Freeware Mac, SmartSleep hibernate utility for MacBooks

If you aren’t happy with the default "sleep" behavior of your Macbook or Macbook Pro then you might want to check out an application known as SleepSmart.

The default behavior for "sleep" mode on a Mac is to "sleep" and then "hibernate" which, in theory, allows you to swap batteries while it is "sleeping."  But when the laptop sleeps and then hibernates, it takes longer for it to do so and I don’t know many people who will swap batteries without first shutting down the laptop.  I don’t know many people who would swap batteries, period.

Well, SmartSleep will allow you to choose exactly how you want your Mac to "sleep" and best of all, it’s a free program and that’s free as in "free beer."

The program allows you to pick from several sleep modes, sleep-only if battery if above a certain charge level, sleep and then hibernate when the batter falls below a certain level, sleep only, sleep and hibernate (default setting) or hibernate only.

There’s something for everyone.  My preference is the "sleep only" setting since it’s faster and I’m usually not away from my laptop for very long anyway.

• University gives students free Apple iPhones, MacBooks
• Freeware Mac, clean up your Mac’s act with Onyx
• How to: Get more life from your MacBook’s battery
• New Leopard-equipped MacBooks due Tuesday?
• MacBooks unboxed!