You could be forgiven for never having heard of SMan. Its authors certainly haven't promoted it widely, in comparison to high budget utilities such as Tracker, Handy Day, etc. But if there was one program that I'd install on a new P800 or P900 as soon as it was out of the box, this would be it. And it's free.

The problem with modern handheld platforms (such as UIQ) is that their interfaces are dumbed down to some degree, mainly so as not to appear too intimidating to prospective computer newbies. Well, it's true that the aforesaid newbies wouldn't consider this a problem, but they they wouldn't know any better. For the great unwashed, an application isn't running if you can't see it on screen and a file is something you use to smooth rough edges. But for power users, and the very fact that you're reading AllAboutSymbian probably includes you in this category, some means of getting beneath UIQ's skin is needed. Both to become more productive and to troubleshoot problems.

Interestingly, every operating system seems to spawn such utilities. A manufacturer deliberately leaves out features X, Y and Z only to see a developer come up with a freebie that adds them back in again. Makes you wonder why they bother...

Anyway, back to the plot. SMan combines about a dozen functions, though you can choose the default view it comes up in. By default, this is 'Main Shell', with a list of every application currently running in your P800 or P900's execution memory and a readout of how much is currently free. Switching to an application is as simple as tapping on it and closing a batch down (usually to reclaim memory) is as easy as checking a few boxes and tapping on 'End Task'. The compression icon on the far right of SMan's toolbar is for compressing the Symbian operating system's 'heaps' and generally optimising things and can usually reclaim you another half a megabyte or so of memory.

The toilet icon, incidentally, is for flushing redundant tasks, leaving you with just a predefined set of applications that make up your core 'snapshot'. It's an interesting system, but whether you'll use it depends on how you use your device.

The second main view is the built-in File Manager. Yes, there are a few similar utilities available separately, or as part of other system utilities, but it's very useful to have it available as part of SMan and only a keypress away. Again, there are a couple of vital numbers here that aren't available as part of the standard UIQ set - the free space on your internal (C) and external (D) disks. When things go wrong, the importance of a good file manager can't be overstated. From deleting rogue configuration files, to clearing space and memory, to seeing where UIQ is really putting your documents, everybody should have one.

The rest of SMan's functions pass by in a bit of a blur. The most interesting one is 'Fix applist', which saves the day without having to reboot everytime your P800 forgets about all your installed applications (a UIQ bug). Also tremendously helpful is a 'Hotkey' for switching straight to SMan (I leave this conveniently assigned to the Internet button) and an 'Autostart' function, for starting SMan (and other apps of your choice) immediately after a reboot.

SMan's developers will probably be leaping up and down by now, saying 'what about the application launcher, the 'Today' view, the 'InfoStore' function, 'Bluejacking' and all the rest of SMan's armoury?' Yes, these are also part of SMan, but these functions are mainly done better in other programs and don't really form a reason why you 'must have' SMan.

The peace of mind that comes from being able to directly monitor (and prune) both applications and files with one button press is hard to appreciate until you've seen the benefits. If you've installed more than a handful of third party applications or if you often load up desktop files or email attachments, you'll find SMan an essential companion that keeps you in control.