App: CheckUp, monitor the health of your Mac

CheckUp is a utility to obtain information on your Mac and your system to display an activity monitor on the CPU utilization of your disks, network or memory.

This application, published by the company ADNX.com, has a graphical interface rather original and enjoyable. Once launched, CheckUp just put a window type drawer on the side of your screen. It provides access to various features of the software through the icons.

These icons allow you to display, respectively, from top to bottom:

General information on your Mac (serial number, OS, IP address, etc ...)

• A monitoring of the occupation of processors in your machine
• A monitoring of the filling ratio and the use of internal and external hard drives
• Monitoring network, display speeds for sending and receiving data, and the various connections made by web applications launched
• A list of the different processes running on your Mac
• A summary of data (number of apps installed, many widget, fonts, etc ...)
• A history of recent crash

It is possible to reduce the view of the drawer or to access the software through the preferences icons at the bottom of the drawer.

When clicking on an icon, a new drawer opens, displaying some of the information available. It is possible to enlarge the window again to get more information by clicking on the button at the top left of the drawer.

Example of top drawer and the window for more info Data for part:

CheckUp But not content to simply display information. Indeed, this app has a warning tool interesting. As soon as it detects a problem, the first tray icons are colored orange to alert you the trouble.

It is then enough to go to the appropriate window for the details of the error. Note that it is even possible to set some alerts: alert me from X files in the trash, if the computer does not have enough RAM, etc. ...

In summary:

Checkup, keeps an eye on the health of your Mac
Version 3 ~ 13 MB

7-day full demo, available for 29 euros on the publisher's website

Checkup Download for Mac OS x 10.6

App: AccessMenuBarApps, expands the menu bar

AccessMenuBarApps is a simple application that minimizes the items in the menu bar to allow access to all the icons of software present in this one. If you are fond of small and useful practical applications, you may have noticed an increasing number of apps just put their little icon in the menu bar of Mac OS X. If this provides quick access quite interesting, but with the proliferation of applications installed, this portion of the Finder quickly becomes cluttered..And for those who has a small screen, some icons are sometimes marked with the menus of the application first. AccessMenuBarApps every living thing has a solution to this problem, but ultimately quite convenient. Indeed, the application menu of the app is minimized, so that when we call it in the foreground, the menu bar is full of space, and therefore shows the icons may be hidden.

History of making its use a little more practice, the application can be called from a simple keyboard shortcut, Shift + Space by default, configured from the preferences of the software. At this same place, it is also possible to activate / deactivate the sound played for each call AccessMenuBarApps (recommended to avoid going crazy) or enable / disable the option to call the software to the forefront in "tapping" twice the cursor against the top of the screen.

In summary:

AccessMenuBarApps, uses a trick stupid but convenient to clutter the menu bar
Version 2.0 ~ 1.7 MB

Freeware
AccessMenuBarApps download for Mac OS X 10.6+

Step-by-step how to install Mac OS X Lion Part.III

If you prefer to be against a "clean" installation, you certainly favor a clone and / or a manual backup. In case of problems, you can use your clone to return to Snow Leopard. If all goes well and you get a blank partition with Leo, restore from Time Machine will only "dirty" your installation so you may prefer to manually retrieve your documents from a clone or a one-time backup and reinstall your applications manually, This will allow you to transition to ensure their compatibility and to clean.

Installation
The "clean" installation is to start with a blank disc and install Mac OS X Lion: it can leave on a cool and avoid potential problems, including the most complex installations and the most polluted various hacks. By default, Lion installs from above and Snow Leopard, but it is quite possible to do a clean install if you really want. You will need to do to create an installation disk of Mac OS X Lion on DVD, hard drive or USB key, manipulation we have explained in a step-by-step. At the first stage of the installation, you can choose to use Disk Utility to format your partition Snow Leopard.

Lion-install

Even if you plan to install Mac OS X Lion as Apple has planned, that is to say, since Snow Leopard, you should create this disk to install Mac OS X Lion. The installation package is removed in the first start up Mac OS X Leo, and is heavy enough that you do not want to download it again to install it on another machine. Mac OS X now includes a partition backup to restore your system, but this restoration requires an Internet connection. If huge problem away from the Internet, this little USB key with Leo at the end of your keychain will serve you well.

Installation takes about thirty minutes, just enough time to review the new features of Leo. Good discovery.

Step-by-step how to install Mac OS X Lion Part.II

Mac OS X Lion
Some applications do not work perfectly under Leo: again, if you depend on some applications for your studies or your work, first check that they run properly under Leo. The site provides a Roaring Apps compatibility table that allows you to quickly know if an application is fully compatible, compatible with any concerns or incompatible with Leo. It is possible that some compatibility problems come not from the application of the system but do not hesitate to wait for 10.7.1 or 10.7.2 to avoid the initial teething problems.

In one case as in the other, know that for several weeks or a few months at least, MacGeneration list all applications updated to become compatible with Leo. Developers are our primary source of information, but feel free to contact us if your favorite application is compatible Lion. The installation process of Lion is more robust than other versions of Mac OS X. Examples include that of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Mac could refuse to start if certain applications were incompatible with Leopard installed. Since Snow Leopard, Apple puts the applications are incompatible with a newly installed system in a specific folder.

But one problem is soon reached; it is safer to make a backup before installing the Mac. Manual backup, clone (For example Carbon Copy Cloner) or Time Machine, the backup type will depend on your type of installation. If you install directly on top of Snow Leopard, Time Machine or a clone will suffice: if something goes wrong, you can quickly restore your machine to its previous state. If all goes well, your clone or your incremental backup Time Machine can be reused in Leo.

Step-by-step how to install Mac OS X Lion Part.I

Mac OS X Lion is here - finally, some say. As each new version of Mac OS X, many users will wonder what the best way to install it? Here are some tracks.

Snow Leopard update
Whether you decide to switch to Mac OS X Lion now or later, make sure you use at least Mac OS X 10.6.6 and have installed the Migration Assistant for Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Those who have to wait and recover the latest security updates, and others can ... just install Mac OS X Lion. Lion OS X is available in the Mac App Store for € 23.99: Lion OS X. What you download is an application of 3.5 GB containing the installation program, which will take about thirty minutes to download THD, two hours with ADSL (8 to 20 Mbps), and an eternity with every connection slower.

Those who have a slow connection are usually far from an Apple Store, and therefore cannot necessarily go there to download Lion. Take your troubles patiently and somewhat against the plague return passage at this time exclusively for the Mac App Store. Or wait until August and order the USB key installation Lion. The more impatient and reckless of you will certainly fall on the cat without thinking one second potential problems you may encounter on the road The more cautious will remember this rule

Mac OS X Lion is incompatible with the PowerPC applications: if you absolutely need a PowerPC application that does not have an Intel version, stay in Snow Leopard the time that the developer put his application up to date, you finish your project, or you find an alternative. You can always test Lion on another partition or another disk.