Leap is a pretty ingenuous little app that lets you find any file on your Mac, even if you're not sure where it is. Whereas Mac's Spotlight is purely based on search, Leap also incorporates tags, places, file types and more. You can use the find-as-you-type search feature or simply one of the many other options available. We quite like the center column of Leap, where tag size is relevant to the amount of corresponding files. Leap will also reference all file types and let you search according to them. You'll also notice that it includes Spotlight search, placed at the bottom left of the interface.

The friendly GUI shows thumbnail views of all your files and you can close up or zoom in on any one of them with the loupe function. Double clicking on an item will open it in a popup window. Any file can be flagged for future reference or hidden. You can also view and edit information for files, like adding tags to make them easier to find.

Leap was a bit sluggish at startup, when it referenced all files in the system, but once up and running it worked well. Given the number of search possibilities at hand, you're bound to find what you're looking for. If there's one other little complaint we could place, it's that the interface can feel a bit crowded, what with all the lists and different items present in the program window.

Leap is an excellent program giving you multiple ways of finding any file in your Mac.

Download Leap 1.0.3 in Softonic

Instantly find your e-mail, files, media, Web history, and chats. By making your computer searchable, Google Desktop Search puts your information easily within your reach. It frees you from having to manually organize your files, email, and any web pages you have viewed, giving you more time to do what you want.

You can:

• Get all your personalized info in one place with Sidebar
• Launch applications and search instantly with Quick Find
• Find all your email, files, photos, web history, Gmail, and more
• Search conveniently in Outlook with the Outlook Toolbar
• Developers can write plug-ins for the sidebar

Google Gadgets

Want a clock on your computer desktop? How about a calendar, a WiFi indicator, a TV, or anything else you can dream up? Say hello to Google Gadgets. These interactive mini-applications can be anything from games to search tools to media players, and they can be any shape and size – use a weather globe to show you the latest forecast. We’ve got a lot of ready-made gadgets you can add to your desktop, but they’re also so easy to create that you can probably figure out how to build your own.

You can also save your gadget content and settings online to protect your info from computer crashes and be able to access it from your other computers by logging into your Google Account with Google Desktop. For instance, you can now ‘synch’ the To Do list on both your laptop and your desktop.

Richer Google integration

Google Desktop is more fully with the rest of Google. For instance, you can now add some Google Gadgets from your personalized homepage into your Sidebar, or anywhere else on your desktop You can also view upcoming birthdays with the Orkut gadget, see what’s popular on Google Videos, or access your Google Calendar from your desktop.

Personalize your desktop

Google Desktop will recommend new gadgets and can also automatically create a personalized Google homepage for you based on the subjects you’re most interested in. For instance, if you’re constantly doing searches on new movies, Google Desktop can automatically recommend a movies gadget to add to your desktop.

Download Google Desktop 1.4.2.1007 in Softonic

Folder Contents CM is a Mac OS X-compatible contextual menu plugin (CM) which allows users to access folder contents by control-clicking on that folder. The engine can also view the contents of the packages, including application packages. The contents are displayed on icon-decorated hierarchical menus where users can browse the folder contents to unlimited depth. Folder Contents CM has ability to handle disks, files, folders, aliases, symbolic links, and invisible objects.

The concept of contextual menu is to show a set of commands on a floating menu. Normally, this menu is invisible. It will be loaded or shown only when users hold down the Control key, and then click on the desktop. Users who have two-buttons mouse can use right-click to show the contextual menu.

Features:

• A fast way to browse the folder contents to unlimited level
• A fast way to show the package contents
• Has icons on the menus so users can recognize the objects more easily
• Selected items can be folders, disks, packages, and their aliases
• Provide an easy way to handle the invisible objects
• Provide an easy way to handle the symbolic link, a unix-styled alias
• Provide an easy way to change the object properties, such as type, creator and visibility
• Has ability to remember 20 recently used objects
• Has an interface to set up the advanced features, i.e. the Preferences window

Download Folder Contents CM 1.6 in Softonic

Filegazer simplifies how you navigate through your files. It’s a clever way to reach your important files on the spot. By simply hovering your mouse over the sides of your desktop, you reveal the folders you want to look at. Filegazer also lets you configure which folders appear and on which side of the screen. To reveal their content all you need to do is drag the folder open. The program's main asset is undoubtedly the rich preview feature, where without even opening a file, you can actually preview it, even if it is an MP3 or a video. If there’s one drawback to the program it would be that Filegazer lacks a “type and search” function to find files more quickly.

