Below are many 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.
• Adobe Type Reunion (v1.2): font menu utility, similar to Now WYSIWYG Menus, which groups font families together in hierarchical sub-menus and shows font names in their respective fonts.
• 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.
• 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.
• Apple Macintosh 24AC: used by the Radius Display Card 24AC.
• ArtValve (v2.0) [.5/.5]: allows AOL users to avoid the long “downloading art” periods by replacing all art/images with a generic "AOL" graphic.
• ATI Displays (v2.0) [NA]: actually an application, allows you to monitor the ATI graphics cards and change their settings.
• ATM™ GX: Adobe Type Manager for QuickDraw™ GX. Provides support for display of Adobe Postscript fonts with QuickDraw™ GX installed.
• Basic Black [3.5/0]: a simple shareware screen saver.
• CD Menu [42/43.5]: places a menu in the menu bar which allows you to control the CD player when playing audio CDs.
• CDU (Connectix Desktop Utilities) [154/192]: add numerous functionality enhancements to your Mac, too numerous to list here. [Highly recommended! -Ed.]
• CD-ROM Driver (v2.0): control panel and driver for use with AIWA CD-ROM drives.
• Config PPP (v2.1.4): if you are using MacPPP, this control panel allows you to specify settings for your PPP connection. It requires the "PPP" extension.
• Conflict Catcher (v3.0.4): a commercial alternative to Apple's Extensions Manager (see the "Final Notes" section of the first chapter).
• Default Folder (v2.6.1): enhances Open and Save dialog boxes by providing many of the features of Now SuperBoomerang (below) and Directory Assistance (see "Third-Party Control Panels"). Allows you to set up a "default" folder for applications, switch between recently used folders, see the space available on each volume, switch between volumes, click on a Finder window to cause the dialog box to jump to that folder, get information on items in the dialog, move items to the trash from within the dialog, jump back to the last file you used (useful when opening a file), change the "Replace" default to "Cancel" when an identically-named item already exists, and turn off custom color icons in the dialog to speed up the display of items.
• Desktop Strip: shareware which gives all Mac models the functionality of a "Control Strip-like" utility (formerly, only PowerBooks and PCI Macs could benefit from this functionality).
• 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.
• DiskExpress II (v2.20) [211.5/232]: a disk de-fragmentation utility. Note the two "helper" extensions in the "Third-Party Extensions" chapter.
• DiskLight: enables a blinking icon in the menu bar to indicate disk access. This control panel is notorious for causing init conflicts and crashes.
• 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).
• Drag Any Window (v3.2): allows you to drag any window, including modal dialogs, around the screen using a user-definable key combination.
• 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).
• 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.
• FreePPP Setup (v2.5v2): if you are using FreePPP, allows you to specify settings for your PPP connection. Actually an application. The FreePPP system requires the "FreePPP" extension.
• 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.
• Helium (v2.1.1) [28/?]: allows you to assign a hot key to turn balloon help on/off, rather than having to toggle it on/off from the menu bar.
• Hidden Finder Features (v1.0.3) [<.5/0]: enables features which are actually built into the Finder, but for some reason not activated by Apple: control-dragging to make aliases; command-R to reveal an alias' original file; command-delete to move an item to the trash; and disabling the Finder's "zooming" rectangles. The control panel allows you to enable/disable each feature individually. There are two extensions, Secret Finder Features and Finder Extensions Enabler, which activate the first three features, but don't give you the option of turning them on or off.
• Iomega Drive Options (v1.1): actually an application, provides options for Iomega drives such as sleep time, disk-write verification and disk ejection.
• Kaboom: allows you to assign different sounds to different events, such as copying a file, emptying the trash, restarting, etc.
• Kaleidoscope (v1.0.1) [80.5/128]: shareware which allows you to completely change the appearance of your Mac's interface. Combines some features of "Aaron" and "Greg's Buttons" plus additional enhancements. Supports user-creatable "schemes" for adding new designs and interfaces.
• Keys Off (v1.0): disables your Mac’s keyboard and/or mouse to prevent unauthorized access and/or modifications. Even though the keyboard is "off," you must type in your password to regain access.
• Label Secrets/Label Secrets Pro: a 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. This file is only available with the book Macworld Mac SECRETS by David Pogue and Joseph Schorr.
