Whew! That took a little longer than I had intended. Three weeks… oy! Well, better late than never.

Welcome to Screencast Number Two: a 15-minute look at the various ways to organize your applications in OS X. Just like the first screencast, this one is aimed at switchers and other Mac newcomers, so I tried to strike the right balance of explaining enough while not insulting your intelligence. I’m happy to hear any feedback about how I did either in the comments here or at stuart@thenewbig.com

I used ScreenFlow to record this ‘cast, so if you’re interested in my further thoughts on the screencasting process, I’ll include them in the full post (click the ellipses, if you’re on the home page). Enjoy!

Show notes

• The three methods I looked at for organizing my applications were to use folders, Spotlight Comments, or standalone applications.


• Lifehacker article Tags: Metadata as a ‘filing system’, by Nick Santilli, discusses how to use Quicksilver and Spotlight Comments to organize your files.


• Punakea provides a complete tagging interface for applications.


• DockFun lets you swap in customized docks or just use the menu bar icon to access your apps.


• DragThing is a very powerful and flexible organizer that lets you access applications both online and on your computer.


• TabMeister is a simple slide drawer for files.


• Leap is a very interesting and powerful program for drilling down through large file libraries quickly and easily.

I’ll bet I missed some good software. I know I forgot to mention using Smart Folders. Anything else? Leave me a comment. [...]