#Whatsize for mac code
#Whatsize for mac free
#Whatsize for mac mac
#Whatsize for mac windows

Select Apple Menu > About This Mac > Storage. Just in case you need a quick reminder, here's how you can check your storage. Let's dive straight in and uncover the system storage mysteries. Two programs, one parent, similar operations, but nobody's stealing from anyone other than the fact that they both borrowed look and feel from DarkForest :).For any Mac owner who is running low on space, the first thing we do is check our storage availability.īut have you ever wondered why is 'System' using so much disk space? And what exactly is meant by 'System' so can reclaim the space? WhatSize is far more forgiving of stupid moves, you not only get a warning, but if after ignoring the warning you still regret deleting something, just open the trash.I haven't purchased DiskSweeper, so I can't verify this, but if it's true, that's a solid vote for WhatSize in my book. So of course, they're nearly identical, as they both have the same 'parent.' But to call WhatSize a copy of Omni's product is to skip over the fact that Omni's product is a copy of DarkForest.īefore selecting WhatSize as a PotW, I was scanning the comments on VersionTracker to see what others thought (usually good for some tidbits), and found this quote: The second main difference is that omnidisksweeper has an unforgiving destructive delete, although it gives you a warning, it doesn't send stuff to trash, it permanently deletes on the spot. WhatSize is just another implementation of DarkForest, and the author admits as much on the WhatSize page.

#Whatsize for mac code

So yes, Omni's code was 'first' on OS X, but it wasn't original even at that time. DarkForest was written by one Garth Snyder, and Ken Case himself wrote Omni's DiskSweeper (originally called OmniDiskUsage) in 1998. In case you're thinking that the author of DarkForest went to Omni and/or they licensed the code, that's not correct. It took me a few searches, but I eventually found a screenshot of DarkForest for NEXT. DarkForest was a NEXT utility that looked identical to both Omni's DiskSweeper and WhatSize.

#Whatsize for mac free

WhatSize is one of those useful little utilities that you'll try a couple times and then find that it's quickly become a key part of your maintenance routine - I use it to keep an eye on my Downloads folder, which I sometimes let get a bit out of control! The fact that it's free is simply an added bonus.Īnswer: They both have similar ancestors. You can also use the familiar disclosure triangles to drill down the hierarchy. In the browser view, you can easily see the actual size of the files in any given folder (along with the disk space actually used, and those two numbers can differ appreciably for large folders). If you're not a fan of column view, you can switch to a 'browser' view that's somewhat like list view in the Finder. However, WhatSize makes it very simple, and it's expandable column-view window lets you easily traverse a folder hierarchy to see exactly what might be taking up unexpected amounts of drive space. You can, obviously, do all that WhatSize does in either the Finder or via the Terminal (in fact, it was a comment to an earlier hint about using du that tipped me off to WhatSize). FBCIndex file in the left pane of the screenshot. WhatSize also displays all normally 'hidden' directories, as indicated by the normally hidden. As you can see, the files are sorted by size and color-coded (megabytes in purple, kilobytes in green), making it easy to see exactly what's taking up the room in any given location. In the shot at left, the view is set to my home folder, with the Pictures directory selected.

#Whatsize for mac windows

WhatSize opens two windows one displays a summary view for each of your hard drives the other, as seen at left, displays a columnar view of a particular location in your file system. Price: Freeware This week's Pick of the Week is a simple little app that does one thing very well - help you see what's taking up space on your hard drive.