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Dropbox - Duh.
Battery - Don’t even know if I really need this. It warns me when I’m really low, right?
Clock - Can’t read analog, ha.
Spotlight - Seriously, why does everyone keep telling me to get Quicksilver or similar, it’s all built into Spotlight.
(From Julian Bravard)
Itsy - Simple Twitter client. No explanation needed, really.
QuickCursor - Utility to edit text from any application in an external editor. I usually use this one to edit things in MacVim.
Droplr - Tool for uploading files and shortening links. I usually use this one when I have an image to share.
Spirited Away - Hides applications after they haven’t been used for a while. I have the hide timeout set to one minute, it keeps my screen clean.
After that, I just have some builtin things. Such as battery, AirPort status, keyboard layout switcher, time, and Time Machine. (Nope, no Spotlight. I use Alfred for that.)
(From )
I just removed unnecessary icons in my menubar; I used to also have , Adium, iSync, and Spotlight. Now I only have these: Pyrcast, CalendarBar, Mailplane, Dropbox, SlimBatteryMonitor, MenuMeters, Time Machine, Bluetooth, WiFi, and Clock.
(From Andrew Ng)
Dropbox - あんたばか？
FastScripts - Used to execute a few AppleScripts to skip songs in Last.fm, open current Safari tab in Chrome (that rare occasion I need Flash), turn on my SOCKS proxy, etc.
f.lux - So I’m more mentally prepared to fall to sleep when I shut off the computer at night.
Sound - So I can quickly swap output between my headphones and speakers. Wish I knew about the alt-click options ages ago!
Battery - Where I can watch my 2007 MacBook Pro’s now pitiful 2-3 hour battery life drain away.
AirPort - My router likes to play mindgames with me so it helps to keep this in the menubar.
(From Philip Karpiak/ESWAT)
I try to keep my menubar clean. File uploaders and the weather live in Dashboard.
Dropbox – if MobileMe were half as good as Dropbox, I’d be using (and paying for) it instead.
Little Snitch – I like knowing what applications are connecting to the internet, and where to.
Synergy – unobtrusive, reliable Last.fm scrobbling.
Plex – transcodes and streams my movies and TV shows to my iPhone/iPad in real-time.
Clock and Spotlight
(From Nick Heer)
- can store multiple items in my clipboard.
Dropbox - classic.
Battery status with percentage.
Time
Spotlight
Pretty minimalistic, huh?
(From Jan Miřacký)
Here’s my appropriately minimal menu bar. I use Alfred (launched with the ) for pretty much everything, so having menu bar icons doesn’t get me much.
Dropbox
CalendarBar - Syncs up with Google Calendar, iCal, and Facebook events, has an attractive menu bar dropdown, and pops Growl notifications of reminders. Super handy for making sure I don’t miss meetings.
Clock - I set this to analog since it’s rare that I need to know precisely what time it is.
(From Jason Garber, web developer at Viget Labs, organizer of Refresh DC, and musician)
Sparrow - minimal mail app.
Dropbox - essential syncing app
Caffeine - should be built-in
Quicksilver - app launcher and all the rest.
I have also other apps that use the menubar, but I would rather keep it minimal.
(From )
Dropbox - Everyone needs one.
Notify - First line of defence for mail, second = Sparrow.
App Tamer - Taming my apps, keeping my Mac fast.
- For my ‘Command + C’s.
CloudApp - For uploading stuff.
Caffeine - Sleeping my Mac with style.
Wifi - I needz my internet.
Time - I needz my time.
Watts - More minimalistic battery.
Spotlight - Searching is fun.
(From Jden Redden)
Dropbox - Needs no explanation.
MacBiff - IMAP mailchecker.
Scroll Reverser - Flips Magic Mouse scroll directions, like Lion will.
SynergyKM - Use my iMac and MBP from the same mouse/keyboard.
System stuff: Volume, Airport, VPN, Power, Date/Time.
- Calendar applet.
System: Spotlight.
Note: This is my MBP, which I use the most. My iMac and media-server mini are different.
(From Brad Beyenhof)