Last month, I shared with you the core programs I keep full time on my hard drive (and many thanks to those of you who wrote in with suggestions of better software to use-keep the letters coming!) This month, I'll cover the last three categories: text-type programs, financial programs, and graphic programs.
Text Applications
The one program which has followed me from every Macintosh I have ever owned is ClarisWorks, recently renamed AppleWorks. This program is feature rich and very stable. It has many built-in modules, including a word processor (which I use often, though mostly to open those Claris/AppleWorks files sent to me) a Drawing program, Painting, a command line Communications module, a database programs, and a spreadsheet program.
ClarisWorks/AppleWorks has come preinstalled on every Mac I ever purchased. That's not to say, though, that the only reason I use it is for that reason alone. It is a wonderful and easy-to-use program and it really does do most things well. Still, I don't use it very often-at least not as often as I used to. I have found other programs that do the same thing all these do, but either better or with additional features. For instance, I use Filemaker Pro for database, Excel for spreadsheet work (something I rarely need), and Adobe products for all my graphical needs.
Microsoft Word 98
I had Word 6.0 for years, and 5.1 before that. While 6.0 was a dog and did everything, it was a very cumbersome memory hog and did not play well with other programs. Much had been written on the bloatware Word 6.0, and rarely was anything written positively. Word 98, however, is another matter entirely.
Word 98 was designed for the Macintosh from the ground up. This is no Windows program crudely converted to the Macintosh, and it shows. I use it to write all my monthly columns. I use it for my reviews. I use it to compose long email. In short, I use it every day, and have found it to be a wonderful program. One huge benefit which AppleWorks cannot match is its cross-platform ability. At my day job, I'm glumly stuck on a Dell Windows 95 machine. There I use Office 97 to do all my writing. When I want to share those documents created on the PC, I simply email it to myself, download it to my Macintosh at home, and then open it with Word 98. Moreover, everything is converted to look exactly like the Windows document, including graphics and formatting. We do live in a cross-platform world, and this type of cross-platform ability is an unfortunate necessity.
Of course, there are times when I will get a document created in a word processor that I do not have. Sometimes Word or AppleWorks will open the file, but not every time. In these situations, I turn to BBEdit Lite 4.1, a free program from Bare Bones Software, Inc. This program is strictly a text editor-not a word processor-not does it pretend to be. Bare Bones Software, Inc. made BBEdit Lite a free version of their award winning commercial program, BBEdit.
BBEdit will open anything, and I do mean anything. If someone used a word processor I don't own to create a document, I will be able to extract the text from it with BBEdit (though not graphics). It works well, takes very little memory or hard drive space, and best of all it's free! This program should be on every Mac user's hard drive.
SimpleText
I don't think there is a Mac user today who does not have at least one copy of SimpleText or TeachText on their Macintosh. Every time you install a new program, it seems another copy of SimpleText appears somewhere on your hard drive. It's almost like a virus! It keeps coming back every time I toss it out! Is this nano-technology at work, or perhaps another diabolical scheme by unknown forces to control my Macintosh?
FileMaker Pro 4.0
No, this isn't really a text-type of program, but that's the folder it sits in on my hard drive. FileMaker is the only database program I use. I use it to create custom databases for a few clients, such as a local car audio dealership (invoice and inventory tracking). I also use it to store important phone numbers, notes, etc. I'm not going to go into everything here on what FileMaker can do. Suffice it to say that it's the best database program for the Mac, bar none. (We run Fenton Jones' "FileMaker 101" here every month for that very reason!) If there is a better all-around database program for the Mac, I welcome anyone to try and prove it to me. Besides, FileMaker is cross-platform, meaning if I create a DB here on my Mac, then a Windows user with FileMaker can also use it with no problems (unless I use an AppleScript or something else Mac-specific).
Financial Applications
Created in 1996, QuickBooks Pro 4.0 is still my choice for running the financial and business side of My Mac and My Mac Productions. From creating and printing checks, creating invoices and more, it does it all. I do wish a newer and easier to use version of the program would come out, though I have heard tell that is unlikely to happen. It really is a great program, and I hope that another company will pick up on this and create a program which is easier to use and addresses some of the shortcomings that plagues QB 4.0. Until that happens, however, I will continue using this program. This plea may prompt some of you to wonder why I still use the program, inasmuch as I could probably create a custom program using FileMaker which would do all, if not more, of QuickBooks' features. The answer is easy: I am extremely lazy. :-(
And last, there is Adobe Acrobat. Rather than go into why I use it, simply read my review of the program in this issue.
Graphic Applications
I am by no means a graphic artist; far from it. But in the course of producing My Mac, I must often create or modify graphics, in addition to proofing artwork sent it from the talented artists who contribute to My Mac. Of course, I also like to spend some of my free time creating some desktop pictures or startup screens, many of which you can download from the My Mac website. So I do have a few graphic programs I use often, and below are the ones which I've learned I just can't be without.
Adobe Photoshop.
