ACTION GoMac 2.02, One Of The Best Mac GUI Utilities Ever
Monday June 7th, 1999

ACTION GoMac 2.0.2 ($29.95 Shareware)
Power On Software

Although many things about the Windows environment are pretty scary, one feature that is fairly handy is the task bar. Having the ability to both launch applications and switch among them, from the same place, is a good concept. However, the Windows implementation of this suffers from one flaw…open folders consume space in the task bar, eventually making all items too small to keep track of. Enter a Mac implementation of the Task Bar concept, called GoMac, which surpasses the Windows version.

After you install the program and restart, you'll be presented with a horizontal task bar on the bottom of your screen. To the left is the Start button, and along the rest of the bar are icons to represent each application. To move among your applications, click on the appropriate icon. Unlike Windows, only running applications take up space in this bar. Double-Clicking on an application icon in the bar reveals a handy menu with additional options, as well as current memory use. To the far right of the Task Bar is a clock which turns into a calendar as on a Windows Task Bar.

Clicking on the Start button will offer several selections. You can launch Office 98 Applications and Internet programs (configured by Internet Config). If you have an Applications or Documents folder on the same drive at GoMac, hierarchical menus for these folders will be shown. A Drives menu lets you launch any document or application by following a menu tree. For those not liking the Windows-like "Start" label on the Start Button, ACTION GoMac allows you to choose from a variety of other labels and icons.

Other goodies include a Find menu (which of course launches Sherlock on OS 8.5 and above and the regular Find File utility on versions of the MacOS below 8.5) and a Windows-like Settings option which lets you access Control Panels, or open folders which contain Start Menu and QuickLaunch items. QuickLaunch is the equivalent of the SysTray on Windows; tiny icons on the task bar that you can click to launch applications.

Commonly used programs (like background processes or other utilities) can be placed as a mini-icon on the right hand side of the Task Bar in what is called the Clock Tray. This way minor applications you don't normally interact with can be kept out of the way, but still within reach. Better yet, control strip modules can also be added to the Clock Tray, a very handy feature that power-users will love and will help turn others into power-users themselves.

Drag and Drop is supported for both launching documents (drag them on the Start button) and creation QuickLaunch items (drag them on the task bar). Rounding out the package is a clock in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Clicking on this bring up a handy calendar.

ACTION GoMac provides a wealth of launching and navigation features that make the most of the Task Bar concept on the Mac, including enhancements that surpass those of the Windows counterpart.

Version 2.02 corrects a bug that prevented ACTION GoMac from working properly on the 30th and 31st of months with those days.

Useful Link

ACTION GoMac Home Page


A Start Menu and Task Bar for Your Mac

Double-Clicking on a Task Bar Item Reveals a Handy Menu