Filed under: Software, Freeware
Weatherbug for Mac OS X
Alas, poor Weatherbug, the controversial weather monitoring application for Windows is now available for Mac OS X. For years, many have fingered Weatherbug as spyware, others have simply called it adware. I'm not going to spend my time arguing its definition and instead fall back on my own personal definition of a bad application: if an application behaves in a way contrary to its clearly defined purpose or if it otherwise modifies the standard, expected behavior of the operating system or installed softwares, then it's a bad application. Call it spyware, call it adware, call it malware, call it whatever you want, just keep it the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks off my system.Fortunately, the programmers of Weatherbug for Mac OS X have not appeared to include any type of ad-serving, redirecting, or pop-up-serving components. I've installed it on my system and after a few hours of browsing, it has not attempted to contact any service other than the weather-synching service operated by the company. No ads, no spyware, no behind-the-scenes shenanigans. This is how Weatherbug for Windows should've be written; perhaps this is a sign that the company is listening to how annoyed some tech support staff are at their misbehaving application.
If you still don't trust Weatherbug but desire a weather-monitoring application for Mac OS X, you're in luck. There almost a dozen available, and most of them free, including: Meteorologist, Weatherpop, WeatherMenu, Seasonality, and WeatherDock.
Oh, one last thing. I had to chuckle at the differences between uninstalling Weatherbug for Mac OS X and uninstalling Weatherbug for Windows.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
random said 12:07PM on 11-08-2005
If you're using Tiger, why not just use the Weather widget? Or one of the other widgets available? I have one that gives me satellite images and doppler radar feeds so I can check if it's about to start pouring.
I don't trust WeatherBug at all. Even if Macs are generally immune to that crap, I wouldn't knowingly install an app from a company that puts that crap into their Windows version. I'm the same way about Real Player; I think I can live without viewing the rare .RM/.RA stream here and there.
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Bryan said 2:14PM on 11-08-2005
One word Dashboard Weather Widget, Well that Three Words.
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john spain said 12:50PM on 11-08-2005
see above: this is about the only thing widgets are good for.
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Klar said 12:58PM on 11-08-2005
I use an application called Weather Dock. Its excellent. Free. No ads. All that. The url is http://www.alwintroost.nl/content/weatherdock/home.xml
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Thorn said 1:03PM on 11-08-2005
Is there a widget that can give you weather alerts without having to flip to the dashboard? I don't want to be pressing F12 every 3 minutes when it starts to look like hell outside.
I'm still an OS X newbie, but it seems like the Mac version of most of the Windows apps I used in a previous life were designed by people who actually care how the program looks and functions. (With the exception of Quicken. grrrrr) I'm willing to give WeatherBug the benefit of the doubt that they've done the OS X version "the right way".
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Blue Balloon said 2:08PM on 11-08-2005
Say NO THANK to WeatherBUG
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Stephen Dauphin said 12:58PM on 11-09-2005
I haven't used any of the weather offerings, so can anyone enlighten me? Do any of the Weatherbug competitors offer to tie into the large weather sensor networks that my local TV stations offer? They are tied into schools and a few other sites. I remember they were WB happy a couple of years ago and of course there was no Mac port. I assume these networks are proprietary and only tie into Weather Bug but
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Adam said 10:01PM on 11-08-2005
I know some of the people that work with AWS on this product. Although the Windows version may pay for itself via ads, I don't believe they have any spyware or the like involved. I've used the Mac version, and it meets the need, although there are certainly more robust options out there, as others have mentioned. I honestly don't prefer it on my Windows or Macs, but I don't question the motives of the software manufacturer.
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Dan said 2:21AM on 11-09-2005
Well, I am a Windows Switcher as well. I not only used WeatherBug on Windows XP, I paid for it so I could get rid of the ads. When I switched to a Mac 12 months ago, the one thing I missed about weather bug were the AUDIBLE alerts. I need those. I live at the 6,000 foot elevation in Salt Lake City and it's important for me and my family to know about snow advisories, thunderstorms and such and an audible alert is critical. I have been using WeatherMenu on the Mac because it at least has an Alert icon, but without audible notification, it's almost useless as I don't see it (I don't stare at my menu bar). So, I'm going to try out WeatherBug for the Mac. Note to Mac weather program developers: We need audible alerts.
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Super Weiss said 3:21AM on 11-14-2005
The other options below are far superior offer more feature. Meteorologist is open-source and Freeware and is outstanding. Some of the other Weather apps are more frequently updated, but require a fee. Please check out the alternatives first, they do offer audible alerts and some great notification options (e-mail, sound, dock icon, etc.).
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