Favorite Mac Os X Apps

There have been a lot of topics here at Xisto Forums about people's favorite applications, but most of them were Windows. So I'll start a topic about our favorite Mac OS X applications. (Since we all know that OS X is the best! )

⢠Finder: obivuous choice, make my life so much easier
⢠Safari: most used by far, a really good web browser and free
⢠Adium: best free IM client. (probably the best IM client period.) Free
⢠ffmpegX: a good movie converting app. Shareware
⢠iLife: All of the apps are just awesome, especially iMovie and GarageBand
⢠Cyberduck: good FTP client, free.
⢠ImageWell: my vote for best freeware. Makes uploading images fast, easy and has some nice editing features. Free!

So what are your favorites and why?

Oooh. Thank you Brian~ *adopts as fellow Mac-enthusiast on Xisto forums*

*digs into her old blog post about all the applications she has on her mac*

I actually like Microsoft Office for Mac... at least, compared to the Windows version. I think the Mac version is more intuitive and prettier than the Windows version! *wink* Stuff like the formatting palette, which is so much more intuitive than the windows one... Yeah, this one have to buy...

I love most of the applications that come along with the OS, especially the ones that are coming with Tiger (still waiting for it!), like Finder, Mail, Safari, Stickies, iTunes.

I think ClamXav rocks, purely because it's a free (donation-ware) lightweight antivirus scanner, which is basically all you'd need on a mac anyway. I hate bloat.

Can't live without Firestarter FX for overburning my CDs and Himmelbar for the whole Start-bar functionality I'm used to in Windows.

MacJournal for archiving all my writing into different Journals, and VooDooPad Lite for notetaking is just miraculous. I wish I could pay for VooDooPad though, I think there's a lot of functionality in the paid version that would really clinch VoodooPad as my main note-taking program. Like ability to export to .txt and sketching.

MP3 Alarm Clock... *grin* because I need to wake up to some random song that I love every morning!

I use Cyberduck and Adium as well... This Imagewell, can you put up the link to it? Looks intriguing...

Nice list. Thanks, Chiiyo. I'm trying out Yasu, one of the applications you talked about on this page.

Yes, I can link you to ImageWell. I can't believe I didn't link to ImageWell before. But here it is: Download ImageWell from Softpedia.com. Have fun with it!

I think I like the operating system future. Lol. I don't think it counts as one, but it is much better than windows XP. When I first heard of window XP, I thought it was cool.It had a nice cool green-blue toolbar, nice looking icons, and wow! It was nice. However, when I actually got a computer loaded with Window XP for christmas, I was disappointed. You can basically save the files anywhere, and you can easily delete system files, hence ruining your operating system! Windows XP is so vulnerable to these stuff! Imagine A virus deleting just one file, and you can't log on anymore!Also, after a while, Windows XP wears and tears down. Its folders get clogged, and some files are left from UNINSTALLED files. MAC OS is different. I have the different color iMacs of 2000's. It was very nice designed, but the operating system was disappointing then; MACOS9. I heard the newer upgrades such as tiger and panther, etc. is much better.I have seen some screenshots, and ever since I got my iPod, I have gone Apple-envy. You can say I am an Apple-FanBoy.I like the quick-user switch feature that just switches the screen like a rotating box... in other words its graphics.Also, I like its dash-bar! I love how easy it is, and accessible it is. On Windows XP, you have to press the start-button, and when your computer is lagging, it will not even show up. In this case, it is extremely inaccessible...I also like futures such as the widgets you can download... Although Windows can do this, it is from third-party vendors, and god knows if it is virus infested.Also, Windows XP is a virus magnet! Almost every website I go to is loaded with spyware and all of this applications! Sometimes I don't feel safe using my own computer!On another note, the processor is extremely slow, and frustrating to use! I have tried a mac, and for some reason it is lightning fast. Even though it is said to have only a 1 GHZ processor, it is faster than most PC!I also envy other features such as iWork, iLife, and the whole bundle! It just seems so productive! It seems I can do a lot of things with a Mac, and quicker!PC's are for entertainment, Macs are for productivity.

Those thinking about the tiger upgrade, there is a very nice review on http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ also reviews a bunch of other nice mac stuffOh, my favorite app is Quicksilver. You want it. Bad. Another is Growl. Its hard to describe, read the review on macmod.

iWork is the best for word processing.iLife is the best for media.Safari 2.0 is the best browser for macFinder is the best file system i ever used.iSync works b-e-a-u-tifully with my siemens SX1iCal is the best time mangement programAt the end for the day, everything u need to get started on a powerbook is already there.

Sorry Tungsten, but iWork, as neat as it is, is NOT the best for word processing. Not even close. pages is more a cheap hybrid processor/desktop publishing soft. Version 2 of pages may fix its flaws. These days, STILL, sadly, the best WP soft for mac is Microsoft office. Which, given the huge variety and competition on Mac for word processors, is saying something. In fact, the latest word for mac is better than the latest word for windows. By a good bit even. As for best browser, its not safari. Safari 2 is fast as hell, but has compatibility issues with a LOT of websites. It also lacks the awesome plugins of firefox and mozilla. So, FF is still king until camino can get in gear.But, until you go to professional tools, iLife is indeed the best you are gonna do for media software, especially for only like, 50 bucks.

