OnyX

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OnyX

Developed by	Joël Barrière
Latest release	1.9.5 / 28 April 2008
OS	Mac OS X
Available in	Multilingual
Genre	Maintenance, Optimization
License	Freeware
Website	http://www.titanium.free.fr/

OnyX is a popular freeware for Mac OS X developed by French developer Joël Barrière. It is a multifunctional tool for maintenance and optimization, and can control many basic UNIX programs already built into OS X. It can also help set hidden preferences otherwise modifed by using plist editors and the command line.^[1] It has become a highly praised utility among many in the Mac community, in part due to its extensive language support and excellent help files.

1 Features
2 Development
3 Versions
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Features

Verify S.M.A.R.T. status
Verify the structure of the file system on the startup volume
Repair disk permissions
Check user and system .plist syntax
Configure certain parameters hidden from the system and from certain applications...
Empty System, User, Internet, Font caches
Force Empty the Trash
Rebuild Launch Services
Rebuild Spotlight and Mail indexes
etc.

[edit] Development

Created in 2003 by Joël Barrière, a.k.a. Titanium, the program was originally meant to address its creator's personal needs. Developed using Xcode, Apple's software development environment (Cocoa + AppleScript Studio + Objective-C), OnyX is regularly updated by its author taking into consideration users' suggestions and requests. The program to do its job uses OS X's standard Unix utilities, allowing their control through a graphical user interface without needing the command line. OnyX is freeware.

[edit] Versions

Onyx has versions which are both specific to each version of Mac OS X and not backward-compatible. The program will not work correctly if used with an OS it wasn't designed for.

Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) : OnyX version 1.3.1.
Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) : OnyX version 1.5.3.
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) : OnyX version 1.8.5.
Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) : OnyX version 1.9.5.

Only the last two versions (1.8.5 and 1.9.5 for Tiger and Leopard) are actively maintained.