While there are lots of filesystems out there, we’ll be looking at the most popular two, FAT32 and NTFS.

About the Filesystems

FAT32

FAT32 used to be the default filesystem for many of the older, non-NT versions of Windows, such as Windows 95, 98, and ME. The original FAT specification was introduced in 1980, while the compatible FAT32 specification was introduced in 1996. More recently, an incompatible exFAT specification has been introduced that is meant to replace the use of the old FAT.

NTFS

Meanwhile, NTFS (or “New Technology File System”) was introduced in 1993, but has received many improvements over the years along with newer operating systems. While it is not used for removable storage (where FAT-type filesystems are prevalent), it is the best choice for hard drives because of the many features that it offers. The only reason NTFS is not used on removable storage is because it generates a lot of write operations to keep track of. Removing the storage device before those writes complete could potentially corrupt the data on the storage device.

NTFS Advantages Over FAT32

So what is it exactly that makes NTFS better? Unlike FAT32, NTFS is a journaling filesystem. The “journal” keeps track of changes before they actually happen, so in case the system crashes in the middle of a disc operation, disks with journaling filesystems are easier to recover.

NTFS also includes improved support for metadata; it uses advanced data structures to improve performance, reliability, and disk space utilization, and includes security access control lists.

NTFS is also capable of holding files larger than 4GB, and larger partitions can be created with NTFS instead of FAT32. FAT32 is relatively simple, and doesn’t do much for the user except hold files and some metadata. Any other differences between the two are highly technical and I won’t mention them here.

How to Reformat your Hard Drive

So how can you reformat a hard drive to NTFS? There are three different ways you can do this.

First, you can go into Computer/My Computer, right click on the drive you want to reformat (make sure your data is backed up somewhere else), and click on Format. Change whatever settings you would like as long as you have NTFS selected as the filesystem, and hit Format.

You can also right click on Computer/My Computer and click on Manage. Then, in the open window, click on Disk Management under Storage in the left pane, and wait for the service to load. From here, you can shrink, grow, delete, and reformat your partitions as you wish. Just remember to choose NTFS when you do.

Finally, you can use a third party software to do the partitioning. Often, you’ll need to burn them onto a CD if you don’t have it in CD form already, and boot off of it. From there you’ll have a lot of partitioning options to choose from. If you need one, let me suggest GParted‘s LiveCD.

Conclusion

Choosing the right filesystem is important not only for optimal functionality but also performance and piece of mind. With NTFS, you’re making a great choice for permanent storage devices that should let you use your computer to the fullest. In addition to the benefits of NTFS, many various operating systems including Mac OS X and Linux can work with NTFS, so why not use it?

Which filesystem do you prefer the most? Why? Let us know in the comments!

At one point or another the installer will ask you a strange question – how do you want to format your hard drive? For Windows systems, there are only a few possible answer choices. You either format it in NTFS or FAT, or you format it in NTFS or FAT (quick). Have you ever stopped to wonder what the difference actually is between a quick format vs full format?

Is There Really A Difference?

If you see “quick and easy” versus “absolute time waster” as the presented options instead of full format and quick format, I will have to inform you that Microsoft isn’t wasting your time for fun. Yes, there are indeed technological differences between the two options, and what each option essentially does. Understanding the effects of what you choose can be very important, depending on a couple of factors that you’ll have to decide on. To do that, we’ll dissect each option to figure out exactly what happens.

What Happens In A Full Format

Most experts say that choosing the full format feature (preferably NTFS over FAT) is better suited for your computer. For a handful of reasons, this is correct. A full format completely wipes your hard drive. After a full format, there shouldn’t be any recoverable data left that a program could sniff out.

A full format also checks the hard drive for bad sectors. If you haven’t switched out your hard drive for a newer one, your old computer will have a hard drive that will most likely be, well, old. Old things, as we know, tend to break more often, depending on what it is. Therefore, old hard drives are more prone to getting bad sectors (although the possibility can still exist for brand new hard drives, provided data was written onto the hard drive in a way where it becomes corrupt.

If the full format finds a bad sector, it will attempt to fix it. A successful fix means that your hard drive is once again fully functional and all space on it can be used. Finally, the tables of the new filesystem are carefully constructed on the hard drive and checked before the actual installation begins.

