System Requirements: OS X 10.4
Most web browsers are supported

Did you ever want a program that can keep track of your passwords no matter which browser you're using? Do you want a place to keep password protected notes? Do you want a program that allows you to autofill more fields than simply your name and address? Well, 1Passwd can do all that and more.

After you install 1Passwd, the most visible way to see how it works is to start up your browser. If you use any major Mac browser (except for Opera), you'll notice a new "1P" button in your toolbar (you can change the look of the button if you want). If you use Shiira, Agile has said that support is coming.

You'll start out using 1Passwd by simply going to a website where you need to enter your login and password. Once you've entered your login and password and clicked on the "login" button (or whatever the website calls it), by default 1Passwd will pop up a password save window. In this window, you can rename what name is used for saving your login and password. If you just want 1Passwd to save your login and password and not bother you with a window, just click on "Save forms automatically without this prompt". I like the prompt so I can rename the form name.

The next time you go to that website, you simply click on the "1P" button in your browser's toolbar and choose the first option on the menu "Restore form". I've found this incredibly convenient for websites like Hotmail (now called Windows Live Hotmail) where I have multiple E-mail addresses set up. 1Passwd allows me to save multiple forms for the same website and I can pick the login and password that I want to use.

What's a "form"?
I hadn't thought of this question until someone E-mailed me and mentioned that the terminology was confusing. To a web developer (which I'm not), webpages that accept logins and passwords are forms. However, maybe it would've made more sense if Agile had used the word "password" instead of form since you are saving logins and passwords on these forms.

Do I have to re-enter all of my logins and passwords into 1Passwd? It really depends. 1Passwd imports files from Safari and Camino if you were already saving your logins and passwords with these programs. It also imports data from a number of password saving programs (too many to list here). It even imports data from the popular RoboForm program for Windows. That's very useful if you're switching to the Mac from Windows. Unfortunately, 1Passwd doesn't yet support a simple CSV import of logins and passwords. That means if you were using an Excel spreadsheet or text file to remember your different passwords, you'll have to re-enter your passwords into 1Passwd. However, if you were keeping your passwords in a spreadsheet program, you had to re-enter the logins and passwords each time you visited the website anyway.

Ok, so saving your logins and passwords are fine, but can't you do that in most browsers? Actually, you can. However, any logins and passwords that you save in a browser (and not in 1Passwd) can usually only be accessed by that one browser. That's very inconvenient if you normally use one browser (maybe Safari) but you use Firefox for that one website that doesn't like Safari.

What are identities (and why would I ever need more than one)? Identities are where you save your name, address, E-mail address, sample user name, credit card number and much, much more. This is very handy when you run into a shopping website where you have to enter your name, address, and other personal information in order to create an account. I have two separate identities set up. One is for actual websites where I need to give correct information. The other identity is filled with junk information when I'm forced to enter information for a website that really doesn't need my information and is just being annoying.

Even better, when you use an identity on a webpage that wants you to enter your login and password, 1Passwd will create your login either using your "Username" that you entered in your identity or your E-mail address if that's what the website is asking for. 1Passwd will also automatically generate a password that's not easily guessed by password cracking programs. By default, it actually creates a longer password (50 characters) than some websites will accept. I'm sure you're wondering how you'd ever remember such a long, nonsense password. It's simple: you don't have to. 1Passwd saves the password for you. All you do is click on the "1P" button and tell 1Passwd to restore your login and password. 1Passwd also backs up its keychain on your hard disk every day. It's still very important to backup your 1Passwd keychain (along with all of your other important files) onto a CD, DVD, or external hard drive.

Unfortunately, because of how most webpages are set up, you can't really use it to enter separate shipping and billing addresses. That was a disappointment. I'm hoping that Agile can find a way around this problem in the future.

What kind of security is being used?
That's a valid question to ask since you may be saving logins and passwords for your online banking website. More importantly, you may decide to save your credit card in 1Passwd. Wisely, 1Passwd decided not to try to create their own encryption standard. It uses the same Keychain that Apple built into OS X.

If you're interested in technical information on Keychain security, Agile has a webpage on this subject: How Secure is the Keychain?

What else does 1Passwd do?
1Passwd does allow you to save secure notes. However, you can't put passwords on an individual note or note folder. Right now, 1Passwd is fine for small notes, but it really doesn't compete with the various note taking programs that are available for the Mac. Currently, you can't even put any formatting (bold, underlining) on a note. You can organize notes into different folders, but that's the extent of the note organization you can do. Honestly, 1Passwd does so well in managing passwords in almost any web browser that you use that I consider any note functionality as purely a bonus.

Any other thoughts?
I should mention that 1Passwd has a free version that has a limit of only 12 forms (sets of logins and passwords) and only one identity. It used to be less than that. However, if that isn't enough forms for you to decide if 1Passwd fits your needs, Agile does have a 30-day money back guarantee.

If you download the free version and you decide you're interested in buying the unlimited version of 1Passwd, Agile has a 25% off user group deal that's available until the end of August. Here's the URL (web address) for the offer:

http://agilewebsolutions.com/promo/mug

Really, it's a personal decision as to whether 1Passwd is worth $29.95 (or $22.46 with the user group offer). If you're lucky enough to only have a few website passwords, you may not find 1Passwd necessary. However, I currently have around 40 websites that 1Passwd is tracking. I used to use a password structure of one type of password for non-important sites (New York Times login), one password type for a more important site, and one password for my bank. With 1Passwd, I can finally create unique passwords for every website that I use without having to remember them all. Even if I didn't get a free review license from Agile, being able to do that is easily worth $29.95 to me.