MacUpdate Holiday Bundle $49.99 - Good Deal / OR NOT NEEDED ?

[dcl]

MacUpdate Holiday Bundle - $49.99
http://www.mupromo.com/winter.php

- Looks like a Good Deal, But are these utilities really NEEDED or necessary?

BUNDLE:

Drive Genius 2.1 - is an OS X utility designed to provide unsurpassed storage management.

MacPilot 3.2.1 - can enable and disable hidden features in Mac OS X, optimize and repair your system, and perform numerous routine maintenance operations with the click of a button!

Intego VirusBarrier X5 10.5.5 - is the simple, fast and non-intrusive antivirus security solution for Macintosh computers, by Intego, the leading publisher of personal security software for Macintosh.

Little Snitch 2.0.4 - is a software firewall that protects your computer against unwanted guests from the Internet.

RapidWeaver 4.2 - is a next-generation web design application to help you easily create professional looking web sites in minutes.

WhatSize 4.4.1 - helps find out what files are taking up all of that space.

KeyCue 4.3 - Displays all menu shortcut commands.

iVolume 3.1.4 - Improves the built-in 'Sound Check' function of iTunes.

MacGourmet Deluxe 1.0.5 - Easily create, build, and share your recipe collection.

Default Folder X - attaches a toolbar to the right side of the Open and Save dialogs in any OS X-native application.

iDive 1.8.8 - is a digital video shoebox...for your DV tapes and now for all your QuickTime movies.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Deeper is a free version of MacPilot.
GrandPerspective is a free version of WhatSize.

I haven't used the others.

 

[Demosthenes X]

I wouldn't pay for any of those... RapidWeaver gets a good reputation, but I found it incredibly weak and limiting. I prefer iWeb to RW...

 

[mlblacy]

RapidWeaver is superior to iWeb, and fun to use as well...

I wouldn't pay for any of those... RapidWeaver gets a good reputation, but I found it incredibly weak and limiting. I prefer iWeb to RW...

Wow... RW limiting??? OK, here is my 2 cents...

I use iWeb for personal use, and it is great for that. The ease & integration with iPhoto, and all the other apple products (.mac, etc), makes it a no brainer. However I never have heard anyone who actually uses RW finds it weak and limiting, especially in comparison to iWeb.

As a long-time user, who has used GoLive and then DreamWeaver, I found RapidWeaver to be a breath of fresh air. I actually dreaded doing web work, and pretty much lost my interest while using DW. RW, is a deceptively simple program, but with great depth for extensibility. With a little knowledge "professional" level sites can easily be created, in fact you might be surprised how many sites are actually created with the app.

Furthermore the community of support comprised of users, and developers is unparalleled. Have a question or problem? Post a query to the forums and often (within minutes even) you have scores of answers from users around the world. The community is also especially kind towards newbs. I made the switch from DW to RW about 6 months ago, and since that time I have been in direct contact with no less than 3 developers about issues or have requested improvements to the software, or one of the third-party plug-ins. Just like pshop, quark, and DW, there is a large market of third-party solutions (professional level themes and various plug-in expansion modules).

RW's "themes" are merely the basic framework to build your website around, and basically you should think of them as the bare bones navigational interface. Professional level themes offer a huge array of options and choices to customize your site, making it very easy to completely change the look and feel, often with a few clicks (thanks to the magic of CSS).

BTW, I am a professional designer who runs my own studio. I have over 25 years of experience. So, not to start a flame war or anything, I just urge folks to check it out for themselves. I think you can download a demo that will let you create as many test/play sites (limited to 3 pages I think). Also, many third party themes developers will let you download demo versions of their themes.

So, on that note, here is one site I recreated with RW (still being built):
http://www.njsouthernshore.com/

Want to see more examples? See a showcase here:
http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/showcase/

Decide for yourself... google "iweb vs. rapidweaver"...
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=iweb+vs.+rapidweaver&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Read this thread on exactly the same subject...
http://www.realmacsoftware.com/forums/index.php/forums/viewthread/8143/

So... weak & limiting? I would suggest that is not the case at all. Scratch lightly beneath the surface and you will find a program as deep as many folks would want. iWeb is fine, I use it as well for some purposes... but frankly RW blows the doors off iWeb in terms of power, usability and depth.

cheers & peace,
michael