As my four year-old daughter has taken to saying lately, "duh." Of course, everyone who seriously works with graphics has used this program at one time or another. Photoshop is simply a" must have" product for those in the graphics design world. With the thousands of third party add-ons, Photoshop can create and manipulate any picture. With Photoshop, you have a tool which can make your wildest photo-changing dreams come true.
But even Photoshop has a few limitations and could do some things better, such as creating easily manipulated text. When I have to quickly create text-based graphics, such as the My Turn logo above, I turn to ColorIt! 4.0 from MicroFrontier, Inc. ColorIt uses half the memory (or less) than does Photoshop, it can open any Photoshop-created graphic, and it can use all but the layer dependent Photoshop plug-ins. In short, ColorIt! 4.0 is like a trimmer, slimmer Photoshop while also offering a few improved features like the aforementioned text-handling capabilities. Also, the cost of ColorIt! 4.0 is much lower than Photoshop, and a true steal for $150. It's an awesome program, one of my all-time favorites.
I said Photoshop cannot open all the graphic formatted pictures I receive. For that matter, neither can ColorIt!. For that job, I turn to the unquestionably best shareware graphics program ever created: Graphic Converter from Thorsten Lemke. This program is limited as far as graphic manipulation, but will open and convert pretty much any graphic you throw at it. It's very fast (use it for a slide show with large graphic files sometime to see what I mean) takes very little memory, and is shareware cheap. The program is also updated about once a month, meaning Graphic Converter is always on the cutting edge of technology and graphic formats. My hat (if I wore one) would go off to Thorsten Lemke, a true Macintosh hero.
Well, folks, there you have it. The programs I have found I cannot live without. There are some other programs which I did not mention but do have a permanent home on my hard drive. These include Norton Utilities 4, Animation Maker 3.2, Update Agent 3.0 (see review this issue), ClippingConverter 1.0.1, StarCraft (Again, "duh!"), the Apple Data Detectors control panel, GoMac, Snapz, Spell Catcher, QuicKeys, and a few others. When the motivation hits (possibly after our huge 50th issue next month), I will share some other programs I think you might want to know about.
And remember, if you know of any undiscussed software you think I should spotlight in My Mac, please drop me a line at <publisher@mymac.com>!
 
I thought that you all might be interested in what some of the readers wrote in with as their suggestions for Mac applications, utilities, etc., so I've included their letters below:
Re: Software We Use
Mornin' to ya!
Just found your page for the first time. Thanks! I like it when someone says "Here's what I use every day." Puts perspective into life again!
One of my most-used utilities: QuickDex II. It's my online address book, phone book, and scrap-paper-note facility.
Since you have reviewed many programs—I'm looking for a database—slide viewer, hopefully that can be programmed. For taking a folder full of pics and making a SHOW really fast, it's Kai's Power Show. For allowing interactivity of different kinds, it's SuperCard. But it takes a lot of time. I've tried Director, but the last version I used required pulling all the pics to be used into the driving program (into RAM), and I found that I could only use a few pics at one time. I'd like a program which would allow me to fetch any pic from a whole CD or from any drive on line!
I've done dozens of projects with Hypercard, especially ones that make interactivity with music CDs possible. I used this to teach musical structure in a college music appreciation classes. Alas, NOT the answer to my slide-show dreams.
I just finsihed your April My Turn column. Enjoyed it very much. I was happy to read that someone else uses programs that are several years (and sometimes several versions) old. I tend to try the "latest and greatest", and many years ago I usually stayed with them. Now, I find myself reverting on occasion to earlier versions. Some of the programs I rely on most are five to ten years old and not even being updated any longer.
One that I find indespensible is Thought Pattern 1.3 which was published by Bananafish Software and copyrighted 1990-92. Through all of the MacOS upgrades it has continued to function faultlessly. It is a free-form database in which I keep most of the disparate and unorganized bits of information that seem to multiply monthly. Things like my wife's and children's Social Security numbers, my various frequent flier account numbers and contact phone numbers, interesting facts or contacts which would otherwise be hard classify (and you'd never find them anyway), bank and brokerage account numbers, and so many other things that demand saving but are too small to require a physical file location. Once the information is typed in, I simply give it as many descriptive headings as seem appropriate and necessary. To find an item I merely search for it using logical headings. I can find my frequent flier numbers using ff, frequent, flier, airline, air. And the searches are very fast, one or two seconds. It's a great program and sits in a category all by itself to the best of my knowledge. Of course, many general purpose databases can do the same thing, but Thought Pattern is uniquely designed for the task, takes up 500K of RAM and has never crashed any of my Macs (SE/30, PB3400, PB180, G3/250, and two PowerComputing clones)
I have used it in conjunction with my Visioneer PaperPort to keep info scanned in from magazines and newspapers, letters and documents. I travel quite a lot and having this information in a digital filing cabinet is a lifesaver.
You gotta love a program like that. By the way, I use older versions of MS Word and Excel, too. They do everything I need them to do. And whatever happened to DateBook and TouchBase, they are better than any currently shipping PIM for my money, but they are unstable in the PowerMac environment. I still use them though, because I haven't found anything better.
All the best,
Michael Sylvester <mksyl@sprynet.com>
I enjoyed your recent article regarding your software choices. It's always nice to see other individuals express their rationale for using various software.
