01-22-2005, 05:29 PM

I just got a new iMac and am wondering what a few essential utilities or programs are... to optimize or check my computer to make sure it is running efficiently... or any other programs that you would reccommend.

01-22-2005, 05:38 PM

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18282

Thats really all you need

01-22-2005, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by trpnmonkey41

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18282

Thats really all you need

yup, that and disk utility( in utilities folder) are all youll ever need. if youre not an experienced mac user, or not that, but if youve never used terminal, and dont know what cron scripts are, please use cocktail.

01-22-2005, 10:40 PM

Or, if you don't want to pay the money for Cocktail, (I certainly don't) - lots of good things have been said about OnyX:

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11582

01-22-2005, 10:48 PM

dont use onyx unless youre experienced mac user as I mentioned the above. onyx can really screw up your mac if youre not careful or dont know what something is.

01-22-2005, 10:56 PM

It's quite possible and after a short while easy to run your Mac without any extra utilities. Using the terminal, repair permissions. After every software update, and about every 2 weeks: close all apps and log totally off. Log on, go in Finder, Applications. Utilities, Disk Utility. After the message -getting disk information- select volume (below the hard drive name -upper left corner). Just highlight it. Now look to the lower two things are there near the middle, verify permissions, repair permissions. Click repair permissions
Crons run by themselves if the Mac is active (not asleep) somewhere between 0400 and 0530 mornings. But in terminal: (switching to root - or superuser permissions) sudo sh /etc/daily > this needs to be done /weekly (instead of daily) and monthly. again with all apps closed.

01-23-2005, 12:12 AM

Originally Posted by Macman

dont use onyx unless youre experienced mac user as I mentioned the above. onyx can really screw up your mac if youre not careful or dont know what something is.

I still prefer OnyX because of its extensive functionality, but Titanium (the makers of OnyX) has recently released an application called Maintenance, which is a simple, scaled-down program that allows you to run the daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance with just a few clicks.

01-23-2005, 07:40 AM

Does anyone have links for anything about learning the "backend" of OSX?

01-23-2005, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by d-funct

Does anyone have links for anything about learning the "backend" of OSX?

OS X under the hood is UNIX, so by backend I assume you mean 'Darwin' (http://developer.apple.com/darwin/) - which is code from Mach + FreeBSD.

If you want to really learn UNIX, the *real* way - grab an extra x86 computer and install Slackware Linux (www.slackware.com) or FreeBSD (www.freebsd.org)

Or, just do a Google search for "UNIX tutorial."

01-23-2005, 02:55 PM

If you turn your Mac off at night or sleep it (FreeWare) MacJanitor is a very easy way to run the cron scripts that won't get run otherwise.
http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_hill/

01-23-2005, 03:04 PM

yea, cocktail will do the same.

01-23-2005, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by meltbanana314

OS X under the hood is UNIX, so by backend I assume you mean 'Darwin' (http://developer.apple.com/darwin/) - which is code from Mach + FreeBSD.

If you want to really learn UNIX, the *real* way - grab an extra x86 computer and install Slackware Linux (www.slackware.com) or FreeBSD (www.freebsd.org)

Or, just do a Google search for "UNIX tutorial."

That is what I meant Thanks for this ... speaking of freebsd I've got a spare rig somewhere I was going to turn into a freebsd web-server so I guess I can kill 2 birds with one stone