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BumpTop offers a 3D desktop on your Mac

by Mike Schramm Jan 20th 2010 at 10:00PM


I've never really gotten into the whole 3D file navigation thing (ever since "It's a Unix system! I know this!", it's seemed pretty corny), but BumpTop might be the exception I've been waiting for. It's a 3D overlay for your OS X desktop that turns files into 3D objects to move around, pin on the walls, pile up or break down as needed. It's not too shabby -- with all of these things, there's a fine line between adding in graphic splashes for the heck of it, and making sure everything has a real function, and it seems like BumpTop walks that line pretty well. Most of the graphical flair does actually help with a function also. The app also supports the multitouch trackpad on MacBooks, so there's a little bit of innovation to play with as well.

Mashable says BumpTop is planning even more integration in the future, piping content from sites like Facebook and Twitter straight to one of the desktop's walls, and more involvement with the touch interface, even as we await the tablet's announcement.

I don't know if it's quite enough for me to leave behind the 2D icons and filenames that have worked well so far, but BumpTop is an interesting experiment in adding that third dimension into your normal workspace. The app is a free trial download, with a Pro version available (multitouch support, unlimited stickies, instant search) for $29.

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I've never really gotten into the whole 3D file navigation thing (ever since "It's a Unix system! I know this!", it's seemed pretty...
 

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DanRobinson

It broke QuiickSilver and had to be removed.

January 23 2010 at 9:39 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
msc1974

Doesn't work under 10.6 on either of my macs (top of the range tower and 3.06GHz iMac).

Just bounces once then Crash/send panel comes up... promising but FAIL

January 21 2010 at 4:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Silbertone

I've downloaded the free version and enjoyed it so much that I downloaded the pro version. One hour later the program quit and I can't re-open it even after a software re-install. NOT GOOD EVERYONE!!

January 21 2010 at 12:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Nourez

I'm giving the free version a try for a bit. It seems like it could be useful for keeping my desktop organized.

I'm not sure how it'll effect my system performance though, I haven't noticed any negative slowdown as of yet, but I'll see how much ram/cpu % it chews up after a couple of hours.

January 21 2010 at 10:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tuaw,com

I'll second the "it would be better if multi-screen setups were handled consistently. Otherwise, it's really quite nice. I'm going to try for at least a week...

January 21 2010 at 10:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gus Jenkins

Kind of reminds me of Microsoft Bob.

January 21 2010 at 7:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kakapo

It would be a bunch better (an IT term) if - BIG IF - it worked on multiple screens.

Having one screen in 3D and the other one in 2D makes my eyes go wonky!

But that is the price of living in the Souther Hemisphere.

Cheers

January 21 2010 at 3:00 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to kakapo's comment
Silbertone

I've downloaded the free version and enjoyed it so much that I downloaded the pro version. One hour later the program quit and I can't re-open it even after a software re-install. NOT GOOD EVERYONE!!

January 21 2010 at 12:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tylera344

1

January 21 2010 at 1:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
survival kits

I'm perfectly happy with Snow Leopard the way it is. If Apple wants to add something comparable to 10.7, I'll of course love it, and brag about it to all the Windows users I know. But that's the difference between Apple and every other tech company. [url=http://www.greenzeal.co.uk/Store/british_army_rations]British Army Rations[/url]

January 21 2010 at 1:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eric

This actually seems pretty cool, and would be a perfect interface for a tablet. I wish the pro versions wasn't $30 bucks, but it works fine on the regular

January 21 2010 at 12:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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