MacUpdate Holiday Bundle released

Software bundle’s have become something of a tradition for Mac users, and the latest from MacUpdate offers some useful and varied apps. The package is priced at the usual price of $49.99, offering a saving of over $470 on the individual price of the software. I’ve already bought it, as it offered some apps I wanted at a big saving even though I already owned three of them. Here’s the full list:

• Drive Genius 2.1 – Diagnose, repair, and optimize your Mac.
• RapidWeaver 4.2.1 – Web site design and construction made easy.
• Default Folder X 4.1 – Enhances Open and Save dialog boxes.
• VirusBarrier X5 10.5.5 – Anti-virus software for Mac.
• MacGourmet Deluxe 1.0.5 – Create, build, and share your recipes.
• Little Snitch 2.0.4 – Alerts you to outgoing network connections.
• iVolume 3.1.4 – Improves iTunes’ Sound Check feature.
• KeyCue 4.3 – Displays all menu commands.
• MacPilot 3.2.1 – Enables over 700 hidden features in Mac OS X.
• WhatSize 4.4.1 – Measure file and folder sizes easily.
• iDive 1.8.8 – the first 5,000 buyers get iDive, the ‘Digital video shoebox’.

The inclusion of VirusBarrier X5 is ironic with the amount of fuss about Apple’s take on Mac anti-virus products.

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MacUpdate Update (MacUpdate² ????)

I fired an email of to the guys at MacUpdate yesterday after receiving a somewhat misleading email about their current software bundle. This was the reply.

‘Don’t worry about it. Come back closer to the end of the promotion if you want (like Thursday or Friday even). The bundle will be where you want it to be. :)’

The reply missed the original point, since I was asking about advertising a bundle as available today when three apps were not yet ‘unlocked’. Looks like the guys at MacUpdate are pretty confident all ten apps will be included, so I expect I will be buying the bundle before the end of the week.

Mac Heist bundle on sale

I’ve been waiting for this one since December, but now it’s here I’m a bit disappointed. It sounds good value at 10 apps for $343.75, but the total value listed includes the three apps that aren’t unlocked yet. CSS edit is currently 3/4 of the way to the 5,000 sale unlock but we don’t know how many sales are required to get the final two apps. I found Mac Update’s approach of listing the sales required to unlock was a far better method. At least you could judge if the targets would be reached after a few days.

My disappointment is with the apps in the bundle. 1password has been on my want list for a while, so great. Coversutra? Looks great, don’t need another iTunes controller. Cha-Ching (personal finance), iStopMotion (stop motion filming) and Awaken (turn your mac into an alarm clock) wouldn’t get used. AppZapper is nice for uninstalling apps, but I use the free AppCleaner. Taskpaper? Nope, don’t need another to-do list editor. CSSedit (CSS editor, surprise!) and Snapz Pro X (screen grabber) would also not get much use if they are unlocked. That leaves Pixelmator, the only mainstream creative app in the bundle. I wouldn’t mind Pixelmator if it gets unlocked, but $49 for two apps seems lika a waste of a bundle.

The biggest problem is that the recent Mac Update bundle raised the bar. Yep, Swift Publisher, Memory Miner, Forklift and Rapid Weaver are great packages I have found very useful, and once the other software was added on it was a much stronger package. I’ll be watching the Mac Heist bundle for developments, but it certainly isn’t a must buy at the moment.