Feature: Page (2) of 3 - 11/07/05

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The Tools

By no means is this an extensive list, but it is a fairly comprehensive one that covers utilities I've tried and used at one point or other since the release of Panther in 2003. So if I happen to leave your favorite out, please don't take it as a personal affront or anything. Hey, that's what the email link is for at the end of every article, so sound off if you have something to say. Anyway, onto the tools, with info, categories covered, and download links for each. And, as usual, I'm only listing programs that are free, with a single cheap ($12) exception. Here goes:

1) TinkerTool/OnyX
Category: Hidden Options
I included these two as a set, since they ostensibly achieve the same thing. Both are general OS X system tweaking and/or maintenance utilities, but each also has a dedicated section just for Safari (fig. 3). Pretty much everything I mentioned in the "Hidden Option" category can be accessed from either of these two programs. Plus, they're both useful in so many non-Safari ways, so it's not a bad idea to pick up either or both.

Figure 3: TinkerTool and OnyX both offer pretty much the same options.

2) Safari Enhancer
Category: Hidden Options, Theming, Search
Safari Enhancer is a standalone app that offers similar functionality as TinkerTool or OnyX, but adds a couple more features. For one, it lets you set the appearance of the Safari window to any of the three OS X interface styles (again, Metal, Aqua, and, on Tiger, Unified). It also can change the default search engine, though its choices are somewhat limited (mostly international versions of Google, but with a couple others too). Finally, it can set the user agent string (what browser Safari identifies itself as, fig. 4). Of course, once you enable the Debug menu, you can do this on the fly from within Safari, but Safari Enhancer's list of browsers it can pretend to be is a little more comprehensive.

Figure 4: Though many of its options appear in other tools, Safari Enhancer isn't bad to have around anyway.

3) SafarIcon
Category: Hidden Options, Theming
Short of making your own buttons and manually placing them inside the Safari.app package itself, SafarIcon is pretty much the only game in town as far as changing the look of Safari goes. (fig. 5) SafarIcon comes with several pre-made themes, so all you need to do is fire it up, choose the theme you want, and that's that. You can also choose the interface style, making SafarIcon a one-stop-shop for Safari themes. You can even mix and match items from existing themes to make your own truly unique (or, potentially, truly heinous) theme. One suggestion, though: make sure to repair permissions through OS X's Disk Utility program after installing a theme, since what gets replaced in Safari will not have the correct permissions.

Figure 5: SafarIcon makes skinning Safari as easy as pick-n-click.

4) Safari Stand
Categories: All
One of two programs which I hereby deem worthy of "big kahuna" status, SafariStand packs so many extras in that I just have to resort to using bullet points to list them all:

• There's a sidebar that shows tabs as thumbnails, a la OmniWeb (fig. 6)

Figure 6: If you like OmniWeb's thumbnail tabs, save yourself $30 and give SafariStand a try first.

• The Stand Bar lets you search through things like your Bookmarks and history, while the Stand Search panel integrates Spotlight searches into Safari (and lets you use regular expressions for searches).
• It lets you set the Download window to auto-close after downloads finish.
• It adds "QuickSearch" capabilities, allowing you to define shortcuts for search engines and to use the location bar for searches. For example, once you define it, you could type yahoo kumquat and Safari will automatically search Yahoo for all hits it has on that oft-misunderstood fruit.
• It can be set to "transform" links that spawn new Safari windows into ones that simply open the link in a new tab, which is a boon for those of us that love tabs and hate multiple windows cluttering our browsers.
• It allows you to enable several "Key Actions," such as find-as-you-type, selecting next and previous tabs, and zooming images and text.
• The Site Alteration lets you define site properties such as text encoding, default font size, popup blocking, and the browser agent string on a site-by-site basis.
• The Workspace Shelf lets you define sets of sites to open together and store for later use.
• SafariStand can add syntax coloring to the code in the View Source window, as well as display it in a font of your choosing.

That's a whole lot o' junk, and since it's free to boot, it's definitely worth a look. As for how it works, SafariStand is one of a growing class of programs that resides in the InputManagers folder (located in either the /Library directory or your username's library folder), and "rewrites the DNA" of Safari to add what appears to be native functionality.

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