Download Filegazer 1.0.2 in Softonic

MacGadget allows you to see the content and other useful information of any selected items in the Finder and of other participating software programs. It is very easy to use: select an item and see the content.

Download MacGadget 1.0.0 in Softonic

Before Leopard brought with it all its Finder enhancements, FinderPop was a reference in terms of extended Finder actions. The excellent utility has now been updated for Leopard and still remains top of the range.

What FinderPop does is extend what you can do with your Finder menus. You can quickly create a new item, display all the contents of a folder, handle processes or display all desktop items in a click. FinderPop fits discreetly in your menu bar and can be called up any time, either by clicking on the little icon or via keystroke.

The application is highly customizable, and if you're planning on using it, I suggest digging a little in the settings to tune it to your liking. Not only can you change the appearance but you can also exclude items, choose what submenus to show in FinderPop or set the number of items that FinderPop remembers.

Most users will still be satisfied with all the extra features found in Leopard's new Finder. If you're a productivity buff though, you'll definitely enjoy FinderPop.

Download FinderPop 2.1.2 in Softonic

Path Finder is an innovative file browser and manager with powerful tools to make you more productive on Mac OS X. Designed from the ground up for maximum speed and Mac OS X integration, Path Finder has a gorgeous, accessible interface that you can customize to your heart’s content.

Mac OS X 10.4 has been sometimes called the “programmer’s release” of Mac OS X, and Path Finder takes advantage of many of the new methods and programming tools Tiger has to offer. Path Finder gives you multiple ways of finding the files you’re looking for, with Tiger’s new Spotlight search built right into the application. Don’t like Spotlight? Path Finder also boasts a Spotlight-independent fast search that quickly finds the files you’re looking for. You can also use the brand new Filter tool to quickly filter the current directory by name, extension, or kind.

Everything is customizable. Want to move sidebar items such as the Shelf, Volumes list, or Preview pane to any location in the file browser window? Interested in creating a sidebar pane that shows the contents of a specific folder? Want to hide the new Split Preview pane? All of this (and more) is under your control.

Path Finder 4’s brand new Select Tool gives you the ability to select files using a plethora of criterion with lightning speed. Need to select all of the image files in a directory containing hundreds of files? It’s no sweat with the Select tool. You can also use the Select tool to highlight files by modification date, characters in the filename, and many other criteria.

Allume's Stuffit engine is now fully integrated into Path Finder. With Mac OS X 10.4 no longer including Stuffit Expander, this means you can quickly and easily compress and decompress many common file compression formats from within Path Finder. No more waiting for changes to appear in file listings or on the desktop. With Path Finder 4 changes happen as you make them, so you can feel confident that what you see in Path Finder truly is what you get.

There’s an icon size slider right in the file browser, and you can now size icons up to Tiger’s gigantic new 256x256 icon size. On that note, Path Finder can now generate image icon previews on the fly, which will be very handy for designers, photograhpers, and anyone with lots of image files.

Path Finder 4 now has an Bookmark Bar that gives you another way of quickly accessing favorite folders. The new View Options window organizes an incredible array of customizations and view option for the discerning interface jockey. There’s a new “Contents” contextual menu that allows you to navigate inside directories for super-fast access.