• Mac GamePad (v1.0.6) [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).
• MacEKG (v3.0.1): the “command center” for MicroMat’s MacEKG diagnostic utility, which analyzes your computer's "health" at shutdown, startup, and/or other user-defined times.
This control panel allows you to decide when automatic tests should occur, and what tests should be executed.
• MacEnvy 2.1: an older control panel (1990) which displays info about your machine, as well as a neat "game of life" display.
• MacSLIP (v3.0.3) [<.5/244]: commercial product from Hyde Park Software used for dial-up SLIP and PPP connections. The control panel allows you to select setting for your modem and computer, as well as to set the SLIP/PPP variables for your internet provider. Requires the Slip Extension file (see "Third-Party Extensions").
• 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.]
• Mouse2 (v1.4a) [<1/0]: doubles the speed of the mouse settings in the Mouse control panel.
• MouseStick II (v3.3.1): driver/ settings for the Gravis MouseStick II.
• NoChooser: installed by Delrina Fax PRO. Allows you to select a key combination to use in conjunction with the "File: Print" command which temporarily switches from the printer selected in the Chooser to the Delrina Fax PRO driver.
• NoDesktopCleanup (v1.2.1): original version added a confirmation dialogue to the "Clean Up" menus so that you didn't accidentally rearrange your desktop icons. This version allows you to add a confirmation dialog to any menu item in any application.
• Now Utilities: the following control panels are part of the Now Utilities package. There are also three extensions which are installed by Now Utilities (see "Now" in the next chapter). Although you can pick and choose which of the Utilities you wish to install, all of them require the Now Toolbox extension (listed in the next chapter). Note that there are quite a few conflicts with the Now Utilities which Now has summarized in a "Compatibility Notes" document on their web site.
o Now Auto Type (v6.5): allows you to assign key combination/abbreviated "shortcuts" for
frequently-typed or long text. When the shortcut is entered, it is automatically expanded to
the full text.
o Now Folder Menus (v6.5) [59/?]: 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.
o Now Menus (v6.5.4) [138/234]: adds hierarchical menus, custom menus, popup menus, and
hot-key capabilities to your Mac. Also provides added Open/Save options when used in
conjunction with Now SuperBoomerang.
o Now QuickFiler (v6.5): offers transparent and file-level compression, either manually or
automatically in the background.
o Now Save (v6.5): automatically saves your work in the background and automatically captures
keystrokes to a file to allow you to rescue unsaved/lost work after a crash.
o Now Shortcuts (v6.5) [75.5/1024]: allows you to control-click on an item in the Finder and be
given a pop-up menu of commands that you can perform on it.
o Now Startup Manager (v7.0.3): an alternative to Apple's Extensions Manager (see the "Final
Notes" section in the first chapter). There is a conflict between the Display Enabler extension
and Now's Startup Manager where Startup Manager will not allow the Display Enabler to load.
The solution is to either rename Display Enabler (with a few spaces at the front of the name)
so that it loads before Startup Manager, or (and this supposedly doesn't always work) to use
Startup Manager to load Display Enabler as the very first extension. This will supposedly be
fixed in an upcoming version of Startup Manager.
o Now SuperBoomerang (v6.5) [81/104]: completely revamps save/open dialogues to allow you
to jump quickly to frequently-used drives, folders, and files. When using Now Menus, provides
hierarchical menus in the File menu to open files. Needs the "Now SB Extractor" document in
the Extensions folder for full functionality.
o Now Tabs (v6.5) [152/1024]: allows folders to be "collapsed" into "tabs" at the bottom of
the screen. 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.
o Now WYSIWYG Menus (v6.5) [57.5/73]: allows fonts in "Fonts" menus to be displayed in their
actual font face. Groups fonts into "families" in menus. Allows customization of font menus.
Incompatible with some applications, such as Microsoft Word.
• Okey Dokey/Okey Dokey Pro (v2.0.2): automatically selects the default (“OK,” “Change,” “Cancel”) in modal dialogs after a user-defined time. Useful for automatically responding to dialogs which take over your Mac when it is unattended.
• 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.
• OptiMem: see "RAM Charger" below.
• 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.
• PaperPort: allows you to adjust the settings for Visioneer PaperPort scanners.
