Deborah Shadovitz

[Editor's note: The following review is part of Macworld's GemFest 2009 series. Every day until the end of June 2009, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.]

Think of rooSwitch as an app that lets you perform user switching at the application level. Instead of logging in and out of different user accounts on your Mac, rooSwitch lets you switch users for only one app at a time by switching what rooSwitch calls Profiles. Created for beta users and software developers to create multiple user scenarios, rooSwitch is evolving for use by typical users as well.

[Editor's note: The following review is part of Macworld's GemFest 2009 series. Every day until the end of June 2009, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.]

Typically, while using your Mac's iSight camera with one program, you can't use it with another. But ManyCam frees iSight from this restriction. ManyCam's no one-trick pony though; it has other features--some helpful and others downright silly--that you'll enjoy.

When using Apple Mail, if you've ever received an e-mail that included an attachment called winmail.dat, you know the frustration of not knowing what was sent to you. When this comes from an employer or client, it's even more frustrating. You may have heard, "Oh, you're on a Mac" with an audible sigh as if it's your fault. The truth is, the issue is with Outlook or Outlook Express--even Windows users who don't use Outlook can be frustrated by winmail.dat attachments.

That winmail.dat file may only be the rich text format (RTF) version of the message you're already seeing as plain text, in which case all you're missing is formatting that may not be important. But the file could contain an important graphic, calendar entry or invitation, task, address book contact, Microsoft Outlook Note, or nested messages. In those cases, you may miss important communications.

If you juggle work all day and find yourself switching from one set of apps to another, you can appreciate Relaunch. The idea is simple: for one project, you need one group of apps, while for another project, you need another group. You can either open each app as you need it, or you can use Relaunch to automatically open an entire set of apps (and even files) for you.

To create a project set, open all desired apps and close what you don't want in that set. Open specific files you use too, in case Relaunch can auto-open them for you as well. Then, click Relaunch in the menu bar and choose Save Snapshot. Name your project's snapshot and save it anywhere. (I stash each in my docked project's folder.) Repeat for each project or set of apps.

[Editor's note: The following review is part of Macworld's GemFest 2009 series. Every day until the end of June 2009, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.]

Without ads, many good Web sites wouldn't exist, so I favor having ads and supporting sponsors. But distracting ads can make it difficult to actually read some sites. That's where GlimmerBlocker comes in.

Graphic artists and designers who are comfortable with mocking up Web sites in Photoshop will love SiteGrinder 2 Pro. This Photoshop plug-in (accessed from the File -> Automate menu) works extremely well at converting layered Photoshop designs into highly functional and respectably coded Web sites. SiteGrinder Pro can help you build sites based on impressive technologies, such as CSS, photo galleries, Flash slide shows, videos, forms, widgets, and more, without any coding knowledge needed. It will even take a simple text box and turn it into a search engine-friendly menu.

How SiteGrinder works

Apple's goal with iWeb is to give home and non-professional users an easy way to create and update lively, personal Web sites without needing to know the harsh mechanics of complex Web building technologies. With the addition of FTP capabilities and some powerful new widgets, iWeb '09 accomplishes that mission with flying colors. Despite its powerful features, it's amazing how simple it is to use.

Interface updates

When it's time for you or your business to post a Web site, you're faced with the prospect of building it yourself or hiring a designer. Even if you initially hire a Web designer, you'll still need to update the site periodically, either paying for such services, or taking over the process. Either way, you'll want an affordable program that you're comfortable using. Freeway 5 Pro (version 5.2), or even Freeway Express, fits the bill whether or not you're a professional designer or have Web design experience.

Freeway's simplicity--it lacks an HTML code viewer--might prompt a practiced Web author to dismiss it upon first look. But behind that simplicity lies real power that doesn't require learning HTML and CSS, but instead lets you focus on visual creativity. That's because Freeway is an HTML generator, not an HTML editor. In this scenario, you design your site, then Freeway creates the code when you preview the site in a browser, or when you upload or export the site. If you're so inclined, you can add your own code to the site--including PHP, CSS, JavaScript, and Server Side Includes--to any part of the page. Freeway gives you several methods to choose from, including an HTML Markup dialog box.