InforMacis a utility that works like Apple's System Profiler. It displaysinformation about your computer, such as hardware, software, andsettings.
"I already have Apple's System Profiler, so why should I botherwith a third-party application that essentially does the samething?" you might ask.
Well, because InforMac does it so much cooler - and it's free,so why not?
InforMac has a much slicker interface than Apple's profiler.It's been around in the same beta version for some time, but I'vefound no obvious bugs (even though the developer suggests there maybe some), and it works just fine on my computers. It's PowerPC only(so far).
With InforMac you can also save information as a file, protectthe personal data it contains, and read this file on any othercomputer. InforMac can securly encrypt this data thanks to abuilt-in encryption engine that will make your personal informationunreadable to any user without the proper password.
When you start the program, youare presented with a window similar to the System Preferences mainwindow showing rows of icons that, when clicked upon, openinformation panes pertaining to various OS aspects and hardwarespecifications. You can also use a handy pull-down menu to navigateamong the categories.
InforMac also displays a picture of your particular Mac in theQuick Profile window, which tells me some interesting things, likemy Apple Certified Refurbished PowerBook , which I purchased inFebruary 2006, got its remanufactured serial number in July 2005.If you have a non-refurbished Mac, the date and place of originalmanufacture should be displayed.
The Memory panel describes yourmachine's memory configuration and the type of memoryrecommended.
The Processor panel contains information about your CPU, systembus and caches.
The Volumes panel providesinformation about mounted volumes, including the make, type, andsize of your hard drive(s), and some statistics since your lastreboot. It confirmed that my PowerBook has a Toshiba hard drive,and that the nominal "80 GB" is really 74.53 GB.
The System panel tells you what OS version you're using, ROMspecs, and uptime. It notes that there have been no kernel panicsrecorded with this machine.
The ATA Devices panel shows info about ATA drives, includingOptical drives.
USB and FireWire panels shownames and connection schematics of peripheral devices.
The Displays panel tells you about your display(s), including athumbnail of your current Desktop Picture.
The Panels window lists all of the System Preferences panels orjust the third-party ones,
The Applications window doeslikewise, and you can also specify whether you want ony apps.in theApplications Folder displayed, all on the startup disk, or allapplications anywhere on mounted volumes.
There are also Users, Network, Frameworks, Battery, and PCI andAGP panels, the latter displaying video card information.
Besides the status panels, InforMac can also create an "identitycard" for your particular system, and also a profile report.
InforMac works great, isvery quick (except for loading the Applications pane, which takes awhile), and is a lot more fun to use than System Profiler. Thereare no online Help files, but the program is quite intuitive andeasy to use, looking and working very much like the OSXSystem Preferences panes.
In this version (0.1b1):
- Tiger compatible
- Added print function (that's right, you can print the applist)
- Some of the panels can be exported to html/xml
- Library now supports FTP
- Some new info available
- Fixes memory leaks
- German and Japanese have been temporarily removed
System requirements: Mac OS X 10.2 or later
InforMac is freeware.
Link: InforMac
Miscellaneous Ramblings©1999-2012 by Charles W. Moore. Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized,sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed arethose of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of CobwebPublishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for onemay not work for all.
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