An application that does not run in the background, it scans your computer only when you ask it to do.
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Software downloads for new Mac users?
- Thread starter boateng
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Yep... no one should force u to install stuff just because someone else says its good... After all its *your* machine
Listen to no one, not even me, but VLC is always good
What is more important than what software you should download is the fact that you should avoid downloading ANY software that you don't absolutely have a specific need for.
I would consider the following applications essential: Chrome, 1Password, and VLC, that's it!
I'd consider installing the following in your browser: EFF Privacy Badger, EFF HTTPS Everywhere, and either uBlock Origin or uMatrix
For myself, I also need productivity applications like Office 365, and my preferred web development stack and applications.
The things that you should NEVER add to a Mac are many of the useless utilities that by now have likely already been listed in this discussion. The Mac OS is a great OS out of the box without ruining it with a bunch of completely unnecessary utilities that rob performance, introduce vulnerabilities, and cause instability. The types of utilities to avoid at all costs are any type of antivirus, security software, app launchers, indexers, downloaders, enhancers, cleaners, monitors, etc. Essentially, if it adds an icon to the macOS menubar, adds a LaunchAgent, LaunchDaemon, StartupItem, KEXT, or background process, then you should likely AVOID IT.
Safari or Chome?
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What's VLC?Yep... no one should force u to install stuff just because someone else says its good... After all its *your* machine
Listen to no one, not even me, but VLC is always good
Yes, it is. I wouldn't use anything else. Practice safe computing and run MalwareBytes time to time.
I prefer Safari. It is subjective of course, I tend to avoid any Google products.
VLC is a media player, one of the best in its category.
I like caffeine, I use it if I run a program that you do not want to be disturbed or interrupted like video export/conversion.
For the rest: Everybody has different needs and sees different apps as essential. First you have to find out your needs.
My suggestion: Start using the mac as it is. I agree with a poster before, that one should not install a lot of apps "just in case". you would probably find after a year that you never used most of those. If you run into a situation where you would maybe benefit from an additional app, a short internet search should point you in the right direction.
I've gotten a lot of use out of HoudahSpot for searching my Mac. Yes, it's possible to wrangle Finder into doing what you want, but I find that a headache.
There are many ways to rename files, yes, but I've found that as a batch renamer, Name Mangler suits my needs perfectly.
I often want/need a plain-text editor, and when I do, it's Bean or Textwrangler.
There are many ways to rename files, yes, but I've found that as a batch renamer, Name Mangler suits my needs perfectly.
I often want/need a plain-text editor, and when I do, it's Bean or Textwrangler.
Have them all I would add PathFinder an excellent Finder replacement well worth the money, DefaultFolderX, and if the OP ever needs to do any simple video editing then Avidemux or a straight up copy from one video container to another works great for that as well. For sound XLD cannot be beat, NameMangler and Name Changer work well for bulk renaming of files. ClipMenu if needing a clipboard manager/snippet paste when using text and of course iStat Menus for system monitoring have used all of them for years and they work well for the purpose.
Edit: Not sure ATM if I seen Carbon Copy Cloner in the lists but well worth it to have as well.
Edit2: Hard to believe I left out TextWrangler.
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Capto for Mac is great for screenshots and videos. Notability for note taking is great.
Ya, its expensive. I bought it years ago and having been using it ever since. Daily. Its essential to my workflow. I couldn't imagine not having it. And No, its not confusing to use at all.
Wait and get it in a bundle. This one was just available over Black Friday.
https://www.parallels.com/black-friday-bundle/
My favorite apps:
1Password
Parallels
Text Expander
PDF Pen
Better Touch Tool
CopyClip
Desktop Tidy
Cloud App
Dropbox
WhatSize
VLC
Bartender
Hey, great list. Do you mind clarifying something for me about 'Blotter'? It looks like something that would be very useful for me. But when I was going through the customer reviews in the App Store, there was one comment that said, "App has no support for iCloud. Displays only calendars that are stored locally". I wasn't quite sure what this meant. My calendar app syncs to my work calendar (exchange) among other things. It is very important for me that the app would work with this. Could you throw some light on this, if you could, please?
If you don't need "Mac App Store - specific" features (mainly iCloud access, iCloud sync and Handoff), download from developers website, because it often happens that Mac App Store version is outdated (like in cause of HyperDock). And of course, some features are banned from Mac App Store, so another idea to get it from developers website.
But, in Mac App Store works Family Sharing. I have written article about it, if you are living with some other Mac users, it is really interesting and you can save really a lot of money by sharing paid apps (it's 100% legal).
Here my article (in english):
https://comp-blog.com/index.php/2016/05/25/apples-family-sharing-vs-in-app-purchases/
But, in Mac App Store works Family Sharing. I have written article about it, if you are living with some other Mac users, it is really interesting and you can save really a lot of money by sharing paid apps (it's 100% legal).
Here my article (in english):
https://comp-blog.com/index.php/2016/05/25/apples-family-sharing-vs-in-app-purchases/
Sorry for the late answer. I was away.
Blotter displays the contect of the calendar app. It means that if your calendar app syncs it should be displayed in Blotter.
Hey, no worries about the delay. And thank you for clarifying. I guess I will download it now.
For anything like that I use Google Chrome it has the most secure version of that piece of junk built-in, that said cannot remember the last time I needed it as most sites will serve up html5 version of a video now when it is not installed system wide.
Oh so whenever I want to watch YouTube videos....just watch them on google chrome?
I normally use safari as my browser