As Macs are becoming ever more popular, a number of folks have requested a list Mac Apps I use and recommend. This is the list of apps I use on a very regular basis. This does not include the applications that come standard with a new Mac (ie iPhoto, iTunes). In case you are curious, I use Safari as my primary browser.
| Application | Free as in Beer (what?) | Category | Description/Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Password | No | Utility | Password Manager with incredible browser support. |
| 7zX | Yes | Utility | Reads/writes the 7z compression format. |
| Acorn | Yes+No | Graphics/Photo | Simple to use, yet surprisingly powerful image editor. |
| Adium | Yes | Communication/Internet | Multi-protocol IM client: AIM/GTalk/Jabber/Yahoo/Facebook and more. Sadly, does not work with Skype so I still require running two clients at once. |
| Aperture | No | Graphics/Photo | Pro-level photography application for managing/editing photos. Slow, but very powerful. |
| AppTrap | Yes | Utility | Makes fully uninstalling an application as easy as installing (just trash the app, it will find all of the preference files left on the system and offer to trash them too) |
| Caffeine | Yes | Utility | Keeps the screen from sleeping. Useful while watching a WebEx session. |
| Choosy | No | Utility | Makes managing multiple web browsers easier. |
| Chrome | Yes | Communication/Internet | Google Chrome browser. |
| ClickToFlash | Yes | Utility | Blocks flash in Safari, replacing any flash element with a clickable box. Only on-click does it load the flash element. |
| Coda | No | Other | text editor + file transfer + svn + css + terminal + books + more = whoah. |
| CoverSutra | No | Utility | Shows music artwork on the desktop, gives iTunes global hotkeys, and more. |
| Dockdrop | Yes | Utility | Fast sharing tool--uploads any file dropped to it via FTP, WebDAV, or SCP, and puts the link to it on your clipboard. |
| EEAO | No | Utility | Automatically archives older mail out of your Microsoft Exchange account to a local archive. |
| Evernote | Yes | Text | Note taking/syncing |
| Flip4Mac WMV | Yes | Audio/Video | Allows Windows Media files to be played in QuickTime (and other apps that use QT, like Safari) |
| Fluid | Yes | Utility | Creates SSBs (Site Specific Browser) -- basically makes a webapp into a single stand-alone application so it runs outside of your browser. Great for things like Gmail, bug trackers, etc. |
| Growl | Yes | Utility | Global notification system |
| iStat Menus | No | Utility | Gives loads of information, such as memory usage, cpu usage, etc, right in the menu bar. |
| Little Snitch | No | Utility | Reverse firewall--informs you whenever an app tries to access the internet (unless the app has been whitelisted). |
| LittleSnapper | No | Graphics/Photo | Another screenshot utility--I only use it for the ability to do a full web page capture (a feature Skitch is sadly lacking). |
| MAMP | Yes+No | Other | Mac+Apache+MySQL+PHP -- Full stack in one single application that can be started and stopped with a click of the button. |
| Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 (Ultimate Edition) | No | Other | Comes with Entourage (email, calendar), Excel (spreadsheets), PowerPoint (presentation), and Word (word processing). I don't necessarily recommend this unless you need it for compatibility with work (as I do). |
| OmniFocus | No | Other | Very elegant and powerful task (to do) manager. |
| OmniGraffle Pro | No | Other | Diagramming, process charts, layouts/wireframes, prototypes, and more. Like Visio, but elegant. |
| OmniOutliner | No | Other | Outlining. Idea organization. |
| Perian | Yes | Audio/Video | Makes QuickTime far more useful--all in one codec package for almost everything except WMV. |
| QSB | Yes | Utility | Application Launcher, faster than using spotlight. Descendent of Quicksilver, but not yet quite as robust. |
| Remote Desktop Connection | Yes | Utility | Connect to Windows machines. |
| Sequel Pro | Yes | Other | MySQL Client. Not nearly as powerful as Toad, but simple and fast. |
| ShareTool | Yes+No | Utility | VPN for regular people. Free version is limited to 15 minutes of connection time, which I find sufficient for my needs. |
| Skitch | Yes | Graphics/Photo | Capture screenshots, put them places (easy web upload). |
| Skype | Yes | Communication/Internet | Chat/VOIP/Video Client. |
| Spark | Yes | Utility | Global hotkey manager. |
| SuperDuper! | Yes+No | Utility | Backup, for making a bootable clone of a drive. I also hear good things about the free Carbon Copy Cloner but I've never used it. |
| TeamViewer | Yes | Utility | Remote support |
| TextWrangler | Yes | Text | Powerful free text editor--includes a command-line utility so you can type 'edit /etc/hosts' and have it come up in the GUI. |
| Transmission | Yes | Communication/Internet | BitTorrent Client. |
| Transmit | No | Communication/Internet | FTP Client. Not free. Cyberduck is a good option if you prefer free. |
| UnRarX | Yes | Utility | Reads the RAR compression format. |
| VMware Fusion | No | Other | Virtualization. |
| YemuZip | Yes | Utility | Makes PC compatible zip files (strips Mac OS specific meta files). |
We use a Mac Mini to drive our TV. It's awesome, but requires some different software.
| Application | Free as in Beer (what?) | Description/Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Air Video | No | Allows you to live stream content from your HTPC to an iPhone. Really awesome! |
| Airfoil | No | If you have an Airport Express, it allows you to stream other audio signals (other than just iTunes, such as EyeTV) to it. |
| EyeTV | No | TV Tuner card software—perfect for watching HD over-the-air. It even has DVR-like support. |
| Hulu Desktop | Yes | A really nice application for watching Hulu content. |
| Plex | Yes | A very nice application for playback of content. It plays back downloaded video files and also has options for streaming sources. |
| Remote Buddy | No | Makes the Apple Remote supremely more versatile as it is no longer tied only to the active application. Using Remote Buddy, I can do 75% of what I want to do on the HTPC, including switching between applications and navigating complex menus. If I need a trackpad, I use Hippo Lite on my iPhone. For very complex tasks, I just connect via Screen Sharing. |
| Syncopation | No | Synchronizes iTunes music libraries across multiple computers. So it allows my wife and I to have our collections shared on the HTPC for listening on the stereo. |