Honoring the 30 Best Mac Shareware Products of the Year.
Shareware and freeware programs offer Mac users one of the best deals in the computer industry: inexpensive, or free, programs you can try out before you pay for them. MacUser, in conjunction with Ziff-Davis Interactive, honors the producers of this year's best shareware with the annual MacUser/ZDI Shareware Awards.
You can download these and other shareware programs from online services, such as CompuServe, America Online, and eWorld. This entire collection of winners is available on ZiffNet/Mac, MacUser's online service (see How to Reach Us for access information; the filename for each program follows its name in this listing). Those who don't have online accounts can get shareware from a friend who does, from a local Mac user group, or from a software distributor such as Educorp (800-843-9497 or 619-536-9999).
Utilities
This is possibly the most popular category of shareware and the most varied. The common quality of these three selections is that they make using your Mac easier.
The Winner Is . . .
StuffIt Expander and DropStuff with Expander Enhancer
(STUFEX.SEA and DROPST.SEA). Aladdin's pair of System 7 compression utilities ($30 for both) form a dream team. These two utilities can compress and decompress files, using almost any Mac, DOS, or UNIX compression scheme you can name. If you deal with a lot of online files or simply want to free up some space on your hard disk, this duo is indispensable.
Honorable Mentions
ShrinkWrap (SHRINW.SIT). This drag-and-drop utility by Chad Magendanz is a freeware replacement, with improvements, for Apple's Disk Copy program. It lets you convert floppy disks into Disk Copy images and open the images quickly and intuitively.
ScrapIt Pro (SCRAPPRO.SIT). John V. Holder's Scrapbook alternative ($15) lets you do things the Apple Scrapbook won't, such as name items, display a table of contents, and print thumbnails.
System Enhancements
The Mac has the best little interface in the computing world, but that doesn't stop users from tweaking it with add-ons.
And the Winner Is...
HoverBar
(HOVERB.SIT). Guy Fullerton's program launcher for System 7.5 ($5), similar to commercial offerings such as Square One, is way too cool. Among its features are a floating program-launch palette and multiple clipboards.
Honorable Mentions
Decor (DECOR.SIT). You can turn a picture of your dog or the graphic of your choice into your desktop backdrop with this program ($10) by Francois Pottier.
Desktop Strip (DESKST.SIT). Sigurour Asgeirsson's utility ($20) brings the convenience of the Apple PowerBook Control Strip to desktop Macs.
Personal Tools
With the right software, your Mac can fill just about any role you need it to, from helping you get organized to protecting your privacy or making groovy sounds.
The Winner Is . . .
CryptDisk
(CRDISK.SIT, demo version). This $20 security product by Will Price lets you password-protect and encrypt your files. The only place to get information on obtaining the full version is at the ftp site ftp://ftp.primenet.com/users/w/wprice/README.
Honorable Mentions
Guy Friday (GUYFRIDA.SIT). Matthew Klein's $24 free-form PIM (personal information manager) lets you enter data in any order you want, has a powerful search feature, can dial phone numbers, and can send you reminders.
SoundEffects (SEFFEC.SIT). This sound editor ($15) by Alberto Ricci lets you distort recorded sounds by applying a variety of sound effects.
Publishing Tools
Whether you need to get the word out online or on paper, these programs simplify the process.
The Winner Is . . .
Tex-Edit Plus
(TEXEDP.SIT). This System 7-only text editor ($5) by Tom Bender is a boffo replacement for Apple's SimpleText or TeachText. You can use it to search and replace text in a document as well as to format text you send and receive from online services. It supports AppleScript too.
Honorable Mentions
Acrobat Reader (ACROBR.SIT). Adobe Systems' free viewer for PDF documents was long in coming but worth the wait. It lets you view; navigate; and print PDF files, which seem to proliferate online.
HTML Web Weaver (HTMLST.SIT). This text editor ($25) by Robert C. Best III lets you easily generate HTML documents for use on the World Wide Web.
Graphics
Conversion may not be a religious experience when applied to graphics files, but it's a crucial function that each of these programs fulfills.
The Winner Is . . .
GraphicConverter
(GRACON.SIT). This graphics-conversion program ($35) lets you translate to or from virtually any raster- or vector-graphics format you want. It's powerful, fast, and well supported by its author, Thorsten Lemke.
