TechTool Pro Review - Protect your Mac

Having the knowledge that your Mac is safe and secure is a good thing, backing up is also a must nowadays (even before we get Apple's Time Machine), but what about keeping your system in top condition, looking out for hard drive problems, recovering data in the event of corruption, or even having a method of recovering your system if OSX goes all wonky on you. Well, there are many applications out there, but only a few that users rely on and MicroMat's Techtool Pro is the latest of the bunch.

Inside the box you get the install DVD and a printed (yes I said printed) manual. Many applications come with online or PDF manuals nowadays, so it is nice to see a really good manual to guide you through the process.

Installation was really straightforward (screenshot 1) and you are also given an uninstall option, should you wish to use it (very doubtful, but nice to see it). The version reviewed here is 4.5.1 which is the latest Universal Binary release. A restart is required to complete the install and you are also prompted to test that your Mac actually boots from the install DVD, in case you need to do this at a later date. For my testing I was using an Apple MacBook 2GHz laptop and I am happy to report that it booted fine (and fairly snappily) from the DVD. To note, this DVD is 'Dual Boot' so should work fine with both Intel and PowerPC based Macs. Also on the DVD is a disk image for version 4.1.2 which should give earlier compatibility, should you need it.

On first run you are asked to personalise the TechTool Pro with your name and serial number and to register it online. The whole process takes just a few minutes and is well worth doing.

The main screen (screenshot 2) presents you with five icons across the top, clicking on each expands the window to show the options in each category. I will run through each in turn, but feel I should jump to a feature that is very important, that I have previous knowledge of.

The Knowledge
Clicking on the 'Tools' icon gives you six new options (screenshot 3). I will cover all the other options later on, but here I want to run you through 'eDrive'. When first clicking the 'Tools' icon you are prompted to only run things in this section when connected to the mains power, this is a safeguard worth noting, as you definitely do not want your laptop to switch off whilst performing a task.
Now, to put it simply 'eDrive' creates a mini partition (about 4Gb required) of Mac OSX and a copy of TechTool pro. This means that should you system crash and become unusable, you will be able to boot from your 'eDrive' without the need for a bootable CD or DVD. It is also worth noting that if you have updated your main TechTool Pro application, you can also update your eDrive too, so this would supersede a bootable CD or DVD anyway.
The procedure is simple, click the 'Go' arrow next to 'eDrive' and you are presented with a window (screenshot 4) where you select a destination for your bootable 'eDrive' and the source drive (which contains your OS). It is worth noting that you do not need to create a 4Gb partition for this procedure as TechTool Pro does this all for you. In my tests, it took nine minutes to create my MacBook's eDrive, which is pretty fast. I used an external firewire mini hard drive, running at 5400rpm, but you can create your eDrive actually on your Macs internal hard drive, or any drive physically connected to your Mac.
The process creates a small partition on your hard drive which contains a basic OSX install, the TechTool Pro application and a few other applications, such as Safari, Disk Utility, Console etc. All of your other applications are stripped out, which is good to see... to download the full review complete with screenshots click here.

Product supplied by Micromat Inc.
Retail price: $98.00
Contact: 1-800-829-6227
Link to product.

FileMaker Pro 8.5 Review - Power to your Data

To be honest, reviewing FileMaker Pro 8.5 scared the hell out of me, not because of how powerful the application promised to be and believe me it is not an overcomplex application, but because I really wanted to do it justice. I have used the Mac for many years now and have collected data in a variety of ways, but have never spent the time to sit down with FileMaker and learn if it could really work for me.

So for those not in the the know, what is FileMaker? Well, in the simplest of forms it allows you to create a database such as an address list, or pushing a little further perhaps details of what you sell in your shop. Perhaps you run a club, so keeping track of members details and subscription status is important. For this type of data you need look no further.
If you want an application that pushes the boundaries further still, then FileMaker Pro also allows the creation of very complex databases, that use multiple tables, often referred to as ‘Relational Databases’ these can cross reference each other and work together.

Creating a database is easy, much better if you plan it first, perhaps on a piece of paper. Make a note of the information you need to store, such as name, address, town, city, postcode, member number, subscription rate, renewal date etc. The excellent manual walks you through the planning process and step-by-step instructions for entering fields within the application (see screenshot 1). You can even simplify the process by basing your database on a template (see screenshot 2), some are supplied and installed with the application, many extra ones are available as free downloads, with specialist solutions offered by many companies. So if you need something specific and do not have the time or knowledge to put it together yourself, then a bit of searching will normally find you someone who can.

Once you have set up all your fields you can create a nice on-screen layout for your database. This is done in layout mode, where you can create multiple layouts for the same database, by simply dragging elements around, adding background colours, even importing a picture into the header (screenshot 3). In just five minutes it is possible to create something very pleasing to the eye (screenshot 4) with the minimum of effort... to download the full review complete with screenshots click here.

Product supplied by FileMaker UK.
Retail price: £219 (ex. VAT)
Contact: 0845 603 9100
Link to product.

Shrink your PDF files the 'PDF Shrink' way !

For someone who spends most of his time evaluating products and writing reviews, it is always nice to have a passion for what I am reviewing, that is what makes my job a pleasure to do. Having been involved in graphic design and the publishing industry for many years, it made me very happy to find Apago's PDF Shrink (version 4) universal binary software.

Apago are by no means a new company, they were founded in 1991. The North Atlanta based company offer a wide range of software solutions, mainly based around PDF workflow and manipulation, with a few other bits thrown in for good measure.

PDF Shrink is probably the most appropriate software I could look at, as the past few months I have been producing the downloadable (and printable) version of the reviews that appear on Geekanoids. With so many reviews going onto the website, size is very important, without compromising on quality. Toward the end of this review, instead of the regular download, you will find two options, one created in my normal workflow with Quark Xpress, the second was optimised with PDF Shrink.

