Chapter 9. Third-Party Tools and Applications
Although Mac OS X ships with an impressive number of applications, including Mail, Safari, Address Book, iCal, iSync, Automator, and the Xcode Tools (just to name a few), there are many third-party freeware and shareware applications available for Mac OS X that further enrich the Mac OS X experience. This chapter provides an overview of a few applications that we feel will appeal to Unix aficionados.
Virtual Desktops and Screens
One desktop feature that has long been a staple of the Unix world is the virtual desktop. For example, if you’ve used GNOME or KDE, you are probably accustomed to having multiple workspaces in which to run various applications or open different sets of windows. Nearly all Unix/Linux desktop environments have this feature, and yet Mac OS X does not.
Although Mac OS X’s desktop does not include virtual desktops or workspaces, it does include several desktop real estate-saving features . Moreover, virtual desktops (or screens) are available as third-party applications.
The primary desktop real estate-saving features of Aqua are provided by options on the application menu (the leftmost menu that has the same name as the front most application), Exposé, and third-party applications, described in the following sections.
The Application Menu
The ability to hide an application is particularly useful for applications that you don’t frequently need to interact with, such as the OSXvnc server. The Hide option , found in the application ...
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