Flip4Mac can truely be called the new Windows Media Player. Microsoft ceased development for it's Mac version of Windows Media Player several years ago, so Telestream, Inc. picked up that dropped ball and ran with it when they created the Flip4Mac player. This utility allows QuickTime on your computer to "interpret" and play Windows Media files. With Flip4Mac, WMV files embedded in web pages will play as expected and with all of the familiar QuickTime controls. Flip4Mac is a utility that every Mac user MUST have.

After downloading and installing Flip4Mac, a new System Preferences pane gives you access to the settings for adjusting how Flip4Mac works. The default settings will work fine for most users.

Screen shot of Flip4Mac plug-in options.

Screen shot of Flip4Mac movie options.

Inquisitor is a fantastic search extension tool that brings the Google search bar in Safari and Camino alive! As soon as you start typing into the Google search bar, Inquisitor starts showing you results. Simply arrow down to select the result you desire, and your off! If you wish to access the same results again, simply select the google search bar and press your down arrow key to see the previous search list.

Screen shot of Inquisitor interface.

Inquisitor is also capable of searching well beyond Google. You may search shopping sites such as Amazon and eBay, reference sites like dictionary.com, news sites, image and video sites, and blog sites. Inquisitor can also be customized with a few different preference options. And to top it all off, Inquisitor will even auto-complete words and phrases as your are typing!

Screen shot of Inquisitor's general preferences.

Screen shot of Inquisitor search preferences.

Inquisitor is extremely handy, very fast and will make an excellent addtion to your Internet toolbox. Inquisitor is available for a small fee of 5.00 EUR which translated to $6.62 (US) with the exchange rate at the time of writing.

QuickSilver is a fantastic time-saving tool for those who aren't afraid to use their keyboard to get work done faster. QuickSilver eliminates the need drag your mouse around and click through folders to open something. With QS, you select a simple keyboard shortcut to bring up the QuickSilver interface (which is customizable). Once the interface has popped up (nearly instant), you simply start typing the name of what you want to open then press enter.

Screen shot of QuickSilver interface with default settings.

Screen shot of QuickSilver interface with settings customized for MacWorks colors.

Screen shot of QuickSilver 'Flashlight' interface -- mimics Apple's Spotlight.

QuickSilver goes beyond just simply opening applications. If you think of the first pane of the QuickSilver interface as the noun (what program or document are you targeting) then hit tab, the second pane is like the verb -- you can specify what to do with the selected item. QuickSilver has many actions available and depend on context. Many plugins are available for free that add to QuickSilver's functionality.

Another great feature is the ability to do quick calculations. If you bring up the QuickSilver interface using your keyboard short-cut (we like COMMAND + SHIFT + SPACE), then immediately type the equal sign, you can type in a calculator calculation. When you press enter, QuickSilver asks calculator to calculate for you and returns the result right in the QuickSilver interface -- no need to launch Calculator!

Screen shot of QuickSilver calculator action.

There seem to be unlimited possibilities with QuickSilver. One example is the ability to select a file, compress it, then email it on to a friend. To accomplish this, open the QuickSilver interface, locate the file you wish to email by typing "Desktop" or "Documents" then use your arrow keys to select your document. Hit the tab key and choose "Compress" (you can even choose which compression method you would like to use) followed by the ENTER key. QuickSilver will compress the file then popup the QS interface with the compressed file pre-selected. In the action pane, choose "Email to" then press tab and start typing the name of the contact you would like to send the attachment to. If you hit your right arrow key, you'll have the ability to select which email address to use if the contact has multiple addresses! Once you press enter, QuickSilver will open up your email program, create a new mail message, fill in the recipient you chose, attach the file and hold the message for you to edit or manually send.

Screen shot of QuickSilver compression action.

Screen shot of QuickSilver email action.

At the bare minimum, QuickSilver is a very fast application launcher that keep you from mousing around. Even if you do not use any of the other advanced features, you'll find it extremely useful!

For an excellent video tutorial of QuickSilver from the guys at Mac Break: MacBreak QuickSilver Tutorial. There are several located at YouTube: YouTube QuickSilver Tutorial

Little Snitch is like a firewall turned upside down. Whereas a firewall blocks or filters incoming network traffic, Little Snitch allows you set rules for outgoing network requests and transmissions. For example: If iCal wants to contact an Internet server to update a calendar that iCal is subscribed to, Little Snitch will automatically detect that iCal is trying to access the Internet and will pop up an alert which gives you the opportunity to decide whether or not to allow iCal's Internet request.

Little Snitch alert indicating that iCal wants to connect to a server (homepage.mac.com) on port 80.

As you may be able to discern from the screen shot above, you may choose to ALLOW or DENY the connection for iCal either this one time, until iCal quits, or forever (every time iCal tries to make this Internet request). Furthermore, I can set a condition for this rule that defines whether iCal can or cannot connect to this particular server on any port number, any server on the specific port number or just this particular server on this port number.

While it may seem like a lot of work, in most cases you would set rules on a permanent basis so once you have set a rule for a particular program, Little Snitch does all the work in the background so you don't even see it happening. Furthermore, Little Snitch is pre-configured with a basic set of standard rules -- always allowing Safari to connect to web servers on port 80, always allowing Mail to connect to mail servers on ports 110 and 25, etc. For easy configuration of rules at any time, Little Snitch installs a preference pane into the System Preferences which allows for adding, editing and removing rules.

Screen shot of Little Snitch preference pane

Synergy is an add-on utility for controlling iTunes (and then some). Synergy installs a system preference pane and starts automatically at login. Keyboard junkies might enjoy this tool immensely because Synergy allows you to setup keyboard shortcuts to simplify interaction with iTunes. You can set keyboard shortcuts to perform the following tasks:

• Skip tracks forward or back
• Set song rating for the currently playing song
• Turn on/off shuffle and repeat modes
• more: see screen shot below

Screen shot of Synergy 'HOT KEYS' preference pane

Synergy also has the option of adding a small iTunes controller in your Mac menu bar. Additionally, you can set it to display a floating semi-transparent window with album art, artist name, and album information when a new song starts playing.