Today we'll take a look at the utilities that I have on my Palm. Under this category I keep all those programs that I use to manage the Treo 680. By the way, I don't use a launcher of any type. The 5-way button on my Treo allows me to access the category drop-down, so I no longer see the need to use a seperate launcher program. As a matter of fact, I find that on the Treo such add-on launchers make more work for me - not less.
So let's look at my utilities. I won't mention those that are built into the Treo - only the add-ons. Again, I'll include URLs for all of them so you can check them out for yourself.
BackupMan - This may be the most important utility I have. This backup program has been 100% reliable for many years and has gotten me out of more jams than I can remember. Everyone should have it. When I double-checked the URL I noticed that Bits 'n Bolts is discounting the program to $12 until March 31. Get it!
Butler - Next is Butler, a program that has been mentioned a lot in these pages. I find it extremely useful for ebook reading as it can set the volume up and down buttons to act as scroll up and down in my ebook readers. Also, it gives me the ability to assign shortcut keys to any program, so I can, for example, press and hold the "m" key and have MobiPocket open up automatically. This also helps obviate the need for a separate launcher program.
Card Export II - is an important program. When it is running, and your Palm is connected to your computer, your computer will see the SD card of your Palm as another disk drive - just like a memory stick. This makes file management a breeze.
Change Name - With ChangeName you can set/change the PalmOS UserName (the HotSyncName) and the UserID directly on your PalmOS device. You can also fake the FlashRomSerialNumber and the OS Version (string). Normally you set/change the UserName with the PalmDesktop (Win/Mac) or install-user (Un*x/Linux). ChangeName also includes a program for Windows to show all users in the PalmDesktop user database (users.dat) and it allows you to change a user name on the desktop.
Explorer - is a file management program from resco.net. It's the most comprehensive file management program around and has an unbelievable number of features. It also contains its own backup program and can be used as a launcher.
FileZ - is the freeware file management program that everyone uses. It is a great contribution to the Palm community.
McFile - is my favorite file manager. I've been using it for years.
Missing Sync - is the program that I use to sync my Treo with my MacBook. It works like a charm.
Power Run - is a program I don't use much any more as the Treo 680 has a decent amount of internal memory. This program moves any Palm program from main memory to your SD card. The major feature, though, is that it also moves all the data that is associated with the program. It then leaves a "stub" on your Palm which, when you click the icon, moves the program and all the data from your card to the Palm in order to run it. When you quit the program Power Run then moves the program and all the data back to the SD card. It is an excellent solution for memory-starved Palms such as the Treo 650, and I've never even had a hint of a problem with it. The site is in Japanese, so your best bet is to get it from a site such as Handango.
ScreenShot - is what I use to get the shots of my screen you see in these posts.
So that's it for my utilities. Tomorrow, or the next day, I go through my applications.
