Must have Mac apps? new to Apple

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rgr555 said:

This is my first OSX. I am on the retina MBP.

I have been an avid Windows user.
What are the must have Mac apps? Looking for Mac exclusives (already am using Evernote, Dropbox, Microsoft Office 2011)

What is the best chat program that aggregates all AIM, fb, msn, etc?

Thank you

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My essential Mac apps are Divvy, CCleaner, Pixelmator, Pages, Skitch, Clipmenu and Shady.

koolmagicguy said:

CCleaner

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You don't need maintenance apps like this to keep Mac OS X running well.

koolmagicguy said:

My essential Mac apps are Divvy, CCleaner, Pixelmator, Pages, Skitch, Clipmenu and Shady.

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CCleaner is one of your essential apps? Seriously??

rgr555 said:

Thanks guys.

I was looking more for OSX exclusives.

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+1 for Pixelmator.
HTML editor: TacoHTML
FTP: Transmit
To do/task managers: Appigo Todo or Cultured Code's Things or OmniFocus
Personal database: Tapforms or Bento
Video encoding: Handbrake

Quicksilver, 1Password, VLC, Superduper, Windows Phone 7 Connector

Well it depends on what your usual tasks are. But in terms of general-use applications...

* Adium -- Agreed with this choice; it's the best text messaging app on the Mac (it doesn't do video). Free and open source.

* Little Snitch -- A two-way firewall, letting you know when applications try to contact servers without your knowledge.

* Grab -- A basic screenshot utility which can capture windows, screens, or specific areas. This actually comes with the Mac, but because it's in the /Applications/Utilities directory a lot of people don't know about it. Snapz Pro is commercial software that can do full desktop movie captures.

* Speed Download -- A download manager, commercial software. Great for speeding up http and ftp transfers. Some people like using Firefox extensions for this or whatever, but I prefer a native app. YMMV.

* Max -- Audio file encoder. Free. Good for batch changing FLAC files to Apple Lossless format, and things of that nature.

* SuperDuper -- Clones a drive, making fully bootable backups. Flexible options. Does what it does very well. Commercial software.

* The Omni suite of software is great for various business needs. OmniGraffle is great for flowcharts, org charts, that sort of thing. OmniPlan is a nice competitor to MS Project.

GGJstudios said:

You don't need maintenance apps like this to keep Mac OS X running well.

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I like to be able to delete my cookies, logins, history and logs with a click.

I just did a clean install on my new mba so was culling apps. These are the some of the ones which I found to be essential to my workflow:

1password - never worry about misplacing your pw again (have it on my macs and iphone + ipad)

speed download - best downloader for me, blazing speeds with great functionality

notational velocity - my fav minimalist writing app, syncs across devices too. second only to my other parallel app, writeroom

alfred - my goto launcher

dropbox - must have

totalfinder - i can't live without tabbed finder windows now

VLC media Player, iStat pro or menus (to monitor system info), XLD (to burn musics), OpenOffice/LibreOffice (free word processing apps)

my favorite go-to mac app web site: Mac Update

koolmagicguy said:

I like to be able to delete my cookies, logins, history and logs with a click.

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You can do that from within your browser. There's no need for a 3rd party app for that.

There are plenty of threads already about this on this website. Try a search.

I've got my list of apps on my website at http://almy.us/macsoftware.html

I'll add Evernote to this list as well.

Coachingguy

GGJstudios said:

You can do that from within your browser. There's no need for a 3rd party app for that.

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I'm so glad you came to save me from making a poor life decision.