Four Free, Offbeat Apps for the Mac

While I use a PC more often than a Mac, I have a MacBook and often add useful applications to it from my sojourns through the worlds of open source software and free ware. Here are four free, useful applicaitons for your Mac.

Bean is a free, open source word processor for the Mac, and it’s designed to pop up and close quickly, with a very simple interface. Bean is really more of a text editor than a word processor, but it has a strong set of features, Take a look at the screenshots here especially noting how the Inspector feature works (shown above).

AppCleaner is a very thorough tool for uninstalling applications from your Mac. It gets rid of all files, widgets and any stray remnants that a particular application puts on your system.

ScreenCleaner Pro Gammawork performs a very interesting function. If you’ve used a particular monitor with your Mac for a long time, then it’s likely the brightness and contrast have faded. This free little applet adjusts the gamma and a few other settings on the monitor, so that the display looks rich again, in one step. I’ve tried it and liked it, and it’s gotten a number of good reviews.

Do you work with PDFs a lot? Combine PDFs does exactly what it’s name implies. It lets you combine two or more PDF files, which can be especially useful when you’re doing a piece of writing for which you need to refer to several PDFs. When combined, you can search for specific information in one big document rather than flipping between many.

Do you know of any useful freeware or open source software for the Mac?

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