Thoughts On Posted Shareware

As I browse through the download sites, a thought at times occurs to me whether the items posted might be a reflection of the softness of certain existing products. So I decided to check the idea out using most disliked application as the focus.

As an aside, I do know that many posted items reflect either a new direction or serious enhancements to a software genre, but that’s not where I’m focused in this note.

I keep reading about unhappiness with Apple’s Spotlight as well as its new linked Find function. As reported in Macworld, MacAddict and elsewhere, folks are uncomfortable with the Spotlight application. I am too. Indeed, hopes for an improved Spotlight in Leopard abound. I found them in articles about Apple’s new OS where folks hoped that Spotlight would become less error prone and be more focused.

I am also completely dissatisfied with the way Apple broke the Find [?-F] feature, which in earlier versions were orders of magnitudes easier to use. The methods for limiting searches in Find, is awkward and often does not work. That why I use EasyFind 3.9 http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/freeware/ to find files on my hard disk. I have relegated Apple application to limbo, as Control-Option-Command-F.

Therefore, I checked MacUpdate for spotlight and found 63 items, about a fourth of which were aimed at either killing Spotlight, replacing it, or making more useful. Checking “find Files” gave me 53 overlapping hits, which were generally less directly applicable to my focus.

Are these tools useful? Yes, reducing the number of false positives it produces, even for simple searches.

Have I proved my point? I am not sure, but there are certainly a large number of Find and Spotlight-related applications posted for folks to try out.

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Software, Shareware & Freeware Reviewed

Reminder, that I always do a quick test run of 1-3 hours, on each of the more narrowly focused products I review in this column, testing for that review is never as complete as for more complex full-featured products. Indeed, where I agree with the developers’ description and other comments or those of other reviewers of the product, I unabashedly use them in this column. If not, you’ll read about it, load and clear! [Aren’t mixed metaphors wonderful?]

Items Reviewed:

Accio English Dictionary 1.0 (4.0macCs) and the Ultralingua English Language Dictionary and Thesaurus 6.0 (4.5 macCs) - With additional thoughts on other dictionary and thesaurus tools some of which I’ve deleted from my hard disk. If you read and write, these are tool’s you’ll love.

FolderControl 1.60 — For folks who insist on neatly arranged folders, you can automatically size and arrange the Finder's folder/directory windows into a configuration you define. If you are manic about an orderly desktop or just like to keep things neat, you'll love this product!

(4.0 macCs)

FontNuke 1.0.5 Freeware (4.5 macCs)– Kill ailing font caches when ever they act up.

Spamnix for Eudora 3.0.28 - Out damn spam (4.5 macCs) Since I submitted my review I’ve had several more week of experience with this fine product. On average, it misses 1-2 items that still show up in my inbox. Training has improved the false positives, in my Junk box to one a day.

ToDo X 2.1 (4.5 macCs) – I revisit a fine easily accessible ToDo List application.