Have you ever installed a large program only to use just one of its features? I’m a big fan of programs that only do one thing, but does it well. The following are my favorite “single purpose” OS X apps.
- iWillQuit - a timer to put your Mac to sleep or shut it off
- Namely - the fastest program launcher out there
- Fob - a countdown program
- Pic2Icon - convert pictures to icons
- Burn - open source cd/dvd burning program
- Address Book to CSV Exporter - export your address book to a gmail compatible CSV file
- Think - limits your attention to one application at a time
- webPM - a password manager
- SetAlphaValue - an extension to set transparency in Cocoa apps - an alternative to Think (#6 above)
- Finder Browser - quickly view images in a folder
iWillQuit
Download: http://djodjodesign.free.fr/rightEN.html
Description: a very simple and straight forward app that puts your Mac to sleep or shuts it down, after the time period you specify. Saving energy has never been this simple.
Namely
Download: http://amarsagoo.info/namely/
Description: Unlike Quicksilver - which is arguably the most popular program launcher for OS X, Namely only launches programs. If you don’t need the zillion bells and whistles of QS, this app is for you. Note: I do need and love the zillion bells and whistles.
Fob
Download: http://homepage.mac.com/tfinley/LeakyPuppy/fob.html
Description: Fob is a simple, straight forward countdown timer/reminder. Never forget to take a break, leave a soda in the freezer, or burn those nachos again.
Pic2Icon
Download: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/13226
Description: Pic2Icon is a program that creates beautiful 128×128 Mac OS X icons for your pictures. Simply drop pictures or folders full of pictures onto the application and it will start creating icons. These icons will be applied to the pictures, so you can browse through them in the finder and you will be able to identify them without having to open them!
Burn
Download: http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net
Description: Burn doesn’t convert video files to DVD, create covers for your CD’s, or include ’smoke’ eye-candy. It burns CD’s and DVD’s. How novel. And as an added bonus, it’s open source.
Address Book to CSV Exporter
Download: http://www.antoniolore.net/ab2csv.php
Description: Allows you to export your Address Book in a CSV file (Comma Separated Value) that suits the “Import contacts” function on Gmail, by just following two steps.
Think
Download: http://www.freeverse.com/think/
Description: Think allows you to limit your attention to one application - any application - at any time. If you suffer from OS X A.D.D., this program will help you become way more productive. It has an added bonus of making your screen easier on your tired eyes.
webPM
Download: http://www.daniele.ch/downloads.html
Description: webPM is a very straight forward, easy to use Password Manager. Set one “master password” and you can store all of your user names, passwords and web addresses in one place. And the database file is encrypted. Passwords are shown by hovering your mouse over the ‘reveal password’ icon.
SetAlphaValue
Download: http://www.mparrot.net/index.php?page=products&lang=en
Description: SetAlphaValue is a utility that allows you to alter the transparency OS X programs created using Cocoa (Safari, iCal, iChat, iTunes, Stickies etc). Its main intent, aside from being eye-candy, is to allow you to focus on one application at a time, without completely hiding the others.
Finder Browser
Download: http://www.tekuris.com/products/finderbrowser
Description: The sole purpose of Finder Browser is to allow you to quickly and easily browse all of the images in a single folder. Just right-click (ctrl- click) a folder and select Browse Images.
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They’re really good programs! Thanks
Warren Haynes…badass. Oh and I guess the list is good too.
Good app…I had tried an older version a few months back and it didn’t but this one does for my Macbook. Thanks
jenny
http://www.spaml.com
Pic2Icon is seriously deprecated - no updates since 2002 (hence no intel version either).
CocoThumbX is universal binary and does everything that Pi2Icon did and then some.
OS X has a fantastic password manager built in called Keychain. pay attention, people!
re: Pic2Icon
Can’t you already do this under Finder > Show View Options > Show Icon Preview?
Doing that doesn’t change the icon in List or Column view, but changing that setting results in a system-wide change to show the image in Icon view or on the desktop.
I was wondering if you made those screenshots how did you move tho dock to off center?
Devon -
I used a program called Deeper (it’s free) - though I’m quite sure you can do it via a command at the terminal - I just forget exactly what it is. Anyway, to do it w/ Deeper, http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/01/01/how-to-re-position-or-change-the-os-x-dock-alignment/
Swordfish -
Cool I’ll have to check that out.
Bill -
Not prior to 10.3 (I think).
Tawny -
Yes, but I can share the webpm db across multiple macs. I guess (think?) you could do that w/ keychain but it’s just easier for me to use webpm.
What’s the purpose of a CD-burning programme when OS/X has got the feature built-in? Are you new to the platform?
Anon Cow -
Because Burn supports forced remuxing of MPEG2 external streams (ie. Tivo) and you can use a customized ffmpeg. Or, because you don’t like using iTunes to burn audio CDs.
No, I’m not.
How about iRooster, which turns your Mac into a $2000 alarm clock? It’ll wake you and your computer up from sleep with your favorite iTunes playlist, give you the ability to remotely control your alarm clock from your Apple remote.
Cheers,
Aaron
About Finder Browser; just install Xee, OpenSource and a good alternative to Preview (except for PDFs). Open an image and browse all other images in the same directory with the scrollwheel of your mouse. Perfect.
Note from Ross: this comment is borderline spam - the ‘author’ works for the company he’s promoting. I’ll leave it up anyway because I’m a nice guy, but keep in mind it’s not free ($20).
I really like this app; it makes the whole video-experience soooo much easier!
http://www.itwistngo.com
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