What's in Your Early-intel's MenuBar (Wiki)

[bobesch]

Yesterday I found a nice page about litte helpers for your Mac and a lot of them have their icons in the MenuBar ...
So I'd like to know about Your favourite stuff, that resides in the MenuBar.

Here's a start (with my favorite Apps). A lot of them little helpers reach back to OSX on PowerPS-Macs.
Feel free to edit or reorganise the list, since this is meant to be a Wiki-post ...



iStat Menus Rules them all with a bunch of system-information and enhancements of the standard System-MenuBar-Icons
Caffein Modifies the standby-time
Bartender frees the MenuBar from being overcrowded with too many icons by mooving them to a second MenuBar
ScreenSharingMenulet fast access to ScreenSharing
HiddenMe hide/show all desktop icons with one click
Moom organize your application windows
IP in MenuBar displays the current IP(s) in the MenuBar (currently replaces by iStat Menus)
BassJump the control-icon for my favorite USB-connected BassJump-subwoofer

...

 

[eyoungren]

From the far left: Caffiene/Simple Floating Clock/Loupe/One Drive/Dropbox/BoxCrypter/Carbon Copy Cloner/SMC Fan Control/Little Snitch Network Monitor/iStats (all the icons up to and including the weather icon)/Bluetooth/Deskcovery/Stay/Displays (the app)/WiFi/Eject/Sound/Bartender

Little Snapper/Witch/Air Server/Bartender

 

[B S Magnet]

Yesterday I found a nice page about litte helpers for your Mac and a lot of them have their icons in the MenuBar ...
So I'd like to know about Your favourite stuff, that resides in the MenuBar.

Here's a start (with my favorite Apps). A lot of them little helpers reach back to OSX on PowerPS-Macs.
Feel free to edit or reorganise the list, since this is meant to be a Wiki-post ...


iStat Menus Rules them all with a bunch of system-information and enhancements of the standard System-MenuBar-Icons
Caffein Modifies the standby-time
Bartender frees the MenuBar from being overcrowded with too many icons by mooving them to a second MenuBar
ScreenSharingMenulet fast access to ScreenSharing
HiddenMe hide/show all desktop icons with one click
Moom organize your application windows
IP in MenuBar displays the current IP(s) in the MenuBar
BassJump the control-icon for my favorite USB-connected BassJump-subwoofer

...

This ought to be re-titled to something like “What’s in your Intel Menubar (Wiki)”, so that a similar wiki can be made for PowerPC gear.

I don’t have a lot of excitement on my three running Intel Macs, but the most variety is on this one here:

from left:
Macs Fan Control, SMARTreporter, f.lux, LabTick, Little Snitch, bunch of iStat Menus, then BT, AirPort, keyboard, clock, Sound, iStat Menus battery, Spotlight

About the only other interesting thing I have on my HS box is a menubar icon for my Electrum wallet. The rest is basically about the same, since I’m about consistency across different Macs.

 

[Amethyst1]

This ought to be re-titled to something like “What’s in your Intel Menubar (Wiki)”, so that a similar wiki can be made for PowerPC gear.

What's in your Menu Bar?

I know I could plough through the "Post Your Desktop Background" thread but anyway... here goes: I'm interested in the things you have in your Menu Bar, mainly due to the likelihood of discovering new "extras" I'm not aware of. :) Here's mine on my 2011 MBP, only non-stock additions are Retina...

forums.macrumors.com

Been there, done that.

 

[B S Magnet]

What's in your Menu Bar?

I know I could plough through the "Post Your Desktop Background" thread but anyway... here goes: I'm interested in the things you have in your Menu Bar, mainly due to the likelihood of discovering new "extras" I'm not aware of. :) Here's mine on my 2011 MBP, only non-stock additions are Retina...

forums.macrumors.com

Been there, done that.

Okay, okay… that one should be renamed to “What’s in your PowerPC menubar?”

 

[Amethyst1]

Okay, okay… that one should be renamed to “What’s in your PowerPC menubar?”

Indeed - and be deprived of Intel-only items.

 

[B S Magnet]

Indeed - and be deprived of Intel-only items.

Now that each platform has their own menubar wiki, why not?

 

[bobesch]

What's in your Menu Bar?

I know I could plough through the "Post Your Desktop Background" thread but anyway... here goes: I'm interested in the things you have in your Menu Bar, mainly due to the likelihood of discovering new "extras" I'm not aware of. :) Here's mine on my 2011 MBP, only non-stock additions are Retina...

forums.macrumors.com

Been there, done that.

