I ran TechTool Deluxe 3.0.3 (came as part of AppleCare) on my Mac OS 10.4.3 Christmas Day. Now my Macintosh will not restart. I just found out within the last hour that this was a BAD move: Only TechTool Deluxe 3.0.4 and higher should be run on Mac OS 10.4! TechTool Deluxe was a part of the AppleCare Protection Plan. It is based on Micromat's powerful TechTool Pro diagnostic and repair utility. TechTool Deluxe checks the major computer components covered under the AppleCare Protection Plan. Software utility developer Micromat on Friday released an update for TechTool Deluxe, bringing the application to version 3.1.1. Among the changes in the new version is support for Intel Macs.
Our Weekly Utilities Update report is a list of all the updates for many Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. While utilities can be any tool that helps you perform a task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our main focus in this column is to bring you those that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems.
Tech Tools For Mac
We previously mentioned we would cover which utilities have been specifically updated to work with Snow Leopard, but developers have not wasted time in getting their programs to function on the new OS. All the current updates are advertised as being Snow Leopard compatible, so in the future we will only flag those that are not compatible with the latest OS. Despite this, keep in mind that there may be some incompatibilities the developer has overlooked with the new software/OS combination, so we encourage you to check them out before relying on them.
Staff Pick: FileFinder
With Apple's Spotlight search engine, searching and indexing files has enabled the quick location of files through multiple means, but despite its benefits, Spotlight is rather simple and is also limited to files currently present to the system. Many times people would like to fine-tune their searches and manage them in ways not offered by Spotlight.
Techtool Pro
FileFinder offers another searching method that focuses on catalogs of search data. These catalogs are available for a disk even if it has been ejected, allowing for quick searching of external or optical media even if they are not present to the system. In addition, there are a variety of search options for narrowing down results.
The latest version is 1.4.9, and is available for free from the developer's website: http://macmagna.free.fr/FileFinder/
Techtool Deluxe For Mac
Other Recent Utility Updates:
Techtool Deluxe For Mac
TechTool Deluxe 3.1.3 - For the AppleCare Protection Plan version.
MainMenu 2.0.2 - Fix, clean, maintain and manage your system.
MiniBatteryLogger 1.8.5 - Graph battery charge, cycles, capacity over time.
MiniBatteryStatus Widget 2.6.10 - Shows color-coded battery status & charge.