The system clipboard is one of the greatest inventions in modern computing - a chunk of memory that helpfully remembers the last thing you copied or cut, and lets you paste it pretty much anywhere you wish. The only problem is that it only remembers that one last thing.
There have been clipboard management applications before, but Jumpcut is different for two reasons. First, it offers an innovative and genuinely clever new kind of interface for this sort of application; and second, because it's open-source software and costs nothing.
Once launched, Jumpcut sits quietly in the background and simply monitors all the text you copy in any application. Clicking on its scissor-style icon in the menu bar (the only outward sign of an interface) pulls up a list of the last few items clipped; just select one from this list to copy it back to the clipboard ready for pasting again.
That's the mouse-friendly way of working, but Jumpcut offers a faster, intuitive way of working for people who prefer to stick to using the keyboard. Hit alt-control-V and up jumps a bezel, modelled on the one you see when you change volume or brightness. Use the same command repeatedly to scroll through your list of recent clippings. Alternatively, you can use the up and down arrow keys. As soon as you release the keys with your chosen clip showing, it's pasted into the document you're working on at the current cursor position.
It sounds complicated, but in use it's fun and easy to pick up. Having got used to the commands, you can start pasting useful stuff over and over easily. Anyone working on a long document with much repetition, from researchers writing a report to programmers building code, will soon find a use for this ingenious little app. It's a very worthwhile download.
Verdict
Anyone working on a long document with much repetition, from researchers writing a report to programmers building code, will soon find a use for this ingenious little app.
Author: Giles Turnbull
MacUser Online