Your Mac is an incredibly versatile beast, and it’s likely you’ve not even begun to scratch the surface of what it’s capable of. That’s where we come in. This issue you’ll find 30 new and exciting ways to make more of your Mac. And that’s not all. An iPad extends and augments your Mac life, which is why you’ll find 20 top tablet tips to take your iOS use to the next level too. It’s all here!

Also this month: Apple’s secrecy is legendary in the technology industry, but to what extent does the company’s continuing success depend on clandestine innovation, and how much is too much? We lift the veil on Apple Inc.

Elsewhere, we’ve an iPad SOS guide for when your tablet has an off day; we look at the best video converter app out there; and put LaCie’s latest external SSD Thunderbolt drive offering through its paces.

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Key Info
Developer: Mariner Software
www.marinersoftware.com

Requirements
OS: OS X 10.6.8 or later

MacJournal 6 is the latest incarnation of the very popular blogging and journal software from Mariner. No matter what you want to keep track of with words, MacJournal can help, be it a private and personal diary or a public and published blog. Blogging is the natural fit for software like MacJournal and it’s no surprise to see you can automatically link MacJournal to several services. Blogger, Wordpress and Tumblr, to name but a few, can all be updated with a copy of MacJournal. As you might expect, you can add pictures, music, PDF documents and YouTube documents to all your entries.

This version of MacJournal has been fully updated for Lion and it now supports fullscreen operation. In addition to the fullscreen mode there’s a focused editing option. Essentially, focused editing removes all the interface items and leaves you with just the text, perfect if you are easily distracted.

The timeline view shows you how regularly you’ve been updating so that you can quickly see when you are most busy with your blogging. In addition there’s a calendar view so you can see month by month the days you blog too. If you manage multiple blogs or journals you can see each individually or all of them in the timeline of Calendar view, to make sure you’re keeping up evenly with all your entries.

One thing that we found MacJournal excelled at was managing multiple blogs. The sidebar contains all your journals and you simply click on one to start writing for that journal. You can have nested journals under one umbrella too. So, if you write 10 technology blogs and ten blogs about cheese then it’s easy to keep them separated and organised. The Smart Journals are also fantastic if you manage multiple blogs. Much like a smart folder, you can create a journal by tags, topics, date, labels and much more. Simply set up a Smart Journal, decide upon the criteria and MacJournal creates a new journal from your existing blog entries.

One of the great things about MacJournal is how it manages the more complex tools like templates and HTML – should that be something you want to tinker with. If you want to just get on with writing and not bother yourself with any of the finer details then MacJournal let’s you do that, but if you need closer control of things, then that’s possible too.

There are just too many features to go into fully here and sometimes this means that software is bloated or overly complex, but MacJournal just doesn’t feel that way. It’s not often that software manages to tread the fine line between being great for those who want simplicity and also worthy of those looking for something a little more in-depth. MacJournal walks this line with real aplomb. If you have a blog to update or several – hundreds or more in fact – then MacJournal can help you with both.

MacJournal is simple to use and yet still has some depth for those who need to get past the very basics. It’s an excellent tool and one that we can thoroughly recommend. Linking it to your blog or keeping things private is equally easy, and for those managing multiple blogs it’s also very useful.

• Christopher Brennan

PROS & CONS
+ Simple interface
+ Lots of options
+ Multiple blog support
+ Smart Journals
+ Calendar views
+ Easy to add images etc

VERDICT: 5/5
“No matter if you manage multiple blogs or just the one, this software will make the job very easy indeed.”

Here's one for the gamers. Top Mac games publisher Aspyr has dropped the price of four of its top titles to just £2.99, but hurry – they go back up again at the close of business on 31st January. The games included in the sale are: 

• Duke Nukem Forever
Hail to the king, baby! This politically incorrect first-person shooter wasn't well received, but as Andy Dyer argued in MacFormat's review, the journalistic backlash against its legendary development delays went too far. It's a fun blast, and a bargain at a penny under three quid.

• Prey
Another first-person shooter, this one takes its inspiration from modern-day native American culture. Abducted by aliens, Cherokee garage mechanic Tommy must rediscover his ancient birthright if he's to save his people. It's a few years old now, but still looks gorgeous.

• Tomb Raider II
Here's a game that needs no introduction. Lara Croft's second third-person action adventure is one of the best-selling games of all time. Graphically the game is showing its age, but it's still Lara at her best. Three quid is an excellent price for a gaming classic.

• NeverWinter Nights 2
Rise from a peasant to a full-fledged hero as you defend the Realms against one of the greatest threats of the age! This isometric RPG lets you build a character that suits your style of play – good or evil, chaotic or lawful, with any number of skills, feats and professions available at the click of a button.

ION's popular iCade game controller is getting a revamp. The iCade Core, which is due for release later this year, retains the arcade-style joystick and buttons but moves away from the overall coin-op metaphor. This makes it far more practical in operation. The original iCade worked great when your iPad was in portrait mode, but when playing a landscape-orientated game, it didn't look right at all. The iPad sat in front of the cabinet, without ever appearing to be part of it. The iCade Core's iPad slot is long enough to take the tablet either way, as you can see in the video here. It takes up a lot less room on your shelf too. The controller still connects to your iPad through Bluetooth.

The iCade was inspired by an April Fool's joke on a technical website. The concept proved so popular it was developed and released commercially. When we reviewed it in Issue 237, our main concern was a lack of compatible games. Thankfully its roster has now expanded; check out the full list here. We'll bring you a full review of the forthcoming iCade Core in a future issue of MacFormat.

Housed in a vast data centre in North Carolina, iCloud is Apple’s next-generation online service. It syncs your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iPod touch. It can track a lost device, copy your iPhone snaps over the web so they’re safely backed up on your Mac, and synchronise your iWork files. This issue, we’ll show you how to set up your Mac and iOS devices to use iCloud, how to sync your apps and data, and how to back up your documents to the web.

But as ever, we’ve packed in so much more. What's in store for Apple in 2012? We’ve drawn up the possible plans for the New Year, and it makes for some exciting reading. We’ve also put our heads together and found 10 ways to make your Mac pay for itself (you’ll be surprised)! Then there’s our compact system camera group test, along with all our regular tutorials and reviews.

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