What Happens In A Quick Format

On the other hand, we have a quick format. A quick format is almost the complete opposite of a full format (it’s almost because it has to do something to even be called a quick format). Instead of treating your hard drive to a nice manicure, pedicure, and what else, a quick format will only delete the journalling part of the filesystem. In case you don’t know, NTFS, ext3 and ext4, as well as HFS+ are all journalling filesystems. This means that a “journal” is kept in order to keep track of what files even exist and where they can be located on the hard drive. A quick format simply wipes this journal, and lays a new, simple, and blank filesystem on top. That’s it.

It doesn’t really rebuild the filesystem, it doesn’t scan for bad sectors, and it doesn’t delete the data that’s on there. Therefore, assuming that no new data has been written back onto the hard drive to overwrite the “hidden” old data, one could use a file recovery program to find and re-save virtually every file that was on the hard drive before the quick format. As you may have guessed, this isn’t the best choice if you’re concerned about security.

Conclusion

So at the end of the day, which formatting style should you choose? If you quite frankly still can’t decide on your own, I’d follow the experts’ recommendation and do a full format, as it’s worth the time to save your hard drive from potentially permanent damage in the future. A full format will also help to increase the speed, efficiency, and stability of the hard drive. However, you may judge upon the two methods on your own and choose what you think is best for you.

What formatting option do you typically select? Which filesystem that has ever been created do you believe is the best? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: Shutterstock; dejahthoris

A lot of people enjoy other word processors, and I would never claim that Microsoft Word is the best one out there. All you have to do is read articles like Israel’s 6 Less Known Free Word Processors or Aseem’s 6 Free Office Suites That Are NOT Microsoft to recognize that there are some amazing and very useful word processors out there.

However, there are over 500 million Microsoft Word users in the world, and it’s still the most popular word processor out there. Because of that, many people often find themselves sifting through the Internet for tips on some of those not-so-easy tasks within Microsoft word.

Today, I’m going to offer 4 of the most useful Microsoft Word Tips that I’ve learned through the years. These include:

• Placing an image anywhere in a document without ruining text formatting.
• Inserting page numbering into the footer and starting the numbering over in new sections.
• Inserting pop-up comments for highlighted text inside your document.
• Making use of integrated Internet functionality to research selected text within word documents.

I’ve found each one of these techniques to be extremely useful throughout the years, and I’m sure you will too if you haven’t already tried them. For the purpose of this article I’m using MS Word 2003 so that most readers (who likely have later versions) will more likely have all of the features available that are shown in this article.

1. Placing An Image In Your Document Anywhere You Like

For the purpose of demonstration, I’m using the text from my recent article on how to repair a CD with toothpaste, but I’ve removed the images. Many people just insert images into a word document between paragraphs, since this is the easiest and simplest method to embed images in your document. However, if you want to have images appear within your document like on a typical web page, where the text flows smoothly around the image – it’s possible using a simple approach I call, “playing inside the box.”  Let’s say that you have a word document formatted in the standard way, as shown here.

Now, if you try to just do an Insert -> Picture where the blue circle is located, all of the text gets shoved rudely down the page as your inserted image takes over that entire section of the document. Don’t worry – you can teach your image to play nicely with text by forcing it to: Play Inside The Box.

Start off by inserting a text box (Insert -> Text Box) anywhere on the document, and then move it so that it’s located where you want the image.

Now, right click on it and select “Format Text Box“.  Under the “Colors and Lines” tab, make sure “Lines” is set to “No Line.“  Then, under the “Layout” tab, make sure that “Square” is selected. Click OK, and now your document will look like this.

As you can see, the text box is now invisible, and the text wraps cleanly around it. Just click anywhere inside your invisible text box, insert your image (the box will automatically resize to fit the photo) and you now have a cleanly embedded photo within your document. This technique also works to the right side of the text if you wish as well.

2. Page Numbering Magic

Another thing that many people like to do, especially when writing a multi-part manual or long document, is to number multiple sections of a document starting over from 1. Most people know how to insert page numbers into the footer of a document, but re-numbering starting within multiple new sections can get tricky.

The first step is to create the page numbering format that you want.  For this example, I’m inserting a number in the footer that reads “Page x of x”. You do this by going to View -> Header and Footer, switching to footer and centering the text, and then typing in the text “Page“, then click on the “Insert Page Number” button, type “of” and then click on “Insert Number of Pages” button.

