switching

[ThoughtKriminal]

I guess i am almost an offical convert to mac.

Ok so i gave in and decided to buy a brand new imac 17" 1ghz, 740(?) RAM along with a shiney new 10gig ipod. One of the biggest deciding factors to me was simply posting on this board, getting my questions answered so quickly and helpfully by mac users. It says something to me about the community, if thats what you want to call it. That i can actually just ask other people and get useful help, instead of sifting through 100 pages of complete trash in google to find something worth reading.

it should be here in a couple days and i know i will need to get started on finding the right freeware/shareware apps i will want. Im willing to spend a little if i have to, but more looking for downloads than buying expensive CD's at the moment. As im new to the mac world, and you guys obviously know what your talking about i could use some help and advice on what to look for.

-p2p software
-chat: IRC, aim, icq, msn (preferably all in one program i have buddies on all of them)
-free games? stuff worth playing. like SNES emulation and stuff.
-various helpful net/working tools
-browser? if there is one better than ie for mac
-anything else you can think of that i might want

links would be nice, thanks =)

[Wes]

Originally posted by ThoughtKriminal
-p2p software
-chat: IRC, aim, icq, msn (preferably all in one program i have buddies on all of them)
-free games? stuff worth playing. like SNES emulation and stuff.
-various helpful net/working tools
-browser? if there is one better than ie for mac
-anything else you can think of that i might want

links would be nice, thanks =)

-p2p Not as good as kazaa, but http://xlife.org/acquisition

-Chat, iChat is built into mac os x and is compatible with AIM. All in one: http://www.indigofield.com/

-Browser www.apple.com/safari

EDIT: -Emulation http://emulation.net

[stromie952]

To expand on the options that were already given:

all in one messenging: fire
http://fire.sourceforge.net/

Browser: chimera
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/chimera/

And for most free/shareware software needs, I would use http://www.versiontracker.com/

Versiontracker has a large selection of games, utilities, and just about any other kind of software.

Enjoy!

[Fukui]

P2P:
http://www.limewire.com/
http://www.xlife.org/acquisition/ (very nice btw)
Direct Connect (http://www.networkingfiles.com/FileShar/Directconnect.htm)

Chat:
MSN Messenger (http://download.microsoft.com/download/msnmessenger/Install/3.0/MacOS/EN-US/macmsgs.bin)
Proteus (http://www.indigofield.com/downloads/Proteus%20Alpha17.dmg.gz) (AOL/MSN/Yahoo etc.)

Browsers:
Safari (www.apple.com/safari/)
Chimera (Mozilla Based) (http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/chimera/nightly/latest/)
Mozilla (http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.3b/mozilla-mac-MachO-1.3b.dmg.gz)
Omniweb 4.1 (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb/)

Networking Tools:
Here is a list of apps to try. (http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/apps.php?sub=12)

Other places to find apps:
OS X Apps (http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/)
Versiontracker (http://www.versiontracker.com/)
Mac OS X Apps (http://www.macosxapps.com/)
Apple (http://www.apple.com/macosx/applications/)

Other helpful places:
MacOSXHints.com (http://www.macosxhints.com/)
Apple Discusions (http://discussions.info.apple.com/)

[Doctor Q]

The best free Mac OS X game I've played is Alias Underground (http://abc.abcnews.go.com/primetime/alias/underground/index.html), a first-person shooter based on the Alias TV show. The web site doesn't make it obvious that it runs on Mac OS, but it does. To get Alias Underground, you have to register at the site. Start at http://abc.abcnews.go.com/primetime/alias/underground/index.html. Click Download the mission and then Click here to register. (You don't have to give them your real name.) Then you can download any or all of the missions. Each mission has its own Mac OS X installer, although they run off a single "Alias Underground" application.

[Doctor Q]

Sorry to post twice in a row, but I thought of something else. Once upon a time, you could find free or cheap Mac-based emulators for video game systems. Then you could use your Mac to play Nintendo, Playstation, etc. games that people had posted. As I understood it, this was legal as long as you owned the real game cartridge. (I once bought a copy of a game just so I could play the emulated version without cheating.)

This was years ago. Maybe somebody more knowledgable than me can tell us whether this is still the way things work.

[dricci]

Designed just for you :D

http://www.pctomac.com/how/software.htm

[iShater]

Originally posted by dricci
Designed just for you :D

http://www.pctomac.com/how/software.htm

I was waiting for you to do that! :D

It is a nice website, very handy. Would be nice to have a few articles/reviews from the perspectives of switchers. A lot of folks would find it helpful to see an actual comparison between the two apps, etc.

[Dont Hurt Me]

there are a lot of free downloads of games but here is a good place to starthttp://www.insidemacgames.com/ and for many downloads updates shareware etchttp://www.macgamefiles.com/ welcome to the club macs are better but then again i am bias. That should be a swell machine you got!

