The Swiss Army Knife of graphic utilities. Something of a poor man’s Photoshop but the claim to fame is batch conversion of file formats and a tool for everything. Cumbersome and cluttered interface but it works.

GraphicConverter is an all-purpose image editing program that can import 200 different graphic-based formats, edit the image, and export it out of 80 file available file formats. The high-end editing tools are perfect for graphic manipulation as well as the ability to use Photoshop-compatible plug-ins. It offers batch-conversion capabilities, a slide show window, and so much more.

9WR - GraphicConverter: Swiss Army Knife utility for graphic images and photographs.

Two utilities to make your Mac become a radio station and you the disc jockey. Good for disco D.J. operation, full automation, multiple players, online streaming.

It features 3 main players and one library player, all with selectable individual audio outputs, detailed time calculations, a lot of fast and smooth iTunes integration, and Nicecast artist and title publishing. It is complemented by a seprate scheduler for full station automation.

9WR - Radiologik DJ: D.J. software simulates radio station queue, segue; automation, mixing.

Great value for web site or CD photo album creation. Clumsy Java interface, but point and click simplicity, loaded with options. Many different and sometimes attractive ‘skins’ available. None better at this price. Free.

Make website albums of your digital photographs. With JAlbum, no extra software is needed to view the albums, just your web browser. Unlike “server side” album scripts, JAlbum albums can be served from a plain web server without scripting support. You can also share your albums on CD-ROM.

9WR - JAlbum: Create website, CD photo albums, multiple skins, point, click.

Handiest set-it-and-forget utility ever for the Mac. Preference pane that auto inserts text and corrects common typos—on the fly. Kate’s detailed review. New snippet adds auto URL shortening, which is good for email.

TextExpander saves you countless keystrokes with customized abbreviations for your frequently-used text strings and images.

9WR - TextExpander: Auto corrects typos, inserts text with user-defined keystroke combos.

Powerful, feature laden Finder replacement for Mac power users. If you like to customize Finder features, Path Finder is your heaven. Stable, fast, with so many features your eyes will hurt. Version 5.5 is Snow Leopard only.

Want to move sidebar items such as the Shelf, Volumes list, or Preview pane to any location in the file browser window? Interested in creating a sidebar pane that shows the contents of a specific folder? Want to hide the new Split Preview pane?

9WR - Path Finder: Ultimate customized replacement Finder; tabs, shelves, split Preview pane.

Poor name, weak official description of an indispensable Mac utility. One of our ‘must haves’ for years. Elegant solution to renaming multiple files. Lots of multiple files. Many features. Needs to rename itself.

A Better Finder Rename allows users to quickly rename multiple files. This powerful, yet easy-to-use utility transforms the often tedious and time-consuming task of renaming multiple files into a simple matter of seconds.

9WR - A Better Finder Rename: Context menu utility renames multiple files with few clicks.

A mini update to the major update to the pricey but increasingly popular way to run Windows or Linux within Mac OS X. Share files between Windows and Mac. Support for Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP SP3 and Windows 7.

Run Windows, Linux, and more side-by-side with Mac OS X on any Intel-powered Mac, without rebooting. Run Mac OS X and Windows at the same time. You can even drag-and-drop files between desktops!

9WR - Parallels Desktop: Runs Windows, Linux with Mac OS X on Intel Macs.

If you’re concerned about Mac security, Little Snitch does what your Mac’s firewall cannot. It protects and alerts you whenever a Mac application tries to communicate from your Mac to wherever. You would be surprised to know how many Mac apps and utilities phone home. A Mac’s firewall protects against unwanted intrusions. Little Snitch protects against unwanted, outbound connections from your Mac.

Little Snitch informs you whenever a program attempts to establish an outgoing Internet connection. You can then choose to allow or deny this connection, or define a rule how to handle similar, future connection attempts. This reliably prevents private data from being sent out without your knowledge.

9WR - Little Snitch: Outbound firewall alerts Mac user to outgoing communication requests.

The latest big bug fix of Microsoft’s somewhat buggy but popular Office suite of Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Entourage. Welcome relief for many Mac users, certainly. Office 2004 11.5.8 is also available. I’ll spare you ad copy and go right to what you want to read about—bug fixes. It’ll make you proud to use Office.

Compatibility is improved.

9WR - Microsoft Office 2008: Another bug fix update enhances security, stability, and performance.

Our favorite Mac site monitoring tool. Solid, dependable, full of notifications when checking sites. Tracks sites, servers, forums posts, comments on blogs, even checks web mail.

It checks servers for changes or failures, and notifies you via e-mail, sound, speech, Twitter, or other means. You can use it to track updated sites, and to alert you when an important server goes down or recovers.

9WR - Dejal Simon: Server monitor tracks failures, notifies via email, alerts, Twitter.

Major update of the rather clever utility for people on the move. Literally. Plans routes with maps, graphs, locations, and calculates distance. Check the ancient Mac360 review. Watch runner and hiker routes in Google Earth. Includes diary, and MobileMe export.

TrailRunner is a route planning software for all kinds of long distance sports like running, biking, hiking, inline-skating, skiing and more.

9WR - Trail Runner: Route planning for runners, bikers; maps, diary, exercise plan.

Mini update for the popular Open Source, OpenOffice, Microsoft Office for the rest of us. If you must have an office suite on your Mac and cannot afford Microsoft’s Office or Apple’s iWork, this is one to get. Big, kinda klunky, often compatible, somewhat slow, very loaded with features, very free, but now competing against the very good OpenOffice 3.0.

A fully-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database programs) for Mac OS X. Based on the OpenOffice.org office suite, NeoOffice has integrated dozens of native Mac features and can import, edit, and exchange files with other popular office programs such as Microsoft Office.

