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What kind of workflows you design is up to the preferences of the programmer. There are already dozens of workflows available for those who use Photoshop a great deal. If you want to download a number of images from the web and upload them to your iPhoto, you can do it with one click with Automator. Say you want to email a bunch of files to a friend. Select the files, right-click, select the desired action, and you will have a mail message window open with a zip-compressed archive already attached. There are workflows for iTunes, Mail, Safari, and even Xcode programmers can benefit from Automator.
What makes this program even more powerful, is that it is built directly into the Tiger OS. This means the Automator program does not even have to be running for you to run your workflows. In fact, once you compile the workflow, you can set it to appear in the right-click contextual menu. Automator currently works seamlessly with all Apple applications, while third-parties are quickly jumping on the bandwagon. It is rumored that automator plugins for Firefox will be available shortly.
I have already built a few Automator workflows myself. I found it to be ridiculously easy. Within seconds, I had designed and implemented a new workflow for immediate and future use. With subsequent OSX updates, and once major third-parties jump on the Automator bandwagon, I highly suspect Automator is going to change the way Mac fanatics are going to use their computers.
While surfing the web for more Automator ideas, I came across Automator World. This is a site dedicated to promoting, designing and making available workflows for those who are a little fearful of doing a little programming themselves, or who just need a few more ideas before jumping in with both feet. Check it out, I bet you'll find an action that you would find indispensable.
I, also being a user of Windoze XP, have never seen anything in the Wintel world that comes close to Automator in its simple design, ease of use, or made available free to users of their operating system. I thought I was excited about Dashboard, but Automator is by far, the most riveting addition to the Mac Operating System since the release of OSX 10.0. Conversely, Win XP users have to wait more than a year before they can enjoy the new technologies of Longhorn, an many of us are speculative if Longhorn will come close to OSX's stability, security, ease of use, or new technology integration.