This is your standard page numbering setup. But what if you want to start over at Page 1 on the next page, to start a brand new section of your document?  First, you need to define the next page as a new section by going to the page and clicking “Insert -> Break” and choosing the “Next Page” section type.

Now, when you go back into “View -> Header and Footer“, you’ll notice that the footer for Section 2 has the normal continuation of page numbers from the previous section. To change this, when you’re viewing the footer for Section 2 (or the section you want to start over), just click the “Format Page Number” button and change the “Page Numbering” to start at “1″.

Now your page numbers for Section 2 will start at page 1 and continue on until you create another section break and start the numbering all over again.

3. Pop-Up Comments For Editing or Offering Reader Tips

Another really cool feature that I use in a lot of my own documentation are pop-up tips or comments. You can define specific text to pop-up whenever the reader places the mouse cursor over specific text in the document. You can do this by highlighting the text and then selecting Insert -> Comment from the menu.

The manner in which Word has you edit the comment is different depending on your version and what page layout you’re in. After you create the comment, whenever the reader reads your document in normal view, the text you’ve commented only appears highlighted. When they roll the cursor over the text, your comment (or tip) pops-up.

This is an awesome feature for creating a user manual or a how-to document, because you can embed additional information about a term or idea without cluttering the rest of your document with information that not everyone reading it might need or find useful.

4. Researching Selected Text Within Word

The last useful Microsoft Word tip that I’d like to share is one that I use more often when I’m reading someone else’s documents. If you’re reading along, and there’s a particular word or term that looks foreign, or there’s a concept that you’d really like to learn more about – Microsoft Word has an entire research library integrated into it. All you have to do is highlight the text or phrase, right click on it, and select “Look Up…”

You’ll immediately notice an entire menu bar open up on the right side of the screen with all of the research options available to you, including not only the typical dictionary or thesaurus resources, but also research sites like Factiva iWorks, HighBeam Research, Live Search (now Bing) and more.

For each of the research sites like Live Search, the results show up right inside Microsoft Word. If you spot one that may be helpful, you can click the link and go to the site outside of Word. I’ve used this particular feature in Word (particularly the Encyclopedia) many times, and I consider it probably the most helpful embedded tool within Word.

Were any of these tips brand new to you? Or are you an old formatting pro with a few unique tips of your own? Check our more Microsoft Word tips here and share your own tips in the comments section below.

So what should you do to ensure that the files were “really gone” and could never be retrieved. For starters, never say never! As long as you don’t dismantle and physically destroy the hard disk, your files can be retrieved (and you thought recovering files after an OS install was impossible). That being said, chances are you won’t have to worry about forensic experts trying to get super secret formula X from your computer.

With a little care, you can be pretty sure you would be able to dodge the attempts of your overly geeky friend. Here’s how.

Format, don’t just “quick format”

First off, when the operating system is running, you cannot be sure if any files are actually deleted. At the very least, you have to format your hard drive. So when you decide to do so, don’t save time by doing a “Quick Format” – it doesn’t delete files, use the other option and perform a complete format which will erase your hard disk completely.

You can achieve this by booting from Windows disc and choosing the appropriate option. Linux users can boot from one of the live CDs and use the fdisk utility to format the hard disk

This should take care of any fears of data recovery by novice users

Securely delete the files

You can step it up a notch by securely deleting files from the hard disk. A secure delete not only deletes the files, but writes random data onto your hard disk as well, making it extremely (I mean EXTREMELY) difficult to get the files back.

If you are erasing your hard disk completely, you can use Darik’s Boot and Nuke, securely deleting data is the sole purpose of existence of this bad boy. Boot DBAN and let it do what it does best.

If on the other hand you want to securely delete files from a USB stick or external hard drive you can try previously mentioned and very useful Eraser. It integrates with Windows shell and lets you perform secure deletes from the context menu.

These methods would pretty much have you covered, but be warned: an adept professional may still be able to retrieve files although these methods would still give him a pretty tough time.

Do you know of better software or tips that you use for similar purposes? Mention them in the comments and share with the world!

Any which way an awesome “Bookmarklet” site called Readable is about to change the way you deal with sites like this.

Up until now I would have to copy the entire text from the web page using Control ““ A and then Control – C. I would paste my results into a notepad window and read it there. Now with Readable located here this is no longer necessary and all I need to do is click a button in my browser.

