Scrimpy’s Picks
The freeware we use on a regular basis here at thriftmac — all highly recommended.
Free Ruler
Horizontal and vertical rulers measure distances on your screen to the exact pixel. It’s dead simple to use, and especially handy for designers who want their creations pixel perfect. Free Ruler hasn’t been updated in years, but it’s fine the way it is.
Added to the Graphics section
Download site
Posted Saturday, November 6, 2010
Iconverter
Choose a program and convert its icon to an image. Formats include PNG, TIFF, JPG, GIF, ICNS and ICO. Batch processing is available and you can decide on the background colour. This tool is invaluable if you need to post the image of an icon on a website — in a software review, for example. Unfortunately, it seems to have been abandoned by the developer, but it’s still available as a direct download from MacUpdate.
Added to the Graphics section
Download site
Posted Monday, November 1, 2010
Dropbox
Sync and share your files online. Can also be used for automatic backups with a history going back 30 days. The free version allows two gigabytes of data.
Added to the Internet section
Download site
Posted Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Quiet Read
Menu bar item provides a place drop and drop web links you’d like to check out later. Click on it and a list of links is revealed — double-click on the one you want.
Added to the Internet section
Download site
Posted Friday, October 23, 2009
Tweetie
Keep track of Twitter from your desktop. Menubar icon turns blue to let you know when new tweets arrive. Interface allows you to switch between accounts and send tweets of your own. Update: Version 2 of this app is simply called Twitter and is available only at the Mac App Store.
Added to the Internet section
Download site
Posted Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Caffeine
Set your Mac to stay awake when it’s inconvenient to have it fall asleep, for example if you’re watching a movie or you want to keep AirPort running.
Added to the Utilities section
Download site
Posted Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Bean
An open source word processor that does more than TextEdit and is much speedier than Office-style software.
Added to the Text section
Download site
Posted Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Alarm Clock
Set the alarm to wake you up to the music of your choice and hit the snooze button with your Apple remote. Plus many more features.
Added to the Etcetera section
Download site
Posted Thursday, January 25, 2007
Jumpcut
Save up multiple snippets of text and paste them at will from the menu bar or from a translucent display invoked by a keyboard shortcut. KoopClip works in a similar manner.
Added to the Organizers section
Download site
Posted Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Pastor
Pastor is a password-protected spot to stash serial numbers, passwords and the like. Once you get started, you’ll be amazed at how many you have. Keep them all in one, easy-to-find place instead of all over the place. Try KeePassX for a cross-platform alternative.
Added to the Organizers section
Download site
Posted Thursday, February 9, 2006



You'll find nothing here but 100 per cent, totally free software for Mac. There are no demos, no crippleware, no "freemiums." The only exceptions are for programs supported by tasteful ads. In some cases, developers ask for a donation — and we encourage you to make one if you find the program useful. Let us know if you find an app here that is not totally free, and we'll delete it. And if there is a program that deserves to be here — but isn't — we'd like to hear about that, too.