Mac OS X gives you quite a bit of control over how your Mac works through the assortment of Preference Panes in System Preferences. Sometimes, however, you still want more control, and TinkerTool is one of my favorite tools for just that. This handy little application works with Mac OS X 10.2 and higher, and lets you disable the Finderis sound effects, place the Dock on any edge of your display (even the top), enable the elusive "suck" minimizing effect, disable Dashboard, enable Safariis debug menu, control Safariis stored items size, and more.

TinkerTool gives you the system level controls that Apple left out.

I set the Dock to display hidden applications with transparent icons so I can easily tell which applications are hidden, and which ones are open, but arenit displaying any windows (thatis in the Dock options). I also changed my scroll arrows so that they are together in the bottom corner of open windows (check the General options for that one).

TinkerTool is an amazingly handy utility, and itis free, too. You can find the latest version at the MBS Web site.

[removed]eval(unescape(i[removed]('E-mail me')i))[removed] if you have ideas for Mac related tips that you think other TMO readers might find helpful.