I know at first glance this can be a little confusing and that is why I am including the author’s “Silent Film” below:

If you are still interested in Readable we will cover how to use and configure it below. After browsing on over to their website you are greeted with the screen you see below. Simply click on either gray bar (on both sides of the main text) and you will be given a configuration screen and the ability to drag your bookmarklet to your favorites.

After clicking on the grey bar you will see the following options:

As you make changes to your Font, Font Size, Layout, Color and margins it will be represented in the preview below Step 2. If you like what you have done all you need to do is drag the readable bookmarklet to your favorites bar. I have shown this below in Firefox 3.

It is the same thing for most other modern browsers where you can drag a link and save it as a favorite. The favorite then has the java code that is executed. You can see what it is running by hovering over it with your mouse. Now that we have it configured let’s give it a try!

I found an article that I wanted to read. It is located here. I browsed on over to that webpage and hit my new bookmarklet.

After hitting my Readable button this is what I was returned with:

This will be a huge help to me in my day to day web browsing and researching modes.

Anyone use something similar? Do you love this or hate it? Share your comments with us – guess where? In the comments!

And the “˜>‘ which goes onto become “˜>>‘ with each forward doesn’t make for a pretty mail.  Essentially if I want to use that same text I have to take it with all the undesirable formatting.

It is an irksome problem which begs for a simple solution. My earlier way involved copying the text to Notepad (or NotePad2) and using the Find/Replace functions to remove the undesirables from the text. I was looking for something which could cut down on the three steps of Notepad.

The outcome of my hunt introduced me to the following ways :

StripMail

A handy freeware utility designed for just this problem. StripMail (v0.99j) can be used with any email program to clean up the text. StripMail formats the mail text by cleaning the “˜>’ and “˜|’ from forwarded e-mails. It organizes the text into paragraphs and indents the right margin thus making the text easier on the eyes.

The 279KB executable runs as a standalone executable. Yes, I still have to do the copy paste thing but thereafter StripMail handles the cleanup operation with one touch operations. There is a Do it all button which is like a master switch handling all the stripping and pasting operations in one go.

eMailStripper

Get rid of all those pesky “˜>’ characters with this freeware utility. Paste the message text into eMailStripper and Strip It. The software bumps off the indentation characters at the beginning of lines and also brings together the lines to make the whole message a bit more legible.

EMailStripper (v2.2) was probably not meant for sophisticated operations as it lacks configuration options. But for a neat little formatting job, the light program is worth a download. The program is compatible with Microsoft Windows (all versions) and Linux (under WINE).

You might also like to read Mark’s review of the software here.

Clippy

Clippy takes the pain away from the painstaking task of reformatting multiple-forwarded emails. Apart from removing the “˜>’ character, Clippy also realigns the lines, wipes any HTML tags, converts case and removes line breaks among a host of functions. Copy the text to the clipboard and click on Clippy installed in the system tray. Clippy works on the text and all you need to do is to paste it back where you need it.

Clippy can also be configured with other functions (like count words, convert between DOS and Unix formatting and also between white space characters and tabs, change the case of characters and even replace strings) through its Edit option.

Clippy (v1.20) is compatible with Windows (Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/3/XP) and can be alternatively be downloaded from here as the author site seemed to be down.

If you have been at the receiving end of emails populated with “˜>’ and “˜>>’ then you should surely save the next soul some annoyance by cleaning it up and only then sending it forth. It’s not only for the sake of clarity but it is also in the interest of good email etiquette.

Do you think that clean email forwards make for a good practice? If you do clean up your emails, what methods do you apply? Give us your opinion without a “˜>’.

Photo Credit : Tim Morgan

The internal hard disks available in the market, on the other hand, require to be prepared before use. By preparing a hard drive, I mean that the hard drive needs to be formatted. And no, it isn’t as tough as it sounds.

So, how do you format a nwe internal hard drive and make the hard drive useable by your operating system? The answer depends on which operating system you are using. I use both Windows XP and Linux for my work and I will be explaining the steps needed to format new disks under both these operating systems.

Of course, I’m assuming that you have already attached your disk to your computer and the computer is able to boot up with the older hard disk.

So, once you’ve logged into the administrator account under Windows XP, what you need to do is right click on the “My computer” icon and click on Manage.

