Weekly Utilities Updates and Review: Maintenance
A weekly list of the Mac troubleshooting utilities that have been updated, along with a review for one of them.
Every week I try to list the updates for utilities that can help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems, an outline one that I've not discussed before. This week I noticed an update to "Maintenance", which is a program that has a variety of performance optimization and system cleanup routines for OS X.
This program, made by the developers of "OnyX" is basically a stripped down version of OnyX, incorporating the routines and scripts from OnyX which are used for system maintenance. These are lumped together in Maintenance's single-pane window, where you can easily check them and click "Execute" to run them.
From briefly running the program, the routines are pretty much identical to those offered in OnyX, which I use regularly to do these and other cleanup functions. For people who just want to run the maintenance routines quickly and easily, Maintenance may be preferable than using OnyX.
The program has been updated to version 1.3, which adds Snow Leopard support. There are versions available for Leopard and Tiger, but as with OnyX, the developer has released individual versions for each OS X version. Check them out at Titanium Software's website: http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english/apps.html
Other Utilities Updates this Week
- Sponge 1.3 - Reclaim disk space by removing apps, sweeping large files, finding duplicate files.
- iDefrag 1.7.2 - Defragmentation & disk optimization.
- BackupLoupe 1.8.4 - Browse Time Machine backups & find frequently copied items.
- SMART Utility 2.1.1 - Checks hard drives' internal diagnostics systems.
- CheckUp 2.5.3 - Check your memory and disks; monitor the health of your Mac.
- Socks 1.3.1 - Optimization, maintenance and customization app.
- A Better Finder Rename 8.44 - Powerful file, photo, and MP3 batch renamer with advanced features.
- SwitchResX 4.0.3 - Custom resolutions, desktop icon position saving & more.
- CleanMyMac 1.7.2 - Clean up your Mac & free up hard drive space with a few clicks.
Keep in mind that while utilities can help in a vast majority of cases, as with any software, they can be buggy. Since these utilities were recently updated, these are actively being developed and are currently assumed to work. However, developers cannot take into account all system configurations, so be sure to back up your system before running any utilities for the first time. Additionally, double-check with the developer's Web site to be sure they are compatible with your system version. Incompatibilities with system software are the main reason why utilities and programs function improperly.
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