Buzz Out Loud Lounge: Software Tips for a New Mac User
Software Tips for a New Mac User
by pcubed - 6/25/08 10:19 AMHi Buzztown,
So, I'm a long time PC user and PC IT guy. I've also been fixing macs for a while with simple stuff like installing memory. Well, finally, I've fulfilled my wish and gotten a new iMac. Here's my question:
What are some programs that you would recommend for a new Mac user?
Thanks everyone!
P^3
Try this site
by Slikkster - 6/25/08 11:17 AM In reply to: Software Tips for a New Mac User by pcubedI'm guessing you're talking about free stuff, no? It really all depends on what you plan on doing with it, but check this site out. Some shareware, but some good FREEware, too:
http://www.divnull.com/lward/software.html
Well, there's a few
by DaveBinM - 6/25/08 3:48 PM In reply to: Software Tips for a New Mac User by pcubedCyberduck (FTP Client)
Growl (Notifications)
Twitterific (Twitter)
Handbrake (DVD ripping tool)
Flip4Mac (Lets you play Windows Media in Quicktime)
Carbon Copy Cloner (Disk imaging)
Those should help you get started!
Some more
by Nicholas Buenk - 6/25/08 5:44 PM In reply to: Well, there's a few by DaveBinMAdium (IM program that's like trillion but better)
Perian (Quicktime codec plugin, to play divx, flash video and just about everything in quicktime player)
Mactheripper (another dvd ripping tool, but this will give you the vob files and not do re-encoding, incase you just want to copy a DVD to hard drive for a flight or something)
Also browse this site, a list of open source software for OS X.
http://www.opensourcemac.org/
Sitting in my dock
by acedtect
- 6/25/08 7:16 PM
In reply to: Some more by Nicholas Buenk
I'll add a few. Filezilla (FTP). Vidalia (Encrypted surfing) Colloquy (IRC)
And this is my favorite resource for free and open source software for the Mac.
http://www.opensourcemac.org/
I'll second the motion...
by Slikkster - 6/26/08 2:56 AM In reply to: Well, there's a few by DaveBinMCyberduck (Freeware FTP program) has worked great for me. Very easy to setup and use. Pretty regular updates to it.
By the way,
by DaveBinM - 6/28/08 6:32 AM In reply to: Well, there's a few by DaveBinMHow could I not mention The GIMP? A must have.
Some free, some not...
by minimalist - 6/25/08 9:34 PM In reply to: Software Tips for a New Mac User by pcubedMore free stuff:
1. NetNewsWire (great RSS reader)
2. Super Duper (cloning and backup... even backs up Time Machine Volumes)
3. Visual Hub (converts video from just about any format to just about any format)
4. Transmission (bit torrent client)
5. Google SketchUp (fun yet powerful and extremely intuitive 3-d modeling)
For the non-free but worthwhile stuff here are a few more:
1. Toast (Roxio's equivalent of Nero for the Mac)
2. Pixelmator (a great alternative to Photoshop for an 8th the price)
3. Delicious Library (lets you catalog all your DVD's, CD's, Books, Tools, etc using the built in iSight as a bar code scanner... its addictive!)
free/discounts
by NS Podcaster - 6/26/08 6:51 AM In reply to: Software Tips for a New Mac User by pcubedhttp://mupromo.com/ offers huge discounts on a wide variety of software.
http://maczot.com/ offers a similar program.
Both have daily contests for free copies.
I'd refer you also to my Mac Freeware Blog, but that would be self-promotion. I'll do it anyway: http://noah-freeware.blogspot.com/
Download.com has some cool stuff.
For Video: Miro, a great free way to subscribe to video podcasts and feeds. Songbird is similar, but for audio (iTunes meets Firefox).
For IMing: Built-in iChat is good.
For RSS: I find Mail.app a good reader, it sends the RSS like email and it's just one app.
For Word Processing: iWork is for-pay but good. Opens word stuff. Word 08 for Mac is good two.
Windows Emulation: Parelels desktop.
AppCleaner for removing apps you don't want.
http://opensourcemac.org/ is an amazing list, incuding these.
But there is One More Thing:
by NS Podcaster - 6/26/08 11:01 AM In reply to: free/discounts by NS PodcasterAlso, Scratch from MIT is a good animation and coding thing for young ones, if that's relevant to you.
I recently moved to a mac and I'm using this:
by aTales - 6/26/08 11:12 AM In reply to: Software Tips for a New Mac User by pcubede-mail: Mail.app with Gmail IMAP
Browsing: Firefox 3
IM: adium, iChat is nice but not multiplatform
Music: iTunes
IRC: X-Chat Aqua, if your not advanced on irc but you want to use it colloquy is good too
Coding: Textmate
Writing: Pages 08
Spreadsheets Numbers 08
Keynotes: Keynote 08
Photos: Lightroom
Video: VLC
Torrents: Transmissions, although I'm searching for a replacement
Camtwist: To make some great pictures with your iSight, lower thirds etc.
Appzapper or apptrap Although you can just slide the apps to Trash, the library files get left behind, this will not slow down the pc, but there's no reason for them to stick around
Also some stuff I would install.
Flip4mac: WMV support in quicktime
Perian: Gives divx support in quicktime so also in Front Row
Also Growl: It's the best notification system on a mac and gets used by allot of software.
App Removers + Macworld
by NS Podcaster - 6/26/08 11:20 AM In reply to: I recently moved to a mac and I'm using this: by aTalesAppCleaner is a free edition of AppZapper
Macworld's Mac Gems colum is good for tips.
A couple updated classics
by LunaticSX - 6/27/08 2:42 AM In reply to: Software Tips for a New Mac User by pcubedBBEdit is a great text editor, though it's not free. They used to offer a free version called BBEdit Lite, but replaced that by making a separate program, TextWrangler, free, and giving BBEdit a 30-day free demo.
GraphicConverter is a good shareware graphic viewer, converter (duh), and lightweight editor.
Back in the day, a significant portion of pages on the web were made with a combination of just BBEdit and GraphicConverter (like maybe a majority of pages made on a Mac for free hosting sites like GeoCities, plus a number of early commercial sites). While Windows people avoided paying money by using Notepad and Paint, Mac people were using BBEdit Lite and GraphicConverter, which were several orders of magnitude better. They're still being kept up to date today.
At my last company I was actually amazed by the number of people who claimed they needed DreamWeaver and PhotoShop to do some simple things that were just as easily handled by BBEdit and GraphicConverter.
Free Office like software
by angryshortguy - 6/28/08 5:12 AM In reply to: Software Tips for a New Mac User by pcubedNeoOffice is a great alternative to MS Office for Mac and it's free.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
|
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