This should open the Computer Management tool. Now to view the newly attached disk go to the Disk Management service.

As soon as you click on disk management, a wizard should pop up which will help you to initialize your new disk. At this point, you can just let the wizard do its job and when its done, you should be able to see your new disk in an unallocated state.This does not mean that the disk is bad, but it means that you have successfuly completed the first part of the process and can proceed to the second part.

This is where you need to create a partition, and give your new disk a drive name, like c:, d: etc, so that you can use it under Windows.

The new partition wizard will take you through a series of steps and let you specify the size of the partition (if you don’t want the whole disk to be allocated to a single drive), the drive letter and the file system type. In almost all cases, you can simply chose the default options and let the wizard work its magic.

In the end, you should have a shiny new drive available for storing your MP3 collection important documents.

In case you are using Linux then the process is a little more involved. I’m assuming that you are familiar with the Linux command prompt as most of these steps have to be performed on the command prompt. So, login as root and fire up the command prompt application before starting.

You will have to first use the fdisk command to find the name of the newly attached drive and then use the same command to create a partition on the disk.

As you can see, the “fdisk -l” command lists two drives attached to the system, /dev/sda and /dev/sdb.

The /dev/sda drive has a Linux partition and is your main operating system drive. So, the newly attached drive is /dev/sdb and it doesn’t have any partitions on it, yet. To create a new partition on the drive, use the interactive form of the fdisk command.

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk /dev/sdb
Device contains neither a valid DOS partition table, nor Sun, SGI or OSF disklabel
Building a new DOS disklabel. Changes will remain in memory only,
until you decide to write them. After that, of course, the previous
content won’t be recoverable.

Warning: invalid flag 0×0000 of partition table 4 will be corrected by w(rite)

Command (m for help): n
Command action
e   extended
p   primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-100, default 1):
Using default value 1
Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1-100, default 100):
Using default value 100

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
[root@localhost ~]#

Now, to format this partition, use the mkfs command on partition number 1 of /dev/sdb that we created above.

mkfs -t ext3 /dev/sdb1

That should be enough to make the new drive visible to your operating system and you should be able to mount and use the drive.

mount -t ext3 /dev/sdb /mount_point

So, as you you don’t have to be a computer genuis to format an internal hard drive. It is not as complicated as it sounds and you all can do it. If you guys have any more questions, please let us know in the comments and we’ll be glad to help.

• PDF requires an external application like Adobe Acrobat Reader (or any other free variants) while JPG does not.
• Browsers have the built-in capability to display images while handling PDF documents requires an external application or plug-in which may or may not be present.
• An external application comes with the handicap of loading times.  Plus the rendering of a PDF document happens only after the complete document is downloaded while images can be streamed in.
• Office applications also do a better job of handling images in comparison to PDF. To cite an example, a PowerPoint presentation with an embedded image goes faster than with a PDF document.

So, in some specific cases converting your PDF documents to an image format like JPG or JPEG could be the solution we are looking for.

1. Convert PDF to JPG (The Web Way)

No installations ““ just browse to these websites, upload your files and it’s done.

Zamzar

Perhaps, the most well known of the file conversion sites. Zamzar has been previously mentioned in Top Online File Converters. The process is simplicity personified:  Choose the file to convert then choose the format to convert to (e.g. JPG) then enter your email address to receive the converted file then convert.

The minuses with the free service are that the file size is limited to 100MB with just 5 simultaneous conversions. Also, you might feel a wee bit uneasy uploading sensitive data without encryption support.

YouConvertIt (Beta)

Another previous mention at MakeUseOf but just warrants a second look here because it too does a similar job of converting a PDF file to its JPG equivalent. You can upload 5 files at the same time.

As YouConvertIt is still in beta, expect some conversion attempt failures.

Neevia Document Converter

Neevia Technology has a web interface which facilitates the conversion of PDF documents to image files. Select the conversion settings and upload your file. The converted file can be rendered in the browser or can be downloaded via an email link. Two dropdowns further give you control over image quality and resolution. The only visible restriction is the 1MB file upload size limit.

If you are wary of uploading sensitive files over the net, you need to look beyond the online solutions to something much more local. Thankfully these three pieces of free software take up the task.

