The Mac Starter Guide has moved and is now the Mac Beginner's Guide.
This thread is officially dead. I will not update it anymore.
From now on please only check this link for the new Mac Beginner's Guide:
Mac Beginner's Guide
Mac Starter Guide
You just got your Mac and don't know what kind of software you need, what media player to use, what keyboard shortcuts there are and all the other little and big things about Macs and the community? Look no further, here it is in an aggregated list.
Mac 101:
The Mac OS X interface (How to use OS X)
The Mac OS X apps and more (How to use the basic apps)
Customize My Mac: Introduction (Change icons, etc.)
Connect and Use My Devices: Introduction (Scanners, modems, printers, etc.)
Troubleshooting 101: Introduction (When something goes wrong - also see the "Repair permissions FAQ in the next post down)
The Mac Cheat Sheet (Write down all your settings so you don't forget)
Apps: (f) free (s) shareware (c) commercial
By no means is this meant to be an exhaustive list but it covers the basic apps that one might need.
Media players:
Quicktime (included with OS X) - should play most mpegs and mov formats (see Quicktime Fullscreen widget below)
QT WMV codec (c) - to play WMV in Quicktime
DivX codec (f) - to play DivX files in Quicktime
Xineplayer (f) - a lightweight Quicktime alternative that plays the files QT does, DivX and some WMVs
VLC (f) - plays pretty much all formats except WMV3 and Real media
mPlayer (f) - the same as VLC
WMP (f) - the Mac version of the WMP (plays WMV3)
Real Player (f) - the Mac version of the Real Player
Web browser:
Safari (included with OS X) - the standard web browser, handles almost all sites and is the fastest
OmniWeb (c) - another web browser with a lot of features
Firefox (f) - the Mac version of Firefox
DeskBrowse (?) - an awesome, lightweight browser, currently in beta development (not to be downloaded yet)
System utulities:
Growl (f) - a system-wide notification system that has all notifications in one place
Quicksilver (f) - an application launcher that supports both a search window and customizable keyboard shortcuts
Butler (f) - another application launcher
Synergy (s) - an iTunes controller with menu controls, keyboard shortcuts and a very slick interface
OnyX (f) - maintenance, system optimization and personalization utility
Instant Message Clients:
iChat (included with OS X) - handles .mac and AIM accounts, video and voice chat
Adium (f) - THE instant messaging client for OS X. Handles all the major clients but no voice or video yet.
Skype (f) - the Mac version of Skype, an instant message client for text, voice, video and VoIP chat
MSN (f) - the Mac version of MSN, with limited functionality compared to the Windows version
Mercury (f) - another MSN client that handles video chat over MSN (receiving only at the moment)
IRC clients:
Xchat (f) - IRC client ported from Linux
Conversation (f) - another IRC client with a nice Aqua interface
RSS Reader:
Safari (included with OS X) - the standard OS X browser has built-in RSS support
NetNewsWire (lite) (s) (f) - the shareware and free version of the most used RSS reader
NewsFire (s) - another RSS Reader
DVD/CD copying and burning:
Finder, iTunes, Disk Utility (included with OS X) - burn CDs and DVDs from within OS X
DVD2OneX (c) - a tool to compress DVD rips to standard DVD size
MacTheRipper (f) - rips the movie from a DVD to store on your HD or burn on a DVD
Roxio Toast (c) - a very good app that burns CDs/VCDs/DVDs/etc.
Roxio Popcorn (c) - another compression app that burns too
Text:
MacJournal (f) (s) - an awesome journal app with Wiki ability to write journals, texts, blog entries and more, export it to various locations
SubEthaEdit (f) - a great word processor that'll even let you write with more persons on the same document via Bonjour (ex Rendezvous)
VoodooPad Lite and Pro (f) (s) - another great text app with Wiki ability
NeoOffice (f) - Open Office port for OS X (if you don't want to use MS Office)
other apps:
Delicious Library (c) - a media catalog app for DVDs, CDs, books and games with an awesome interface
DVDpedia/CDpedia/Bookpedia (c) - another media catalog app with a lot more features but a bit worse design
Ultralingua (c) - a dictionary app that lets you choose which modules to get (great for translations)
Transmit (c) - the best ftp app out there
Sailing Clicker (s) - control your Mac via your Bluetooth phone
SuperDuper (s) - back up your stuff, you will be sorry if you don't
Audacity (f) - Audio editor and recorder
Scripts and other haxxies: (Use with caution)
spanning for the iBook, iMac and eMac (f) - use an external monitor with your iBook, iMac or eMac with mirroring the screen
App enhancement and other useful widgets:
iCal events (f) - shows events from iCal for the next days, launches iCal (later version will also show To-Do items)
FlipClock (f) - a replacement world clock for the analog-ly challenged. Includes an alarm option and many designs.
Wikipedia (f) - an easy way to search the open source online encyclopedia Wikipedia from your Dashboard
FastAmazon (f) - an easy way to search Amazon from within the Dashboard
Countdown Calendar (f) - counts down the days to a specific date
Airtraffic Control (f) - shows the networks around
Sysstat (f) - shows the system stats in your Dashboard
GoogleMaps (f) - search GoogleMaps from within your Dashboard
eBay (f) - keep track of your current sales and bids on eBay from your Dashboard
Quicktime full screen (f) - click to see Quicktime movies in fullscreen
(there are more, this is just an extract, see below for more more sites with widgets)
Keyboard Shortcuts:
This thread is officially dead. I will not update it anymore.