While I "agree" with most of your choices, I do want to offer my opinion about Internet Connectivity software. First of all, by "Netscape Navigator", I'm assuming you meant Netscape Communicator, since you also mentioned that you prefer to use the email client in Navigator. You indicated this choice with your statement, "It is simply easier to check my email when I'm out browsing the Internet by simply clicking the mail button rather than launching another program.". I use Netscape Navigator V4.08, Eudora Pro V4.03, and Newswatcher for my Internet sessions. I also have Internet Config on my machine. When I'm using Netscape, if there is an email address on the page I'm on (like yours), all I have to do is click the address and (via Internet Config) Eudora Pro is ready for my email (I leave Eudora "running" in the background by having it check for new messages every 3 minutes).
That is exactly how this email arrived from your webpage! If the email address is stated but not shown as a link, then I just copy the address to the clipboard, use Program Switcher (another excellent program) to choose Eudora, and click it. Eudora is again ready, and then I just paste the email address from the clipboard into the Send to address field. What could be simpler? Since I have no need for the other components of Communicator, I see no reason to use a much larger piece of software, Communicator, instead of Eudora Pro plus Newswatcher plus Internet Config plus Navigator.
I certainly agree with FreePPP. I'd rather use it that Apple's built-in PPP software.
Finally, I do not know if you plan on mentioning this product "later on", but for a great Utility, I strongly recommend TechTool V1.1.8 (freeware version). It makes 1) Zapping the PRAM, and 2) rebuilding the desktop a breeze. I also use Norton Utilities V4.03 on my machine for emergencies.
In any event, keep up the good work!
Thanks,
Arthur M. Kent <akent@seanet.com>
Re:HDT Primer
Originally I mounted my MO drive with Hard Disk Toolkit Personal Edition, much as you described. More convenient is to press Cmd-Space, courtesy of the SCSIProbe Control Panel.
I enjoy reading your column, My Turn.
Richard <acorn@jps.net>
Hi Tim,
Funny, I find Communicator 4.5 the most stable browser I've used. I don't recall the last time it crashed, which is definitely more than I could say for 3.0. I think 4.0 whatever was in between, but I didn't use it for long. I could never use ICQ, and I don't chat much, but AIM seem easy and stable on my machine. I also use IE4.5, the history is great.
Of course there are the obvious: TE+ and GraphicConverter. Couldn't live without them. (In GC, the browser and the auto-thumbnail html page creator are gold for me.)
I've recently bought TypeLaunch and CopyPaste, both of which seem totally neat. Though I have never been able to go a day without Quickpop to start apps.
TextureScape is the best pattern creator I've seen, and I hope it live again. (Metacreations bought the defunct Specular apparently.) Oh, SimpleBackup. Genious, tiny.
Golive. Pagespinner for daily updates.
Kaleidoscope for fun.
ClarisWorks. Looking forward to using 5.0, maybe I can finally get the damn styles to work!!! (I just bought an iMac, which I have put on ethernet with my old machine. Cool.
ColorIt is excellent, especially for the price. But I can't do without PS, after I could afford it. I bought Painter, but haven't started in on it yet.
Finderpop!! Great utility!
Yours,
Eolake <eolake@stobblehouse.dk>
Browser and eMailer
I'm using Netscape Communicator 4.5. It has been very stable, and only balks when I enter some sites with improperly coded Java frames. I use Claris eMailer for the sheer flexibility and speed of reading and filing messages. After eMailer 1.x was dropped (?) I obtained an upgrade to Claris eMailer 2.0v3. I guess I'll stay there until hell freezes over or someone takes over and gives an upgrade.
Some time ago, I forget whether it was Netscape 3.x or 4.0x, the ability to sort Bookmarks was dropped. Then, since Netscape didn't anticipate lists of Bookmarks yards long, the ability to select a Bookmark w-a-a-y down on the list quit working. You had to open the Bookmakrs, scroll down and click on the URL.
Searching for a better way to handle Bookmarks lead me to URL Manager Pro. Alco Blom(?) has given us a marvelous tool. UMP allows me the flexibility of adding folders, moving URLS around, sorting a group of folders, just one folder, or a group of selected URLS. There is a fast Find. And, best of all, it ties together the Browser, Mailer, and URL Manager Pro.
>From the Browser:
Command-Y takes me to the Mailer
Command-U takes me to URL Manager Pro
>From the Mailer:
Command-Y takes me to the Browser
Command-U takes me to URL Manager Pro
>From URL Manager Pro
Command-M Makes me to the Mailer
Command-B takes me to the Browser.
URL Manager Pro adds a menu to the menu bar of both the Browser and the Mailer which allows you select URL, Mailer, or Browser functions.
If you need the full functionality of a Mailer, try out URL Manager Pro.
HD Morgan <hdmorgan@flash.net>
Keep the mail up, folks!
Next month, I will be taking a break from the My Turn column and presenting a multi-page feature titled "The History of the Macintosh Digital Press" Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!
Tim
 
Until next month,
•Tim Robertson• <Publisher@mymac.com>
 
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