HORST HILDEBRECHT  ABMenu was a great application, but under 10.6 it doesn't work.   
(Version 2.1.3)

SIDETRACKED  Excellent free app. Quite similar to the $8 iAddressX. Upside, a bit faster and even more user friendly. And free. Downside, doesn't have a couple of features (like auto-dial) that iAddressX has.

But overall a terrific, super easy to use, fast link to Address Book info.  
(Version 2.1.3)

PEANUT BUTTER  Within 30 seconds I could confirm that this little utitlity was 5 stars.

Great tool......

it's quick, small, and flexible. I like that I can adjust # of recent contacts, turn off the alphabetical list or groups, and change sort by dispay order.

Very useful that I can launch AB from the menu. Recent contacts are very useful, something AB doesn't have.

Bonus: I can make a new contact from the menu, and edit contacts without opening AB.

Everything works with or without AB launched!

WANTS: to be able to adjust the location of the menu item, not critical, but I prefer it closer to the calender, or at least further from the HELP menu in apps that have lots of menus. (menu meters, a 3rd party app can do this, even though many 3rd party cannot.)

(I can't speak about stability - only used it now for 10 minutes)  
(Version 2.1.3)

MARC D.  This app is great, I just wish that you could sort by nickname. I have 5 Chris' and Johns', etc listed, and it isn't always easy to find the right one.  
(Version 2.1.3)

ANONYMOUS  Only the first couple of letters show up in the categories. I've got half a dozen "kids friends" entries, but only the one starting with "A" shows up.  
(Version 2.1.3)

HOBY  The same could be said of Address Book. Dialing out through the modem/bluetooth/speakers is one of the many seemingly obvious features I've sent in to Apple.

Nice work on this though. It makes sense, has good options and adds effeciency to quickly looking up peoples' info.  
(Version 2.1.3)

ANONYMOUS  This is a very nice and sexy utility for OS X users. How ever I believe it would be much more useful if ABMenu is capable for dialing numbers via built in modem and linked mobile phones.  
(Version 1.5)

CB3  I don't know if anyone else had download problems using the link from this page. I finally had some success by going straight to the source, i.e. the actual url for the file.  
(Version 1.5)

CB3  Trying to download a copy of this version, I end up with a 4KB gzip'd dmg file. StuffIt pretends to expand it but doesn't. ZipIt gives an "unexpected eof error".  
(Version 1.5)

MACAL  I tto liked this app and had I not found iAddressX and more recently BuddyPop which I now use, I would haverbeen more than happy with this. However, unlike the others, this is free and well worth watching for developments.  
(Version 1.0)

MACGIZMO  I gave this app a shot, even though I already use iAddressX which does the same thing.

While this program works perfectly fine, I think iAddressX does a better job and being "more intuitive." With this app you must select a name from the menu, let go, and look for the pop-up box to appear (which is almost instant). While this isn't bad, I like the fact that with iAddressX, it uses a hierarchical menu system to give you the information you need just by moving the mouse over a persons name. ABMenu does show more information, but it makes you work harder to get it.

The app is pretty good, but not enough to make me switch from iAddressX, but if you've never used an app like this, it's worth checking out, since it's free!  
(Version 1.0)