TMO Quick Tip - Finding the Universal Binary Apps On Your Mac

by , 7:30 AM EST, January 30th, 2006

So many applications have received the Universal Binary (UB) treatment over the past couple of weeks, it can be easy to lose track of the ones you already have. Luckily, it's easy to check and see if an application is ready to run natively on an Intel-based Mac, or if it is still optimized to run only on PowerPC-based models, thanks to the Finder's Get Info window.

Start by highlighting the application you want to check, then either choose File>Get Info from the Finder's menu bar, or type Command-I. Now, look at the General section. It's near the top, right below the Spotlight Comments section. If Kind says "Application (PowerPC)," it will require Rosetta to run on an Intel-based Mac. If Kind says "Application (Universal)," it's been updated to run natively on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs.

The Get Info window on the right is from a Universal Binary application.

TMO's reviews editor, John F. Braun, pointed out an easy way to check all of your applications at once: System Profiler. This application can inventory all of the applications on your Mac, and tell you if they are Universal Binary or not. Here's how:

Choose About This Mac from the Apple menu, and then click the More Info... button to launch System Profiler. Select Applications from the Contents column on the left to build a catalog of every application on your Mac. Once System Profiler locates all of your applications, click Kind to group all of the PowerPC applications together, and all of the Universal Binary applications together. Depending on the speed of your Mac and how many applications you have installed, the search may take several minutes.

Sort by Kind in System Profiler to see a complete list of UB apps.