Hello, I am the author of Panther Cache Cleaner. OS X and many of its applications use caching to improve performance. Occasionally, this cached data can go stale which results in odd behavior. Cache cleaning is very effective at fixing these types of problems.

However, cache cleaning is not without its risks. Caches can get quite large and consist of hundreds or thousands of files. It is critically important to check and repair any file system problems before deleting the caches. If there is unrepaired directory damage - particularly cross linked files - cache cleaning can create more problems than it solves.

On a healthy filesystem, cache cleaning is a very effective troubleshooting tool. Just remember to check your file system first.


And finally, thanks to Petey for a very nice list.