[yzedf]

iCab is a nice browser (http://www.icab.de/)

[FattyMembrane]

safari from apple is your best bet for a browser (although chimera still holds a warm place in my heart). fire is the best free multi-protocol chat client. http://bannister.org/ and www.macmame.org will fulfill your classic emulation needs. the belt, simon extreme, and GLtron are some cool free games (airburst is $10 but worth every cent) but there are lots of others if i had some time to think.

some freeware apps good enough to grace my computer...
Youpi Key, ZOË, DownloadWizzard, Cocktail, X-Chat Aqua, MacJournal, too many to list...

Network: AysMon, iFoundU, darkstat

your best bet is to browse the freeware section of versiontracker (all of the apps i mentioned are available there).

p.s. your new rig is making me jealous :p

[ThoughtKriminal]

oh yeah.. more requests...

HTML text editor, like arachnophilla

and a good FTP client

[Fukui]

HTML Editor:
BBEDIT (http://versiontracker.com/mp/new_search.m?productDB=mac&mode=Quick&OS_Filter=MacOSX&search=bbedit&x=0&y=0)

FTP:
(List) (http://versiontracker.com/mp/new_search.m?productDB=mac&mode=Quick&OS_Filter=MacOSX&search=ftp&x=0&y=0)

Personaly I like OSXigen, but there are a lot of other FTP clients out there.
Also, I think emacs can be used as an html editor....but not sure.

[iWantAMac]

When I try to access this site, I'm asked to for my user name and password. Then, after closing the window, I get the following message.

Authorization Required

This server could not verify that you are authorized to access the document requested. Either you supplied the wrong credentials (e.g., bad password), or your browser doesn't understand how to supply the credentials required.

Additionally, a 401 Authorization Required error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apache/1.3.27 Server at www.macosxhints.com Port 80
Does anyone know why this may be?

[bdguyton1]

For the browser, i request Safari.
http://www.apple.com/safari

Also, there are these:
Chimera, Netscape, Mozilla, iCab.
All of these are located at Apple's Download Page.

for the all-in-one IM client, i recommend Fire Instant Messenger, which has AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, IRC, MSN and Jabber.
http://fire.sourceforge.net/

Also, Jaguar comes with iChat, which is ok.

You might want the Konfabulator, but I haven't gotten the link right off hand.

[Wes]

Originally posted by bdguyton1

You might want the Konfabulator, but I haven't gotten the link right off hand.

try http://www.konfabulator.com ;)

[iWantAMac]

Originally posted by iWantAMac
When I try to access this site, I'm asked to for my user name and password. Then, after closing the window, I get the following message.


Does anyone know why this may be?
No-one else gets this?

[timbloom]

if you know your command line, mldonkey is a good p2p client, reliable, slow at times, but trustworthy

[Fukui]

No-one else gets this?

No, It was down for upgrade, but not anymore.

Try to clear your browser cache?

[Catfish_Man]

SNES9X 1.3.9b is the best SNES emulator I've ever used. Get it at emulation.net

Sixtyforce (Sixtyforce.com) has a ton of potential, but Gerrit spends so long between builds that it stagnates sometimes. The current one supports OSX, but really sucks. He has a screenshot of Zelda 64 running on it (which the current version can't do at all well), so it's clear it's improved a lot in unofficial releases.

www.ambrosiasw.com has THE BEST shareware games (the EV series, Mars Rising, Ferazel's Wand, etc...)

Good luck with your new Mac. I really really wanted a 17" iMac, I just couldn't justify the price. I have a dual 867MHz PowerMac.

[chmorley]

To add to the list mentioned here, I would recommend the following free utilities:

PTH Sofware (http://www.pth.com/Products/index.html)
PTHPasteboard: allows mutiple clipboards
PTHClock: replaces the built-in one, adds a calendar that can spring open

Show desktop (http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=10005&db=mac)--something many switchers appreciate

ClearDock (http://unsanity.com/products.php), a Haxie by Unsanity that allows you to customize the dock. They make a number of good products that I have never had a problem with (though some have reported otherwise).

There are many more, but those are my greatest hits list. For sure, download the PTH stuff.

Welcome.

Chris

[macmax]

carracho is good

[ThoughtKriminal]

I love my mac! i cant even begin to describe how much better it is than my old pc, and how much better osx is than windows 98.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, i have one problem so far thats really getting on my nerves.

Once i am connected to the internet i randomly get pop ups on my desktop that says "your still connected to the internet" well, no **** mr. computer. And if i stay inactive for a little while it automatically disconnects me. This thing is just annoying, im more than capible of running my compter. how can i turn this off/modify the settings?

[Fukui]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, i have one problem so far thats really getting on my nerves.

Once i am connected to the internet i randomly get pop ups on my desktop that says "your still connected to the internet" well, no **** mr. computer. And if i stay inactive for a little while it automatically disconnects me. This thing is just annoying, im more than capible of running my compter. how can i turn this off/modify the settings?

Open System Preferences, click network, choose to show "Internal Modem," click the PPP tab, and click the "PPP Options" Button. a sheet should come down with the options for those annoying messages, and disconnects. Just uncheck them...

Hope that helps.