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Absolute Must-Have Software for the MBP

T

Totty1987

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 7, 2011
153
14
I've just had my Macbook Pro 15-inch delivered this morning and I'm about to open it up from the packaging. I freeking can't wait to get this up and running :D

Could you guys kindly recommend any must-have software/apps for the system as I'm totally new to OSX.

Oh and can anyone recommend any tutorials for OSX as well.

Thanx in advance
 
For OSX in general not specific tasks and which are not available in Windows.
gfxCardStatus for 15/17".
BetterTouchTool to get everything out of the touchpad and not just what Apple dictates. Also offers a Windows snap feature like Windows 7.
Alfred ro replace Spotlight
 
Completely disagree with dusk007 :p

Keep everything as-is as far as possible. If you're going to use Safari (I'd recommend you do unless you have specific reasons to use something else, particularly if you're using iCloud) then the only thing I recommend is ClickToPlugin to stop Flash and other stuff loading automatically as you browse. Flash in particular is nasty on Macs and having to click to activate it is much better than all those banner ads bogging down your browsing.

gfxCardStatus is only required if you find you're getting bad battery life due to your MBP using dedicated graphics for applications where it could use integrated. You can see the status of your graphics at any time in About This Mac > More Info.
 
miniConvert said:
Completely disagree with dusk007 :p

Keep everything as-is as far as possible. If you're going to use Safari (I'd recommend you do unless you have specific reasons to use something else, particularly if you're using iCloud) then the only thing I recommend is ClickToPlugin to stop Flash and other stuff loading automatically as you browse. Flash in particular is nasty on Macs and having to click to activate it is much better than all those banner ads bogging down your browsing.

gfxCardStatus is only required if you find you're getting bad battery life due to your MBP using dedicated graphics for applications where it could use integrated. You can see the status of your graphics at any time in About This Mac > More Info.
Click to expand...

I complete agree with miniConvert and dusk007. :D
I keep my MBP as clean as possible but do use and love Alfred and BetterSnap(?). With alfred you don't need Spotlight, the dock or Launchpad (and so much more if you get the 'pro' version. It is such an awesome tool (and super fast). I still have a dock but really don't need it. It is just as fast to hit CmdSpace iT to launch iTunes as it is to take my hand off the keyboard and trackpad to the dock icon.
 
My mac pro recently went through a one click cleanup using Magician (free app) and it seems zippier already. On SL btw.
 
Steve.P.JobsFan said:
CleanMyMac from MacPaw is a MUST. Think of it as CCleaner for Windows, but on steroids, and on OS X. Run CleanMyMac once a week, and you'll save a massive amount of hard drive space, and your Mac will be significantly faster.

NOTE: CleanMyMac is a PAID application.


[URL="http://macpaw.com/cleanmymac"]Click this link to go to the CleanMyMac homepage![/URL]
Click to expand...

Been using it for 18 months. Great app - especially for uninstalling things. Tells you exactly what it's going to do. It's come a long way since inception.

That said, I'm sure GGJstudios will be pasting his anti-CleanMyMac links real soon now. :D
 
Steve's Barber said:
Been using it for 18 months. Great app - especially for uninstalling things. Tells you exactly what it's going to do. It's come a long way since inception.

That said, I'm sure GGJstudios will be pasting his anti-CleanMyMac links real soon now. :D
Click to expand...

OS X is Unix based and does not need any such utilities to run correctly, I'm not anti-CleanMyMac, it's your money, but it could've been better spent on something that's actually useful.

To the thread starter: Depends on what you actually intend to do with your computer.
 
snaky69 said:
OS X is Unix based and does not need any such utilities to run correctly, I'm not anti-CleanMyMac, it's your money, but it could've been better spent on something that's actually useful.

To the thread starter: Depends on what you actually intend to do with your computer.
Click to expand...

Your right. It doesn't need any utilities to run correctly. OS X runs perfectly fine without any cleaning utilities, or something like OnyX. I use CleanMyMac for two primary reasons. It looks for leftover .plist files, and other things left behind by Applications that aren't deleted when you drag the app to the trash, and because it does a darn good job at cleaning out user cache files, logs, unneeded languages in your applications, universal binaries, system junk, and old widgets, iOS updates, and many other things. All that for $29.95? In my opinion, CleanMyMac gives a great bang for your buck. It's really helped my 2007 iMac. In general, if you have an older Macintosh, this app really helps.
 
Last edited:
snaky69 said:
OS X is Unix based and does not need any such utilities to run correctly,
Click to expand...
Who said this utility was necessary for a unix system to run correctly? That said, folks using a puny 64gb SSD might disagree about the merits of removing excess junk (binaries, language files, etc). :D

I mainly use it as an app uninstaller. It beats searching and sifting through plist folders and system libraries for all the crap most apps leave behind. Try manually uninstalling MS-Office "properly" and completely.

Edit: JobsFan said it better. :)
 
I love CleanMyMac too.

I use A LOT of apps but mainly because I need them, such as FTP, Adobe Suit, MS Office, etc, etc, etc.

