The 9 Best Widgets:

Little attention has really been given to Widgets since Apple made them the ‘in-thing’ in operating systems (take note of Vista using them) when Tiger was launched last year. There’s an awful lot of widgets available that are, questionable, to say the least, but there’s also an array of interesting and…

(Via AppleMatters.)

Parallels Desktop

Many users have told us how much they rely on Parallels Compressor, our disk management tool that can compress the size of a Windows virtual machine (VM) by 50% or more, to conserve hard drive space, get VMs to a “burnable” size, and increase VM speed. They have also commented, however, that since Desktop is a Mac product – and Mac products are above all else, easy – that it would be simpler than going through two complete downloads, installs and setups if we could integrate both products, so they got everything they needed in one shot.

We listened. Parallels Desktop RC2 includes Parallels Compressor Server technology (which is compatible with any version of Windows 2000, 2003 or XP)! From within a VM, users can just click “run compressor” under the “VM” tab in the menu bar and without shutting down, decrease their virtual hard disk size by 50% or more. Quick, easy, simple….exactly the way a Mac product should be.

Parallels Compressor Server is available as a stand-alone product that works with Parallels, VMware and Microsoft virtual machines/virtual servers for $179.99. When the final product is available, the all inclusive version of Parallels Desktop (with Mac version and Compressor) will cost only $79.99 but users can take advantage of the following deals.

- The $39.99 pre-order price is still in effect, and will be until the close of the beta program.
- Customers who already pre-ordered will receive the new, upgraded version including Compressor at NO ADDITIONAL COST
- As a special extended offer, we’ll be offering the new, all inclusive version for $49.99 for 30 days following the general release.

(Via parallels.)

Rumour: Apple developing eMac successor?: “Apple is reportedly working on a successor to its education-focused eMac line.“

(Via Macworld UK.)

Microsoft announces their first Desktop designed for Mac users: “Microsoft today announced the availability of the Wireless Laser Desktop for Mac, its first Mac-specific desktop with a wireless Comfort Curve Keyboard and a wireless High Definition laser mouse.

The keyboard layout is consistent with the Mac keyboards we’re familiar with and, in fact, this is Microsoft’s only keyboard without the Windows Start button…but I guess that makes sense…although it might be nice for Boot Camp. The Wireless Laser Desktop for Mac is compatible with the new…

(Via MacMerc.)

CocoaBooklet: “

CocoaBooklet is a nice little application that ‘lets you create a booklet out of a PDF file, which is known as pages imposition. It is a useful tool to reduce the number of pages that has to be printed, which lets you save a lot of paper.’

I download a lot of pdf files about photography and I like to print them out so I can mark the paper up and keep it in my camera bag. This freeware really comes in handy because 1) it lets me use fewer pages and printer ink because it prints different pages on the same sheet of paper and 2) it makes a booklet that is small and reads like a book.

This is a great app.

Get it here: CocoaBooklet.

”

(Via FreeMacWare.com.)

Review: MacBook 1.83GHz and 2GHz: “The MacBook is very impressive, not only compared to the iBooks and PowerBook it replaces, but also compared to its new Pro brethren. It offers almost everything that people would need in a laptop. If you use non-native apps often, and prefer a SuperDrive to a Combo Drive, consider one of the faster models. But if you’re a hard core 3-D gamer, the MacBook is not the Mac for you.

(Via MacCentral.)

Macworld UK – Revealed: Official DivX solution for Mac: “In a first time move, DivX has announced DivX for Mac 6.5, which includes the first release of an official DivX for Mac player.”

(Via Download.)

Mac Whacking: switching between desktop environments is a slap!: “From this post by Tom Krazit at CNET we learn of Erling Ellingsen who has developed a way to use the motion sensor in modern Mac laptops to allow him to tap the side of the screen and bring up different desktop environments. He has posted a video of this amazing feat as well as all the geeky details on on how to get this stunt to work.

(Via MacMerc.)

Intel Mac Adobe CS2 problem explained: “More information suggests that not installing Version Cue may help make CS2 install correctly on Intel Macs.“

(Via Macworld UK.)

Yummy FTP goes Universal: “Yummy Software today announced the availability of Yummy FTP 1.5, a major update to the popular FTP client software…”

(Via MacMinute.)

SanDisk: “iDon’t” Apple’s iPod: “Apple’s iPod rival SanDisk taking Apple head-on with the launch of a new anti-iPod campaign this pas…”

(Via MacNN.)

New features and improvements in Speed Download 4.0.2 include:

- Increased the demo limit to 21 days: to allow users more time to properly evaluate the FTP client in SD as well as all the other great features.
- Updated SD Un-installer: added a confirmation to the un-installer to avoid accidental un-installing of Speed Download.
- Addressed: setting Schedule to start/stop on selected days works again.
- Addressed: you can now have SD running on multiple user accounts on the same machine at the same time.
- Addressed: issue that sometimes prevented successful connections to public iDisks.

- New: following user request, added keyboard combo key for deleting items from SD bypassing the confirmation screen.

If you hold down the ‘OPTION’ key while deleting an item, SD will delete the entry from SD and move the physical file to the trash. SD will not prompt
you with the ‘Are you sure…’ message.

If you hold down the ‘OPTION’ and ‘SHIFT’ key while deleting an item, SD will delete the entry from SD only. SD will not prompt
you with the ‘Are you sure…’ message.

- New: Added full support for downloading from servers that use NTLM authentication.
- New: French version of SD4 now available.
- New: Norwegian version of SD4 now available.
- New: Russian version of SD4 now available.

(Via yazsoft.)

Server Siren Monitors Servers, Web Sites: “FoggyNoggin Software announced the immediate availability of Server Siren 1.0 on Monday”

(Via The Mac Observer.)

Last.fm Player: “

Like Pandora, Last.fm is a free online ‘radio’ where you get to choose the music. You can choose, for example, to play music similar to Jason Mraz or any artist. You can also search by keyword.

Last.fm also has an iTunes plugin that will pay attention to what music you listen to in your own iTunes library and tailor your ‘radio station’ to include similar music.

(If you’re looking for good, hand-selected music, check out freemacmusic.com.)

There is even a Macosxhints.com hint about how to get your Last.fm radio station into iTunes.

Get it here: Last.fm Player.

”

(Via FreeMacWare.com.)

ClockSaver: “

We have featured a few nice screensavers already, but this one is simple and sexy. (Is one allowed to call freeware sexy?)

ClockSaver is a port of the Screensaver-module ‘KClock’ found in the KDE Desktop Environment to Mac OS X. It shows a simple but elegant analog clock where you can customize the colors for the clock hands, the color for the clock scale, whether a second hand should be visible, and the size of the displayed clock.

Even without the extra options, the standard install is great looking. It’s a very nice screensaver that also gives functionality.

Get it here: ClockSaver