Ten popular menubar extras
Apple has pushed developers to take advantage of the Dock and Dashboard features of OS X for small utilities and widget-like functionality; however, many people appreciate the even smaller and less intrusive nature of the menu bar for holding various util
Apple has pushed developers to take advantage of the Dock and Dashboard features of OS X for small utilities and widget-like functionality; however, many people appreciate the even smaller and less intrusive nature of the menu bar for holding various utilities they access. Here are some popular menu bar add-ons that have helped OS X users with various functions:
- SpaceControl 1.0.3
This utility tracks used and available disk space on the drives attached to your system, and allows you to set alerts based on used space thresholds. - CPU Speed Menu 1.3
There are many instances where people would like to change the speed of their CPUs on-demand, rather than having the system automatically set the speed based on power and computing conditions. This menu utility changes CPU speed on the fly. - BootChamp 1.0.2
If you regularly use bootcamp, having an option to swiftly reboot into windows from OS X on your menu bar may come in handy. - Monitor 2.4
Keep track of updates and changes to various popular web portal sites, including webmail, twitter, RSS readers, paypal, and various blogs of your choosing, all in a drop-down menu. - BdCalendar 1.18 (OS X section)
This is a simple menu calendar with iCal support, which can come in handy instead of having to keep iCal open or in the dock. - BwanaDik 3.2.1
This utility can be exceptionally useful if your computer has a dynamically changing IP address and you need to connect to it for file-sharing and other services. When your IP address changes, it will notify you by email. - WeatherDock 2.5.1
Display current weather information and forecasts from weather.com in your menu bar and other locations. - iStat Menus 1.3
Monitor your entire system's resources with this highly configurable menu. Among the items you can monitor are: memory usage, CPU usage, disk activity and status, network transfers, temperatures, fan speeds, and bluetooth/wireless status. - PTHVolume 2.2.0
This is a useful alternative to the built-in volume control, which allows for multi-channel volume adjustment and keyboard volume control support for non-apple keyboards. - Caffeine 1.0.4
If you've ever been irritated by the computer going to sleep on you or switching to screen saver, but don't want to change your energy-saver settings, this menu extra will temporarily disable sleep and screen savers for a set amount of time.
Have a favorite menubar add-on? Post it!
Resources
Computing Guides
Laptops
Desktops & Monitors
Computer Accessories
Photography
Tablets & E-Readers
3D Printers
Computing Coupons