News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

August 2, 2007

software

Hazel cleans up your act

Posted Aug. 2, ’07, 9:27 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Software

Hazel 2When I saw the announcement this morning that Noodlesoft was releasing Hazel 2, I was astounded to find that we had never discussed the app before. An omission I’m now hastily correcting!

Hazel is a unique program that helps you organize your files according to logical rules that you devise. It’s a little like Smart Playlists meets Folder Actions. After you install the preference pane, you’ll find a list of folders. For each folder, you can attach multiple rules that instruct how the files in that folder should be treated. For example, you could have a folder where any MP3 files automatically get imported to iTunes. Or you could have it move files to a certain location, renaming it if desired. You can even attach an Automator action, AppleScript, or shell script to make the possibilities truly endless.

Hazel 2 improves upon the original by adding a number of features, including Growl notifications (which can be triggered in rules), file sorting (into subfolders), and even a function called App Sweep, that detects when you trash an application and offers to get rid of its support files.

A free upgrade for users of Hazel, the 2.0 version will run new customers around $22, or you can give the a fourteen day free trial a whirl to see if it’ll work for you.


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