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So I've just bought a Mac. What should I download?
- Thread starter karlth
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That kinda depends on what you plan on doing. I got:
Microsoft Office for Mac
Filezilla for Mac
Pixelmator (paint program)
Parallels (to run virtual machines)
I also have Windows 7 running in Bootcamp so I can run Quicken and DVD Profiler, two essential apps in my library with no Mac equivalents I like.
Start with visiting http://www.sophos.com and installing the free antivirus
Macs are just as prone to virus infections as windows, dont belive the fanboys who would have you think otherwise.
after that, well, "essential" rather depends on what your going to be doing with your Mac, so please elaborate.
Macs are just as prone to virus infections as windows, dont belive the fanboys who would have you think otherwise.
after that, well, "essential" rather depends on what your going to be doing with your Mac, so please elaborate.
Kind of depends on what you want to do with your Mac. Are you talking about maintenance/tweaking utilities?
Personally, I'd say just use the system as-is for a while before you go out and download anything. You might be surprised at how little is really needed.
Otherwise I'd say do the usual stuff you'd use for any computer. Dropbox, Chrome, Skype, etc. if you use them. Admium is a decent IM client. CarbonCopyCloner is good for disk imaging.
If you have specific needs, I expect people would be happy to make recommendations.
This is completely, completely false.
You do not need antivirus software installed on your Mac.
Source One
Source Two
Source Three
We're not fanboys, we just do our research.
If you do a lot of office work get iWork from the app store. In my opinion it works better then office for mac even the 2011 version. If you don't wanna pay for it use Libre office of lotus symphony both are good.
A few handy apps are the unarchiver(free), app cleaner(free),soundcloud(free),KeepassX(free) Skype, YASU(free) and VLC.
As for the antivirus you don't really need it. If you want you can use virus barrier express to do an occasional on-demand scan just for peace of mind if you need it. Realtime antivirus isn't really necessary (YET!) so save the resources for now.
A few handy apps are the unarchiver(free), app cleaner(free),soundcloud(free),KeepassX(free) Skype, YASU(free) and VLC.
As for the antivirus you don't really need it. If you want you can use virus barrier express to do an occasional on-demand scan just for peace of mind if you need it. Realtime antivirus isn't really necessary (YET!) so save the resources for now.
First, do not download an Anti virus anytime soon. Give me a break. I just recently installed one on my Windows box (security essentials). Never had a virus. Be careful, and you won't have a problem... especially on a mac.
Second, I'd get Evernote and Wunderlist. Both free, and both really augment the Macbook Air. These both sync to other Android and other iOS devices. With them, you can have addresses, calendar, email (built in functionality), todo list (wunderlist), and rich notes (evernote) shared across all your devices.
Third, I've loved MS Remote desktop (free download from MS) to get to my Windows Desktop. I don't have to install parallels to use a windows app, just remote in.
Finally, the rest depends on what you want to do... Office or iWork for traditional office stuff. Xcode for development. Apeture for photos. etc.
Second, I'd get Evernote and Wunderlist. Both free, and both really augment the Macbook Air. These both sync to other Android and other iOS devices. With them, you can have addresses, calendar, email (built in functionality), todo list (wunderlist), and rich notes (evernote) shared across all your devices.
Third, I've loved MS Remote desktop (free download from MS) to get to my Windows Desktop. I don't have to install parallels to use a windows app, just remote in.
Finally, the rest depends on what you want to do... Office or iWork for traditional office stuff. Xcode for development. Apeture for photos. etc.
if you wanna run intensive apps use bootcamp (however the partition cannot be resized after done)
Or you could use virtualisation e.g. parallels,virtualbox(free),vmware fusion
Any particular reason why you're running Windows 7 in Bootcamp and not via Parallels?
I wanted to boot native for maximum performance. Parallels can take the bootcamp partition and run it in a VM inside OSX, so I get the best of both worlds - Parallels using the bootcamp partition to run Quicken and other office programs, and I can always boot native into Windows 7 if I want to remove any overhead from running OSX and parallels.
the only issue with this is with finite hard disk space you can run into an issue since you need to allocate whatever amount to windows right off the bat whereas a normal parallels virtual machine file will dynamically resize as you put more on it. Not normally an issue but could be if you have a 128gb air as you may need to put a large portion of that towards the windows partition
Hmm, I didn't know this. I'm not too familiar with how Parallels and/or Bootcamp works, exactly.
Same thing here. I've still got a lot to learn if I ever take the plunge.
I've downloaded:
- Chrome and Firefox (but still trying out Safari): Free
- Social networking apps like Twitter, FaceboxPro, and Tab for Google+: Free
- To-Do List apps like Producteev and Wunderlist: Free
- Archiving tools such as The Unarchiver: Free
- Cloud apps like Dropbox: Free
- Virtualbox for virtualizing Windows: Free
- uTorrent for torrents: Free
- Filezilla for FTPing: Free
- Xcode for programming: Free
- Office for Mac 2011: Not Free
- Pages and Keynote: Not Free
- Then some games/apps for games: N.O.V.A. 2 (not free), Steam (free), Team Fortress 2 (free), Touch Grind (free)
- Chrome and Firefox (but still trying out Safari): Free
- Social networking apps like Twitter, FaceboxPro, and Tab for Google+: Free
- To-Do List apps like Producteev and Wunderlist: Free
- Archiving tools such as The Unarchiver: Free
- Cloud apps like Dropbox: Free
- Virtualbox for virtualizing Windows: Free
- uTorrent for torrents: Free
- Filezilla for FTPing: Free
- Xcode for programming: Free
- Office for Mac 2011: Not Free
- Pages and Keynote: Not Free
- Then some games/apps for games: N.O.V.A. 2 (not free), Steam (free), Team Fortress 2 (free), Touch Grind (free)
No they are not. There has never been a virus in the wild that infects OSx. Sophos anti-virus renders your computer MORE vulnerable. don't waste your time with anti-virus.
I've never had any virus issues on my mac. I also don't download "hackyourenemiesfacebook" applications and stupid crap. If you have a scrap of common sense, you'll be fine.
Sophos is not recommended, as it can actually increase your Mac's vulnerability. ClamXav is a better choice, if you insist on running antivirus. You don't need any antivirus software to protect Mac OS X from malware.
False. No viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any, since it was released 10 years ago. The handful of trojans that exist can be easily avoided with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install:
I hardly install any apps
utorrent
unarchiver
That's seriously it. I use all the stock apps daily
utorrent
unarchiver
That's seriously it. I use all the stock apps daily
In most cases, app removal software doesn't do a thorough job of deleting files/folders related to deleted apps. For more information, read this.
The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:
While I agree with this to an extent, doesn't AppCleaner do all this? You pick an application, it searches for all relevant files, and you decide which ones to trash. How is that different than the manual method? Just not as thorough?
//OSX noob
No, read the link I posted. It deletes mostly just the .plist files and leaves behind much larger files. If you want to simply delete an app and aren't worried about disk space, simply drag the app to the Trash. If you want to remove all files/folders associated with a deleted app, use the manual method. Uninstaller apps are pointless and ineffective.