Ah, that has been You, who started that thread in the PPC-section.👍
I knew it was there (!) - sorry, but I was too tired last night to search for it an add a link ...

 

[Amethyst1]

I knew it was there (!) - sorry, but I was too tired last night to search for it an add a link ...

Hey, no need to be sorry - it's good that we have two threads now!

 

[MultiFinder17]

I try not to have too much going on up there, but here's my iMac in my classroom. Most of my computers are basically the same

From left to right we have MenuMeters (Network, disk activity, RAM usage, and CPU usage), OneDrive, MacsFanControl, Media Playback, Volume, Mirroring (I show the screen of my iMac to the big flat panel in my room all the time using an old AppleTV), Time Machine, Bluetooth/Wifi, disk eject since my keyboard does not have an eject key (or any function keys for that matter), control center, and date/time. I always keep the seconds on the clock since those last few seconds before the bell rings can tick by sooooooo sloooooooow depending on the class

 

[Amethyst1]

I always keep the seconds on the clock since those last few seconds before the bell rings can tick by sooooooo sloooooooow depending on the class

I’m the opposite. Seeing the seconds fly by while working would drive me mad.

 

[Heindijs]

This is the only stuff I have in my menu bar on Mavericks (iMac from 2006)
I like the simplicity of Meteorologist Classic, and smcFanControl is a must
Also xtrafinder has been my go-to tweak software since Snow Leopard (mainly because of the genius tabs) but since Mavericks has tabs built in, I use if for sorting folders on top, cutting and pasting and having an 'up' button next to my back and forwards button in finder. I can't use OS X without it!

 

[eyoungren]

Also xtrafinder has been my go-to tweak software since Snow Leopard (mainly because of the genius tabs) but since Mavericks has tabs built in, I use if for sorting folders on top, cutting and pasting and having an 'up' button next to my back and forwards button in finder. I can't use OS X without it!
View attachment 1854827

I've used XtraFinder for several years, when I first discovered that it allows for a 'dark mode'. Later, I discovered a dark mode hack which I used for quite some time on High Sierra. But with most of my daily Intels on Mojave or Catalina now, XtraFinder is being used for one purpose.

Labels.

Since Apple introduced those stupid tag balls it's pissed me off to no end that I could no longer use labels. So, XtraFinder allows me to continue using them.

About your 'up' arrow. Is that to scroll 'up' in a file list?

That's one of the reasons I use a Mighty Mouse on my main Macs. The scroll ball makes going to the top or bottom of the window a simply flick. The Magic Mouse works too, just swipe up or down on the back, but mine hasn't been working well lately.

 

[Heindijs]

I've used XtraFinder for several years, when I first discovered that it allows for a 'dark mode'. Later, I discovered a dark mode hack which I used for quite some time on High Sierra. But with most of my daily Intels on Mojave or Catalina now, XtraFinder is being used for one purpose.

Labels.

Since Apple introduced those stupid tag balls it's pissed me off to no end that I could no longer use labels. So, XtraFinder allows me to continue using them.

About your 'up' arrow. Is that to scroll 'up' in a file list?

That's one of the reasons I use a Mighty Mouse on my main Macs. The scroll ball makes going to the top or bottom of the window a simply flick. The Magic Mouse works too, just swipe up or down on the back, but mine hasn't been working well lately.

I also can’t stand those little label balls which were added in Mavericks. I use Xtrafinder for that too

The up arrow is for going up a directory. Such a useful feature as the back button doesn’t always go to the folder I want it to go!

My mighty mouse is just too dirty and the ol’ rubbing on paper trick doesn’t really work anymore. I did always like that little scroll ball though!

 

[eyoungren]

I also can’t stand those little label balls which were added in Mavericks. I use Xtrafinder for that too

The up arrow is for going up a director. Such a useful feature as the back button doesn’t always go to the folder I want it to go!

My mighty mouse is just too dirty and the ol’ rubbing on paper trick doesn’t really work anymore. I did always like that little scroll ball though!

I've gone through a couple of the Mighty Mice. Usually if the scroll ball stops working I press down on it hard and then scroll a bit. Usually fixes it. I've never had to clean any of mine, I've never figured out how you'd do that. I do find that greasy hands (such as when eating at your desk) tends to stop it working much faster.

If I can't fix it though I usually just order another one. They go for about $5-10 on eBay so not to bad to replace.

