Robert Scoble just twittered a request for mac app recommendations because he’s switching (or at least trying out the mac). I immediately suggested ‘iusethis’, but am not satisfied with their top list, so here’s my own:
the essentials:
1. Quicksilver … amazing launcher, the thing is faster than moving the mouse, and super powerful to boot.
2. Adium … best IM client for mac.
3. smcFanControl … don’t scorch your legs (2500 rpm is a good setting)
4. Camino … best Mac browser, unfortunately no greasemonkey, so FireFox too.
5. Actiontastic … where I’m keeping track of all my GTD lists.
6. iMovie (built-in) … great for quick video editing, although inherently unprofessional.
… and the less-essentials:
7. MediaFork … ripping DVDs to DIVX in ~45 minutes. (used to be Handbrake)
8. Twitterrific … keep updated on your friends. not perfect yet, getting closer.
9. PandoraBoy … makes Pandora usable with system-wide keyboard shortcuts.
10. Script Editor (built-in) … I strongly recommend AppleScript. sooo nice.
I’ve surely forgotten something, so let me know if I’m missing out on something cool!
Edit: Yes I have forgotten something:
11. Toast (Roxio) … for CD/DVD burning.
12. SerialBox … Please, pay for software… but here’s where to go if you’re desperate.
2 Responses to “My ‘must-have’ Mac Apps”
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on 05 Apr 2007 at 5:29 pm # I love my new Mac (list of cool utilities from Twitter) « Scobleizer - Tech Geek Blogger
[…] @kirkmarple says “Vista.” Heh, already got it loaded. With both BootCamp and Parallels. @rpechler says “start with iUseThis.” @davewiner says “audio recorder, brain dead simple MP3 recorder and azureus, bittorrent client” @endacrowley says “transmit by panic software for ftping, aperture for more advanced photography, adium for chat and twitteriffic for Twitter).” @cbee says “Transmit, Onyx, iClip, WhatSize, DeskTopple, Typeit4me.” @CamonZ says “optimized binary of firefox for Mac.” @MHJohnston says “Quicksilver.” @FANLESS says “icecoffee, menumeters, copypaste & Growl, all found via http://www.macupdate.com.” @davewiner says “graphicconverterpro — paint program.” @matthendry says “Triple Boot via BootCamp.” @DonMacAskill says “AdiumX, NeoOffice, Yojimbo, Spanning Sync, Missing Sync (if you use a SmartPhone or Windows Mobile), iTerm, Twitterfic. @johncruz says “You better get twitterific.” @pierre says “LaunchBar is a must if you prefer keyboard to mouse.” @derrickpeters says “‘tickr’ for flickr.” @cbee says “Amadeus and/or Audacity, Wiretap Pro, Flip4Mac, File Juicer, Pipette.” @autodidactus says “Where do we start, Scoble? Twitterific, VLC, WireTap Pro, Transmit, Adium.” @autodidactus says “I’ve found myself quite hooked on Monocle lately.” @lightandshadow says “Letterbox, plugin for Mail.app.” @joshowens says “perian.org — a nice codec pack for all those lovely bittorrent TV shows, etc. @edwardsterkin says “seismac.” @tuz says “Appzapper for uninstalling, Colloquy for IRC if you do that, NetNewsWire for free reading, write room for uninterrupted writing.” @edwardsterkin says “VoiceCandy.” @R2C13 says “I like pathfinder.” @edwardsterkin says “ChatFX.” @parislemon says “Definitely have to check out delicious library to organize your media: http://www.delicious-monster.com/” @kevinrailsback says “Synergy: http://wincent.com.” @tuz says “Disco for a light weight burner, Paparazzi for screenshotting entire Web pages to jpeg or pdf, transmission for torrents.” @bigwebguy says “virtuedesktops (at least until leopard spaces).” @kevinrailsback says “Desktopple (hides all the icons/files on your desktop for a clean look) http://foggynoggin.com.” @MHJohnston says “Growl is also a good bet for notifications– ties into a lot of apps.” @rpechler says “my ‘must have’ Mac apps.” @derrickpeters says “Sailing Clicker turns phone into remote for computer and a second vote for Growl.” […]
on 06 Apr 2007 at 2:33 am # Eliot
Nice.
I listed Camino, Quicksilver, and Notational Velocity as my top three “must have apps” but there is so much great stuff out there!
Instead of Script Editor, I would recommend Automator for new users as the barrier to entry is much lower. However, I’ve recently been getting a lot of mileage out of Applescript. It’s definitely worth it to sink a few hours into reading the language guide.