System Utilities?

[JoJo]

Quick Question bout my macbook thats a little over a year old, Ive seen it slow down a little bit, Things the a few seconds to load, little stuff like that, i dont use huge programs, im wondering if any of those system maintenance programs are any good, and if so, which one shoudl i spend my hard earned cash on?
Thanks a ton for your time guys, this site has been more help to me then anything!

[Yuiichi]

Hey JoJo,

Well, OS X is pretty good at taking care of itself. It automatically defragments files on your drive (files up to 20 MB) as well as has some maintenance scripts that run automatically while you're supposed to be asleep. Unfortunately, if you shut your Mac down, these scripts don't run.

There is a solution! And you don't have to spend any of that hard earned cash, either. It's a freeware application called OnyX - there are versions for both 10.4 Tiger (and older) and 10.5 Leopard.

Once you download OnyX, click the "Maintenance" button and click "Run all Scripts" (if memory serves correctly) to run the maintenance scripts.

Hope this helps speed your mac up a bit!

EDIT: I also just came across this article over at MacFixIt. It runs through what OS X does for you in terms of disk optimization and defragmentation. It's worth a read to see what it does as well as any suggestions for improving it.

[houltmac]

There is no doubt in my mind that the only utility I would purchase would be DiskWarrior. This is an amazing application which can really make a difference to the reliability, speed and longevity of your machine. Seriously; take a look and don't waste money on the smaller faux apps; you can do all that yourself.

[Yuiichi]

@Matt - I always thought DiskWarrior was more of an application for recovering lost files/fixing your disk if something went seriously wrong? What else does it do that I don't know about?

[JoJo]

Also while we are on this subject and you guys are so knowledgeable, should i upgrade my mac to lepord?

[Yuiichi]

@JoJo - I think it's worth it. Leopard has over 300 new features, and although many of those are underneath the hood, you'll sure like some of them. Take Time Machine, for instance. If you haven't already purchased backup software like SuperDuper!, you're in luck. Time Machine is Leopards built in backup functionality which looks pretty, to boot. Also, many new applications take advantage of many of those under the hood improvements, and older version of OS X won't be able to run them.

I've had Leopard since day one and I have to say that I love it. It's definitely worth the upgrade if you love your Mac.

[JoJo]

I love my mac, and although ive heard nothing but great things from people, and websites.. but at the price, id really need to understand why its a must buy.. i guess im juts a little hessitant. also a wierd question, im wondering if theres any way a mac can get spy ware on it, even if someone installs it when your not looking? if this is possible is there a program that would be able to detect t?

[Yuiichi]

@JoJo - are you perchance a college/university student? If so, you can get it for $99 I believe. The student discount is pretty great.

As for spyware, I'm sure there are quite a few apps that are out there to scan for it, but I wouldn't bother paying for any of them. I don't personally use anything that scans for spyware, but I'm sure there is a free solution out there. Maybe another user could comment on this.

And sure, if someone can get personal access to your computer and you're running an admin account and they have your password, they could probably install any malicious program they want. As long as you're careful, I don't think there are any real threats to Mac OS X, as of now.

[houltmac]

@Yuiichi: The major advantage to running DiskWarrior over other disk utilities is that it's directory repair really works. There are a ton of features that you really should read about; but in terms of oddities in your OS, directory repair can work wonders.

[baseballboy828]

It is worth running OnyX in addition to DiskWarrior. It is worth it to run the maintenance scripts and do some of the other things OnyX does. I agree that DiskWarrior is good for disk repair, but I don't usually use it for maintenance.