A lot of people seem to not like the MM, and I get that, but this mouse works for me. The Magic Mouse is too heavy (to me) to push around in design work. The Magic Mouse also has a tendency to register gestures you didn't make and the next thing you know your document has gone screwy.

 

[Heindijs]

I've gone through a couple of the Mighty Mice. Usually if the scroll ball stops working I press down on it hard and then scroll a bit. Usually fixes it. I've never had to clean any of mine, I've never figured out how you'd do that. I do find that greasy hands (such as when eating at your desk) tends to stop it working much faster.

If I can't fix it though I usually just order another one. They go for about $5-10 on eBay so not to bad to replace.

A lot of people seem to not like the MM, and I get that, but this mouse works for me. The Magic Mouse is too heavy (to me) to push around in design work. The Magic Mouse also has a tendency to register gestures you didn't make and the next thing you know your document has gone screwy.

The paper cleaning trick works welk enough. I have read that it’s pretty much impossible to take the Mighty Mouse apart and then put it back together. It never works again properly when you do that.

I’ve always felt like the Mighty Mouse was way too heavy myself. But that’s probably because of the two AA’s. The Magic Mouse is pretty light but it cramps my hand because of the weird shape (that goes for every Apple mouse actually haha)
I don’t like the touch gestures either, and the worst problem is the fact that it doesn’t have scroll click. That‘s one of the things I do like about the Mighty Mouse, the amount of buttons!

 

[B S Magnet]

The up arrow is for going up a directory. Such a useful feature as the back button doesn’t always go to the folder I want it to go!

The left arrow Finder window button, as you mentioned, doesn’t always go up/back a level, but up/back to the previous level that which window had displayed (i.e., a browse history).

I use a keyboard workaround: Cmd+UpArrow for going directly back/up (and Cmd-DownArrow for going directly forward/down a level).

And Cmd+[ (left bracket) and Cmd+] (right bracket) moves one through the history of that Finder window’s browsing. It seems Apple liked this method for not just Finder, but also Safari and other OS X-related navigation.

(Edit: I had to heavily correct myself since a lot of this stuff comes so automatically that I mixed up the nav keys while trying to describe them.)

 

[eyoungren]

The left arrow Finder window button, as you mentioned, doesn’t always go up/back a level, but up/back to the previous level that which window had displayed (i.e., a browse history).

I use a keyboard workaround: Cmd+UpArrow for going directly back/up (and Cmd-DownArrow for going directly forward/down a level).

And Cmd+[ (left bracket) and Cmd+] (right bracket) moves one through the history of that Finder window’s browsing. It seems Apple liked this method for not just Finder, but also Safari and other OS X-related navigation.

(Edit: I had to heavily correct myself since a lot of this stuff comes so automatically that I mixed up the nav keys while trying to describe them.)

I learned Finder window shortcuts under OS9 and it's always carried over to OS X. I usually add OPTN to CMD+UP ARROW though as that closes the previous window. I'm not a fan of the one window browsing experience as a lot of the time I need to return to the previous folder and I don't like having to go back to it or reopen it, except when I purposely want to close it (which is why I add OPTN).

I didn't realize though that the DOWN arrow worked as you described. So, now I add that to my toolbox. Thanks.

 

[B S Magnet]

I learned Finder window shortcuts under OS9 and it's always carried over to OS X. I usually add OPTN to CMD+UP ARROW though as that closes the previous window. I'm not a fan of the one window browsing experience as a lot of the time I need to return to the previous folder and I don't like having to go back to it or reopen it, except when I purposely want to close it (which is why I add OPTN).

I didn't realize though that the DOWN arrow worked as you described. So, now I add that to my toolbox. Thanks.

Yah, Cmd-Opt-DownArrow or Cmd-Opt-UpArrow does the same navigate, but closes the parent window as it opens the child window, or opens the parent window as it closes the child window, respectively. I often forget this feature is there, especially when I’m trying to preserve the window dimensions of a particular directory I’m trying to reach. I’ll have to get my muscle memory into the habit of doing that, especially when working with earlier versions of OS X where the Finder responsiveness is usually a quicker experience (yes, I’m glaring at you, High Sierra).

 

[bobesch]

I learned Finder window shortcuts under OS9 and it's always carried over to OS X. I usually add OPTN to CMD+UP ARROW though as that closes the previous window. I'm not a fan of the one window browsing experience as a lot of the time I need to return to the previous folder and I don't like having to go back to it or reopen it, except when I purposely want to close it (which is why I add OPTN).

Now I really understand the magic of you multi-display-setting ... 😃