I don’t recall ever needing to use a tabulated data application. So forgive me if I approach this as a total noob.

The download and install process for Xtabulator is very simple, and as with most Macs these days, it simply required me to drag and drop the icon from the mounted disk to my applications folder.

Xtabulator has a very clean menu and interface. It is very easy to create records and columns. Multiple selection of records, changing the width of fields are very easy to do. They have also included keyboard short-cuts for repetitive tasks, if you need them. But since I don’t use a mouse and prefer to use the track pad, the normal gestures that I am accustomed to using; i.e. 2-finger drag, 2 finger tap for “right mouse” button, do not appear to be supported. When I tried to import data, I would receive a message that said one or more of the characters was not recognized. So I would have clear out the unrecognized characters before I could import my data.

I had to remind myself, this isn’t the average spread-sheet application, and appears that it is meant for more simple operation. If I needed to create a document for a club to track members, or keep track of employee data, or a bowling league, this would be the application I would use. If you choose to purchase this program, it is $ 9.99 USD for the key. But if not, you will be limited to creating 100 records and would remain completely free.

In my “spare” time I like to work on websites, and since time is limited I like to use tools that help me along the way, but still provide great looking results. One area that has always troubled me was designing Flash banners, navigation, etc. For Mac users, there really didn’t seem a decent solution to creating Flash content with anything other than using Flash. Now Flash is a fine application, but not everyone needs the full functionality of Flash or the expense either. In my search for an easier way I was recommended to give BannerZest a shot, and so I did.

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You got your shiny new Mac, loaded up with all the cool new applications, so what do you want to do first? Fire up iPhoto? Make a song in Garage Band? But wait, you have a bunch of movies that you shot and never did anything with… Why not fire up iMovie?

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I just got a question from fellow iBAM reader Efrain. Here’s the question:

“I wanted to see what the specs were on my Hard Drive for my MacBook Pro. I know it’s supposed to be a 200GB 7200rpm hard drive, but I just wanted to confirm.”

At first thought, the easy choice for me was the System Profiler, but upon checking my system via the Profiler, I noticed that almost everything Efrain asked for was listed (and more), but I didn’t see anything for hard disk rpm. Now, granted, I could have missed it so thus the reason for this post.

There is nothing like the iBAM community I.Q.

What’s your favorite system info tool?