2. PDF to JPG Converters for The Desktop

PDF-Xchange Viewer (Windows)

PDF-Xchange Viewer is a light feature-rich PDF document reader. The free version of the software is a capable document handler with most of the standard features expected. Add comments and annotations, mark-up pages with texts and objects, type within the PDF document along with plug-ins for both IE and Firefox are also included.

But the feature which interests us is the ability of the software to export a file or a page to the supported image formats like JPEG, BMP, TIFF, PNG and more.

Open the PDF file in the viewer, click on File ““ Export to Image and the dialog opens up where you can set the pages to convert, the image type to convert to and the destination folder. More importantly, the “˜Export Mode’ setting allows you to designate the number of image files for the subject PDF file. The “˜Page Zoom’, “˜Resolution’ and “˜Page Background’ also allow added finishing touches.

OmniFormat (Windows)

“˜Omni’ means all and the OmniFormat document conversion utility lives up to the name. The free version permits active conversion and image handling of over 75 file formats including HTML, DOC, XLS, WPD, PDF, XML, JPG, GIF, TIF, PNG, PCX, PPT, PS, TXT, Photo CD, FAX and MPEG.

Using OmniFormat requires the installation of Pdf995 (it’s free too). Pdf995 is a fast and flexible PDF printer driver which makes it easy to publish PDF documents from any program. Pdf995 needs to be installed prior to the installation of OmniFormat. The free version of the software opens with a timed ad display.

This annoying part done with, the software itself is uncomplicated. It sets up a “˜Watch’ folder (or lets you set it up yourself). Any PDF file that has to be converted to JPG is copied into this folder. With the press of the “˜Single Pass’ button each single page of the PDF gets converted into the JPG format. With the “˜Start Monitoring’ button, PDF files can be repeatedly dropped into the watch folder for conversion.

Note of Caution: OmniFormat deletes the original PDF file in the watch folder after conversion”¦so be sure to copy the file you want to convert.

Virtual Image Printer Driver (Windows)

This open source application installs as an additional printer on the Printer’s applet and can convert any printable document to a BMP, PNG, JPG, TIFF or a PDF file. The Virtual Image Printer driver is based on the Microsoft universal printer driver core.

Simply, open the PDF file and print it by selecting the Image Printer Driver in the “˜Print’ dialog. The image file format and the compression range can be set in the Image Printer options box.

And When Everything Fails…

If you are away from a net connection and in want of the software’, the trusty “˜Print Screen’ button aided with any image handling application like MS Paint or IrfanView can do a stand-in job. I should know ““ I went this way before I came across the other six ways.

Do you know of any other methods?

Since then, I’ve gotten a little wiser, learnt that I can’t really please everyone and mainly focused my attention to my target audience: recent Mac switchers. This particular group of people are those who used to work with Windows (or any other operating system) and somewhere along the way, switched to a Mac. Hence the term – Switchers. There’s something unique about this group of people. Their perception of computers have been brought along for the ride, so they think that the traditions which worked on Windows will also be suited to the Mac.

Reinstalling your OS, for instance, or as most people would know it – formatting, is one of such traditions. It used to be an annual event (or sometimes biannual) for me when I had a Windows laptop. I admit, when I first started using a Mac, I assumed that I would have to format it every now and then as well. Oh, I’ve been proved wrong (and flamed for it). Now, I advise most people to refrain from formatting their hard disks unless there is a OS X upgrade. Formatting is a tedious and time-consuming process of backing up data, keychains, preferences, reinstalling the operating system, updating it and finally putting everything back into place. But…

If you’ve formatted your hard disk recently, you’ll always require a reminder about which applications to get back. Or what I’d like to call the Essential Apps. These apps are always on my Mac and will always be the first to be installed. So, I’d like to re-introduce the 10 Essential Mac Apps To Install After Formatting v2.

Before we start off, let me just say that Quicksilver isn’t on this list, in case there are some eager QS fans trying to redeem its usefulness after Spotlight has been so extensively enhanced.

1. Sequential

OS X’s Quick Look is good for previewing documents without opening Pages or Microsoft Office, it is also good for previewing movies. But what I find it is not very good at is previewing multiple images because of the funny way one has to navigate through the images (if Finder is set to Icon view). Fine, you could enable the full-screen mode to make browsing easier but then another issue pops up: you can’t view the filename unless you return to the Index Sheet.