• Personal Backup [27.5/20.5]: utility supplied with Iomega Zip drives for managing data backups.
• PopChar: shareware which provides a pull-down menu from which you can select any character created with the current font.
• PopUp Folder (v2.0.1) [12.5/40]: 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. Even enables these pop-up menus for folders/volumes in Open and Save dialog boxes.
• Program Switcher (v4.2.0): allows you to switch between currently-running applications by enacting a user-definable key combination, much like the similar feature in Windows.
• QuickDay: used by Now Up-To-Date. Supposedly has a troublesome memory leak problem.
• 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.
• QuickScrap (v1.0): allows you to send pictures, text, sounds, etc. directly to the Scrapbook file using a user-definable key combination. Without this utility, you have to copy the item, open the Scrapbook, paste the item, then switch back to the original application. Also provides a "multiple clipboard" which can store up to 100 items.
• RAM Charger(v3.0): utility which compresses and manages RAM to allow your Mac to use memory more efficiently. This utility is also known as "OptiMem," as it is distributed by two different companies.
• RAMDoubler (v2.0.1) [<.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 actual 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. The latest update (v2.0.1) fixes a freeze when using Retrospect 3.0A on a PCI Mac. Also, Connectix has said that users must update RAMDoubler to v2.0.1 in order to be compatible with the upcoming SpeedDoubler 2.0.
• 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.
• Sleeper (v2.1) [28/56]: shareware which provides energy saving functions like screen dimming or screen power-off, hard drive spin down, and automatic shut down.
• Snapz Pro (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. (The older version of this utility was simply called "Snapz.")
• Snitch (v2.1.1) [164.5/170.5]: provides added "Get Info" information and allows customization and alteration of this info.
• 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.
• SoundMaster (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.)
• 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.
• Spell Catcher (v1.5.6) [49.5/92]: newest version of Thunder 7 (below). Interactive spell checker and thesaurus which is active across all applications. Automatically notifies you about and, if desired, corrects misspellings and common grammatical and punctuation errors. Allows custom "shortcuts" to frequently-used text. Can also keep a log of every keystroke, which you can later use to recover documents if lost in a crash or power failure.
• Spot On cdev (v2.3.1): supplied with various optical and magnetic drives with formatting and disk management tools. Drives formatted with this utility require this control panel in order to be mounted automatically.
• TappyType (v2.0.1): shareware which makes your Mac sound like an old-fashioned typewriter when you type!
• TaskMan (v1.2): shareware which allows you to switch between running applications using a keyboard combination, much like the shareware "Program Switcher" and "PwrSwitcher."
• 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.
• 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.
• True Finder Integration (v1.0) [593/768]: part of the StuffIt Deluxe package. Allows you to double-click on StuffIt archives and have them open just like "volumes" in the Finder, so you can view the individual files within the archives. By dragging a file outside of the archive window, it is "unstuffed." By moving a file into the archive window, it is compressed and incorporated into the archive. Allows compressing/decompressing by renaming a file/folder in the Finder (adding ".sit" to a file name causes it to compress automatically; deleting the ".sit" from an archive's name causes it to expand). Adds a "Magic Menu" to the Finder which allows you to perform many StuffIt actions merely by selecting an item and selecting the appropriate menu item.
• Victoire!: shareware which provides "cheating" options in a number of popular games.
• 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.
• Wacom Tablet Driver (v2.3.6): driver for drawing/ graphics tablets by Wacom.
• WunderBar [48/64]
• XMas Lights (v1.1): places strings of flashing colored lights around the border of your screen.
• 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.
• ZoomBar (v2.3): shareware which works like Apple's WindowShade by allowing you to reduce windows to the title bar.
• ~ATM (Adobe Type Manager) 4.0 [1046/?]: allows Type 1 fonts to display smoothly. Also required for Acrobat/Acrobat Reader to function. For this control panel to function, the special Adobe fonts must be present. Note: there is a conflict between ATM 3.8.3 and Suitcase 2.x.
• ~FreePPP Menu (v2.5v2): when using FreePPP for Internet connectivity, this control panel allows you to turn the FreePPP menu on or off. The menu allows you to connect, disconnect, and open the FreePPP Setup control panel/application from the menu bar.
• °Remote [<.5/60]: used by Retrospect for remote data backups.
