Mac Pac

Rating:
Summary: A Collection of Useful Applications for OS X
Review: This package caught my eye, much in the way the original iMacs, with their distinctive coloring captured my attention.

And in this manner, once I got into the application package itself, I was as pleased as I was with how the iMac was as much a integration of form and function.

The MacPac is described as "A Collection of Useful Applications for OS X". I'd agree. There are five programs contained within: FontManager; AppSwitch; RadicalSqueeze; MacCabinet; and, RadicalPhoto.

Initially, I pulled out the small user's manual and the CD-rom from the MacPac box. While I don't always read the manual before popping the CD-rom into my PowerBook, I stopped and perused the manual. In this case, I was very pleased by how "short and sweet" the user's manual is. Each application is listed one only one side of one page, per. Good enough, in my opinion. Each application's help and on-line help links are more than enough. I like the software developer's instinct that more would not have made the user's manual better.

My only real concern about this whole suite of programs -- at install, I would have liked to install all the programs at once! Unfortunately, each needs to be installed separately. This isn't a big deal, but a single install option would have improved my ability to get at "all" of the programs. So, I installed each application in the MacPac, and began to play.

FontManager is a nice way to review fonts, install them temporarily and/or permanently, and remove fonts as desired. While I don't generally do a lot with fonts (I have about five favorites), I appreciated the ability to look over the font TrueType formats. In general, I see this application as one I'd use only once in a great while, but when I do, its just the tool for the job.

AppSwitch is a handy way to have all open applications available in a drop down menu, from the toolbar. To a certain extent, this feature is redundant to the dock, and to the ability to "Apple-Tab" switch between open applications. But, I do find that this program might be useful if you find yourself switching between OS 9 and OS X. In this case, the AppSwitch is just familiar enough, and a fair trick. In this case, you might want to have AppSwitch open and running with log-on.

RadicalSqueeze is a quick and convenient way to compress stuff. Its options are to compress into either .zip or .tar format. Having played a little with unix in a previous life on a Sun workstation, I prefer the .tar format, but both seem to work satifactorily. This application is useful when sending files over email, or uploading files to an online directory. If you are using this program with any dial-up log-in, you will enjoy the time savings.

MacCabinet is one of those organization tools. I broke myself of keeping files on my desktop a good while ago. But, MacCabinet allows you to "pull" open a storage window (definable in the right or left side of your screen) and put/grab files from this location. Fairly simple to use, and another of those programs that, if you like it, you'd set it up to begin when you log-in. One quirk I noticed: when I started it initially, a message (which I probably misread) instructed me to go to the left side of the screen to "pull open" my cabinet window. But I found my cabinet opening on the right side of the screen. Not a real issue, because of the extremely simple way to customize the cabinet.

Finally, RadicalPhoto is one nice simple photo enhancement program. I have been using iPhoto predominately for most of my images, but sometimes, I'd like to use something a bit "more." While I have used Adobe's PhotoShop Elements, I prefer Radical Photo for both is simplicity and its price. Plus, I like the option of saving in a wide variety of formats. Finally, I had a lot of fun playing with the various effects available.

Overall, the MacPac is very nice. And I recommend it to you. As a plus, at such a low price, this collection of five programs is well worth the list price.