Download Path Finder 4.8.5 in Softonic

FolderGlance is a small Contextual Menu Plugin for the Finder. When it is installed, it allows you to control-click or right-click on folders to see and open their contents, as well as examine the contents of sub-folders down an unlimited number of levels. FolderGlance also has the following features:

• Adding your own custom folders to the contextual menu, enabling FolderGlance to act as a very versatile launcher
• Moving and copying the currently selected files to a folder you browse to
• Creating aliases of the currently selected files in a folder of your choice
• Drag-and-drop of files and folders
• In-menu preview of arbitrary files
• Opening files with an application different than the default by using an "Open with..." menu you can tailor to suit your own taste
• Changing the font size used in contextual menus
• Disable the menu fade effect, for a more speedy menu experience
• Browsing into package contents
• Optional display of custom file and folder icons
• Customizable sorting and customizable display of hidden files and folders

Download FolderGlance 2.0.1 in Softonic

Backdrop Folders is an addition to the Finder, that was designed to take advantage of Mac OS X 10.3 "Exposé" feature. You probably noticed, for a given kind of work, that you had to go to the same places with the Finder, again and again. With Backdrop Folders, you can open "views" of your folders at the desktop level and interact with them.

These views remain visible when you reveal the desktop with Exposé, which allows you to pick a file or to do a drag and drop operation in no time, without the hassle of having to switch to the Finder and navigate through your disk hierarchy.

Main features :

• Workspaces
• Drag & drop
• Auto-resizing
• Auto-positioning
• Fully customizable views

Download Backdrop Folders 1.3.4 in Softonic

Witch will satisfy those of you that tend to keep a lot of windows open on their desktop. The application is like a window switcher on steroids.

The preference pane item is easy to enable. Set your trigger commands by choosing the right keyboard shortcuts, then adjust their behavior. One of the things that Witch really manages to enhance is the way you can browse not only through applications but also through minimized and foremost applications. Witch also lets you zoom in and close of minimized and foremost windows.

The real trick when using Witch is to not get lost in all your keyboard shortcuts. You do not need to customize them all. Instead choose a few triggers that you will likely use often. Witch can take a little bit getting used to, especially for users not comfortable with keyboard shortcuts, however once you have gotten the hang of it you should really feel better control over your applications and windows.

Witch is a smart preference pane that lets you quickly switch between all your windows, whether foremost or minimized.

Download Witch 2.0.1 in Softonic

Liquifile is a new file management tool for Mac OS X. An alternative Finder, if you will. It is designed for visual thinkers who want to get a bigger picture of their files and feel them more directly. But not only for them ;-). Did you ever wonder why searching and browsing is so separated in today's interfaces? Ever wished you had a bigger screen when finding or organizing your files? Ever lost files in deep hierarchical structures? Ever wondered what the next big thing in file browsing might be...?

Download Liquifile 1.3.3 in Softonic

FileBrowse is a new, easy-to-use file/media browser for Mac OS X with many unique features, such as 3D icons/thumbnails, large in-context previews, and powerful grouping and sorting. FileBrowse can show thumbnails for many file types, not only for images. And folder icons even show the items inside! So you don't always have to open a folder to see its contents.

Download FileBrowse 1.0.1 in Softonic

MacGizmo is an application that allows you to see the content and other useful information of any selected items in the Finder and of other participating software programs. It is very easy to use: select an item and see the content.

MacGizmo currently fully supports most of the common kinds of items that populate a disk, like: images, sounds, music, video, text, pdfs, web files, fonts, folders, applications and many more.

MacGizmo does not just provide a preview, it also allows you to navigate as a web browser, have full access to pdf and text files, read help and the recent items opened by an application simply by selecting it, hear music, see videos and, where applicable, print and search content.

Download MacGizmo 1.0.8 in Softonic

Meet Meta, the desktop search tool that takes Apple's Spotlight technology to a whole new level. Finding your files just got a whole lot easier. Your data can run, but it can't hide.

Want to find songs performed by either The Shins or Weezer? Meta's simple query language makes it easy to combine searches with 'or' and 'and'. If you are looking for something, just ask Meta.

Meta's location based searching lets you specify precisely which directories to examine. Why waste time wading though fluff? Cut to the chase and get only the results that are relevant to you.