Pages is very cool, but it can't be called the best word processor because thats not really what it it. It's more of a really nice page layout program. (which of course also processes words, if you know what I mean)

Most of the apple apps are awsome. The 3 I use most are iTunes, Safari and iChat. But, they all have their flaws. iChat donsent always play nice with AIM. iTunes sometimes dies when I plug in my iPod, and Safari isnt always compatible with advanced web sites.I love Bit torrent, right now I'm using Azerus so that has to be up on the list. I like thunderbird more than mail, so thats my email app.I think thats a good spread fire...

I haven't replied back to this topic for some time, because ever since I switched over to Tiger I've been downloading and experimenting with programs, and trawling through versiontracker's freeware pages... so here's some more mac os x apps to try out~

iBackup (Freeware) - Backup Utility. I don't need a very complicated or comprehensive backup solution, all I really needed was a daily backup of my system and application preferences as well as several files that always change from day to day to my external harddrive, and this program makes it easy to select your system preferences and other files.

Namely (Freeware) - Application Launcher. This one is simplicity at it's best. Type a keyboard shortcut (for me it's Apple-Esc) and just start typing in the letters of your application, and a dropdown list would appear with the applications that fit, with the most closely one highlighted so you can just hit enter and the application would load. Works well for me because most of my most-used programs are in my dock anyways, so I use Namely occasionally to open iCal and Yasu which I don't use that often, and to open the stuff in the Dock when I'm not using a mouse... I love how it's so simple.

NetNewsWire Lite (Freeware) - RSS Reader. I used to use MiNews, but it didn't work on Tiger when I first switched over, so I started looking for other readers. Although this is a "Lite" version, it's tremendously easy to use, very much like the older Apple Mail, and I love how you can style your RSS feeds using stylesheets that are included with the program.

SkalMac Tuner (Freeware) - Tuner for instruments. It has basic notes for piano, bass, guitar, organ, flute, banjo and violin, though I only really use it for my electric bass and other people's classical guitars. It's a really small and simple program, but it does what it says well.

Tofu (Freeware) - RTF reader. Actually that doesn't do it justice. I use it to read RTF files because Smultron doesn't handle them well, but Tofu is essentially a program that opens up any text file and arranges them in easy to read columns like in a magazine, and you scroll sideways to read more columns. It makes reading manuals and ReadMe files so much easier, and it's really fast and light. I'm amused to see it's by the same author as Namely...

VitaminSee (Freeware) - Image viewer. I have pretty specific requirements for an image viewer, weaned on ACDSee in Windows and from my days working at a photo developing shop. And I have a variety of different types of files, photographs, mangas, doujinshis, artwork that I usually look at, and what I really wanted was a fast image viewer that gives me flexibility in seeing both the thumbnails and the actual picture at the same time. I actually tried a lot of different image viewers, but in the end I still liked VitaminSee the most.

We should have some topic named Favourite Dashboard Widgets or something...

you really must of forgot, ASTERISK.. from mac classics.. that game has to be one of the best.. you chose from 3 ships, and would collect jax as money to buy equiptment.. very simple but addicting..

I must say iChat definetly. I use it everyday, plus I would use it to video confrence with my friends in Southern Cali. iPSP is pretty cool too. It makes it really easy to put movies and pics and music on my PSP.

There have been a lot of topics here at Xisto Forums about people's favorite applications, but most of them were  Windows.  So I'll start a topic about our favorite Mac OS X applications. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Brian,

My favorite MacOS X application is Fink (freeware available at http://www.finkproject.org/). It brings the world of Linux into the Mac.

Actually, Fink is the very reason why I switched from PC Linux to Mac: I can do my accounting with gnucash, edit my files with emacs, compile C programs with gcc, use latex for word processing, gnuplot for graphs, etc.

Best regards,

John

Being a long time Mac user, I'll add my two cents.Bar none, the best 3rd party application for the Mac is GraphicConverter. Pure genius.That aside, I'll list some others that are worthy of making my list.Safari 2.0 is fast and pretty, and I do love that private browsing option. Even though I'm a Camino lover, I'm using Safari until Camino makes its next update. I'd use FireFox, but it doesn't have my oh-so-loved command-[ for back.iTunes is great for music. The music store makes life easy (and legal). But oh do I miss the days of SoundJam skins.Word is fine, but often glitchy. It does what I need it to do, most of the time. Still, it's the best WP application out there.Mail 2.0. Yay, a rather slimline mail client. Eventhough I've mainly switched over to web interfaces, it's nice to have a client.Frogblast. Possibly the best HL client out there. Use it everyday.Apple Remote Desktop. Sure, I'm just fooling around with this, but there's nothing cooler than controlling my G4 at home from my PB at work. Sweeeeeet. Sure, ARD has its problems, but its easy integration tops Timbuktu.Adium for chat. No questions here. If you use iChat, switch to the duck.Games: Escape Velocity, Bushfire, Skittles. Three excellent Mac-only* games. *EV I believe is out for windows now. Lame.So, that's a short list. And now for the opposite, the applications I'd rather see 1) much improved, or 2) off my computer: iPhoto. Come on Apple, actually make it useful to people who /know/ how to use image programs.

BBedit - Can't live without that programQuick Time Pro - $29.99, the swiss army knife of video toolsiLife - free the Mac and hard to beatXgrid Admin - Well this is technically an OS 10.4 Server app, but really sweat!