This is a bit of a long post but I wanted to give everyone an idea of what kind of computer user I am so I can maybe get some better answers. If you could care less about my computing background I've put my actual question in bold 
My wife and I are moving to a house soon (out of an apartment) and I want a good, do it all laptop to use around the house and while traveling. I have used Macs before, from System 7 on up to Tiger (on my own Intel box no less) but I'm still a long time Windows user. My current desktop system is a 3Ghz P4 with 1GB RAM. I'm also a long time Linux user and have a PIII 800 desktop system sitting next to my Windows machine. The two share the keyboard, video, mouse with a KVM. I'm very happy with my Windows XP system and don't currently have plans to replace it in the next year. It's easy to use (the idea of it just works applies here) and I don't have any trouble with spyware/viruses on my own PC.
I used to use Linux as my primary desktop system and although I love the power and flexibility of Linux, I got sick of not being able to do the day to day things I wanted to do...simply. iTunes was actually the start of why I went back to using Windows as my primary OS. That and all the digital stuff I wanted to work with like video editing, DVD creation, digital cameras and camcorders. I've since put Linux to work as a server and it works perfect for file sharing and remote access.
So like I said, I want a good do it all laptop. I really want the ease of Windows but I also would like to have a portable Linux system. After thinking about it for a while I decided that OS X was the obvious choice. I don't have to dual boot and I won't have any trouble getting wireless network working (another Linux gripe of mine).
I've decided on the 14" iBook because of the price, superdrive, long battery life and size. Even though the resolution is the same between the 12" and the 14" I think the slightly larger one will fit my lap better . Also, 1024x768 on a 12" screen just doesn't seem enjoyable to me. Anyway, I like the fact it comes with a firewire port, two USB 2.0 ports, dvd/cd burner, built in wireless and bluetooth and could be hooked up to a TV with the right cables. I'll primarily use it for web browsing, chat and iTunes but I also want to be able to do some web work, video editing and DVD creation on the system. I realize it's just an iBook but I think it'll get the job done well enough.
My question for everyone is, what kind of free software utilities do people use and where do you get them? What other sites are out there like this one? I'm definitely a power user and my day job is that of system/network administrator and webmaster. I'm interested in utilities like network/port scanners, wifi scanners, bittorrent clients, DVD copying such as DVD shrink for Windows (not for illegal stuff believe it or not), VPN clients, remote desktop, GPS and what ever else you can think of. The availability of these types of programs will help me decide if I want to replace my windows box as well
My wife and I are moving to a house soon (out of an apartment) and I want a good, do it all laptop to use around the house and while traveling. I have used Macs before, from System 7 on up to Tiger (on my own Intel box no less) but I'm still a long time Windows user. My current desktop system is a 3Ghz P4 with 1GB RAM. I'm also a long time Linux user and have a PIII 800 desktop system sitting next to my Windows machine. The two share the keyboard, video, mouse with a KVM. I'm very happy with my Windows XP system and don't currently have plans to replace it in the next year. It's easy to use (the idea of it just works applies here) and I don't have any trouble with spyware/viruses on my own PC.
I used to use Linux as my primary desktop system and although I love the power and flexibility of Linux, I got sick of not being able to do the day to day things I wanted to do...simply. iTunes was actually the start of why I went back to using Windows as my primary OS. That and all the digital stuff I wanted to work with like video editing, DVD creation, digital cameras and camcorders. I've since put Linux to work as a server and it works perfect for file sharing and remote access.
So like I said, I want a good do it all laptop. I really want the ease of Windows but I also would like to have a portable Linux system. After thinking about it for a while I decided that OS X was the obvious choice. I don't have to dual boot and I won't have any trouble getting wireless network working (another Linux gripe of mine).
I've decided on the 14" iBook because of the price, superdrive, long battery life and size. Even though the resolution is the same between the 12" and the 14" I think the slightly larger one will fit my lap better
. Also, 1024x768 on a 12" screen just doesn't seem enjoyable to me. Anyway, I like the fact it comes with a firewire port, two USB 2.0 ports, dvd/cd burner, built in wireless and bluetooth and could be hooked up to a TV with the right cables. I'll primarily use it for web browsing, chat and iTunes but I also want to be able to do some web work, video editing and DVD creation on the system. I realize it's just an iBook but I think it'll get the job done well enough.My question for everyone is, what kind of free software utilities do people use and where do you get them? What other sites are out there like this one? I'm definitely a power user and my day job is that of system/network administrator and webmaster. I'm interested in utilities like network/port scanners, wifi scanners, bittorrent clients, DVD copying such as DVD shrink for Windows (not for illegal stuff believe it or not), VPN clients, remote desktop, GPS and what ever else you can think of. The availability of these types of programs will help me decide if I want to replace my windows box as well