From now on please only check this link for the new Mac Beginner's Guide:
Mac Beginner's Guide
Mac Starter Guide
You just got your Mac and don't know what kind of software you need, what media player to use, what keyboard shortcuts there are and all the other little and big things about Macs and the community? Look no further, here it is in an aggregated list.
Mac 101:
The Mac OS X interface (How to use OS X)
The Mac OS X apps and more (How to use the basic apps)
Customize My Mac: Introduction (Change icons, etc.)
Connect and Use My Devices: Introduction (Scanners, modems, printers, etc.)
Troubleshooting 101: Introduction (When something goes wrong - also see the "Repair permissions FAQ in the next post down)
The Mac Cheat Sheet (Write down all your settings so you don't forget)
Apps: (f) free (s) shareware (c) commercial
By no means is this meant to be an exhaustive list but it covers the basic apps that one might need.
Media players:
Quicktime (included with OS X) - should play most mpegs and mov formats (see Quicktime Fullscreen widget below)
QT WMV codec (c) - to play WMV in Quicktime
DivX codec (f) - to play DivX files in Quicktime
Xineplayer (f) - a lightweight Quicktime alternative that plays the files QT does, DivX and some WMVs
VLC (f) - plays pretty much all formats except WMV3 and Real media
mPlayer (f) - the same as VLC
WMP (f) - the Mac version of the WMP (plays WMV3)
Real Player (f) - the Mac version of the Real Player
Web browser:
Safari (included with OS X) - the standard web browser, handles almost all sites and is the fastest
OmniWeb (c) - another web browser with a lot of features
Firefox (f) - the Mac version of Firefox
DeskBrowse (?) - an awesome, lightweight browser, currently in beta development (not to be downloaded yet)
System utulities:
Growl (f) - a system-wide notification system that has all notifications in one place
Quicksilver (f) - an application launcher that supports both a search window and customizable keyboard shortcuts
Butler (f) - another application launcher
Synergy (s) - an iTunes controller with menu controls, keyboard shortcuts and a very slick interface
OnyX (f) - maintenance, system optimization and personalization utility
Instant Message Clients:
iChat (included with OS X) - handles .mac and AIM accounts, video and voice chat
Adium (f) - THE instant messaging client for OS X. Handles all the major clients but no voice or video yet.
Skype (f) - the Mac version of Skype, an instant message client for text, voice, video and VoIP chat
MSN (f) - the Mac version of MSN, with limited functionality compared to the Windows version
Mercury (f) - another MSN client that handles video chat over MSN (receiving only at the moment)
IRC clients:
Xchat (f) - IRC client ported from Linux
Conversation (f) - another IRC client with a nice Aqua interface
RSS Reader:
Safari (included with OS X) - the standard OS X browser has built-in RSS support
NetNewsWire (lite) (s) (f) - the shareware and free version of the most used RSS reader
NewsFire (s) - another RSS Reader
DVD/CD copying and burning:
Finder, iTunes, Disk Utility (included with OS X) - burn CDs and DVDs from within OS X
DVD2OneX (c) - a tool to compress DVD rips to standard DVD size
MacTheRipper (f) - rips the movie from a DVD to store on your HD or burn on a DVD
Roxio Toast (c) - a very good app that burns CDs/VCDs/DVDs/etc.
Roxio Popcorn (c) - another compression app that burns too
Text:
MacJournal (f) (s) - an awesome journal app with Wiki ability to write journals, texts, blog entries and more, export it to various locations
SubEthaEdit (f) - a great word processor that'll even let you write with more persons on the same document via Bonjour (ex Rendezvous)
VoodooPad Lite and Pro (f) (s) - another great text app with Wiki ability
NeoOffice (f) - Open Office port for OS X (if you don't want to use MS Office)
other apps:
Delicious Library (c) - a media catalog app for DVDs, CDs, books and games with an awesome interface
DVDpedia/CDpedia/Bookpedia (c) - another media catalog app with a lot more features but a bit worse design
Ultralingua (c) - a dictionary app that lets you choose which modules to get (great for translations)
Transmit (c) - the best ftp app out there
Sailing Clicker (s) - control your Mac via your Bluetooth phone
SuperDuper (s) - back up your stuff, you will be sorry if you don't
Audacity (f) - Audio editor and recorder
Scripts and other haxxies: (Use with caution)
spanning for the iBook, iMac and eMac (f) - use an external monitor with your iBook, iMac or eMac with mirroring the screen
App enhancement and other useful widgets:
iCal events (f) - shows events from iCal for the next days, launches iCal (later version will also show To-Do items)
FlipClock (f) - a replacement world clock for the analog-ly challenged. Includes an alarm option and many designs.
Wikipedia (f) - an easy way to search the open source online encyclopedia Wikipedia from your Dashboard
FastAmazon (f) - an easy way to search Amazon from within the Dashboard
Countdown Calendar (f) - counts down the days to a specific date
Airtraffic Control (f) - shows the networks around
Sysstat (f) - shows the system stats in your Dashboard
GoogleMaps (f) - search GoogleMaps from within your Dashboard
eBay (f) - keep track of your current sales and bids on eBay from your Dashboard
Quicktime full screen (f) - click to see Quicktime movies in fullscreen
(there are more, this is just an extract, see below for more more sites with widgets)
Keyboard Shortcuts: