Cocktail or Onyx?

[guklein]

Which is the best?
Cocktail or Onyx?

I know Onyx is free...it does not matter.

Thanks.

[MacDawg]

I have used Onyx occasionally
I have never used Cocktail

Not sure that helps... but there you go

Woof, Woof - Dawg

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by guklein

Which is the best?
Cocktail or Onyx?

...

There is no best. Both utilities put a GUI on standard UNIX maintenance tasks. Neither of them is necessary. It does not make sense to waste your time and money. Cocktail was fine when it was free. OnyX does not waste your money. Go with it.

[MacDawg]

Originally Posted by MisterMe

There is no best. Both utilities put a GUI on standard UNIX maintenance tasks. Neither of them is necessary. It does not make sense to waste your time and money. Cocktail was fine when it was free. OnyX does not waste your money. Go with it.

I don't know about Cocktail, but Onyx does other things besides run the UNIX maintenance tasks. While it is true there are other ways to accomplish them, Onyx packages them well.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

[toxictrix]

Onyx is great. I would just stick with it.

[EmperorDarius]

The question is...

Free or not?

OR better

Free or Free but having to periodically download new versions manually because the version you're using is cracked and you can't automatically update it?


I'd say Free.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by MacDawg

I don't know about Cocktail, but Onyx does other things besides run the UNIX maintenance tasks. While it is true there are other ways to accomplish them, Onyx packages them well.

...

Whether or not Cocktail and OnyX are strictly GUIs on standard UNIX tasks or they two utilities have extra functionality that is difficult to use otherwise is beside my point. My point is that neither utility is necessary. When I first upgraded to MacOS X, I used Cocktail. I switched to OnyX and completely abandoned Cocktail when it became fee-based. After Apple journaled HFS+, running these utilities became a waste of time.

My experience with my Macs at home, at work, and on the road have borne out this assessment. If I suspect a real problem, then I run File System Check (fsck -fy) from the command prompt in Single User Mode. Real problems have real causes. The real cause of my minor issues is power failure from the public utility--the electric power company. Real problems are expected to have real solutions. File System Check is the only maintenance utility that ever noticeably improved my system.

[guklein]

Originally Posted by MisterMe

Whether or not Cocktail and OnyX are strictly GUIs on standard UNIX tasks or they two utilities have extra functionality that is difficult to use otherwise is beside my point. My point is that neither utility is necessary. When I first upgraded to MacOS X, I used Cocktail. I switched to OnyX and completely abandoned Cocktail when it became fee-based. After Apple journaled HFS+, running these utilities became a waste of time.

My experience with my Macs at home, at work, and on the road have borne out this assessment. If I suspect a real problem, then I run File System Check (fsck -fy) from the command prompt in Single User Mode. Real problems have real causes. The real cause of my minor issues is power failure from the public utility--the electric power company. Real problems are expected to have real solutions. File System Check is the only maintenance utility that ever noticeably improved my system.

But Onyx or Cocktail does not improve the performance? (clean caches, logs, permissions,...).

How can I run 'File System Check'? Sorry for the question, but I am very newbie on MacOS.

Thanks.

[Michaelgtrusa]

On youtube THE BLUR HOUR spoke of reinstalling his os every 60 days as routine maintenance.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by guklein

...

How can I run 'File System Check'? Sorry for the question, but I am very newbie on MacOS.

...

If you have no reason to suspect a problem, then I would suggest that you not bother with routine maintenance on your Mac. Left to its own devices, it will take care of itself. Last week, I ran File System Check on my Mac at work for the first time ever. I have had the computer for more than four years. I did this because my computer has suffered several power outages since I purchased it. fsck fixed a few minor orphaned clusters.

Having said all this, I will give you the instructions for running File System Check. Bear in mind that they are unnecessary unless your computer suffers a real identifiable problem:

1. Restart.
2. Press [cmd]+[s].
3. Wait for your computer to boot into a full-screen commandline interface
4. At the command prompt, type fsck -fy.
5. Wait for the computer to complete its tasks and return the command prompt. If the fan gets noisy, then don't worry about it. This is normal.
6. If any repairs are reported, then repeat Step 4.
7. If no repairs are reported, then type exit. Wait for your computer to boot into the Aqua GUI.
8. Get back to work.

[MacAndy74]

I occasionally use Onyx to do maintenance, I've never heard of Cocktail - but that doesn't mean much really.

[Xavier]

I have only used Onyx and it works great.

[dirt farmer]

I use Cocktail, and it's fine. I would probably use something else, if I had not an "invested interest" in it (read: I paid for it). There are many freebies out there. Onyx seems to be a bit bloated... why the need for a nearly 17 MB file to download?

iTool seems nice, if I ever abandoned Cocktail.

A plus with Cocktail is that it can search for "harmful files", i.e. common trojans and worms. That is a nice feature.

[MacDawg]

Originally Posted by MisterMe

Whether or not Cocktail and OnyX are strictly GUIs on standard UNIX tasks or they two utilities have extra functionality that is difficult to use otherwise is beside my point. My point is that neither utility is necessary. When I first upgraded to MacOS X, I used Cocktail. I switched to OnyX and completely abandoned Cocktail when it became fee-based. After Apple journaled HFS+, running these utilities became a waste of time.

My experience with my Macs at home, at work, and on the road have borne out this assessment. If I suspect a real problem, then I run File System Check (fsck -fy) from the command prompt in Single User Mode. Real problems have real causes. The real cause of my minor issues is power failure from the public utility--the electric power company. Real problems are expected to have real solutions. File System Check is the only maintenance utility that ever noticeably improved my system.

We are all very happy for you

However, not everyone is comfortable using the command line

AND as I said before, Onyx does do other things
Such as show hidden files or allow the desktop to be dynamic

Perhaps Onyx is not necessary for you and your usage
But for others, it might be what they are looking for

Woof, Woof - Dawg

[guklein]

Originally Posted by MisterMe

If you have no reason to suspect a problem, then I would suggest that you not bother with routine maintenance on your Mac. Left to its own devices, it will take care of itself. Last week, I ran File System Check on my Mac at work for the first time ever. I have had the computer for more than four years. I did this because my computer has suffered several power outages since I purchased it. fsck fixed a few minor orphaned clusters.

Having said all this, I will give you the instructions for running File System Check. Bear in mind that they are unnecessary unless your computer suffers a real identifiable problem:

1. Restart.
2. Press [cmd]+[s].
3. Wait for your computer to boot into a full-screen commandline interface
4. At the command prompt, type fsck -fy.
5. Wait for the computer to complete its tasks and return the command prompt. If the fan gets noisy, then don't worry about it. This is normal.
6. If any repairs are reported, then repeat Step 4.
7. If no repairs are reported, then type exit. Wait for your computer to boot into the Aqua GUI.
8. Get back to work.

Thank you for the instructions!

It is nice to learn it. Maybe I have to try it if my iMac suffers a real identifiable problem...I hope not!