But "MUST HAVE"... I would highly recommend

  1. Growl
  2. CleanMyMac
  3. MenuTunes
  4. BetterTouchTool
 
OP - my most often used (or very handy when I do use them) apps are:

1Password
Alfred
flip4mac (allows you to view wmv files)
growl
caffine (prevents the screen from sleeping for a period of time)
evernote
omnifocus
perian (allows quicktime to play lots of file types)

Other cool apps you might explore (not knowing what you are going to use the MBP for, but these are neat apps):

MindNode Pro
Timeline 3D
skitch
OmniPlan
Scrivener
Pandorajam (Pandora player which also records)
 
Steve.P.JobsFan said:
If your running OS X Lion, you have to get their Lion-compatible version of Growl, and you have to pay for it. It's 99¢ in the Mac App Store.
Click to expand...

I am on Lion and I still have the previous version and it runs fine with no issues.

----------
jsgreen said:
OP - my most often used (or very handy when I do use them) apps are:

1Password
Alfred
flip4mac (allows you to view wmv files)
growl
caffine (prevents the screen from sleeping for a period of time)
evernote
omnifocus
perian (allows quicktime to play lots of file types)

Other cool apps you might explore (not knowing what you are going to use the MBP for, but these are neat apps):

MindNode Pro
Timeline 3D
skitch
OmniPlan
Scrivener
Pandorajam (Pandora player which also records)
Click to expand...



totally forgot about the following, which are MUST haves for me.

  1. flip4mac
  2. perian
  3. the unarchiver
 
Steve.P.JobsFan said:
CleanMyMac from MacPaw is a MUST. Think of it as CCleaner for Windows, but on steroids, and on OS X. Run CleanMyMac once a week, and you'll save a massive amount of hard drive space, and your Mac will be significantly faster.

NOTE: CleanMyMac is a PAID application.

(Link removed)
Click to expand...

Clean My Mac is worthless and using it can well result in an unbootable system. There are a number of threads on MacRumors from people who have been burned by this app. Don't waste your money.

BTW..do you work for MacPaw?
 
Steve.P.JobsFan said:
I installed the previous one, and it told me that I had to purchase the version in the Mac App Store. I guess I just wasted 99 cents.
Click to expand...

Yea lol. I didnt buy it because of the horrid reviews, so I stuck with the previous version. It still reports everything it did in Leopard.
 
There are no must have apps. I would stay away from most of the "control tools" like iStatPro, gfxcardstatus, fancontrol, etc. Unless of course, you enjoy looking at numbers.

Some apps that I find useful:
Keynote (for presentations, the rest of iWorks I don't like that much)
Dropbox (easy sharing of files, backup)
Enthought (collection of python tools and libraries)
XCode (there might be better options, but it's free, and very solid)

Very short list. Most other apps I use are very specific, like macTeX, mathematica, etc.
 
old-wiz said:
Clean My Mac is worthless and using it can well result in an unbootable system. There are a number of threads on MacRumors from people who have been burned by this app. Don't waste your money.

BTW..do you work for MacPaw?
Click to expand...

No, I don't work for MacPaw. I'm still in school.
 
old-wiz said:
Clean My Mac is worthless and using it can well result in an unbootable system.
Click to expand...
Then these people are idiots for allowing CleanMyMac to do that. :D It clearly shows you what it's about to nuke and gives you plenty of prompts to back out of it.

Over the past 18 months I have "cleaned" no less than 50gb of useless "crap", and removed 100's of apps using its uninstaller and have zero issues.

Have you ever tried it? Download a trial copy and see exactly what it does. You don't have to remove any files it lists - just look at them. No, I don't work for MacPaw either. :)
 
Steve.P.JobsFan said:
CleanMyMac from MacPaw is a MUST.
Click to expand...
You sound like a shill for the company. :rolleyes: One app that I would not recommend, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere, is CleanMyMac. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much.
Steve's Barber said:
Been using it for 18 months.
Click to expand...
While you may not have experienced problems yet, enough people have that it's wise to avoid it, especially since there are free alternatives that have better reputations, such as Onyx.

You really don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Most only remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space. It will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Apps like CMM are capitalizing on the "Windows mentality" that you have to manually tinker with your system to keep it running well. That simply doesn't apply to Mac OS X. Those who understand Mac OS X know that such apps are unnecessary and certainly not worth spending money on, especially when a novice can easily damage their system by using such apps.
Steve's Barber said:
Have you ever tried it?
Click to expand...
Yes, I have.
Steve's Barber said:
and removed 100's of apps using its uninstaller and have zero issues.
Click to expand...
You have an issue that you don't know about. CMM did not remove all files and folders related to those apps, so you still have wasted space on your system. In most cases, app removal software, including CleanMyMac, doesn't do a thorough job of finding and removing files/folders related to deleted apps. For more information, read this.

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:
Totty1987 said:
Could you guys kindly recommend any must-have software/apps for the system as I'm totally new to OSX.

Oh and can anyone recommend any tutorials for OSX as well.
Click to expand...
Helpful Information for Any Mac User
 
Totty1987 said:
Could you guys kindly recommend any must-have software/apps for the system as I'm totally new to OSX.
Click to expand...
Must have varies from person to person. Can you tell us what you're interested in so you can get relevant recommendations rather than just a random list that you might or might not be interested in?
 
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