Monday's Mac Gadget
by John F. Braun

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Want To Tinker With Mac OS X 10.1 Settings? Then You Need TinkerTool

October 29th, 2001

TinkerTool 2.02 (Freeware)
Marcel Bresink Software-Systeme

Sure, OS X offers a spiffy new user interface, but, like past versions of Mac OS, there are some features that, for one reason or another, Apple included but did not enable. Fortunately, enterprising individuals like Marcel Bresink have dug into the depths of OS X and found a way to allow mere mortals to manipulate these hidden features. The result is TinkerTool.

This latest version of TinkerTool takes a different approach to allowing you to tinker, thanks to changes made in Mac OS X 10.1. Rather than being a stand-alone application, TinkerTool now integrates itself with the Mac OS X System Preferences mechanism. To accomplish this takes a little bit of work during installation, in that you have to create a folder within your Library folder, and place the TinkerTool pane definition file there.

TinkerTool Provides a New System Preferences Interface
(click on image for a larger view)

Once you install the TinkerTool pane definition, you can start experimenting. Some of the options will let you see a part of Mac OS X that most users don't see. For example, if you enable the 'Show hidden and system files' option, you'll be able to see the horror of the UNIX file system that supports OS X, including such directories as /bin and /usr that you may have heard of in the past.

There are other, less radical changes that you can make. One of our favorites is the ability to define dual scroll arrows, so that you have both right/left or up/down scroll arrows at each end of a window. You can also modify the System, Fixed Pitch and Application fonts, though not all applications may honor these settings.

So check out all of those OS X settings Apple doesn't want you to know about, and check out TinkerTool today!

Have any other Mac OS X gadgets that let you customize your environment? Send an e-mail to John, and he'll give it a whirl.

Monday's Mac Gadget is here to help you with those cool things that we all just have to have on our Macs. Shareware, Freeware, Postcardware, Emailware, and even commercial apps, Monday's Mac Gadget is here to help you find and use the best of these programs.

John is a software engineer who works in the corporate R&D group of a Fortune 500 company, focusing on all aspects of communications technology. He has several degrees that claim he knows what he's doing when it comes to computers. After watching co-workers reinstall Windows, search for device drivers, and experience other horrors during the day, he's glad that he comes home to a Mac (compatible) computer. Have any comments, suggestions, or favorite Gadgets? Drop John a line at

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