Below are some non-Apple control panels; I have tried to provide descriptions of those that have some mystery as to where they came from or what they do. If you have an item you would like to add to this list, please email me the name, description and, if possible, RAM consumption figures. Since I don't own everything, I won't be able to provide everything myself ;-)
窶｢ Adobe Type Reunion (v1.2): font menu utility, similar to Now WYSIWYG Menus, which groups font families together in hierarchical submenus and shows font names in their respective fonts.
窶｢ After Dark (v3.0b) [150-? (RAM usage depends upon which "module" you are using)]: popular screen saver. This control panel has been known to conflict with many things, and can cause quite a few crashes under certain configurations. Use with caution.
窶｢ After Dark Files: not a control panel, but a folder within the Control Panels folder. This folder holds the modules and support files for After Dark.
窶｢ Apple Macintosh 24AC: used by the Radius Display Card 24AC.
窶｢ ArtValve (v2.0) [.5/.5]: allows AOL users to avoid the long "downloading art" periods. Replaces "art" with a simple AOL graphic.
窶｢ ATM (Adobe Type Manager) 3.9 [1046/?]: allows Type 1 fonts to display smoothly. Also required for Acrobat/Acrobat Reader to function. FYI, there is a conflict between ATM 3.8.3 and Suitcase 2.x.
窶｢ Basic Black [3.5/0]: a simple shareware screen saver.
窶｢ CD Menu [42/43.5]: places a menu in the menu bar which allows you to control the CD player.
窶｢ CDU (Connectix Desktop Utilities) [154/192]: add numerous functionality enhancements to your Mac, too numerous to list here. [Highly recommended! -Ed.]
窶｢ CD-ROM Driver (v2.0): control panel and driver for use with AIWA CD-ROM drives.
窶｢ Config PPP: if you are using MacPPP or FreePPP, this control panel allows you to specify settings for your PPP connection. It requires the "PPP" extension.
窶｢ Conflict Catcher (v3.0.4): a commercial alternative to Apple's Extensions Manager (see the "Final Notes" section of the first chapter).
窶｢ Desktop Strip: shareware which gives all Mac models the capability of a "Control Strip-like" utility.
窶｢ Dialog View [21/30]: shareware which expands the open/save dialogs to let you see longer file names. Also allows you to change some system fonts/icons.
窶｢ DiskExpress II (v2.20) [211.5/232]: a disk de-fragmentation utility.
窶｢ DiskLight: enables a blinking icon in the menu bar to indicate disk access. This control panel is notorious for causing init conflicts and crashes.
窶｢ DoubleScroll (v2.1.2) [22/63.5]: adds up and down scroll buttons at both the top and bottom of scroll bars (so you don't have to go to the bottom of a window to scroll down, or vice versa).
窶｢ Dynamic Desktop (v3.3): used with older Radius Pivot monitors to set options for desktop orientation (these monitors can actually shift 90 degrees and offer dynamic switching between page view and landscape view). Supposedly, this control panel will not be updated/ supported any longer by Radius and/or Portrait Display Labs (the current owner of the Pivot line of monitors).
窶｢ FileSaver: part of the Norton Utilities package. Works in conjunction with the Disk Doctor, Volume Recover, and UnErase modules of Norton Utilities to repair/ recover damaged/ lost files.
窶｢ Greg's Buttons: shareware which allows you to change the menu bar color, button appearances, system text color/font, and other aspects of the user interface.
窶｢ Helium (v2.1.1) [28/?]: allows you to assign a hot key to turn baloon help on/off, rather than having to toggle it on/off from the menu bar.
窶｢ Kaboom: allows you to assign different sounds to different events, such as copying a file, emptying the trash, restarting, etc.
窶｢ Label Secrets: a shareware control panel which replaces the "Essential, Hot, In Progress" text under the "Labels" menu in the Finder with a new Mac "secret" every time you restart/ start up your Mac.
窶｢ Mac GamePad (v1.0.3) [1.5/0]: driver/ settings for the Gravis Mac GamePad. If this control panel is installed and you have the GamePad plugged into an ADB port at startup, the keyboard restart (control- command- power key) will not work (it has been suggested that this is only true for those computers which have a software-implemented keyboard power key; the Quadra/LC/Performa 600-series and the Performa 6000-series have the keyboard power key implemented in hardware (ROM), and supposedly do not have this problem).
窶｢ MacEKG (v3.0.1): diagnostic utility from MicroMat, the makers of TechTool. Analyzes your computer's "health" at shutdown, startup, and/or other user-defined times.
窶｢ MacSLIP (v3.0.3) [<.5/244]: commercial product used for dial-up SLIP and PPP connections.
窶｢ Monaco Tuner (v1.0) [3/0]: allows you to select a font to be used in place of Monaco. [Monaco 9 has some drawbacks for programmers, but personally, I find it a bit hard to read in any application. I use this control panel to substitute ProFont, my favorite mono-spaced font, in place of Monaco. -Ed.]
窶｢ Mouse2 (v1.4a) [<1/0]: doubles the speed of the mouse settings in the Mouse control panel.
窶｢ MouseStick II (v3.3.1): driver/ settings for the Gravis MouseStick II.
窶｢ Now Folder Menus (v6.0) [59/?]: one of the Now Utilities. Provides similar functionality to PopUp Folder, the shareware utility. Allows you to browse folders without actually opening them by creating a hierarchical menu when you click on a folder. Also allows you to place files in folders using the same hierarchical menus.
窶｢ Now Menus (v6.0) [86/234]: one of the Now Utilities. Adds hierarchical menus, custom menus, popup menus, and hot-key capabilities to your Mac. Using this in conjunction with Now SuperBoomerang provides added functionality.
