The Mac is more self-maintaining than other business computers. A big reason for this is Apple’s user interface design. So much of what makes your Unix-based system hum along is gracefully hidden from you. Some call this Apple’s passion to control your experience. You can also consider it a blessed delivery from the constant scrubbing Windows seems to demand.

On the other hand, system maintenance is a means to get more out of the Mac investment. This week Koingo Software is offering MacPilot Lite as a free download to users who’ve purchased Koingo software in the past. The full version of MacPilot is also on sale in an Essentials Bundle (along with three other tools such as the nifty Alarm Clock Pro) — and it’s worth the space in your system administrator’s toolbox

Yes, you are the system administrator of your Mac. While your expertise is probably in creating a product, delivering a service or managing a business, a small office or single-proprietor business usually has someone to manage computers: You. So as a present to yourself for the coming business year, a tool like MacPilot or Onyx (a free tool) is a worthy investment.

Koingo sells MacPilot as competing product to the free Onyx, so MacPilot has got to work harder. Koingo explains that MacPilot can

Optimize your network for broadband connectivity, completely customize Apple File Sharing, perform essential maintenance without having to remember mind-boggling acronyms, and much more. However, those are just a few of the many reasons why MacPilot is your choice over Cocktail, TinkerTool and Onyx!

There’s a deep feature list for MacPilot along with a free 15-day trial of the full product. The longer you use a Mac for your business, the more you’re likely to appreciate the facets of file-sharing in your office network or getting the most out of your broadband connection. The Mac OS is deep and can be fine-tuned to return the best value for time spent at your keyboard and mouse. But Unix, the core of Mac OS, is arcane and byzantine. Something like one of these tools is like having the teacher’s version of the Unix textbook, with answers in the back, sitting on your work desk. Read the rest of this entry »