Save any query as a Metafolder with just a single click. Metafolders are easily accessible from every Meta window, ensuring that your data is always right at your fingertips.

Download Meta 2.0 in Softonic

FoxTrot Personal Search™ is a new application delivering the fastest, most focused and precise way to find data in the files on your Mac.

Based on the revolutionary FoxTrot search engine - used in more than 40 countries by users of CTM's PowerMail - FoxTrot Personal Search brings high performance document retrieval and indexing to your most important files.

In order to "zero in" on the documents which really matter, FoxTrot lets you narrow the number of hits by clicking on several categories, which are dynamically generated based on the information and content of found files.

This advanced process, derived from scientific investigation techniques, lets you successively tag hits by file kind, age or parent folder. Dynamic categorization is a unique FoxTrot feature.

Typical searches yield too many results: FoxTrot Personal Search's exclusive ranking mechanism weighs each search result, and displays most relevant documents first. If you're overwhelmed by the number of matches, a slider setting will repeat the search with a more discriminating eye.

FoxTrot Personal Search indexes file contents and metadata (file name, author, title and more). Instead of merely showing which files contain your keywords, FoxTrot Personal Search highlights these terms in a preview of the document itself.

You can navigate to next and previous occurences, jump to a particular hit and and select text, all without needing to launch or switch to another application. FoxTrot displays full PDFs, word processing documents and pictures; it even plays found QuickTime movies, mp3 files and more.

Download FoxTrot Personal Search 1.5 in Softonic

SharePoints is an impressive tool when it comes to extending the sharing features of your Mac. You can create groups of multiple users with different levels of access. You can easily enable or disable AFS and SMB network file systems. Ideal for small networks, SharePoints is used at its best when you properly configure it, by setting elements like idle disconnet and log properties.

We were overall impressed by the flexibility of the application and how easy it is to get used to. However we would still encourage novice users to ask for help when setting sharing preferences. The program has enough advanced features for anyone who's never really delved into them to get a bit lost.

SharePoints takes sharing on Mac to a new level.

Download SharePoints 3.5.4 in Softonic

If you're the kind of person that burns a lot of DVDs or CDs, chances are you need to print out a list of the contents of your disks.

With an application like Print Window, you can do just that in seconds, straight from your Finder. The application lets you effectively print three types of lists: a full page, a media cover (basically a CD cover) and a file (which you can save in your Mac).

While not highly advanced, Print Window will allow you to somewhat edit the list, setting things like headers, fields, icons and style. You can also choose how deep into your folders the list goes, so it also prints out names of sub folders.

Overall, Print Window is a useful little tool to print out a list from your Finder in seconds.

Download Print Window Advanced 4.0 in Softonic

If you're the kind of person that likes to dig around and play with the Finder settings then this program is for you. Although you probably couldn't find a worse name for an application at least 'A Better Finder Attributes' has the merit of stating what it does.

With it you'll be able to change elements that the Finder would not normally let you touch. Essentially though, these pertain to EXIF data and will mostly be of interest to photographers and designers. The most useful feature is certainly modifying creation date and time in any image file.

The other attributes you can modify include showing invisible files, setting color labels or locking and unlocking files. However users with a certain level of knowledge probably won't need to use A Better Finder Attributes for this.

A Better Finder Attributes will be most useful to photographers or anybody working with pictures and looking to modify elements like creation date and time.

Download A Better Finder Attributes 4.7.6 in Softonic

Speedy Mac aims at accelerating your workflow by giving you access to all your recent files, favorite folders and most important tasks.

The application can be set as a menu bar item, which is probably more discreet, or a floating window, which you can move around anywhere on your screen. Although it already comes with a list of all your recent documents, folders, applications and sites, you can easily set your favorites from the preferences menu.

Speedy Mac also includes a task menu of specific actions such as ejecting disks or quitting all applications. You can create your own actions, but you'll have to know how to use Automator, which not everybody might be comfortable with.

Speedy Mac lets you quickly access your favorites, recent files and most important tasks. A useful timesaver.

Download Speedy Mac 2008 in Softonic