Posted by Florian Wardell | 2 comments
Essential Mac apps
Getting a new computer. Some people love it: Isn’t going to the store (particularly if it’s an Apple store!), choosing your setup, unboxing it, switching it on for the first time, setting it up and enjoying out-of-the-box performance a fantastic feeling? Well yes, but some people hate this. Re-installing software, transferring databases, making new backups, coping with old, void computer habits can be somewhat time consuming and boring. This article will, however, discuss what software every mac should have installed on, and as all mac users know, switching from one computer is a breeze thanks to time machine. Most PC users are putt off by macs because of the supposedly small range of available software. Well, that’s a lame excuse. Sure, there’s more software for PC out there, but there’s enough for mac, and it’s usually as good, if not better. This selection will try to incude software for every major purpose a mac can be used for: Media, Blogging, Photography, Messaging, etc… It’s a roundup of essential apps that you should install on your new macintosh computer if you haven’t done so already.
1. VLC
VLC is the swiss army knife of media playback. I haven’t come across a video fiie type it can’t play. It can be used to override your DVD drive’s region settings, to stream media over a network or even convert filetypes. It’s skinnable. It’s lightweight. It’s free and updated frequently. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, click on the header!
2. Evernote
Just like VLC, Evernote is cross platform and free. The best thing about it? You will use it no matter how you use your mac. One of the main regrets I had when I switched to Mac from Windows was that Microsoft’s great OneNote (which is part of the Office suite) isn’t supported by mac, unlike Word or Exel. Thank god, Evernote exists. It will allow you store snippets of information, thoughts and ideas, organize them and access them wherever you are thanks to the online account. This is particularly useful if you happen to own an iPhone, as there is an app for that as well.
3. Onyx
What good is a mac if it is slow? Don’t ask yourselves the question, just don’t let it run slowly. This is where Onyx comes in: A free utility under constant development which cleans and maintains your mac. It will allow you to run maintenance scripts, to repair permissions, to rebuild databases and folder views, delete your browser history, cookies and cache, all under a sleek, streamlined interface. The newest version is Snow Leopard compatible, but still in beta, so don’t forget to do adequate backups.
4. Transmit
Whether you’re a blogger, web developper, designer, or just have a personal site, chances are you’ll need an FTP client. If so, look no further. It will cost you 29.95$, but it’s the absolute best I’ve come across. It will allow you access any FTP server, even MobileMe, to access and edit files (even graphics), to bookmark you favorite locations, etc… It’s simple and powerful. A must have.
5. MarsEdit
MarsEdit is hugely popular among bloggers, and it’s understandable. This blog client is immensely powerful, thanks to its feature rich, elegantly designed interface and accurate HTML editor. Yes, it’s not a WYSIWYG client, so you should be familiar with basic HTML. The killer feature? Something called “Accurate Preview”: Basically, all you need to do is go to one of your blog posts, view the source in your browser, paste it into your template editor in MarsEdit, replace the post text with place holders and voila! The post you’re writing will appear in real time, just as it will look when posted. If you’re a bogger, don’t miss out on this one, even if it costs 29.95$
6. Photoshop CS4
I know, it’s costly. Not everyone has 699$ laying around, waiting to be spent on bits and bytes. However, if you do, don’t hesitate. PS CS4 is simply the most powerful tool you could imagine and can be used for numerous things: Photography, design, photo-manipulation and other activities involving graphics. The learning curve is quite steep, but once you know the basics, it really pays off. Highly recomended.
7. Adium
Adium is a cross platform and free instant messaging client. You can run it on windows, linux or mac, and it supports MSN, Yahoo, Google talk, Jabber, AIM, and all major messaging services in addition to social networking sites like Facebook. The biggest feature for us is its customization. Whether you’d like to change the (animated) dock icon, converstaion view, or skins, you can do it.
8. File Juicer
This is probably the least well known app in this selection, but it can be incredibly useful. Basically, it allows you to extract individual files out of PDFs, flash cards or even slideshows. Ever wanted that picture in the locked pdf? Here’s your sollution. You will also be able to recover files from your browser’s cache and text from damaged files, among many other things, but this has a price: 12.95$
9. Quicksilver
Quicksilver is amazing. Trust us. It’s free and simple, but has the functionality of a +100$ app. People say it’s a launcher, but that simple word doesn’t do it justice. Try it out, and never let it go, you won’t br disppointed. The only drawback is that its developpement’s future is somewhat unclear, but this is one more reason to support the app creators.
10. iStat
iStat is a whole family of applications designed to give you in-depth information about your system’s status and performance. It will show you what processes run, your power consumption, your ram and CPU usage, and hell! even your fan’s rpm. iStat is available for free as a widget, menu bar indicator and iPhone app, which in addition to your iphone will remotely monitor you mac if it’s on the same network.
I hope you have enjoyed this selection of fine software, but I’m quite sure you you have your own favorites, so let us know about them in the comments section!
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