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Essential programs/downloads for new Mac users?

E

evisa

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 24, 2006
95
0
Southern California
I just bought a new MBP that will be arriving soon, and I just wanted to make a list of the programs or downloads to download onto it.

Is there anything you guys can't live without, that make things (docks, etc.) more customizable or otherwise cooler looking (I'm still a college student, after all)? Thanks.
 
Without going into what I could call work applications, here is a list of small and handy programs I use in my personal life.

These are free to download and use, just Google them:
  • Firefox: Alternative to Safari.
  • gDisk: "Turns your GMail account into a portable hard drive so you can always have your important files accessible accross the Internet."
  • Flip4Mac: Windows Media Components for QuickTime.
  • Transmission: Lightweight BitTorrent client.
  • Azureus: Full featured BitTorrent client.
  • VLC: Convenient media player.
  • HandBrake: DVD to MPEG-4 converter.
  • iSquint: Converts most video files to iPod compliant format.
  • Adium X: Multiple protocol IM client.

I think that's about it for free applications, for me anyway.

Some of the ones you have to pay for:
  • DVD2oneX: DVD ripper.
  • AppZapper: Application uninstaller.
  • Fetch: FTP client.
  • Toast: CD and DVD burning.

As for things that would modify the UI and make it cooler looking as you would put it, there is CandyBar, Stattoo, ShapeShifter and a bunch of others. But I don't use those because I don't see the point of modifying the interface but that's just me.

You don't really have to get Toast if you don't need more than burning data discs, by the way. OS X will do that by itself.
 
Thanks so much, guys. I couldn't find anything else like this. If anyone else has anything... feel free to add; a newbie always needs as much help as can be given.
 
Acqlite: Gnutella File Sharing Program for Mac OS X
http://acqlite.sourceforge.net/


Audacity: Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor http://audacity.sourceforge.net/


CandyBar:Let's you customize icons you usually can't. (Not exactly free..but you're allowed to try it for free :) ) http://www.panic.com/candybar/


CoconutBattery: Shows you only the current charge, and the current capacity of your battery.
http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/


CoreDuoTemp: Lets you monitor the temperature of your Mac. http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/29854


Funny Photographer: Similar to PhotoBooth, it adds several new effects :) http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/imaging_3d/funnyphotographer.html


Image Tricks: Image editor. http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/imaging_3d/imagetricks.html


MacJanitor: http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_hill/macjanitor.html


Solitaire XL: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/games/cards_puzzle/solitairexl.html


Stuffit Expander: http://www.stuffit.com/mac/index.html


TinkerTool: Gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into Mac OS X. http://www.bresink.de/osx/TinkerTool.html


Afloat: A small Cocoa plug-in that adds "Keep Floating", "Always on Top" and "Make Transparent" commands to the Window menu of many Mac applications.http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/22237


Clear Dock: Removes the semi-transparent white background from the
Dockhttp://www.unsanity.com/haxies/cleardock


Synergy: http://wincent.com/a/products/synergy-classic/
 
If you're still in college then the vast range of classic arcade games available to play through MacMAME probably doesn't have the same emotional resonance as it does for people like me who spent a mispent youth with them but.. some of those early, crude first attempts at video games are still the finest examples of the genre - frustrating, impossible, addictive.

And no one should be without a bookmark to JacksonPollock.org
 
^ That is brilliant!


Also, I'd say actually use Bon Echo as opposed to FireFox - it's been optimised for Macs and is uber-fast >_>
 
DZ/015 said:
Don't forget Stuffit for compressed files. An absolute necessity. It is free, also.
Click to expand...

stuffit, first thing that came to mind :)

also, i use RDC (Remote Desktop Connection) to connect to my now defunct headless windows machine and/or "Chicken Of the VNC"
 
OnyX - http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20070
Does what MacJanitor, TinkerTools and other utilities do, but it's free.

wClock - good luck finding it. No longer listed in the normal places. Does something totally magical that Apple software engineers never were able to figure out: shows *both* the time and date at the same time. They should have won a Nobel prize for this coding, since I'm sure it required breaking a few laws of physics to do it.

I second ClearDock.

I did not know that there were any Mac viruses. Good to know that there are some?

The following aren't free, but they're what I install on all new Macs:

LiteSwitch - http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14857
What Apple's app switcher should be like.

USB Overdrive - http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/13443
If you use a mouse, instead of the trackpad, this is the USB driver to use. The amount of additional features is amazing.
 
You gotta have these two games - they are brilliant!

Gridwars - alot of squares, circles and triangles are attacking! - http://gridwars.marune.de/

Quinn - free tetris - http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10063

Also if you have an old copy of Transport Tycoon Deluxe (and love it cause it's a great game!) then you might wanna check out http://openttd.com for an OSX version but you need some of the old files from the windows version...
 
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