It was just a few weeks ago that I was writing about the free upgrade I received to Boomerang. If you own a Mac and you’re not using Boomerang, you’re missing out on one of the handiest programs to come down the pike in a long time. Boomerang is an INIT and works at the system level. What it provides is the ability to quickly navigate around your hard drive, jumping directly to recently used files and folders.
Boomerang originally showed up as shareware and can be found in most user group libraries. The idea of shareware is that the author invites you to try out his software for a while. Then, if you like it and want to continue using it, simply send him the fee that he requests. It’s hard to imagine anyone trying Boomerang out and not falling in love with it.
When Boomerang 2.1 came out recently it was shipped free to all registered users. Version 2.1 contained several notable improvements, and it was not shareware; it was only made available to those who had registered their sharware version by sending in the fee.
Now Software has recently bought the rights to Boomerang, upgraded it, and added it to their package called Now Utilities. The new version is called Super Boomerang, and it includes even more features. The interface has been redesigned; where there used to be a “button” that popped up with the choices, now there is a complete menu bar which has been added to your standard Open and Save dialog boxes.
The DirectOpen feature adds the most recently added files as a pop-out submenu to your File menu, so that you often do not need to even go through the Open dialogue box. Additional new features include a greatly simplified Configuration dialog box. For other features, please see our recent review. Steven Bobker named Boomerang one of the best products of the year, and Super Boomerang is even better.
CAPTION: Super Boomerang’s DirectOpen feature gives quick access to recently-accessed files.
ILLUSTRATION” “Super Boomer Menu Bar”
ILLUSTRATION: “Super Boomer File Menu”
CAPTION: The new version adds a menu bar to the Save and Open dialog boxes. From here, you can jump directly to recently accessed folders, special options, and to configure the utility. Files can be searched for, and new folders can be created.
ILLUSTRATION: “Super Boomer - Configuration”
CAPTION: Configuration is easier than in earlier versions. You can define “hot keys” which take you directly to specified folders.
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