And once you get talking, you’ll find the next sentence comes more easily.
By all means, though, have a look at programs like Writer or WriteRoom. Just remember that writing is a skill like any other—it takes time and effort to learn how to do it well.
Posted Friday, November 3, 2006 in How-to
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