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carlgo

macrumors 68000
Dec 29, 2006
1,806
17
Monterey CA
Just start out with the usual suspects like Safari, Pages, iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie maybe. Add the social media apps if you are into that. No harm getting games and such to try out. These all work well for most people to start with.

If you develop an interest in something, or a need, then you can always move on and get specialty software.

It is recommended that if you KNOW for sure that you want to pursue a special interest, then you can skip the introductory Apple program and dive right into something you are going to have to get anyway. If serious photography is your passion, then skip iPhoto and go directly into Aperture, Lightroom, Elements, Photoshop, etc. Why screw around with iPhoto if you know you will have to transfer everything out to something else anyway, something that is not as easy as it is supposed to be.

If your job is to write scientific articles, then immediately get a word processor designed for that.

Otherwise, don't mind all the nerdy suggestions. Don't get engulfed in specialty software that doesn't serve your specific interests. KISS whenever possible so that you can concentrate on important stuff.
 

LoveDrop

macrumors newbie
May 11, 2013
8
0
Go to closest starbucks , put it on table , look around while drinking coffee and go back to home.Looks like you spend money on something you didnt need.
 

cambookpro

macrumors 604
Feb 3, 2010
7,189
3,321
United Kingdom
My favourite apps:

iWork Suite: I much prefer Pages, Numbers and Keynote to MS's offering, and with iWork for iCloud coming soon, you will soon be able to edit the files on Windows too.

Photoshop: Elements, CC, CS4, whatever. A copy of Photoshop pretty much sets you up for any image editing you need to do.

Final Cut Pro: I use both X and 7. 7 is great and is much more flexible, however I can see X being useful... eventually.

Motion: Another one of my favourite apps. Great for doing little projects in, or adding effects to videos.

TextWrangler: My HTML/CSS/Javascript etc editor of choice.

HandBrake: Great for converting films and movies into different sizes and formats. Also recommend HandBrakeBatch for batch conversions.

PopClip: This really useful, cheap app lets you use copy and paste like it is on iOS.

Yenka: Very niche but good for what it does. I use it for quickly simulating circuits.

CoconutBattery: Great for measuring health and cycles of you MB battery.

LogMeIn: Free version available, lets you control your Mac from any Mac, PC or mobile phone. Really useful to have.

Steam: I just play Football Manager and Portal/2, but it is a good platform if you're in to Mac gaming.

Reeder: Not updated yet post-Google Reader, but before then it was the best RSS reader. Sure to be great in a few months time when it's updated.

OmniDiskSweeper: Handy utility to see what's taking up space on your Mac's drive.

Kindle: Good for reading Kindle books on.


Phew, well made me realise how many apps I actually use! :p And they're only the cream of the crop. I suggest you look into most of them, they may provide a use for you.
 

E.Lizardo

macrumors 68000
May 28, 2008
1,776
305
Ok I just received my 2013 MBA, my first macbook ever. Now what can I do with it? What are some must have programs that I should download? Also I got an IPad2 can I link them to make transfer files easier? I am sure I can find all this information on the internet, or simple googling it but I am just too excited.

Brand new to all this icloud and itune deal. Anyone want to be my messager friend?

I enjoy Pandorajam.It is a Pandora client that saves the music,tags it correctly and places it in iTunes.
For video encoding Handbrake is a must have(and free).
To rip Blurays(you'll need an external bluray drive obviously)MakeMKV is fantastic.
To rip DVDs I like Ripit,but there are good free alternatives too.
Burnit is a good disc burning app.
Growl is a nice system notigications app,but a lot of it's functionality is in OS X now.Worth a look though.
If you want to catalog your DVDs Book,and more Delicious Library is nice.
If you care about recipes at all check out yummy soup!,it's really good.

A couple of sites might help too-
makeuseof.com
lifehacker.com
 
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