9WR - NeoOffice: Open Source office suite (free), word processor, spreadsheet, database.

Because you can never have enough tools to tinker on your Mac, there’s MacPilot. A huge list of utility functions, features, fun tweaks for the Mac geek hiding inside.

Easily enable and disable hidden features in Mac OS X, optimize and repair your system, and perform numerous routine maintenance operations with the click of a button! Optimize your network for broadband connectivity, completely customize Apple File Sharing, perform essential maintenance without having to remember mind boggling acronyms.

9WR - MacPilot: Geeky utility tweaks Mac, opens hidden features, cleans caches.

Everyone wants to manage your money these days. MoneyWell takes a different approach. Think digital envelopes. Think buckets. Lots of easy access reports, schedules.

Powerful personal finance organization and analysis tools in a simple, single-screen solution. Without running complex reports or having to trudge through six levels of pie charts, you’ll know immediately if your spending is on track.

9WR - MoneyWell: Gentle learning curve, comprehensive ‘envelope’ budget management, one-click reports.

Highly beneficial Mac utility to track and chart depression and mood disorders, causes, trends. Monitors daily health using simple selection criteria. Impressive.

An advanced health and mood diary. Optimism helps you discover your depression triggers, the symptoms that they produce, and based on this knowledge, effective strategies for staying mentally well.

9WR - Optimism: Effective mood diary discovers, tracks, monitors depression triggers, influences.

One of my favorite always on utilities. Default Folder adds tools to the Open and Save dialog boxes in OS X, and remembers where to save files based on which application is used at the time.

Default Folder X attaches a toolbar to the right side of the Open and Save dialogs in any OS X-native application. The toolbar gives you fast access to various folders and commands. You just click on the buttons to go to your favorite and recently used folders, manage the folders and files shown in the list, and make changes to your settings.

9WR - Default Folder X: Adds tools and remembers which folder to save files based on application.

Use Chax to add a bunch of cool features to Apple’s iChat that Apple chose not to give you. Growl notification, activity log, auto-accept file transfers, AV chats, and screen sharing, and more.

Chax is a collection of minor modifications and additions that make using Apple’s iChat more enjoyable.

9WR - Chax: iChat add-on features—unified contacts, Growl notices, log viewer.

Geeky tool manages and monitors network performance and mapping by device and in real time. Geeky but cool.

SNMP and ping probes discover and query elements across your distributed network - whether it spans several rooms, a building, an office park, or distributed locations. Synthetic transactions test critical applications and alert you to email, web, or directory server problems.

9WR - InterMapper: Network performance, device mapping tool monitors networks in real-time.

A handy utility to find duplicate files on your Mac. In the age of large hard drives we usually keep everything. You, know. Just to be sure. Really sure.

With Tidy Up! you can search for duplicate files and packages; by the owner application, content, type, creator, extension, time modified, time created, name, label, visibility and delays. You can also search by the tag, duration and bit installments of MP3 and AAC sound files, search the contents of the iPhoto, Aperture, iTunes, iPod databases and Mail mailboxes, and synchronize deletions with iPhoto, Mail and iTunes.

9WR - Tidy Up!: Finds duplicate files, sorts by application, time modified, more.

Let your Mac help you lose weight by tracking what you eat. Creates diet plans, targets specific weight loss objectives, monitors caloric intake, manages multiple users; complete with extensive food database. Or, just eat more veggies and less junk food, get more exercise. Runs on Mac, Windows, Liinux.

Manage your diet based on firm scientific foundations and proven calorie counting methods made easy through the easy to use and intuitive interface and extensive international food database. Use the diet suggestions provided by the software based on your specific user profile,  or follow your own diet plan. Through the diary and extensive food database you quickly learn which foods in your diet provide the most weight gain and which foods you like and can actually eat more of.

9WR - Perfect Diet Tracker: Multiuser diet planner, monitor, calories, track foods in database.

Comfortably useful peer-to-peer file sharing utility (often used to ‘share’ files illegally). Not BitTorrent but easier to use. LimeWire has a Pro version, too. Now it costs money to steal files.

LimeWire is a fast, easy-to-use file sharing program that contains no spyware, adware or other bundled software. Compatible with all major platforms and running over the Gnutella network, LimeWire’s open source code, is freely available to the public and developed in part by a devoted programmer community.

9WR - LimeWire: Elegant P2P file sharing utility for Mac, Windows, Linux.

Wondering where your money went? Let Money on your Mac show you all the gory details. Why? Because it’s good to track the horse after it leaves the barn. Jumsoft’s (Mac geeks with good taste) Money is a delight.

Money helps people organize and manage their personal finances quickly and easily.

9WR - Money: Mac financial tracking utility; simple, elegant, full-featured, affordable, colorful.

Handy utility which converts Microsoft’s Windows audio files so they’ll play in iTunes. Doesn’t convert protected DRM (digital rights management) files.

EasyWMA allows you to convert wma, wmv audio, asf and ogg vorbis files to aiff, mp3, m4a or wav so that you can play your favorite songs in iTunes or any other player on your Mac.

9WR - EasyWMA: Drag and drop conversion of Windows audio files to Macs.

Marc Moini’s one trick pony with extra tricks to enhance scrolling on your Mac. Makes scroll wheel or trackpad smoother, faster. Goes in reverse and uses keyboard, too. Nice.

Smart Scroll offers smooth and easy iPhone-like scrolling… Other features include Universal Scroll Keys that let you scroll from the keyboard, FileMaker Pro and AppleWorks enhancements, and more.

9WR - Smart Scroll: Utility improves scrolling, reverses, adds keyboard scrolling, grab scroll.