X-Assist
X-Assist 0.8.1
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(14) 4.910714285714286

Add OS 9 window and menu behaviors to OS X.   Free
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X-Assist is useful utility that adds:

  • Mac OS 9 behaviors to Mac OS X like the Application Switcher Menu
  • OS9 window behavior - when you switch applications by clicking in a window, all windows for that application are shown. This behavior has changed in OS X and can be a bit annoying.
  • Ability to toggle between OS9 and OSX window behavior with a hot key shortcut.
  • Recent Applications Menu with no limit
  • Ability to add personal hierarchies of items in an OS 9-like "apple" menu
  • An extensible "Control Strip" like plugin architecture
What's New
Version 0.8.1:
  • fixed the Control Panel submenu items not showing up when run on certain systems. Thanks Thomas Fischer.
  • updated German localization to be more consistant between menu and pref window prefs. Thanks Thomas Fischer.
  • updated localization for Japanese. Thanks Chris Li.
Requirements
Intel/PPC, Mac OS X 10.2 or later



MacUpdate - X-Assist



X-Assist User Discussion (Write a Review)
ver. 0.x:
(14)
Your rating: Now say why...
Overall:
(14)

sort: smiles | time
burypromote
+1

+23

Vagator reviewed on 08 Jul 2010
I have been using this fantastic application for years now-since Jaguar-and now it's working flawlessly on my iMac 27" using Snow Leopard 10.6.4.

I would say to ' WARMFUZZYGECKO ' you must have a separate problem - it certainly can't be this application. If your problem seemed to disappear after stopping X-Assist, I would say that problem may still be there lying dormant....I would check it further if I were you.

To conclude, this is a fantastic application and one of the first of its type and is highly recommended for all Mac OS X.

My thanks to the developer.
[Version 0.8.1]

1 Reply

burypromote

+58
Qb replied on 29 Jul 2012
I've used it on Lion for 12 months and for the past 3 days on Mountain Lion. It is very slow at loading right after startup but seems to work fine.
burypromote

+1
ipeck commented on 03 Feb 2008
I use Butler, its free and you can add as many custom drop menus and shortcuts as you want.. And you can reorganize the placing in the menubar. Even got a finder menu switcher like old days.
[Version 0.8.1]


burypromote

+16

Joy-Livingwell reviewed on 12 Jul 2006
For those of us who like pull-down text menus rather than icons (or who like aspects of the OS 9 interface), X-Assist provides an easy way to switch and hide applications, go directly to items within System Preferences rather than loading the main window, etc.

It's a bit slow, and it doesn't provide a list of windows open under each app as OS 9's application menu could be made to do. However, it does provide convenience, plus a visual cue as to which application is frontmost, something which can be confusing in X.

Also recommended: AppleMenu, TypeIt4Me.
[Version 0.7]


burypromote


Anonymous reviewed on 01 May 2005
I know it's free and beggars can't be choosers, but I do hope this is updated soon for OS X 10.4 (Tiger). It really is a bit hard to get used to not having it over where it should be on the Menu Bar.
[Version 0.7]


burypromote


Anonymous reviewed on 30 Apr 2005
Menu position is incorrect under Tiger. :(
[Version 0.7]


burypromote


Anonymous reviewed on 17 Apr 2005
When you have to switch back and forth between OS 9 at work and OS X at home, it is indispensable. I love it and can't do without it. Hope this is continued to be updated
[Version 0.7]


burypromote


Anonymous reviewed on 09 Dec 2004
X-Assist is working fine for me. My one suggestion: Sometimes I want to see other app's windows, and there oughta be a way to facillitate that. Personally, I'd like to see the other apps disappear when using command-tab, but not when they're switched to in other ways (Dock, X-W's app menu, clicking on desktop, etc.). Might make a good option checkbox.

It'd be great to have X-W's menu included in Apple's Finder Contextual Menu as well.
[Version 0.7]


burypromote


Anonymous reviewed on 23 Feb 2004
x-assist is good, but what I don't like is the fact that when you have the menu with just the icon (without the name of the application on the menu) whenever you switch to an app, the menu item quickly flashes the name of the app.......and that's the downer for me for this program - i will not use this program until this is fixed

great job for a free app though :)
[Version 0.7]


burypromote


Anonymous reviewed on 04 Nov 2003
This utility is a gem among many. I switch over from ASM due to some glitches. I am glad that there are alternatives such as X-Assist. Thanks-a-bunch for the application.
[Version 0.7]


burypromote


Anonymous reviewed on 04 Nov 2003
That's what I call service, I only mentioned being bushwacked by Conrol-ESC a week ago, and it's already been turned into an option!
[Version 0.7]


burypromote

+2
Warmfuzzygecko had trouble on 13 Jan 2010
Not Leopard compatible. Just went thru a long troubleshooting session and have concluded that X-Assist version 0.8.1 is NOT Leopard compatible (at least on my machine). That is if you ever have your Mac sleep. With X-Assist installed waking Mac will freeze and soon after fans will run at full speed. Booting from my Tiger firewire drive X-Assist 0.8.1 does still work and is quite useful as an alternative to Apple's discontinued Application Menu from the "Classic" days.
[Version 0.8.1]

1 Reply

burypromote

+319
Tim27 replied on 22 Feb 2010
It must be your system because I use X-Assist on an iMac running Leopard at work and a brand new iMac running Snow Leopard at home.
burypromote

-17
neo979 had trouble on 20 Jan 2006
I've had a longstanding problem that I finally tracked back to this program... I call it "iTunes sinking," where sometimes, when you hide the iTunes window when switching to another application - and then you can never get the window to show again no matter what you do, even though iTunes has not crashed and can be sent AppleScript commands.

If you are having this issue, turn off OS9 Window Behavior in X-Assist.

I'm glad I didn't have to get rid of the program altogether - I still really like it. I'm just posting this in case others are having this problem.
[Version 0.7]




Oxo.design rated on 05 Mar 2011

[Version 0.8.1]


Downloads:14,714
Version Downloads:3,544
Type:Utilities : Desktop
License:Free
Date:03 Feb 2008
Platform:PPC 32 / Intel 32 / OS X
Price:Free0.00
Overall (Version 0.x):
Features:
Ease of Use:
Value:
Stability:
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X-Assist is useful utility that adds:

  • Mac OS 9 behaviors to Mac OS X like the Application Switcher Menu
  • OS9 window behavior - when you switch applications by clicking in a window, all windows for that application are shown. This behavior has changed in OS X and can be a bit annoying.
  • Ability to toggle between OS9 and OSX window behavior with a hot key shortcut.
  • Recent Applications Menu with no limit
  • Ability to add personal hierarchies of items in an OS 9-like "apple" menu
  • An extensible "Control Strip" like plugin architecture to support 3rd party plugins (MP3 player and Volume control plugins included)


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