• Vicomsoft has released , a new version of its high performance FTP client for Mac OS X. The company says the client "shows an average speed increase on downloads of up to 30% and was even found to be 70% faster than certain rival programs in SFTP mode." It also features other Mac OS X interface improvements, including Toolbars, drawers, live resizing and much more. A 7-day demo of the $35 client is available. [requires free registration]


• Balance Software's Ittec 1.7.2 updates the FinderPop-like contextual menu utility that offers a "supercharged" contextual menu. The utility includes functions for listing the contents of folders, copy/move/delete functions, control-free contextual menus, hierarchical path menus, listing contents of StuffIt archives, detailed file info display, and others. A demo of the $15 utility is available online. [257KB]


• Name Stalker 1.0.2 is a free cross-platform tool that allows you to manage your own domain as well as track (stalk) domains they you may want. It is available for Mac OS X and Mac OS X. Version 1.02 now allows use of new .org whois servers (i.e., .org domains work properly again).


• UserCreations today released Spring 1.2, a significant upgrade to its web-inspired desktop for OS X. It adds visual news headlines (based on RSS), integration with Amazon, in-Place visual filtering (by person, place, product), visual bookmark collections, and other features: Spring is a "universal canvas for your digital life where you interact naturally with singular, visual representions of the people, places, products, etc that define your life." A demo of the $22 application is available. [5.1MB]


• SkyTag's excellent file/folder attribute utility, FileBuddy 7.5, adds a new OS X contextual menu plugin, improved file searching, an improved Find Window, new buttoms for the toolbar, better snapshot functions, and new drop key defaults. Upgrades to the $50 are $20. [959KB]


• Rage Software's $30 web authoring package, WebDesign 2.0, includes built-in support for HTML 3.2, all versions of HTML 4, XHTML 1.0, PHP, Cascading Style Sheets, ASP and JavaScript. Version 2.0 features Regular Expression searching, multi-file search and replace features, auto conversion of styled text to HTML, XHTML or Cascading Style Sheets, auto-recover, import of text/RTF, and syntax plugins for multiple languages. Upgrades are $21. [2.8MB]


• Version 0.3 of iStopMotion is a complete rewrite of the animation application using Cocoa, Mac OS X's native API environment, offering increased stability and speed enhancements. The pre-release utility features 'Onion Skinning,' a technique that lets you see the last 1 to n pictures taken through the current live feed from the camera.

by MacNN Staff