My macbook has arrived!

Okay, Flip 4 Mac is the first thing you should install IMO, otherwise you're gonna find loadsa videos which don't run.

If you're an MSN addict, try AdiumX. It's great, although doesn't support webcam. If you want webcam on MSN, use aMSN.

I don't know if you're like me with listening to music through iTunes, but I like to be able to control it without opening the window. I use Sizzling Keys, which is absolutely awesome.

You'll need Growl with all of those though, it's a great little piece of software.

Handbrake for ripping DVDs, or Mac The Ripper.

VLC for playing literally every kind of video.


The list goes on and on, but you'll discover them over time =]

And 100% congrats on the MB! You'll love it...

Congrats! (psst, change your sig to "arrived")

Always nice to see happy switchers. As for recommended software, there are too many to list. But first of all, make your Dashboard nice and comfy, because you will find yourself using it a lot of it is set up properly. I would also recommend an app called OnyX that you can use occasionally to clean out your system of uneeded files, and give it a little performance boost. Also, try the app Google Earth, which is lots of fun, especially on a fast computer. If you are into burning DVDs, I would recommend Handbrake (now called MediaFork) which is very handy when it comes to burning movies, etc.

Enjoy your Mac and welcome to the world of Apple products

Here are links to the apps I listed above:

Dashboard Widgets: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/
OnyX: http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/download.html
Google Earth: http://earth.google.com/
MediaFork: http://handbrake.m0k.org/?page_id=8

dannewell15 said:

I have a question. If I have installed some software, Can i delete the "DMG" file? Do i need to keep it?

Click to expand...

Yes, you can delete that file once you are sure the program is installed and working properly. Occasionally I will keep the .dmg files in case I accidently delete the app and don't want to download the whole thing again due to it having a large file size.

Killyp said:

Okay, Flip 4 Mac is the first thing you should install IMO, otherwise you're gonna find loadsa videos which don't run.

If you're an MSN addict, try AdiumX. It's great, although doesn't support webcam. If you want webcam on MSN, use aMSN.

I don't know if you're like me with listening to music through iTunes, but I like to be able to control it without opening the window. I use Sizzling Keys, which is absolutely awesome.

You'll need Growl with all of those though, it's a great little piece of software.

Handbrake for ripping DVDs, or Mac The Ripper.

VLC for playing literally every kind of video.

Click to expand...

Someone really likes to watch video on their Mac!

Killyp said:

Okay, Flip 4 Mac is the first thing you should install IMO, otherwise you're gonna find loadsa videos which don't run.

Handbrake for ripping DVDs, or Mac The Ripper.

Click to expand...

I second Flip 4 Mac, you'd be surprised how many videos require it.

I perfer Handbrake (Mediafork) much more over Mac the Ripper, I find it far more complicated than Mediafork.

I suggest getting TextExpander, it's a great little app that saves a bundle of time. There is a MacBreak segment on it here. You can convert videos to iPod Video format using a free app called isquint. Coconut Battery is another neat app that tells you a lot about your battery. NeoOffice J is a free Microsoft Word substitute. Uapp is an uninstalling program. And finally I suggest getting whatsize, it tells you exactly how much space everything on your hard drive is taking up. And congrats on getting the Mac .

If you start to use your remote control for watching things through Front Row, you might want to install the Perian codecs (just google for Perian).

Perian lets QuickTime (which Front Row uses to play video) play many more formats than it normally can.

If you drop your videos in your Movies subfolder (of your home directory), Front Row shouldn't have any problems finding them and playing them.

I found an awesome program that's not only cool, convenient, and unique, it's also a great way to "switch" some friends. It's called iAlertU http://www.slappingturtle.com/home/ and it's an alarm system for your Macbook that'll take a picture of the person who set off the alarm and email it to you. (just don't be silly and have it email the picture to your .mac account, cause then the person can just open ur mail and delete it!) It can be controlled by your remote too. I've got 3 people at work looking at macs solely for that program! (well i'm sure there's more reasons, but that's a really cool one!)

I also suggest Flip4Mac and the Adium. I downloaded Quicksilver and it's a cool program, but I'm not sure if i'm hooked on it yet. Others swear by it so it's just a matter of personal preference.

Congrats.

Don't fill your Mac with unwanted programs even if they sound cool. Install the programs you need.

I found that installing Stuffit Expander, Windows Media Player, Real Media Player, GoogleEarth, Adobe Reader were helpfull apps. Plus Limewire is great for File Sharing.

Just my 2 cents.

the only one i would not live without is Burn its the disk burner app apple forgot to install, also for laptops that connect to the internet via wireless use iStumbler much better than the airport icon in the menu bar IMHO, if you need a bittorrent client try Transmission(everyone else uses azeraeus, but its a resource hog) and add sites like freemacware.com to your bookmark bar in firefox

just google around for these an it will start you off on the right foot

oh also Firefox. It's a good internet browser in case Safari is not able to view certain pages.