Archive for the ‘Product Reviews’ Category

Mac OS X LEOPARD
ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE For Dummies

by Susan McLane, Kachemacs

Author: Mark L. Chambers
Publisher: Wiley
Publisher URL: www.wiley.com
List Price: $29.99

This reference book is quite large (713) pages and took me a while to work through. I recently bought a new IMAC which came with Leopard 10.a5. Before that I had an older IMAC with Tiger OS X.4 so that is why I chose to review it.

The book is divided into 5 sections. As I am not an expert user on my MAC, I found Book 1, 11, and V the most useful for me. I’m sure as I progress Book V1 and V11 will become more of a resource. What I use the most on my computer is iTunes and iPhoto so those parts of Book 111 I know. The other parts may prove to be a good reference in the future.

The best aspects of the book for me (as I would guess for many) are the short Warnings and Tips that appear frequently throughout the book. They are a great time saver but more important a great , “Wow, I didn’t know that!” They have helped me a lot.

Although Book 1 was an introduction to OS X, I found several useful items in it such as Chap. 5: Fun with Photo Booth and Front Row. I didn’t have these items on my other computer and hadn’t used them on this computer until I received this book. I found the explanations for how to use the camera and remote control to be succinct and clear. I particularly like the graphs and diagrams used. Also, Chapter 7: The Joys of Maintenance was helpful to me. I learned how to partition my hard drive and some good tips on uninstalling applications.

In Book 11, I found Chapter 3 an excellent reference for me. It provided a quite complete overview of the system preferences as well and other preferences, and how to change them and more important, why. It also discussed basic security for your machine.

Book V has some very useful technical information such as setting up Apple Talk, keeping your Wireless Network Secure, and ways of sharing your internet connection. The best part for me is all the illustrations. I am a visual learner so the drawings in this section were invaluable in helping me understand all the technical jargon.

There were a few aspects of this reference book I didn’t like. I’m not familiar with other “Dummy” guides so maybe it’s just me but I found the incessant humor tiring. I would be reading, thinking I was getting some information and it was a paragraph of nonsense supposed to be funny. I was really annoyed that I had spent time reading it. It’s okay once in a while but why so much?

Also, often the book has tried to jam so much into it that it seems to lack detail in some of its descriptions. It would have been nice if it had listed the internet email sites such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail as being able to be used with the Apple Mail program. Also, I’ve had several problems with the Keychain application that that chapter doesn’t address. And finally there is very little discussion of the Time Machine.

Over all, however, this is a good reference book and I would recommend it to others with a new Mac.

iPhone Fully Loaded

by Diane Petersen, Kachemacs

Author: Andy Ihnatko
Publisher: Wiley
Publisher URL: www.wiley.com
List Price: $19.99

Pros: Small yet chock full of information, reads like a novel
Cons: Title doesn’t reflect the vast amount of information within, geared for more advanced users.

I don’t have an iPhone. I don’t even have a cell phone. Am I that desperate for reviewers that I would review a manual for something I don’t have? It’s like reading the Chilton’s guide to the Mini Cooper you’ve always wanted…

I found I don’t really even need an iPhone to enjoy this book. In fact I got heaps of information having nothing to do with iPhones. This book would more aptly named “Media management for computer users on the go with lots of sneaky tricks to get more for your internet connection and mobile device. And then some.” I’m sure the editors would nix that title quite quickly, however.

This volume may be diminutive, but it is information dense. It is not so much instructions on how to use an iPhone, but how to use resources available on the internet and in third party software to enhance the mobile experience. An interesting feature is that it is equally Mac and Windows friendly. In fact, I didn’t detect any of the usual bias a Mac user usually displays when writing about PCs. Way to go!

The author is a well known columnist and freelance writer on any topic having to do with Mac. Andy Ihnatko has a distinctive writing style and wry sense of humor. I suppose his manner may not be received well by everyone, but I found his use of sarcasm and hyperbole rather refreshing compared to other technical manuals. He does interject quite a bit of irrelevant musings, much like a TV episode of SCRUBS, but his manner is entertaining. I found the book rather gripping, but not necessarily to the point of reading under the covers with a flashlight until 4AM.

This book is really not the ideal choice for the novice internet user. Andy’s (legal) methods of manipulating the internet to do his bidding are of a more advanced nature. An intermediate guide to the internet might be helpful for some before tackling this book.

Level: from 1-10, 10 being most advanced, I’d rank it 7.

Usefulness: 5
Presentation: 5 (many pretty pictures)
Expertise of author: 5
Indexing: 4 (not necessarily a book used to “look up” things. It’s a read-through book)
Accuracy: 4 (with the new iPhone and SDK the author needs to put out a second edition)

Total: 5. Good job!

This book has helped me decide to wait in line for the new iPhone on July 11. Everyone I know will gasp in absolute shock that I actually will own a cell phone. I realize that there is so much more to having an iPhone than calling people. And no, I’m not giving anyone my number.

YummySoup!

by Diane Petersen, Kachemacs

Distributor: Hungry Seacow
Distributor URL: www.hungryseacow.com
Price: $20, download

Pros: Solid and versatile database, excellent importation features, simple interface.
Cons: No scaling mechanism, no way to record nutritional information, some popular recipe sites not supported in the auto population.

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach…”
So they say. I’m thinking there is more to it than that, but satisfying the stomach thing doesn’t hurt. I strive to be a good cook. Because I’m also a geek, I use the internet to help me find new and unusual recipes to keep my husband happy. I also do well for myself in cleaning out the fridge gracefully.

But what if that husband of mine wants to reciprocate? How do I help him create my signature recipes with the least amount of effort? Give him YummySoup!, of course!

Recipe maintenance seems to be one of the more popular applications of the Macintosh computer. Many Mac users I know are very into their food. I remember when HyperCard stacks were the latest in recipe management. YummySoup! far surpasses the flexibility the defunct HyperCard system in recipe management.

When I was a teenager, my Mom gave me a stack of index cards and told me to copy all her recipes for my favorite foods, so that I could recreate my favorite foods when on my own. I still have those cards, stained and smeared. I was looking for a better way to preserve and redistribute those favorites without the soy sauce splotches.

YummySoup! to the rescue! With the easy to use form based entry screen, I hand typed all the handwritten recipes into the interface. An autocomplete feature which is configurable to your favorite ingredients makes it easy. Now I can search them by genre, rate them, and publish them to paper with my printer or create an e-mail in one step so my friends can enjoy them. I even have field to enter a yummy photo! If you’re like me and only go to the store when I HAVE to, YummySoup! can make your shopping list for you. I can even keep track of my liquors and wines to go with my meals.
But what if I want to make a foray into a new culinary adventure? Dear Mom doesn’t have all the answers. YummySoup! can help me in a number of ways. YummySoup! has an online database of users’ favorites. They all appear right in my YummySoup! If I still can’t find what I want, I can go to certain websites and do a one-step import of recipes! If the recipe site is one that is not supported by YummySoup!, one can do a step by step select and import. It’s still easier than copy/paste or hand typing. If I am very proud of one of my creations, I can publish a recipe to the YummySoup! database and become famous with other users for my delicious yummy soup.

Once you have your database in order, there are a number of ways the recipes can be sorted. There is an option to select already prepared items, and a rating system similar to iTunes. Just like Mail, you have Smart Folder sorts. These are features which are desirable in any database system, and YummySoup! takes these into consideration.

I would like to see the developer work on some other features to round out the delivery of YummySoup! What if you want to have a dinner party, and all your recipes are for two? Most of us can do calculations, I hope, but it would really be nice if YummySoup! could provide that service. The developer has informed me that this is an imminent enhancement. For those dieters out there, it would be great to be able to enter nutrition information. This could be a feature which has fields that could be populated from info created outside YummySoup!, but for a major enhancement I’d love to see communication with online nutrition databases to compile this info. HungrySeacow, you’ve got your work cut out for you with that one!

I found YummySoup! very easy to install and go. There was an issue with data entry and tab delineations when I started, but developer Ken Humbard swiftly corrected those issues.

In summary:
Concept: 4 (recipe management is nothing new)
Ease of installation: 5 (effortless)
Delivery: 4 (consider the enhancements to a great program)
Efficiency: 5 (thanks to auto-import and the fix with the data entry)
Stability: 4 (Very few lockup/crashes)
Support: 5
Potential: 5 (software is frequently updated, showing the developer’s dedication)

Overall, this is a 4.6. HungrySeacow is dedicated to listening to users and improving the software. There are so many recipe programs for Mac out there, but for the price of $20 compares to the features offered, I’m finding YummySoup! to be the best value. From my experience with shareware, response time is just a bit slower than average, but I always get helpful answers which are worth the wait. Bon Appetit!

GraphicConverter

by Diane Petersen, Kachemacs

Distributor: Lemkesoft
Distributor URL: http://www.lemkesoft.com
Distributor Phone: +49 5171 72202 (English)
Price: $34.95 download, $44.95 box copy

Pros: Great personal software support, longevity, paid upgrades few and far between.
Cons: Utility has faded with several competitors, dated interface, has become a niche application.

I was a poor college student once. I remember being broke and being forced to subsist on popcorn and peanut butter sandwiches. It filled the hole, did the trick, and gave me an opportunity to fantasize upon the fanciest of cuisine. Now that I have the resources to have gourmet meals any time, I look back at college cuisine fondly. Every once in a while I just have to have my old favorite comfort food.

GraphicConverter has been around for a LONG time. It’s inexpensive (even free if you can stand the splash screen!) and it does the job of filling a hole where other software falls short. It’s a great fallback when you just need a quick fix and don’t want to bust out the full version of PhotoShop.

I’ve kept GraphicConverter around since Classic, but never actually paid for it until version 5 on Mac OS 10.0. The next paid upgrade after that was just last fall, 6 years or so later. The free version works just as well as the paid one, but you must pay to get batch processing. In the free version, the splash screen gets longer…and longer…and longer every time. One day, as I did, that delay will just hit you wrong and you’ll be buying a license code just to make it stop. Providing an indefinite evaluation time on a “lite” free version of the software is a great service to Mac users who may not need to use it all the time, thanks Lemkesoft!

GraphicConverter is my default application for most image formats on my Mac. In the paid version, it launches about 10 times faster than PhotoShop. I’m not a graphic designer, and I don’t need PhotoShop every single day for every single image I launch. GraphicConverter has just the tools, and only the tools I need to convert that TIFF someone sent me in my e-mail that took 15 minutes to download. If I need a quick crop and size, I go to GraphicConverter. I have a flatbed scanner I use to bring in media occasionally. I scan right into GraphicConverter. Just like my favorite minute-in-the-microwave snacks from college, GraphicConverter doesn’t let me down.

Some of us who remember when there was no iPhoto remember how GraphicConverter was a must on every Mac. It has the capability to make iPhoto-like catalogs and do camera imports. Most of these functions are fulfilled as part of the iLife experience in iPhoto. Many (but not all) of the editing tools in GraphicConverter are present in iPhoto, which comes on every new Mac. But a couple of glaring omissions in iPhoto’s capabilities include alpha channel support and the ability to apply text directly on an image.

GraphicConverter also can be used to create or draw original images. It is an alternative to high priced PhotoShop Elements for simple graphic design. I find that if I want to clean up an image that I plan to digitize in my proprietary software, I don’t need fancy layers or filters. GraphicConverter does it quite well.

The main niche for GraphicConverter is demonstrated in the name. The Lemkesoft website claims GraphicConverter imports about 190 file formats, and exports about 79. I didn’t know that many even existed. This is a feature that can be used to open files for which you don’t own the software in which it was designed. The files can also be converted to another format or compressed into a smaller file for e-mail.

If you’ve just made the acquaintance of GraphicConverter, you’ll find a steadfast no-nonsense application that can occasionally show up to do odd jobs around your computer. Its UI is stuck in the Classic days, but lack of fashion sense can be overlooked for the sake of utility.
It doesn’t hurt to do the free download and have GraphicConverter available to perform a few tasks on occasion. You’ll know if or when you’ll need to buy when you start cursing the 2 minute splash screen….

Support: 5 – I lost my code from 2001 and Thorsten emailed it to me within 24 hours.
Utility: 3 – I have apps that do almost all of what GraphicConverter does. GraphicConverter just does it in a more streamlined way.
Interface: 3 – An updated interface would attract new users.
Stability: 5 – No problems

GraphicConverter in its present incarnation scores a 4 with me. It’s worthy of being a default application for several file types on my Mac. I’m not quite ready for it to go the way of HyperCard and ClarisWorks.

The following applications were features in the Backup and Recovery seminar.

Reviews by Diane Petersen, Kachemacs

SuperDuper!

Product Title: SuperDuper!
Developer: Shirt Pocket Software
URL: http://www.shirt-pocket.com
Price: $27.95

Pros: Free “lite” version, special “Sandbox” feature
Cons: Scheduler a bit unintuitive, a bit unwieldy for a solitary backup method.

Heroic system recovery for mere mortals! I imagine the developer wearing a suit and a cape with a hard drive icon on it (sorry, Dave!)
I covered the difference between different types of backup in the backup seminar. SuperDuper creates a backup by cloning your hard drive. This clone happens to be bootable. The result of this operation is such that you can be 5 minutes before a presentation and your hard drive decides to give up the ghost. Simply restart the computer with the SuperDuper clone attached, and you will boot into the exact system configuration you had on your last backup before the failure. Just go to your Time Machine drive and grab the files that may have changed since the last SuperDuper. In 5 minutes you are ready to go, and your clients are oblivious to the fact something VERY BAD has happened.

You’re saying “Time Machine?” Where did that come from? SuperDuper is great for keeping a complete bootable backup, but it’s a bit retro. If you use it once a week, you lose the last 4 or 5 or 6 days or so. But you finished that presentation last night. If you have Leopard, you can run Time Machine on your home folder or even your whole system and have intermittent dynamic file archival to use alongside SuperDuper. For other cats, there’s always dot Mac’s Backup 3.

If you tinker with your system a lot, Sandbox may be for you. It keeps a buffer copy of your System Folder so if you download that dodgy piece of software that you hate and it digs its tentacles into your system and clogs it up, you can simply roll back to the old configuration.

Remember, you must have a firewire drive for PPC to make it bootable. USB only works on Intel Macs. This is Apple’s fault, not SuperDuper’s
One feature (???) that is just plain weird is the scheduler’s assumption that I want to make a new schedule, when I just want to check the old one. You get a dropdown menu with a new schedule before you get to look at the old one. I think this is on purpose but the reason eludes me.

Ease of use: 5
Stability: 4 – I’ve had it freeze up while repairing permissions, perhaps that’s Apple’s fault.
Support: 5 – This guy stands behind the product.
Documentation: 5 – Excellent
Features: 4 – It doesn’t make my coffee in the morning, but it does finish the backup and put my Mac to bed for me.

I really have to scrounge up flaws with this one, but I have to believe nobody is perfect. Except me. I can give this product a high five for the security it gives me.

MacDrive 7

Product Title: MacDrive 7
Distributor: Mediafour
Distributor URL: http://www.mediafour.com

Pros: Can be run on a Boot Camp that is also a VM image, invisible interface on the PC side.
Cons: A license is needed on EVERY PC used, issues if installed on a VM.

Macs and PCs. Like their users, they can have a problem playing nice with each other. MacDrive may not be able to help their users get along, but it will improve communication between their machines.
Many Mac users have an old PC about the house. If they don’t, they may have one at work or they may have a Boot Camp partition. MacDrive can help these users access their data on any of their machines.

PCs and Macs generally use different formats for their hard disks. A result of this is the inability to use removable drives formatted for one type on both types of machine. Also, users of Boot Camp cannot get to their files on the Mac partition. MacDrive bridges this barrier to make dual boot machines and removable drives simple to use.

MacDrive is PC software, installed on a PC. It allows the PC to read Mac formatted drives. This gives me the ability to boot into Windows and still read my Mac formatted backup drive and internal hard drive. I can also use my portable drive on any PC in the house as well as my Mac. Using my portable drive to transfer large files is a lot faster than transferring over the network for me.

I found another incidental use for MacDrive. I experienced a hard drive failure on my external drive. None of my Mac recovery tools could access the drive. It seemed like I would have to give up on the data on the drive. I tried mounting it on the old PC with MacDrive installed, and I was able to access the data and move the parts I wanted to the PC before the drive completely failed.

One problem I experienced with this software is that the activation sequence wreaks havoc on my virtual machine through Fusion. MacDrive works well on Boot Camp when I am booted into it, but if I use the same image through Fusion, the activation is not recognized and I get a warning screen. There is really no reason to need this software if a virtual machine is running, but things can get a bit tricky to set up. This product behaves better than a competing product for Mac with virtual machines, however.

MacDrive was not designed for emulating Macintosh. It will not launch Mac programs on a PC, nor will it install MacOS on a PC. It will not necessarily allow reading of documents saved with a Mac based word processor. Its specific design allows access to universal file types saved on a Mac formatted disk. With this purpose clear, I make the following points:

Utility: 5 (essential for anyone running both PC and Mac)
Stability: 3 (very strange problems with activation if using a VM)
UI: 5 (absolutely simple. Mac drives look just like PC drives except for the little apple on them.)
Documentation: 4 (not much is needed for this simple utility)
Support: 5 (very quick responses from both tech support and sales.)
Value: 3 (seems high, but each additional license is reduced price)

I’m giving this utility a 4 overall. It is a good solid utility within its limitations. The price tag is a bit high compared with utilities that function similarly, but for me it’s well worth it for the convenience.

One copy each of iBank 3 and iBiz 3 have been offered to the Kachemacs for review. These apps look great for small businesses. When I asked why one would switch from Cha-Ching, which I highlighted in May, to iBank, I got this reply:

Good question about switching to iBank. Cha-Ching and some of the other finance apps out there are great choices for users whose needs are more basic. We find that a lot of our users are coming from mainstream apps like Quicken (which a lot of Mac customers dislike), or moving up to iBank for its robust features.

iBank 3 was written specifically for Leopard, and supports direct downloads from most banks; iPhone sync; investment portfolios; tax support; and a whole lot more (see this page for a better overview). People with more complex financial situations or even small businesses use iBank.

There’s a review we saw yesterday (here) that explains this all in a way – the writer preferred simpler apps that were more suited to his own needs, but recommends iBank to anyone who has more demanding requirements from their finance app. (One of the comments from an iBank user echoed this.)

All of our apps are available as free trial versions, so give it a spin and let me know what you think!

~Scott Marc Becker
Marketing Director
www.iggsoftware.com

I have a box of books I got for the Kachemacs to review! Titles include:

Mac OS X Leopard for Dummies
Mac OS X Leopard for Dummies Just the Steps
Mac OS X Leopard All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies
Mac OS X Tiger for Dummies
Mac OS X Tiger Book
Mac OS X Tiger All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies
MacBook for Dummies
iPhone Fully Loaded

Thanks, Wiley & Sons! All Dummies step forward for these key reference volumes! Remember, test drive these manuals for 30 days, write a book report for our website, and the book is yours to keep and use forever! It helps you, and your feedback helps the author and publisher. Please let me know if any of these interest you and I’ll get it to you.

The Omni Group has given me licenses for their software for the Kachemacs to review. Let me know if you are interested in any of the following:
OmniDazzle
OmniFocus
OmniGraffle Pro 5
OmniWeb

The Omni Group has been around for a fair while, and is known for quality Mac exclusive software. Check out their website for more information.

The following applications were reviewed in May’s Kachemacs seminar, Paperless Home Office.
Reviews by Diane Petersen, Kachemacs.

NoteBook 2 by Circus Ponies

Product Title: NoteBook 2
Price: $49.95
Distributor: Circus Ponies
Distributor Phone #: (800) 817-1471
Website: http://www.circusponies.com

Pros: Visually exciting interface, organizational structure is unique and dynamic.
Cons: No sketching or handwriting option (yet), limited portability.

When I was a kid, every fall I got a list of classroom materials to buy for school. Every year I found I had to buy several spiral notebooks for class. Little did I know that those spiral notebooks would be following me into adulthood, albeit digitally in the form of NoteBook 2, by Circus Ponies.
NoteBook is a digital version of that notebook I’ve always kept my deepest darkest secrets in. On screen, it takes the appearance of that spiral notebook, complete with the wire spine. What it doesn’t contain is all the haphazard clippings that stick out in all directions and the bent corners from exceeding its physical boundaries. Even the most disorganized person can keep this notebook in order and within a tiny package.
NoteBook has become the central hub of my GTD (getting things done) life. Combined with my MacBook Pro notebook, I have a resource to help me remember just what I was going to do any given day. The format caters to the right brained user. Anything of interest can be dragged into the easy to use format and cataloged into ways only I can understand.
Every notebook file has an contents page. Clicking on the contents links or the tabs on the side of the notebook leads to pages within the notebook. Also in every notebook is an index which lists keywords within the notebook. Information can be stored in the form of web links, photos, files on the computer, or even voice annotations. I particularly like To Do lists, which have the capability of being checked off to my satisfaction. It’s a great feeling to check off tasks completed!
The magic of NoteBook lies within the Services menu of the Mac. I like to think of NoteBook as a tool to navigate this little used feature of OS X. In most applications, the Services menu can be invoked and NoteBook is there to do one’s bidding. Want to create an action on an e-mail? Pull up Services within Mail and clip the relevant data. Working on a project in Pages? Use the Services menu to clip it to NoteBook.

NoteBook can be used best as a project manager. I am a busy facilitator for a Macintosh Users Group. My educational seminars are planned in NoteBook. All my thoughts and references are pinned to pages in my virtual notebook. I have another notebook to run my household tasks. Shopping, home improvement, errand running, and appointments are all clipped into my notebook. With seamless integration with Mac bundled applications like Mail, Safari, iCal and Address Book, my tasks are organized efficiently and effortlessly.
My life is not often spent in front of my Mac. Portability options are important to me. My notebook can be exported to HTML which can be stored on any other computer or my iDisk. I can see what i need to accomplish away from my Mac. What I would really love to see in future builds is even more portability to mobile devices. If I could have NoteBook on an iPhone, I would be running out to get one in a heartbeat. I am hoping this capability is foremost in the developer’s priorities as applications become available on the iPhone and other devices.
NoteBook version 2 is on the cusp of releasing version 3. I am informed that version 3 will incorporate sketching and handwriting recognition. Also included will be diagramming and flow chart tools. I anxiously await these enhancements.

Utility: 5 (everyone needs a GTD solution)
Stability: 5 (hasn’t crashed yet)
Documentation: 5 (tutorials are excellent)
Portability: 3 (HTML versions can’t be edited. No real web based version or mobile distribution)
Support: 4 (Developer is involved with end users)
UI: 5 (It’s even got a cute spiral on the spine!)
Potential: 4 (I can’t wait for the version 3 enhancements)

How incredibly satisfying! The best feature is that you can’t drop it and scatter all the pages on the floor. It allows for the right brained organization that many Mac users utilize. I score this at a high 4, but I’ll give it a 5 for overall effort!

Yep!

Product Title: Yep!
Price: $34.00
Distributor: Ironic Software, Inc.
Website: http://www.yepthat.com

Pros: Tag-based organization, cool interface with built-in magnifier.
Cons: Stability depends on tight Spotlight maintenance, auto-tagging still needs work.

I started keeping a digital filecabinet in about 2002. I was blazing the way in digital archives in the home office at the time. I was using an old HP fax/copier and an old Windows machine with clunky software. When iPhoto came out, I created a library just for my paperwork. Then I gave up and kept folders everywhere and sporadically burned stuff to backup.
Then I found Yep!, henceforth spelled without the bang. Yep is a PDF manager with an interface resembling iPhoto yet capable of so much more. Now it’s almost fun to organize, and mind you I am not an accountant.
Running Yep is simple. Through seamless integration with my scanner (special support is available for my Fujitsu ScanSnap) or pretty much any scanner, the print just lifts off the paper and into Yep, while I gleefully shred all the flotsam on my desk.
Once the information is lifted, I simply use the Yep tagging system to create search keywords so I can find the document when I need it. Yep takes advantage of the capability of the PDF format to attach metadata to the file. In simple terms, it’s like having one of those machines that prints on the tape that you peel off and stick to your stuff. And Yep does it as simple as that. Scan, and a couple clicks and I have a document in its own virtual file folder. It’s virtual because Yep doesn’t move stuff around or change it like an annoying virtual assistant, it just indexes it.
PDF files don’t just come from a scanner. They can be downloaded, or exported from your Mail. You can also use YepShot, which creates a PDF from a web browser window and puts it in Yep. This is great when I want to capture a confirmation number when online shopping. For some reason, I can’t YepShot secure sites like my online bank, but that’s probably the bank’s security settings.
Other fun features include the Loupe, or magnifying glass for those of us old people who have trouble with the fine print. It’s like QuickLook for Yep! The bottom margin of the screen has most of the same buttons as iPhoto, print, e-mail, rotate, edit, etc.

I have had some issues with stability, where Yep just says Nope! and crashes. An important caveat to be noted is that Yep relies on Spotlight for its superpowers. That is, Yep’s indexes are only as good as your Spotlight indexes, and neglected Spotlight maintenance is Kryptonite to Yep. With an inquiry to the developers and a most speedy reply, I was advised to rebuild my Spotlight indexes and have had rock solid stability and blazingly fast launches of the application since. To nitpick a cosmetic issue, in the auto-complete of the tags case isn’t preserved. It isn’t pretty when my tags say AcS or CEll Phone. They still sort properly, but it makes my tags look like d00d sp33k. The problem is fixed if I go in and rename the tag. Also, auto-tagging is not working right, but I don’t think I’d use the feature anyway, the control freak I am. I’d love to see a special backup feature built into Yep in future releases, where the PDFs, collections, and metadata would be archived on a schedule so one would never have to worry about losing a valuable file cabinet.
As the program stands with the features available, Yep is a very powerful tool for the home office. I could see it being indispensable in academia as well, where one can be drowned in dissertations. Yep is an integral part of my paperless home office, and the $34 is well worth it. As for the problems, the developers have been most responsive to their customers.

Utility: 5 (everyone needs Yep!)
Documentation: 4 (manual is great, but where are the release notes?)
Stability: 4 (as long as Spotlight maintenance is kept up)
Value: 4 (price is steep for shareware, but buy it with Leap for a deal)
User interface: 5 (that Loupe is sweet!)

Overall, I say yep to Yep! Overall, this application scores a 4, and that’s a keeper.

PageSender

Product Title: PageSender
Price: $39.95
Distributor: SmileOnMyMac
Website: http://www.smileonmymac.com

Pros: Allows for group and broadcast faxes, integrates well with Address Book.
Cons: Takes time to set up, limited utility over Mac OS built-in faxing.

There comes a time when one must say goodbye to old friends and move on. I took a sad look at my old 8 year old HP all-in-one that was demoted to a fax machine 4 years ago. It ran out of ink and I was loathe to invest in a new cartridge. This is when PageSender came to the rescue. Out with the old, in with the new…
PageSender is not anything like the old fax machine with its vertical streaks and the paper jams. PageSender allows for total digital control over faxed documents without the use of paper. The old fashioned POTS (“plain old telephone service”) standard is used with PageSender; a phone line and a fax modem are still needed. It goes without saying that fax technology involves a signal from one machine to another over a phone line. PageSender takes the technology of OS X faxing and carries it several steps further with elegance.
PageSender is more of a correspondence management system for the Mac. It has seamless integration with Mac bundled applications, notably Mail and Address Book. All it takes is a document, either scanned from paper or one living digitally on the hard drive of a Mac. PageSender uses live lookup for destinations, just start typing. Select a recipient or group of recipients (PageSender supports broadcast faxing) and send. Receiving a fax? Just set up PageSender to auto or manually answer and the document appears as a PDF for screening and printing (or deletion).
PageSender essentially gets set up as just another printer on the Mac. Anything can be printed and sent to the PageSender printer as a fax. The document can then be sent via fax number over the phone line or via e-mail to the recipient. IP faxing services (like MaxEmail) can even be used with PageSender. It’s simple, and it works.
PageSender is primarily intuitive, but some knowledge of how faxing technology works is required in order to set it up. Once the settings are configured properly, PageSender just works. And without the streaks my old HP used to print all the time.

