As a long-time Macintosh user, I know that keeping your system folder lean
and mean saves RAM, and avoiding overdoses of Extensions and Control Panels can
minimize crashes and conflicts.
But every now and then a utility comes along that is so indispensable that
you don't mind installing another Control Panel. That's the case with Power On
Software's >www.poweronsw.com< Action Menus.
Anyone who's been around the Mac OS for a while will quickly recognize that
Action Menus is an updated, improved version of the late, lamented Now Menus.
This favorite utility, now from Power On Software, is compatible with System 9. I
tested it on a Power Macintosh G3 running System 9.04 and it performed
flawlessly.
Before installing (and to avoid potential conflicts), use Apple's Extension
Manager to turn off the Apple Menu Options Control Panel.
After installing, you'll see that Action Menus adds two new menus to the
extreme left-hand and right-hand corners of the menu bar. The left-hand menu is
for recently used applications, and the right-hand one is for recently used
documents and folders. In operational terms, this means that while working within
an application, you never have to go back to the Finder to locate a specific file
or folder.
Within an application, you'll find two new icons added to the menu bar. An
Open Windows menu lets you see all the files that are currently open. While Word
98 is supposed to do this with its Window menu, it does not always do so.
The other icon is Recent Documents. While Word 98 and other applications have
a Recently Opened Items list at the bottom of their File menus, Action Menus'
implementation of this feature is deeper (up to thirty documents) and also has a
list of recent folders at the bottom of the menu.
One of the biggest differences between Action Menus and Now Menus is that you
can customize your Apple and Application menus and create new menus within
applications or the Finder.
To get started, you simply use its preconfigured setup. Menus can be as long
and short as you like, and favorites can be flagged to keep them from being
deleted by more recently used items. The utility includes Key Viewer, which lets
you create keyboard shortcuts on the fly.
If you think all of these menus might get too complex, you can always
eliminate those you don't like and use what Power On's Smart Separators to keep
your customized menus clear and easy to follow. I wish I could turn off the icons
in the Apple and menus that Action Menus adds to increase menu performance. I
seem to remember that Now Menus allowed you to do this, but it's been a long time
since I used it.
Action Menus shines in its ability to customize all of its own menus as well
as many of Apple's; you can make your menus do exactly what you want, and look
exactly the way you want. A 30-day, fully functional version can be downloaded
from Power On's Web site. After that, the activation cost is $29.95, but after
only one hour, you'll wonder how you ever worked without Action Menus.
