Filed under: TUAW Tips, Universal Binary
UB Replacements for Non-Intel Mac Apps
In this post about Roxio Toast, TUAW asked which applications you were still waiting for to be ported to universal binary. I thought I'd compile a list of universal binary applications that can fill the roles of those that people are still waiting for:For Screen Capture
Display Eater is still a work-in-progress and offers a much less refined user interface than Snapz Pro, but it's UB and it works. I've used it several times to capture my screen into a video file.
For Office Suites
Again, the user interface isn't as refined as the mainstay, but you can't beat the price of NeoOffice. The NeoOffice Alpha 2 for Intel Macs is available right now by paying for an "Early Access" program. Or you can wait a few days, as an Intel beta of NeoOffice should be released very soon (next week, if I'm hearing correctly).
For Video Conversion
I use ffmpegX for a lot of video conversion and the Intel version just screams on my Intel iMac. I haven't matched it up against the new Toast's DivX conversion yet, but I bet it's faster. The learning curve is a bit higher with ffmpegX, but it supports way more video formats.
And a few notes. Stuffit Expander is a universal binary beta. Filemaker is likely getting close to a release of version 8.5 which will be run natively on Intel Macs.
I'm also still waiting for Extensis to update Suitcase so it's UB. As much as I'd love to dump it for a different product, I don't know of any professional font managers that are updated for Intel. Both FontAgent Pro and MasterJuggler are still wallowing in PPC-land. Linotype FontExplorer X was just updated to UB, but I have zero experience with it, and Apple's own FontBook has on too many occasions eaten my font collections (always have backups!).
Ok, so the list only hits 44, but still, who couldn't use a few more things to do with their little white
gadget? I mean, only playing music on an iPod is so... 2001.
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