Surf-Bits: Surfing For Great Mac Freeware
1. Introduction

Tim Verpoorten
(Mar 08)

Hello, I'm Tim Verpoorten and it's great to have this opportunity to visit with you. Before we jump into the meat of this month's article let me tell you a little about myself and why I'm here writing about Mac software.

In April of 2008 it will be three years that I've been recording the MacReviewCast podcast. You can find it at www.macreviewcast.com. I started the podcast in order to share my love of Mac software with the rest of my friends in the Mac community. It didn't take long and I was focusing on all the great freeware apps that the Mac developers were giving us every week. Over the course of the years I ran into friends that felt the same as I did and wanted to share their favorite Mac hardware, software or Web sites with the Mac community each week.

So now I spend the first half of the podcast talking about the Mac freeware and maybe some shareware that I love and then the rest of the podcast is shared with other reviewers talking about the latest software or Web sites that they've been looking at and testing. The podcast always has applications that you'll want to download and try for yourself, and lively discussion about the latest hardware that Apple introduces.

My sister blog to the podcast is Surfbits.com, or Surf-Bits.com, they will both get you to where you want to go. The blog is the written version of the podcast. You'll find the reviews of many of the shareware apps we talk about on the podcast, plus commercial apps and hardware. If you enjoy the podcast, you'll enjoy the blog too.

The blog, Surf-Bits.com, has been around for many more years then the podcast. We started Surf-Bits as a PC and Mac blog that explored interesting Web sites. About 5 years ago I fell in love with OSX and decided to keep the name Surf-Bits, but turn it into a Mac-based review blog. That brings us to today. I was asked by several listeners to talk with their MUG's via Skype and share some of my favorite freeware for the Mac and maybe answer a few of their questions. I enjoyed that and will be happy to visit with any MUG that asks me as long as we can work out the logistics. I was then asked to write a monthly Freeware column for the MUG's that wanted to pick it up for their newsletters. So here we are.

Let's get into a few freeware apps that I think we all need to download and try. If you listen to the podcast, you know I love menubar apps. They are right there in front of you for easy access and they all tell you something about what's going on in your Mac, or in your life, without clicking or opening. My menubar is full, from end to end, with great menubar apps. Here are a few of my Freeware favorites.

Without a doubt, the one freeware application that is at the top of my list, and my menubar, is... iStat Menus.

This is one freeware application that I would pay for in a heartbeat. It's what we expect every Mac app to be, functional, unique and attractive. You just will not believe the amount of information about your Mac that iStat Menus can provide with just a glance at your menubar. iStat menus monitors your entire system with 8 separate and highly configurable menu extras. You'll always know exactly what's going on inside your Mac. You can see your CPU usage, and choose between 7 different modes to view, along with multi-core support. You'll find memory usage and meters, disk usage and activity, networking activity including download and upload speeds on your Internet connection. There are temperature readings, fans speeds, Bluetooth status, and of course, my favorite, you can make the date and time look just the way you want them to look like. This app has it all and shows it all right in the menubar.

Next I like to know the current weather conditions without opening the dashboard, so I use,
Meteorologist.

It allows users total control over their weather viewing, including simultaneous interlaced weather reports from multiple weather locations, weather alerts, and much more. A glance at the menubar and I know the temperature and conditions. Simple, elegant and functional, what more can a user ask from their software?

The next application you'll always find on my menubar is SoundSource.

What can I say, I've talked about SoundSource for a long time. It's the ultimate menubar utility. SoundSource is a tiny tool for OS X enabling you to switch your audio input and output sources with a single click, and even adjust their volume settings. New in 2.0 - Volume sliders for all devices, right in SoundSource! (Mac OS X 10.5 only). If you use more then one recording device or output thru more then just your Mac built in speakers, you need Sound source. Of course, I'd be remiss in not telling you that RogueAmoeba gives us SoundSource free of charge, and that RogueAmoeba is one of the Mac community's greatest assets. Make certain you visit their Web site and support all their efforts by purchasing some of the great shareware they offer us.

Here's a new application I discovered that works with my Apple Mail program. It's called,
Mail Unread Menu.

Mail Unread Menu is a simple menu bar application which can provide you with a quick and easy way to see how many unread email messages are in Apple's Mail. Unlike other menu bar notification applications, Mail Unread Menu is actually a plugin for Mail, which means that the count is instantaneously updated whenever you receive new email or change the status of a message. You can use it's preferences to see the inbox or all your email folders. You can bring the mail application to the front, check for new mail or compose a new email with just a click of the menubar icon. This is just what I was looking for, a simple utility that did one thing and did it well. I love it.

Well that does it for my menubar Freeware, I'll look at more next month. I love to hear from you, so please feel free to send any questions you have on Mac software to me, surfbits at gmail dot com, and visit the Web site and podcast at Surfbits.com. Talk to you soon.