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Got myself a new Macbook! Now I need to get myself some stuff to put on it!

L

lukekarts

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2009
155
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I've not yet decided on iWork or Office Mac... is iWork now fully compatible with Office? If it is I'm gonna download the trial version ASAP.

But beyond that what else should I be looking for? My brain has gone dead after all the file transfers, so I've literally just installed MSN Messenger, Football Manager and VLC player + codecs.

Do I need any antivirus software as well?

What are the essential apps?
 
1) Do not use Office for Mac; it sucks. iWork is great and yes you can save, etc with the .doc extension.

2) Do not use MSN messenger, such aMSN instead

3) No you do not need anti-virus software. If you do not know what your doing and choose to install and use it, you could really screw your system over. There is no need for it on a mac, viruses are not known to exist. Trojans do, however. Just be careful and keep backups.

4) Use MRoogle to search the forums for "essential" and "best" software. There are many threads on this, some recent, some not but still good.

With common questions as yours, please search first. It upsets/angers some members of the form when people do not search for common questions. Have fun with your new Mac!
 
Macs come standard with a lot of great software in my opinion!

All that I have installed is:

Handbrake (DVD ripper)
VLC (media player for Handbrake use)
Perian (audio and video codecs for movies)

Also get a backup drive to use with Time Machine!
 
Perian is a must and is very easy to install. It allows QuickTime to play a ton of different formats.

Flip4Mac is nice to have because it plays WMV files within QuickTime.

AppCleaner is great for when you want to remove an app. It will make sure that all the files associated with that app are removed as well.

FireFox is a good backup browser to have on hand just in case a website tells you that you cannot use Safari with it.

HandBreak is great to rip DVDs to your HD in many different formats.

iWork is the best option for an office suite. I once had Office Mac on my machine but found out that it is useless and runs too slowly. iWork has a lot of great features that Office does not plus it can open and save in Office formats.

OnyX is nice to have when you feel like your system is slowing down a bit. Let is run and it will clean up log files that are no longer needed and you will gain some speed back.

The Unarchiver is another great app to have. It will unarchive almost any format available!
 
i Highly recommend downloading SMCfancontrol.

I used this program to control my fan speed on my old macbook pro for over 4 years. The fans run around 1999 rpm standard and I boosted mine up to 3500 rpm.

For reference: I installed this program on my brand new unibody macbook pro. And after changing the internal fan speed from 1999 rpm up to 3500rpm I noticed the inside temp decrease from 62 degrees celsius (143.6 degrees fahrenheit) to 38 degrees celsius (100.4 degrees fahrenheit) within minutes.

**That's a 43 degree fahrenheit drop!!!!**

Trust me, your lap will be much more comfortable even after hours of use.

download here (it's FREE)
http://homepage.mac.com/holtmann/eidac/software/smcfancontrol2/index.html

Also note:
I've had a few friends skeptical of downloading this because they are afraid it will wear their fans to fast. While I will agree it's going to shorten your fans life span, like I said before; my old macbook pro ran this program at 3500 rpms for 4 years and i used it for at least 4 or 5 hours a day all through college. My fans were still going strong when I sold it.
 
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In regards to sn0warmy's post, I would be very, very careful with SMCfancontrol. It is a good app, and it does do what it says it will, but I have a very tough time getting it off of my system. It's not as easy as one might think, and you have to do a bit of research to figure out where your fan speeds need to be at.

This gets a little too involved for most people, especially a new mac owner.

So, with that said, I highly recommend that you do not install SMCfancontrol.
 
jeremybuff said:
So, with that said, I highly recommend that you do not install SMCfancontrol.
Click to expand...

Why? When I uninstalled it all I had to do is delete it out of my Applications folder and that worked just fine. And it's not like it will hurt your computer. It will still use defaults for raising the fan speeds as the temp. rises. All it does is overrides the lowest speed. I don't understand your point.
 
RonCarr said:
Why? When I uninstalled it all I had to do is delete it out of my Applications folder and that worked just fine. And it's not like it will hurt your computer. It will still use defaults for raising the fan speeds as the temp. rises. All it does is overrides the lowest speed. I don't understand your point.
Click to expand...

My point is that the program left other files on my computer that dragging it to the trash did not delete. I had to go find them, even a program like AppCleaner did not find them. This software is deeper than other software.

Edit: I used it about a year ago, tried using it 6 months ago, and around 4 months ago. If there is a new version out things may be different. I just know what happened to me.
 
fans, etc

With regular use, your new MacBook will hardly be taxed. I regularly use iTunes, iPhoto, iWork, Safari, and occasionally Office 2008. My fan rarely spins above 2000 rpm. It also dissipates heat very well, even when on my lap. If you aren't doing processor intensive tasks, you won't need something like the fan control software mentioned above. To extend the life of my laptop, (I had a PowerBook for 7 years of heavy use, and it still works fine. Just bought a MacBook), I bought a notebook cooler, which I use when my laptop is sitting on my desk, connected to an external monitor in extended desktop mode.
 
RonCarr said:
Perian is a must and is very easy to install. It allows QuickTime to play a ton of different formats.

Flip4Mac is nice to have because it plays WMV files within QuickTime.

FireFox is a good backup browser to have on hand just in case a website tells you that you cannot use Safari with it.

HandBreak is great to rip DVDs to your HD in many different formats.

iWork is the best option for an office suite. I once had Office Mac on my machine but found out that it is useless and runs too slowly. iWork has a lot of great features that Office does not plus it can open and save in Office formats.

The Unarchiver is another great app to have. It will unarchive almost any format available!
Click to expand...

+1 all of this programs.

I would only add VLC for those stubborn files that WT keeps refusing to play, launchbar or quicksilver (can not live without LB), skype for overseas communication and videochat with people which don't have macs, adium for all other IM needs, and transmission for torrents.
 
cdcastillo said:
I would only add VLC for those stubborn files that WT keeps refusing to play
Click to expand...

Definitely VLC. The only reason I did not have it on my list is because he said he already had it installed. I do not have to use it much since installing Perian but it is always nice to have just in case!
 
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