info.xhead | Password Manager
Since having switched to 100% Mac (in August 2007) I have been greatly enjoying the aesthetics of the interface. An additional joy has been found in the countless little shareware apps made for Mac. They not only look cool but are more often than not pretty damn handy too. So I've added a 'Software' category to start sharing my experiences with these apps, like a proper geek.
One of the apps I love the most is info.xhead, a password manager. I know, the name is crap - I can barely remember it - but the app is great. It's basically a program in which you can store passwords, PIN numbers, account info etc. Very sensitive information which you don't want some hacker or burglar getting their grubby little hands on, so it's protected with one master password which you should obviously just remember and not write down anywhere. But be warned, if you forget your master password - there is NO WAY you'll ever get your (encrypted) information back.
There are tons of apps out there that do the same as this one. I have by no means tried them all, but info.xhead appeals to me for the following reasons:
- it looks nice
- customizable (fields and colour labels)
- global search function
- it can backup the database to .Mac (and export for local backup)
- syncs with your ipod (although I haven't tried that yet)
- it's fast and very stable so far (never crashed on me once)
- good price $15
(Click on the picture below for a bigger view).
If you don't use the program for about ten minutes, it automatically locks and you have to enter the master password to get see your sensitive information again. Good for when you walk away from your desk and forget to Quit.
The interface presents your information in a clear, Apple-style, uncluttered interface and you can customize categories to your heart's content, expanding upon the set of standard categories it comes with. You can also make your own templates for categories, determining which fields you want for certain types of information.
It also allows you to print out you information. Now obviously a hard copy of all your sensitive information is not something you want to have lying around, but the previous password manager I used (on Windows - eWallet by Ilium Software) would print all information EXCEPT your passwords. That wasn't very handy when I wanted to migrate and couldn't export the eWallet file digitally in a format that my Mac could use.
All in all, I really like info.xhead.
February 20th, 2008 - 21:35
I’ve actually just started using TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/) to store info like this. This open source program lets you create encrypted disk files which you can easily mount using a password. It features some of the toughest encryption algorithms out there, and is suprisingly easy to use.
Admittedly it does not look very spiffy, but it is free (“as in beer”, but also “as in speech”). And it also allows you to ecrypt entire volumes, like USB pens and external harddrives. And there’s a OSX version.
Plus, you can save your passwords in any file format you like. I simply used a plain text file.
February 16th, 2011 - 20:31
I have been using info x.head for a number of years now upgrading to version 2. it is a great little app and one that I cannot live without now. Might have to contemplate that now as xhead software website is no longer. Where do I go from here?
February 18th, 2011 - 13:07
Really? The company folded? I switched to 1Password when info x.head was too late in updating for Snow Leopard. 1Password took some getting used to (you can’t make your own templates like you can in xhead), but the integration with browsers and particularly the syncing between Mac/iPhone and iPad is great (via DropBox).
It’s a shame, I would have like to have stayed with xhead, but this illustrates how a company really has to keep up or they lose customers.