Utility: 3 (the common user probably can get by with OS X fax)
Stability: 5 (hasn’t crashed yet)
Documentation: 4 (thorough, but a bit vague at times)
Support: 5 (smileonmymac has great customer service)
UI: 4 (boring interface, but functional)
Functionality: 4 (took me a few tries to get it right)

This application gets a 4 for its effort. For the home business user that needs to have ability to script and broadcast fax, it is indispensable. For the occasional home user who needs to fax once a month, OS X has a perfectly capable interface.

Cha-Ching

Product Title: Cha-Ching
Price: $40
Distributor: Midnight Apps
Website: http://www.midnightapps.com

Pros: Simply beautiful, iSight and reference file path integration.
Cons: Limited support for complex portfolios, little documentation, steep price tag for functionality.
I like to know where all my money is going, but I don’t want to deal with the tedium of financial software. Learning any of the popular packages can take as much effort as a full semester honors level college class. The ones that are actually available for Mac have that nice gray Windows look.
Bring on Cha-Ching! It’s simple to run and doesn’t take too much effort to get started. What it doesn’t offer in specialized features is totally made up in the snazzy user interface.
As an individual home user, I don’t have a lot of specialized needs. I simply want to find out why I never have as much money as I think I should have. My bank offers interface with the leading financial software, but they charge a monthly fee that I can’t justify paying. I simply want to keep track of expenditures by category and know how much I can spend each month.
Cha-Ching does have a number of features that appeal to the home user. After spending just a few minutes entering my accounts, Cha-Ching is ready for me to start entering transactions. Cha-Ching’s unique animated interface guides me through my transactions. The magic of Cha-Ching lies in its tag based spending and budgeting. This allows for any transaction or budget item to be tagged for specific categories.
Useful features with a definitely Mac feel include an “online” option where a browser window to financial institutions can be opened up to check on balances. With each transaction the opportunity is provided for a picture and a file path to be linked to the transaction entry. The picture can be from the Mac or snapped from the iSight. I can buy a really awesome item (like a new Mac!) and then take a picture of it with my iSight for Cha-Ching, then link the whole thing to a PDF residing on my computer with the invoice. This opens up great integration possibilities with PDF management software like Yep!, which is also tag based. Also, those pictures are great for home inventory purposes.

Cha-Ching may be great eye candy and intuitive, but some of us still need a little guidance. I found the documentation a bit lacking. The developers did mention that they are working on a guide for users of Cha-Ching. that would have helped me a lot when setting up the program. I also noticed Cha-Ching seems to be a bit like a roach motel for finances. Data can be checked in using QIF or OFX format (Quicken, Money, or bank) files. however, if Cha-Ching isn’t the brilliant software one has hoped for and export to something else is desired, it’s only CSV export into a spreadsheet. I’m thinking this could get messy.

UI: 5, actually 5+. This is what the Mac is all about.
Utility: 3. A lot more features could be added to compete with the big players.
Documentation: 2. Let’s get that manual rolling.
Stability: 4. Has hung a couple of times for several seconds, but never crashed.
Overall: 4.

If a home user is looking for something simple to use to track some household trends, Cha-Ching is a great option that is pleasing to the eye. For a small business owner or a home user with a lot of complicated investment accounts, software capable of tracking more types of accounts and bank or tax interface would be more desirable. However, don’t expect the beauty and simplicity of Cha-Ching.

CJR Tools is looking for reviewers for the iPhoto ‘08 guide and private course. Also available is iTunes 7 in 6 Easy Lessons.

Let me know if you’d like to participate in this program.