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October 04, 2006
Mac OS X Software
A friend of mine has decided to jump ship to a mac and blog his travels. I'm hoping he enjoys the transition, even if he decides not to stay on a mac. To help out, though, I've put together a list of apps that I would install were I getting a new machine. There are a ton of lists like this, but this one is mine!
Unless otherwise specified, all these are open source or freeware. Also, the list is kind of in order of "importance," but not strictly so.
- Quicksilver is a launcher of sorts but a lot more.
- iTerm is a console/terminal replacement.
- TextMate is an incredible editor and well worth the price of 39EUR.
- Smultron is a good alternative to TextMate for those on the cheap.
- Cyberduck is a very good simple SFTP GUI.
- AdiumX supports many different instant messenging protocols in one good application.
- Growl isn't really an app you use directly but is a notification system that a lot of these programs will utilize.
- VLC is the best multi-format video player.
- Camino is basically a true Mac version of Firefox. Unfortunately it doesn't support extensions, but it's a great supplement to Safari.
- SynergyKM is a very nice implementation of the Synergy program which allows you to use one mouse and keyboard (and clipboard) across any number of computers and operating systems.
- Virtue Desktops is a sexy little virtual desktop app which works with SmackBook.
- Little Snitch is a great firewall-type of app which works well at the application level. (24.95USD)
- Delicious Library is a great library app for book, movie, and game collections. (40USD)
- GraphViz makes automated graphing and charting a breeze.
Of course, Mac OS X comes with some very good built-in apps that I highly recommend: Mail, iPhoto, iTunes, Safari, Address Book. iCal is a good program, but I prefer to use Google's calendar system.
There are some other "standard" apps which I would also install on a Windows machine: Skype, Google Earth, MS Office, Opera (browser).
Finally, the following sites are great resources for Mac software:
Open source download list - Open Source Mac
Latest versions of software - Mac Update
Apple-oriented blog (by the Engadget folks) - The Unofficial Apple Weblog
New software (not just Mac) - Download Squad
Posted at October 4, 2006 12:12 PM | Misc
Comments
What about a list for us Mac-users-in-a-Windows-office? I always struggle to find good PC software...
To the Mac OS X list, I'd add a few:
Eclipse, the super-extensible and well supported OS IDE for Java, Python, C++, etc...
Chicken of the VNC is the best VNC client for OS X.
MacTheRipper for DVD backup.
Google Earth which is as robust as the Windows version.
Sketchup the 3D modeling tool that's super easy and better running on a Mac than Windows.
VectorWorks 11+ is easily the best OS X CAD program on the market. It's certainly not free, but then, these things rarely are.
Posted by: Nino Walker ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.miraclesalad.com/blog//nav-commenters.gif)
at October 29, 2006 07:53 AM
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