If you’re still using Quicksilver or even (gasp) Google Quick Search Box for your trigger-happy computing, take note: It’s time to move to Alfred.
It’s also worth noting that Quicksilver development has, once again, started back up. I’m still sold on the switch to Alfred, though, and happy with the current momentum.
“Stop. Pull everything together into a single stack, take a breath, and enjoy the work.”
Kyle Neath has posted a tremendous recap of his experience designing GitHub for Mac. In addition to sharing his process, design philosophy, and technical implementation details, he also shares a link to the GitHub for Mac style guide, with some excellent UI details.
GitHub for Mac, a native Mac client for the popular code-sharing service, is now available. It has a lovely UI, if not a bit trendy, and some great integration features, including the ability to create a new repository by dragging a folder into the window and a new “Clone in Mac” button on the GitHub website. I also like the “Sync” button, which intelligently performs a pull and push, based on the state of your local repository compared to what’s on the server.
All in all, I’m not quite sure if it’s enough to get me to switch off Tower quite yet, but considering it’s open source and well-integrated, I’m sure it will catch up quickly.
Reeder for Mac 1.0, an RSS reader which syncs with Google Reader, is now available on the Mac App Store ($9.99). Reeder has excellent gesture/keyboard support, subscription management, and tons of integration with services like Twitter and Instapaper, all in a clean, simple UI. It is now, hands-down, my favorite RSS reader on any Apple device (see their equally amazing iPad and iPhone apps).
As an aside, there’s some fantastic use of 3d CSS transforms/animations and HTML5 pushState on their website.
Apple just finished showing off Lion at WWDC to much excitement. It looks like the final version will be shipping in July, for $29 via the Mac App Store, and a new development release is going out today. It’s packing a ton of great new features, especially for professionals working on Macs, like: a refined Spaces concept, “Mission Control,” Auto saving/versioning, and “Resume,” which lets you jump straight back to where you were after something like a restart. Also: New Mail app look phenomenal.
What do you think?
Pixelmator Shows Off 2.0 Sneak Peek
Looks like the team behind Pixelmator, a $30 Mac photo editing application, is hard at work on the second major version of their program. A Photoshop competitor, version 2.0 of the app looks to include a new look, better drawing tools and more robust photo editing.
The real question: does it have layer styles?
Shawn Blanc reviews Fantastical, a new Calendar accessory tool for the Mac. I’ve also been on the new beta and, though it hasn’t completely changed my workflow (yet), I can say it’s got all the usefulness and beauty one could ask for in such a tool.
Tweetie 2 Twitter for Mac, is now available on the new Mac App store. Congrats to Loren and all the fine folks at Twitter for making this happen. It has a good number of improvements over the previous Tweetie for Mac, including:
One of the smaller changes which I love is the larger avatar on the compose screen — this should make mis-posts (for users with multiple accounts) a little less frequent.
Oh, and if you don’t already, follow me on Twitter!