So to kick off, let us take a look at how PDF Shrink presents itself to the user on first launch. The main window (screenshot 1) has a row of icons across the top, these are mainly used for creating various PDF settings. They are all pretty self explanatory, so I will not insult you with the obvious. Of interest are the 'New', 'Save Droplet' and 'Save PDF Service' buttons.

'New' allows you to create a preset PDF workflow, where you can specify the settings in one of two modes. 'Basic' shown in screenshot 2 allows you to make the settings by clicking options that appear in plain English, this is a great idea and allows most non-tech users to be up and running in no time. You can choose how the resulting PDF file is going to used, which viewer will likely be used to read the PDF, security settings (password protection etc), how the file will be saved (you can even add a suffix to the resulting filenames), the last option is saving, where you can assign an icon and description to the workflow you are creating.
Clicking the 'Advanced' button toward the bottom of this window (see screenshot 3) allows you to make the same sort of settings, but with options that would make more sense to the more advanced user. So for example, instead of choosing how the PDF is going to be used (to post on a website for example), you would choose the resolution, type of compression and amount of compression.
Once you have made all the settings you require, the name and icon for the workflow appears in the main window, ready to use. If you look back at screenshot 1, you will see settings for Email, Print, Web Reviews and Web. All of these are preset into PDF Shrink when you first launch it, with the exception of 'Web Reviews' which I created to test how the procedure worked... to download the full review (PDF created by Quark Xpress) click here.

... to download the full review (PDF processed with PDF Shrink) click here.

Product supplied by Apago Inc.
Retail price: $35
Contact: 770-619-1884
Link to product.

Apple iLife 06 - Superb Value for Money

Buy a new Apple Macintosh and for a long time now you have been treated to a suite of new software that comes as part of their iLife suite of applications. Many writers and Mac fans praise the extra value this adds to a product when compared to a PC counterpart and yes, I have to agree, it does add up. The main argument Mac users seem to bandy around is that the software you get with a PC is often trial software, lite versions, subscription based, or so totally useless that it would be a lot better if it were not even installed. Whereas the iLife suite of applications a fully featured and very useful apps.

So what if you have an older Mac that did not include iLife, or perhaps you have a very old version and want to get up-to-date. Well, iLife is available to purchase and what I want to look at here is what you get for your money and if it is worth the £55 asking price.
I also wanted to see how the applications behaved on an older machine, so have installed the software on a 400MHz G4 PowerMac as well as a newer 1.8GHz G5. Let me get the installation out of the way first, as it really does not need writing home about, other than to say that Apple makes installing software very easy and intuitive, everything installed on both machines and updated without a hitch, with the exception of iDVD, which could not be installed on the G$ due to system requirements.

To kick off, iPhoto 6 is probably one of the most recognisable Apple products. Many people conceive this as an organisational tool for your photos and yes it is, but it is so much more besides. Attaching your digital camera or memory card to your Mac sets iPhoto into action and you are presented with some import options. Once the photos are on your Mac you can scroll through them, organise them, assign category keywords. Where iPhoto takes things more than one step further is as follows... to download the full review click here.

Product supplied by Apple UK.
Retail price: £55 (single user) : £69 (5 user family pack)
Contact: 0800 039 1010
Link to product.

Organise your life - Yojimbo Style !

Well, I never ever thought that I would move away from bookmarking hundreds of web pages to keep track of interesting items. But things in my everyday Mac life are about to change and it will be interesting to see if the changes are permanent. For a long time now, if I found something of interest on the internet, I would bookmark it and try to put it into a meaningful category. More often than not into a bookmark folder called something like 'interesting software' or 'to look at later'. I came to realise just this week that I hardly ever went back to these bookmarks, so I was probably wasting a lot of my time, which I could spend more creatively.

Enter Yojimbo, by Bare Bones Software, which I would like to describe myself as an 'Electronic Scrapbook on Steroids'. Many people are pushing around a category of software called 'GTD' which stands for 'Getting Things Done', at this early stage Yojimbo does fit into this category, but seems to offer a whole lot more besides.

Before I move on to let you know the features of Yojimbo and how I have used it so far, I would like to let you all know that this is the first review from Geekanoids that will be revisited for a 'Long Term Look' in about six weeks time. More often than not, a reviewer picks up a piece of software to review, raves about it (or not) and then it gets forgotten. Well, with a different approach, I will let you know my early thoughts, but will then report back to let you know if Yojimbo is still in my dock as a permanent feature.

So, Bare Bones Software offer Yojimbo as a trial download. It weighs in at a 7Mb download, which is a universal binary and will work for 30 days, after which you can purchase a license for various amounts depending on your use. An individual license costs $39, educational is $29 and a family license for up to 5 users is $69. Each license allows you to install on multiple machines, so for example if you buy an individual license and own a desktop and laptop, this is fine and allows you to use the full power of Yojimbo via synchronisation (more on that later).

After a simple installation you can start using Yojimbo to store information. The types of info you can throw at it are almost endless, anything from text, web bookmarks, PDF files, web archives, serial numbers and passwords, the list goes on and on. Right from the offset I found the software great for dragging interesting web images and screenshots into the software. The screenshot (right) shows me dragging a screenshot for the Geekanoids website into Yojimbo's DropDock and into the Web Images category (or folder) that I had created within the main software window earlier. Once the info is dragged into Yojimbo I can then go to the main window and retrieve the information I require. In this case it is a URL pointing towards the original image... to download the full review click here.

Product supplied by Bare Bones Software.
Retail price: $39 (single user)
Contact: 781-687-0700
Link to product.
Yojimbo Product Tour.