Ever wanted the Windows Task Bar on your Mac? Mac people will say no. Switchers will say yes. Either way, uBar brings the Windows Task Bar to Mac. I hate to admit it, but it is kind of awesome.

Lets get past the Windows vs Mac thing and talk about productivity. uBar allows me to see what apps I have open, all the notifications that belong to those apps, hide apps with one click, see all the windows in that app with one click, and access basic system items as well.

I know what you’re thinking; Dock does all that. Technically it does, but it’s not as easy to read and quick to use. I’m not saying the Dock is bad, but uBar seems to make it better when you have a lot of things going on. It feels more organized and notification badges are MUCH bigger and easier to read. Plus uBar takes up less space.

uBar also builds in the Activity Monitor. Holding down the control key allows me to see how much memory and CPU each app is taking. If an app becomes un-responsive, uBar adds a red background.

At the very least, uBar is showing me that I’m using Dock all wrong. Instead of putting everything in there, having it only show me the apps that are open seems like a better idea.

uBar does come with a free demo and I encourage you to try it. It’s actually pretty sweet.