During my time here at OWC, I have cultivated my love of the Mactintosh independent software community. In the past, I have shared some software gems with you, be it here on the OWC Blog, in various QuickTips and in full-blown reviews. What I’ve always liked about independent software companies is that they often put out software that’s just as good as (and sometimes, better than) the larger software companies at a fraction of the price, so I’m generally glad to toss a few bucks their way and/or give them a featured write-up.

It’s a part of that support for independent developers that I feel the need to draw attention to a great deal going on over at MacHeist. These guys somehow manage to get together high-quality pieces of software from independent developers and bundle them together for additional savings over the already affordable prices of most independent software. For a limited time, though, they’ve got an even better price on their bundle than they usually do – FREE!

Yep. that’s right. For the next six days or so, you can register and download the MacHeist nanoBundle at absolutely no cost.

So what’s in this free bundle? Let’s take a look. more…

Continuing on with our series of instructional videos, this week we take a look at another common upgrade for the 2009 MacBook—putting in a new hard drive. You can always use more storage space, so adding a new hard drive is something you may want to consider if you’re “feeling the pinch” of too little room.

Fortunately, unlike with the new iMacs, upgrading the hard drive on the new MacBooks is easy to do. All you need are the right materials and the knowledge of how to perform the upgrade.

First, you’ll need a compatible hard drive.

You’ll also want to have the appropriate tools – in this case, a #00 Phillips screwdriver and a Torx T6 screwdriver (both of which are available in the NewerTech 11-piece Toolkit).

If you plan on transferring the data from your old drive, you’ll need some way of accessing it, either via a docking device like the NewerTech Voyager Q or S2, an external drive enclosure, or a simple USB adapter, such as the NewerTech Universal Drive Adapter. Personally, I’d suggest the enclosure, as it lets you continue to use the old drive for other purposes.

The final thing you need is knowledge, and that brings us back to where we came in. Our latest instructional video will walk you step-by-step through the installation process, and you can find it both in our Tech Center and on our YouTube Channel.