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The Menu BarIndependent Australian Mac magazine

An independent Australian magazine about Mac software: the tools worth installing, the fixes worth knowing, and the shareware era that shaped the platform.

Mac software, fixes and history, read in Australia

Independent Australian magazine about Mac software, fixes and history

Start with the software guidesOpen the Workshop

An Australian home workshop desk with an open laptop, a jar of screwdrivers, a notebook and a cup of tea in morning light
The workbench view: a Mac kept working is a Mac understood.

Three departments

Choose the tools, keep the machine, read the record

Each department opens with an index of its guides. Pick the software questions, the maintenance bench, or the shareware history of the platform and of this domain.

  1. 01

    Software and Tools

    Choosing the tools a working Mac runs on: database clients, schedulers, automation, and the safety registers a small business keeps.

    5 guides inside

  2. 02

    The Workshop

    The hands-on corner: the Terminal without fear, a calm checklist for a slow machine, and backups rehearsed before they are needed.

    3 guides inside

  3. 03

    Shareware and History

    The long memory: the shareware era, the small publishers who shipped by mail, and the twenty year story of this domain.

    2 guides inside

Department 01 · Software and Tools

Software and Tools

Choosing the tools a working Mac runs on: database clients, schedulers, automation, and the safety registers a small business keeps.

  • A vintage all-in-one Mac computer on a wooden desk beside a ring binder of printed diagrams and a stack of floppy disks, warm nostalgic light.

    Software and Tools

    SyBrowser and the Mac Database Browser

    A look back at SyBrowser, the Mac SQL browser published here from 1999, and what the database client category looks like on macOS today.

    Twenty years of Mac SQL browsing, from 1999.

  • A paper desk calendar and a small alarm clock beside a backlit keyboard on a tidy desk, early morning light.

    Software and Tools

    MacAT and Scheduled Tasks on a Mac

    MacAT brought cron-style scheduling to classic Mac servers. Here is what it did, and how launchd, Automator and Shortcuts do the job now.

    Cron-style scheduling for classic Mac servers.

  • A laptop screen glowing with a grid of table rows in a dim room, a notebook and pen beside it, shallow depth of field.

    Software and Tools

    Choosing a Database Client for Your Mac

    How to pick a SQL client on macOS: which databases it must speak, native feel versus cross-platform, and the features that matter daily.

    Engines, native feel, and the price arithmetic.

  • A row of wooden dominoes mid-topple on a desk next to a keyboard, playful shallow depth of field, afternoon light.

    Software and Tools

    Automating Everyday Work on a Mac

    From folder actions to Shortcuts and a little AppleScript: the sane ways to make a Mac repeat the boring steps for you.

    Shortcuts, Automator, AppleScript and the shell, each to its job.

  • A clipboard with a checklist, a high-vis vest on a hook and a laptop on the desk of a small site office, daylight through a window.

    Software and Tools

    Documenting Workplace Safety With Software

    How small Australian businesses keep safety procedures, hazard registers and incident logs in software instead of a paper folder.

    Procedures, hazards, incidents and training, linked.

See every guide in Software and Tools

Department 02 · The Workshop

The Workshop

The hands-on corner: the Terminal without fear, a calm checklist for a slow machine, and backups rehearsed before they are needed.

  • A dark laptop screen with a single glowing prompt line, a small notebook of handwritten notes beside it, moody desk lamp light.

    The Workshop

    Terminal Basics Every Mac User Can Learn

    A gentle first hour in the Mac Terminal: moving around, looking at files, the commands that are safe, and the ones to respect.

    Five safe commands and one that deserves respect.

  • An hourglass with sand still running beside a closed laptop on a kitchen table, patient afternoon light.

    The Workshop

    When a Mac Runs Slow

    A methodical checklist for a sluggish Mac: disk space, login items, runaway processes, and when hardware is really the limit.

    Storage, startup, Activity Monitor: in order.

  • A small external hard drive with a neatly coiled cable beside a laptop and a pot plant on a home desk, soft daylight.

    The Workshop

    Backing Up a Mac Properly

    Time Machine plus one off-site habit covers most disasters. Here is the setup, the schedule, and the restore drill to rehearse.

    Set it up, size it, rehearse the restore.

See every guide in The Workshop

From the old catalogue

Two addresses kept from the previous tenant

For twenty years this domain was the shopfront of MacSOS of Sydney. Two of its product pages answered questions this magazine still answers, so the guides stand at the same addresses.

Department 03 · Shareware and History

Shareware and History

The long memory: the shareware era, the small publishers who shipped by mail, and the twenty year story of this domain.

  • A stack of labelled floppy disks and a handwritten registration card on a 1990s desk beside a beige keyboard, warm light.

    Shareware and History

    The Mac Shareware Era

    Before the App Store there was shareware: try first, pay by mail, support by email. What that era gave the Mac, and where it survives.

    Try first, pay by mail: how the model worked.

  • An old chemistry textbook beside a slim modern laptop on a university library desk, warm reading lamp light.

    Shareware and History

    The Story of This Domain

    For twenty years this address belonged to MacSOS, a Sydney developer of Mac database, scheduling and safety software. The factual record.

    MacSOS of Sydney, 1999 to 2019, from the archives.

See every guide in Shareware and History