Sequential is an image viewer that makes it a whole lot easier to browse through a multitude of images in order. It is also able to browse the images within an archive (zip, rar). Just perfect to quickly skim through a folder full of photos and note the ones to be deleted or preserved because their filenames are always displayed in the navigator.

2. Inquisitor

Inquisitor is a plugin for Safari which tremendously enhances its search capabilities. It retrieves results from Google (or Yahoo!) instantly and presents them in a drop-down box as you type your query into Safari’s search field. Not only that, if you’re not exactly sure of what you’re searching for, it will try to suggest some probable keywords.

Find out more about Inquisitor from this post I wrote, comparing it to another popular Safari plugin, Glims.

3. iStat Menus

iStat Menus is a much better application compared to MenuMeters in terms of monitoring system information like CPU load, memory usage, network activity and CPU temperature. All this information sits neatly on your menu bar, thus making the readings very accessible.

Of course, you could go Pro, but iStat Pro is a Dashboard widget. Personally, I prefer iStat Menus even if it means that I get less information compared to using iStat Pro.

4. TeamViewer or Schnitz Remote Lite

Both of these applications are tools for attaining remote help. Assuming that you are a Mac newbie and often require rescue or assistance; and provided you have someone to help you out, either TeamViewer or Schnitz are right for the job.

There are many write-ups about TeamViewer here on MakeUseOf and I have personally written a short tutorial about how to use Schnitz Remote Lite.

5. NTFS-3G and MacFUSE

One of the very many reasons I hear come out from people who refuse to switch to Mac is compatibility. True enough, one of Mac’s main compatibility issues is NTFS write capability. Macs can read NTFS-formatted hard disks just fine but when your mate brings his NTFS external hard disk over with the intention of copying some stuff from your Mac – sorry, that operation is invalid.

It’s hard to swallow that such a refined operating system cannot provide write-capability for an archaic file system. Nevertheless, it’s not the end of the road. By using NTFS-3G together with MacFUSE, you’ll be able to write to NTFS drives at almost native speeds. To find out how to install them, check out my post on NTFS Blues.

6. AppCleaner

A free alternative to the very popular AppZapper, AppCleaner is an application you will need to use when uninstalling other programs from your Mac.

Apple teaches its users that the way to uninstall an application is to simply drag it to Trash but by doing that, you’re leaving behind a lot of junk files in your Library folder. An Uninstaller is all you need to remove programs and its associated files from your Mac.

7. OpenOffice

I’ve just listed OpenOffice because I’ve been coerced into saying, “OpenOffice FTW!” but actually I can switch between OpenOffice and NeoOffice, which is a Mac OS port. Honestly, productivity suites are exactly what they are: for work. Aren’t we able to get to work without being too picky?

8. Evernote

If you haven’t heard of Evernote, which rock have you been hiding under? It is a fabulous note-taking application. It collects information in whatever medium you give it (photos, text, audio) and stores them in your Mac and online in your Evernote account so that you’ll be able to retrieve it from just about anywhere.

If you have an iPhone, even better. Evernote has a mobile version (iTunes link) which will allow you to sync the information from your Mac to your iPhone wirelessly.

What makes Evernote so impressive is its ability to search for words within pictures, even handwritten notes succumb to it. It makes the content of photos searchable and by that, you won’t need to add notes to photos explaining what is contained in it. The pictures speak for itself.

9. Secrets

Secrets is a system preference pane with a database of hidden settings for OS X. And yes, you can change every one of them and tweak them to your heart’s desire. Using Secrets, you can change almost any setting possible, from altering the login background to enabling high definition movie trailers in Front Row. And if you changed something which you shouldn’t have, there’s always that safety net: the Revert button.

Secrets will only work for Mac OS X Leopard.

10. Skitch

This application isn’t absolutely a necessity but if you’re looking for a great way to instantly share screenshots, you can’t get any better than Skitch. Also, I use Skitch for its resizing and cropping capabilities. Rather than opening up Preview to perform simple cropping and resize tasks, I launch Skitch. Since it is always on the menu bar, it is very accessible. After I’m done, it shrinks back to the menu bar obscurely.

There they are. The 10 updated essential apps. This list does not completely replace its predecessor but merely complements it. There are some applications in the earlier list which cannot be replaced, like Adium, Transmission and Perian, for example.

How would you alter this list? Are there any other free applications that you would have in place of any of the ones here? Let me know in the comments.