New Mac freeware

Feb 27, 2009 15:48 GMT  ·  By

Welcome to a new edition of our weekly freeware roundup. I've come across yet more great apps this week, all free to use and keep for as long as you want. At least one of these apps will be a keeper on your Mac's hard drive for sure.

doubleTwist – Open to any device, content or network, easy to use, enjoyment guaranteed!

doubleTwist has launched the public beta of its new universal media application for the Mac this week. Bearing the same name as the company, the product, as the maker describes it, is "a single, streamlined interface that connects to any device, media source or network." doubleTwist borrows a lot from Apple's own software applications.

doubleTwist allows you to easily manage all your media, on all your devices, and ultimately share it with all your friends, or upload it to the web (YouTube, FaceBook, flickr etc.) in a matter of seconds. You can use the app to privately share the same stuff with your friends and family, should they also have a doubleTwist account. You even have the option to include a small message when you send something to someone.

doubleTwist supports a wide variety of devices and the company is regularly adding new ones. Supported devices include most cell phones, the Sony PlayStation Portable, and a variety of cameras and MP3 players.

As soon as you install the app and fire it up for the first time, it scans your computer for all kinds of media it can play or display for you, and it does so without fail listing all the stuff it finds right there in its UI, by categories (Photos, Music, Videos). Best of all, the moment you download something new, doubleTwist immediately adds that item to its list (if it can understand the format).

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Music, Photos, Feeds (iPhone wallpapers courtesy of iphone-wallpapers.net)

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Publishing a video to YouTube, or sending one to a fellow doubleTwister

The software allows you to browse through your media and play anything, as it supports all major audio and video formats. As such, you can take your music, videos and other media wherever you go, no matter the device you use. Not surprisingly, the iPhone and iPod touch are not among the supported devices, since doubleTwist offers maximum freedom and flexibility.

“We started doubleTwist because we were disappointed by the quality of software applications offered by the major device manufacturers,” reads the about us section on doubletwist.com. “We wanted to build a universal media application that helps people quickly and easily play all their stuff, on all their devices and share their experiences with all their friends.”

Well, why don't you tell us if these guys achieved what they've set out to achieve. Download the app right now and “start twisting!”

Download doubleTwist Beta (Free)

Secret Safari 4 Menu – tweak hidden Safari preferences without having to open the Terminal

As many of you should know by now, Apple has released the Safari 4 Public Beta this week. The new web browser adds a ton of changes, including interface enhancements and new functionality. Developer Maxim Ananov also acknowledges that Safari 4 has lots of new features. However, “not all are welcome by everyone,” he asserts.

For instance, some dislike new Tabs on Top feature, he says. “JavaScript can only open new tabs and not windows. That can be pretty annoying for some web sites,” Maxim upholds. This is just one example. Other users are frustrated by other changes just as much. Of course, the Safari 4 Beta installs separately, leaving Safari 3.2.1 (or whatever version you had before downloading Safari 4) intact. But, if you really want Safari 4 with the old Safari look and feel, you can re-enable the original settings by manually modifying some preferences or... you can use Maxim's 60KB Secret Safari 4 Menu.

“It appears that Safari has a special secret menu for that purpose! In fact, it is so secret that not even Apple knows about it,” says Maxim. To revert to the default settings configuration, you don't even need to restart Safari to see the changes. So, here's what you have to do:

Installation

Go to your Applications folder, right-click Safari app and click "Show package content". Go to "Contents/Resources/English.lproj" folder and put there the contents of the safaritweaks.zip archive (you should let it overwrite an existing file). This will modify Safari menu to show new options. Start Safari. Voila! You should see newSafari > Tweaks menu now.

Tweaks descriptions:

· Tabs on Top - toggle between Safari 4 and Safari 3 style tabs · Toolbar Redesign - toggle address bar having additional controls inside · CoverFlow in Bookmarks - toggle CoverFlow, duh · Google Suggestions - toggle Google Suggestions when using Safari Search Field · Fancy URL Suggestions - toggle between Safari 4 and Safari 3 address bar suggestions style · Transparent Window - make window background transparent. This is only noticeable for pages with no background set (like on this error page) · Top Sites Feature - toggle Top Sites feature on and off completely · Top Sites Dimmed Animation - dim pages when opening them using Top Sites feature · JavaScript No New Windows - toggle whether JavaScript can open new windows or only new tabs · Don't Confirm Unsubmitted Text - don't show warning when closing a window with unsubmitted text.

Download Secret Safari 4 Menu (Free)

KeyCastr – See which keyboard keys you've just pressed

As simple as it sounds, KeyCastr is a Mac OS X application that displays your keystrokes in a small floating window. The 1MB app was designed to be used for screencasts or overhead projection, in order to emphasize what keystrokes need to be pressed when performing an action within an application.

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While not a very old piece of software, KeyCastr has allegedly seen a complete rewrite for stability and ease of use, and has been open-sourced under the BSD license. A new, better looking icon has also been added with the release of KeyCastr 0.8.0.

Download KeyCastr (Free)

See you next week!

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