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Labels X - OS 9 labels return! Pick of the Week
Labels X iconThe macosxhints Rating:
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Unsanity has done it again. Probably the number one missing OS X feature that I hear about is the lack of "labels." For those of you new to the Mac, in earlier versions of the OS, a label could be assigned to a file, drive, or folder, and it included both a color tint and a (definable) text phrase. Once assigned, you could sort your list view (and icon view?) windows by label. This provided an easy way to sort project files by client, priority, importance, etc. And so far, it's been missing in OS X. Until now.

Although I've only been playing with Labels X for a few hours, it certainly seems to return most of the functionality of the OS 9 label feature. Installation requires a logout and login if you haven't installed Unsanity's APE (Application Program Enhancer) in the past. Once installed, your list view windows have a new "Label" column, and you can assign a color to any file through the contextual menu pop-up. Labels and colors are defined in the Labels X preferences panel, where you can also disable the haxie. You won't find any label features in the Finder's regular menus, so all interaction is through the contextual menu or the preferences panel.

I wasn't a huge label user in OS 9, and I don't think I'll become one in OS X, but if you're a label addict, check out Labels X. It gets the Pick of the Week this week for addressing one of the bigger requested features from OS 9...
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Labels X - OS 9 labels return! | 6 comments | Create New Account
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One drawback
Authored by: friedmaj on Oct 14, '02 08:18:34AM

I had hoped to use Labels to allow me to distinguish two folders in the dock without having to apply custom icons or hover over one to see its name. Unfortunately, the label colors don't appear in the dock, so that won't work.



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Retrospect and labels
Authored by: wsdr on Oct 14, '02 08:21:01AM

This haxie is great!

One of the best things about Retrospect is its ability to backup folders and files according to labels. I use this ability on my own computers and in many client offices in order to control what data is to be backed up on client workstations-- allowing me to specify data folders, email folders, etc., while ignoring system and application folders, and without having to re-configure Retrospect every time a new folder needs to be added to the backup. We use "Project 1" the Green folder and teach clients the mantra "Make it Green" if you want it backed up. It works great and helps us to keep backup sizes down to a dull roar (and disk swapping to a minimum, which can be a backup killer in some client offices).

This is the primary reason why I mourned the loss of labels in OS X. I was relieved to discover that you could still set them while booted into OS 9, or over the network from an OS 9 client. OS X, while ignoring them, didn't remove them, and the Retrospect client would still honor the colors (at least on HFS volumes).

But booting into OS 9 or having to go to another workstation is a pain, and this haxie returns the ability to set these folders in OS X. This will be on just about every one of my client's computers running OS X in the near future.



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Retrospect and labels
Authored by: sultawi on Oct 14, '02 07:06:33PM

Please note that you can apply labels via classic, you don't have to boot into OS9. The OS9 version of Default Folder allows one to do so via the "open" or "save as" menu of any classic program. If you don't want to do this, I notice that SNAX, in OSX, also allows you to set the labels. However, if you do it via SNAX, OS9, or classic you can't SEE the labels in OSX. Not a big deal if you are only using it for a retro backup, like I do...



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SNAX
Authored by: meancode on Oct 14, '02 12:35:03PM

i hardly use the Finder anymore, i have used SNAX, and have been beta testing the new version (its now gonna be called Path Finder, and will be version 2.0) and SNAX has had finder labels since one of the first updates.

i agree with the post about Retrospect, i understand, we use "Essential" tho :)

i think it is a realy bummer that apple did not address this feature (and others) in the 10.2 update. just like the other haxies that Unsanity makes, these are extra extentions that i really should'nt have to install, they take up processing resources. the apple menu, window shade, appearence sounds, and now finder labels. Unsanity is sure filling the needs of OS 9 like features, but i think Apple should be putting this OS 9 functionality in OS X so everyone doesnt have to install 3rd party apps to do it. just my little beef.



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Labels in classic
Authored by: sultawi on Oct 14, '02 07:10:11PM

Please note that you can apply labels via classic, you don't have to boot into OS9. The OS9 version of Default Folder allows one to do so via the "open" or "save as" menu of any classic program. If you don't want to do this, I notice that SNAX, in OSX, also allows you to set the labels. However, if you do it via SNAX, OS9, or classic you can't SEE the labels in OSX. Not a big deal if you are only using it for a retro backup, like I do...



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Why labels for OS X won't come from Apple
Authored by: semios on Oct 14, '02 10:11:29PM
Apple's old school labels have been upstaged by Nautilus' emblems. Labels are often hard to recognize, especially with the high res icons we now have. I offer a picture below to give you a taste what emblems look like. Basically it's a mini-icon that is layed on top of another icon. These emblems are much easier to recognize than labels. They are also much more expressive than the color labels. See as the dock makes extensive use of overlaying small icons on top of the application icon, I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar come out from Apple. In fact, I really hope they come out with this soon.


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