窶｢ Now Startup Manager (v6.0): one of the Now Utilities. An alternative to Apple's Extensions Manager (see the "Final Notes" section in the first chapter).
窶｢ Now SuperBoomerang (v6.0) [76/104]: one of the Now Utilties. Completely revamps save/open dialogues. Needs the "Now SB Extractor" document in the Extensions folder for full functionality.
窶｢ Now Tabs (v6.0) [116/?]: one of the Now Utilities. allows folders to be "collapsed" into "tabs" at the bottom of the screen. Also allows a Windows 95-like palette at the bottom of the screen. Requires the "Now Tabs Plug Ins Folder" to be present in the control panels folder.
窶｢ Now WYSIWYG Menus (v6.0) [66/?]: one of the Now Utilities. Allows fonts in "Fonts" menus to be displayed in their actual font face. Allows customization of font menus. Is incompatible with some applications, such as Microsoft Word.
窶｢ OpenWide: shareware which extends the capabilities of open/save dialog boxes so that longer file names are entirely visible and more files can be viewed at once.
PDFWriter Shortcut (v2.0): allows you to choose the PDFWriter driver (see the "PDFWriter" chooser extension in the "Non-RAM" chapter) through a key/key combination without accessing the chooser.
窶｢ Personal Backup [27.5/20.5]: utility supplied with Iomega Zip drives for managing data backups.
窶｢ PopChar: shareware which provides a pull-down menu from which you can select any character created with the current font.
窶｢ PopUp Folder: allows you to browse folders without actually opening them by creating a hierarchical menu when you click on a folder. Also allows you to place files in folders, and perform other file-management operations, using the same hierarchical menus.
窶｢ QuickDay: used by Now Up-To-Date. Supposedly has a troublesome memory leak problem.
窶｢ QuickKeys (v3.0.1): QuickKeys is a "macro" program which allows your Mac to automatically execute operations and/or scripts through user-defined keys and/or key combinations. This control panel allows you to configure QuickKeys and access the QuickKeys editor.
窶｢ RAMDoubler (v2.0) [<.5/0]: new version of the popular Connectix utility (earlier version was an extension) which provides "virtual memory" support similar to Apple's virtual memory, but much more efficient and effective. Version 2.0's control panel allows you to set virtual memory from zero to three times your actuall installed RAM (thus making the utility a RAMTripler). NOTE: If you set RAMDoubler 2's memory setting to "zero" you will not benefit from any additional available memory, but you will benefit from what is known as "file mapping." On a PowerMac, your PowerPC native applications will benefit from a smaller RAM footprint and more efficient operation, but you will not suffer the overall decrease in speed that usually comes from using virtual memory.
窶｢ SCSIProbe (v4.3): allows you to identify and mount SCSI devices connected to your Mac. Provides information on SCSI ID#, device type, vendor, product and version. Provides the option of a startup extension that can mount volumes automatically. Supports multiple SCSI busses. Can be used without being installed in the Control Panels folder.
窶｢ Snapz (v1.0): a screen capture utility from Ambrosia Software. It not only "captures" the screen at times when the standard shift- command- 3 won't (during startup, when a screen saver is active), but also allows you to choose from 16 different file types for your screen captures.
窶｢ Snitch [164.5/170.5]: provides added "Get Info" information and allows customization of this info.
窶｢ Software FPU [20.5/32]: emulates a floating-point math coprocessor on machines which do hot have one. Also allows PowerMacs emulate the 680x0 FPU. Available in a PowerPC-native version, called Power FPU.
窶｢ SoundManager (v1.8.1): shareware which allows you to designate different sound to play at different times and events (shutdown, startup, when emptying the trash, when ejecting a disk, etc.)
窶｢ Speed Beep (v2.0.6): allows your Mac to play system alert sounds in the background, so as not to interrupt foreground operations. Also allows you to customize system alerts.
窶｢ Spell Catcher (v1.5.6) [49.5/92]: newest version of Thunder 7 (below). Interactive spell checker which is active across all applications.
窶｢ TappyType (v2.0.1): shareware which makes your Mac sound like an old-fashioned typewriter when you type!
窶｢ TaskMan (v1.2): shareware which allows you to switch between running applications using a keyboard combination, much like the shareware "Program Switcher" and "PwrSwitcher."
窶｢ TeleFinder TCP (v1.0): on BBS' which use TeleFinder software, this control panel on the host computer allows users to access the BBS over a TCP/IP connection, rather than having to dial in.
窶｢ Teleport, Teleport Serial, Teleport Bronze, etc.: used by the Teleport line of modems from Global Village. Allows you to register your modem with Global Village, "reset" the modem, and change the settings.
窶｢ Thunder 7 (v1.5.5) [50/92]: interactive spell checker which is active across all applications. Replaced by the newer Spell Catcher (above).
窶｢ Victoire!: shareware which provides "cheating" options in a number of popular games.
窶｢ Virtual Disk Starter/ Virtual Disk (v2.0.2): limited version/ full version of the commercial product "Virtual Disk." Both allow you to access files located on "off-line" volumes as if the volumes were mounted. The trial version comes bundled with Iomega zip drives.
窶｢ Wacom Tablet Driver (v2.3.6): driver for drawing/ graphics tablets by Wacom.
窶｢ WunderBar [48/64]
窶｢ XMas Lights (v1.1): places strings of flashing colored lights around the border of your screen.
窶｢ YesNoCancel (v1.2.1): allow you to select the yes/no/cancel options in a dialog box by using the keyboard. Rather than using the command-key combinations built into the system software, this control panel allows you to designate single keys which will perform the same task.
窶｢ ZoomBar (v2.3): shareware which works like Apple's WindowShade by allowing you to reduce windows to the title bar.
窶｢ ﾂｰRemote [<.5/60]: used by Retrospect for remote data backups.