Honorable Mentions
clip2gif (CL2GIF.SIT). This one's simple, small, and free. It converts PICT graphics to JPEG or interlaced-GIF files -- important for use on WWW sites. Thanks, Yves Piguet.
EpsConverter (EPSCON.SIT). Artemis Software's utility ($24.95) converts any EPS file into an Adobe Illustrator 3- or 5-compatible EPS file, for easy editing and transfer to other programs.
Net Tools
Having one's own home page is fast becoming the status symbol of the '90s. Here's a trinity of tools for the Internet geek in all of us.
The Winner Is . . .
MacHTTP
(MAHTTP.SIT). This astonishing System 7 utility by Chuck Shotton does far more than set up a World Wide Web home page -- it actually lets you set up your Mac as a WWW server. It brings capabilities to the masses that used to be the exclusive domain of an elite few.
Honorable Mentions
Internet Config (INCONF.SIT). This free time-saving tool by Peter Lewis lets you set preferences for all your Internet programs simultaneously.
Value-Added NewsWatcher (VANEWSWA.SIT). An efficient tool for browsing and managing Internet newsgroups, this freeware program was created by John Norstad, David Brewster, and Bob Boonstra.
Electronic Publications
The growing importance of the Information Superhighway has produced a wide variety of free online publications such as this year's standouts. (Note: Look for issues by using the publication's name as a keyword.)
The Winner Is . . .
MacSense
Brimming with wonderful graphics, useful information, and practical tips about the Mac, this electronic zine from Christopher McVeigh sets high standards for the rest of the online-publishing world.
Honorable Mentions
Information Alley. Tips and tricks about all things Mac are the focus of this monthly publication put out by Apple's Customer Services Division.
PowerPC News. This text-only electronic publication from Chris Rose thoroughly covers news about PowerPC technology and products.
Educational
Keep the gray matter stimulated with these scientific wonders.
The Winner Is . . .
MPj Astro
(MPJASTRO.SIT). Definitely the heppest shareware guide to the universe known to Mac-kind, this outstanding astronomy program ($25) from Microprojects lets you view the heavens from any place in the world and bring up a list of important celestial objects you can see if you gaze up at the starry skies tonight. Great interface. Easy to use.
Honorable Mentions
Menstrual Cycle and Location of the Uterus (MENCYC.SIT and UTERUS.SIT). These free QuickTime movies by Roy Stringer show the typical 28-day human menstrual cycle and contain a 3-D rendering of a uterus.
RasMol for the Mac (RASMOL.SIT). Richard Sayle's freeware program for the classroom generates and displays graphics of molecules that are as beautiful as they are informative.
Fun and Games
There's a whole lot of downloading going on when it comes to this popular category of online software.
The Winner Is . . .
Realmz
(REALMZ.SIT) This role-playing game ($25) by Tim Phillips and Fantasoft plunges you into a world of crypts, dungeons, and castles, where your job is basically to seek out adventure. It has developed a cult following that many commercial offerings would envy.
Honorable Mentions
Apeiron (APEIRO.SEA). Andrew Welch just keeps producing one fine game after another. This shareware version ($15) of the classic Centipede is an arcade all-star.
Prince of Destruction (PODEST.SIT). This arcadelike adventure game ($25) by Andrew Barry and Tonio and Pamina Loewald sets you off on an exciting hack-and-slash journey.
Newton
These programs make bold strides toward making those little handheld devices as practical as they are easy to carry.
The Winner Is . . .
WakeUpWeek
(WAKEWEEK.SIT). Newtonians will appreciate Ben Gottlieb's $20 program, which helps them get organized. It's a set of agenda-management tools for handling and viewing Newton notes, to-dos, and appointments in an intuitive and efficient manner.
Honorable Mentions
MPG (MPG.SIT). This very popular $20 Newton powerhouse by Hardy Macia acts as a mileage log, to help you keep track of travel statistics.
PocketMoney (POCKMO.SIT). Another Newton add-on by Hardy Macia, this $20 program lets you balance various bank accounts on your Newton.
Gregory Wasson is a MacUser contributing editor and the primary software librarian of FamilyPC Online, the online (AOL) companion to FamilyPC magazine. He can be reached on CompuServe at 72511,36 or on America Online as FPC Greg.
