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New to mac what to install

B

bodtwo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 24, 2011
14
0
Hi all,

Finally took the plunge and a shiny 27" iMac arrives on Monday with an 8gb upgrade from crucial too.

Never had a mac, so what would you guys recommend I install as must haves? It will be used by me for lightroom and Photoshop and by the rest of the family as a general use computer, web, office, school etc. Will also be running parallels or fusion for windows 7 work access

It will be connecting to a windows network, with a central server running windows home server 2011. We also have couple of PC's in the kids room and plenty of laptops as well as iPads and a couple of iPhones.

So, over to you, what should I be looking at to make the most of the iMac?

Thanks all.
 
Dornblaser said:
I would add Pages (word processing) and the other components of iWorks that you might use Numbers and Keynote.
Click to expand...

Once i get my 27" iMac next month I'm going all Mac however, in your case since you have PCs connected instead of iWork applications you may want to get Microsoft Office 2011 for the Mac from thew Mac App Store.
 
if you read get calibre.

As far as the apps that i particularly use the most are

VLC
Chrome
Kindle
Caffeine
Word
Adium
Transmission if you use bittorrents
Handbrake for MKVs rips
VMWare or Parallels if you are still in need of windows and you don't want to reboot to go to bootcamp
iCloud if is not already installed and make sure you play with iMovie and iPhoto if you weren't planning on it. One of the major reasons why i switched to mac.
 
Perian (plugin) - Universal video Codec.
Lotus Symphony Office (my preferred free Office suite, Oo_Org based)
Burn - DVD Burning software
VirtualBox - Virtualization
 
I'd agree with the other posters on most stuff. Try virtual box with windows first, since it's free; since you've got other PCs you may not need more.

I'd also get Firefox, Evernote and Dropbox. You probably have used them on the PC. And SugarSync. The last three are super handy for cloud access, and give you some free storage.

I think Office on the PC is much better than the Mac version, and ditto with Outlook, but they might be worth it to you, especially in the academic version.

There are also three mac software bundle deals running now that give some good value:

BundleHunt: Launchbar, a really good launcher, macro keyboardie thing. A must have IMHO. Also has a bunch of web design tools, such as HTML5 apps, color matching, etc. Might be something a photo guy could use.

Mupromo: Mellel, great word processor, Toast, Bookends (bibliography tool), Printopia (print from idevices to any printer attached to your iMac), Phoneview (access stuff on the iPhone, iPad)

MacLegion: DevonThink Pro (really nice clipping, database, searching tool), RapidWeaver (excellent expandable web design tool), etc.

I dunno if you're into tagging, but I'd recommend a tagging application if you are. Punakea or Tags are great.

1Password is the best password, serial number, secure note organizer I've seen and it works with tons of other applications like Safari and Firefox.

Airfoil, and Airfoil speakers. Works on PCs and Macs, and allows you to direct audio from the iMac to just about any networked PC, Mac or iPhone or iPad. Really cool for spreading sound around.

Some sort of auto type utility: I like Typinator or Text Expander.

Check out MacUpDate; they have tons of software listed and it's by and large better stuff than the dreck that crowds out everything in Apple's app store. Plus you can download and demo stuff.

And you DON'T need to buy virus software :)
 
Install Words.
It runs great!

Also get VLC or MPlayerX to run unsupported video files.
Final Cut Pro for video editing.
Skype if you want to make online free calls.
Jumpcut to remember alot of ctrl+c you used.
Alfred to search your Mac a lot easier.
 
Take a look at mplayerx from the app store instead of VLC, its pretty nifty and has a tastier skin.
 
All great info, thank you.

Ahem, er, working from home tomorrow, hopefully delivery will be in the morning so I don't stand looking up the drive all day!
 
Word Processors?

Bean, then Libre Office. I still can't believe people us MS crap. Pages is barely tolerable.
 
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