Explorer

Apr 27 2009

Browse Better

Web browsers are my kind of software: free from the beginning. The heavy hitters both have OS X versions worth trying out. However, if open-source is your style, there’s a great alternative.

Chimera Navigator

Featured on Freeloader as an alternative to Microsoft Explorer, this mozilla-based browser is lean, stable and supports tabs. That last feature will change the way you browse, allowing you to open multiple sites without multiple windows. In its latest version, 0.5, Chimera is more stable than ever and feature-rich.

GooSearch X

This little free search utility opens a small floating window. From that window you can search Google for websites and images. To maximize this little apps utility, drag it onto your Finder toolbar for easy access.

RBrowserLite

If you mourned the day Fetch went shareware, then this app is for you. RBrowserLite is a simple, straight-forward FTP application. It also supports shortcuts to recently access sites.

WebGrabber

Epicware, the group that brought us Fire, also has a great web site tool. This utility allows you to download the entire contents of a website to your disk for offline viewing. This utility can download an entire directory without FTP access and supports resumed downloads.

With these great freeware options, there’s no reason not to browse in style.

Until next week, Brian

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Apr 27 2009

Enhance your OS

This week’s tools will allow you to view PDF’s in your browser, tweak colors in iCal and swap out that spinning beach ball…

PDF Browser Plugin

This broswer plugin, installed in your “Internet Plugins” folder in your Library allows Internet Explorer or any other compatible browser (Netscape, Chimera) to display PDF files. It’s simple and works.

iCalibrate

Having a hard time reading text in your iCal? This utility allows you to tweak the text colors for each calendar color. Now you can make your text more readable, or go extreme and push the limits of the Apple System Color Picker.

Beachball

Feelings of loath are quickly associated with whatever animated icon Apple’s programers put in the OS to placate users while the Mac thinks. Now you can rotate your “wait cursor” whenever you feel like it.

Beachball is a straightforward and self-proclaimed “idiot proof” method for changing cursors. It comes with 10 different cursors and even a couple new arrows. The application comes with information on creating your own cursors that you can import into Beachball.

So, if nothing else, this week’s features should break up some of the monotony in your OS. Have a colorful week.

Brian

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Apr 27 2009

The Best of 2002

The Year in Freeware

Best on the Web: Chimera Navigator

Fast, new and open-source, Chimera has grown from a shaky beta to a fully functional browser. With a great interface and handy extras Chimera laughs in the face of clunky Netscape and ho-hum Internet Explorer. Tabbed browsing, pop-up suppression, keychain password storage and favicon support make this gift from the open source community our number one.

Freeware Classic: FileCM

For those of you still living in the past, consider this a lifetime achievement award. And for what do we bestow this honor? FileCM adds cut, copy and paste file options to your contextual menu. Thatís one more command than even OS X.

Best System Extension: Diabolitin

For decades now, talented programmers have been filling Appleís gaps. This one creates a single interface, in the form of a preference pane, from which you can activate or deactivate all kinds of system items. Control your fonts, screensavers, preference panes and more from one interface.

Best Menu Item: Weather Pop

When the novelty of menu extras emerged, no one found a better use for them than Glucose Software. Best of all, when Glucose released a shareware version, they kept their ìliteî version free.

Best Plug-in: PDF Browser Plug-in

Do you ever get so tired of poor 3rd part support you wish you could do something yourself? Of those who took maters into their own hands, the PDF Browser Plug-in may be the best. At least the best one that is still freeware.

Let’s hope next year yields another great crop of free software.

Brian

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