My Favorite OS X Gizmos & Gadgets

There are some software and hardware gizmos for OS X I can't do without. Some are free, as noted, and some are shareware which I have paid for. I always pay for shareware I use. Here are the top 7.

1. XMenu adds a menu to the menubar that can be configured however you like with folders aliases & file aliases. I don't have to run to a finder window and access the Applications folder to find any app I want to run. I like to have a list of aliases of my most-used apps, and then aliases of my most-used folders (like Documents), for handy access. Freeware, from devon-technologies.com.
2. iSeek from ambrosiasw.com. Allows you to define searches that can be accessed from your menu bar. Kind of like Spotlight for the Net. Shareware.
3. SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba Software. This handy gizmo allows you to switch between input sources and output destinations. Handy if you have things like a Griffin iMic and a powerbook, where you might have the iMic plugged in with speakers attached, or a mic in the iMic, or you might be completely portable and want to use the internal speakers and the internal mic. Plays well with the Sound preferences pane in System Preferences. Freeware.
4. Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard. I have a 5-button mouse (actually, 2 of them, one for home and one for work). The Microsoft Mouse preferences panel is outstanding for allowing you to control the mouse buttons and functions.The Microsoft Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard is also outstanding. I don't use the wireless mouse because it doesn't have forward and back buttons for browsing, which I find indispensible on the mouse. The Mouse is Intellimouse Optical 1.1A USB. I'm not a Microsoft fan, but they got this one right.
5. TinkerTool and TinkerTool System. Indispensible. TinkerTool is freeware, TTSystem is shareware. Highly recommended for both setting hidden systems prefs and settings, and for performing periodic system maintenance. By Marcel Bresink Software-Systeme.
6. Synk. I don't hear much about this backup utility, but I find it performs flawlessly for what I need. I need to be able to plug my external hard drive in and backup certain folders. I need to be able to either archive the changes or throw them away. I need it to work in the background. Works perfectly. From http://www.decimus.net/synk/.
7. There's a little gizmo that I have forgotten the name. It's somewhere on my hard drive. But what it does is so important. It switches the function of apple-N and shift-apple-N in the Finder. When I remember where it is, I'll post it.

That's it. My top 7. Enjoy.