>>>>(Multi-Protocol messenger app)
Adium
>>>>FeedBurner (Offline feed reader)
NetNewsWire
>>>>Outlook (Do you prefer outlook or Apple's 'Mail'?)
F*** outlook. Mail is pretty good. Some very heavy email users look for a few more power features. I really recommend Mail though, because it is integrated with Address Book, which is integrated with everything else that is Mac.
>>>>CuteFTP (FTP Client)
Cyberduck or Transmit
>>>>>>(Text/Code editor)
Ahh, the editor wars. My personal fav by a mile is TextMate. BBedit and TextWrangler always get mentioned. There are a few others. YMMV
>>>>>> Are there any Finder (File-Browsing) alternatives?
Good question. Finder is one of the key weaknesses of OS X, to my mind. I haven't experimented with replacement apps such as PathFinder or XFile. You could check them out. Also, Default Folder X is not a replacement but it does much needed functionality to the save and open dialogues. Finally, one of QuickSilver, Butler, or Launchbar are absolutely necessary to replace a lot of the functionality that Finder is supposed to have, with something that actually satisfies. I use QS, but it's because that's what I know, it fits like an old shoe now. I would recommend at least trying Butler first to new users, because Butler is supported, whereas QS gets more ragged by the day.
>>>>Are there any programs that let me move the cursor over a point on the screen and get the hex for the color?
ColorZilla is a Firefox plugin that does this for the browser. Don't know about a system-wide app
>>>>> What do you use to burn CD's and DVD's?
The built in Disk Utility is usually adequate. (Apps->Utilities->Disk Utility)
>>>>> What iLife apps do your recommend? Do you prefer any alternative apps to these?
I don't use it (Edit: except iDvd, on rare occasion). I do, however, like the iWork suite. Much more bang for the buck than the archaic and arcane world of MacOffice.
Also, do a forum search for apps. There must be 500 "favorite app" threads. Let's not make another one here.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/66336/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/58101/
EDIT: Almost forgot! The reason I wanted to reply to this post: my routine for setting up a new Leopard that I'm personally going to be using. These are snips from a README file that I have stored on this very issue.
>>cat Notes_On_A_Clean_Install.txt
########## NOTES ON A CLEAN INSTALL OF OS X ########
##### TERMINAL AND BASH ####
Any complete install should include configuring your Terminal.app to load up Bash by default, and then editing your Bash profiles.
>>>>>> $ chsh -s /bin/bash
>>>>>> $ open /etc/profile (or, if TextMate is installed, $ mate /etc/profile)
>>>>>> $ open ~/.bash_profile
..
###### BASH CONFIGURATION FILES SNIP #####
/etc/profile
/etc/profile is the global system configuration for bash which controls the
environmental variables and programs that are to be run when bash is executed
[TRANSLATION: /etc/profile contains variables and programs that are
executed for every user who runs bash]. If you are an MS-DOS user, /etc/profile
is equivalent to autoexec.bat.
/etc/bashrc
/etc/bashrc is the global system configuration for bash which controls the aliases
and functions to be run when bash is executed [TRANSLATION: /etc/bashrc
contains aliases ("shortcuts" to long commands) as well as pieces of code that are
executed when they are called for]. /etc/bashrc is sometimes omitted, and its
contents placed into /etc/profile.
~/.bash_profile
~/.bash_profile is the local system configuration for bash which controls
the environment variables and programs that are run when bash is executed.
These environment variables and functions are specific only to the user, and they
do not affect anyone else. This file is executed right after the global configuration
file /etc/profile is executed [TRANSLATION: Unlike /etc/profile which
affects all users, ~/.bash_profile affects only the user running bash].
~/.bashrc
~/.bashrc is the local system configuration for bash which controls the aliases
and functions to be run when bash is executed. These aliases and functions are
specific only to the user, and they do not affect anyone else. This file is executed
right after the global configuration file /etc/bashrc is executed [TRANSLATION:
Unlike /etc/bashrc which affects all users, ~/.bashrc affects only the user
running bash].
##### PRODUCTIVITY ####
* Set up your default application spaces.
* Bind mouse buttons to expose buttons if you have a mouse and buttons to spare.
* Bind QS, Activity Monitor to Dock
* Install FireFox plugins: ColorZilla, MeasureIt, FireBug, FoxMarks, DuplicateTab, and TamperData
* Install Quicksilver plugins, set up function-key triggers for common apps, setup Clipboard History, Google Search, and Bookmark Search triggers
##### SECURITY AND BACKUPS ####
* Consider activating FileVault in the Security Prefs Pane, but only after reading how to back up FileVault home directories using Time Machine, and only after you have moved all your media and non-sensitive files out of your home directory. (Basically, TimeMachine goes from automatic-and-no-hassles to manual-and-a-hassle).
NOTE TO NON-MASON USERS READING THIS: Only use FileVault if you need it. Encryption is no joke; it puts you at elevated risk of data loss and makes many simple tasks into difficult ones.
* Use Secure Erase in Security Pref Pane
* Setup TimeMachine
* The Time Machine sparsebundle must be mounted at login to guarantee that ~ will be backed up on Logout (FileVault only)
* Mount all my network volumes as login items in Account Pref Pane
* Lockscreen on screensaver option (Security P.P.)
* Screensaver after 5 minutes of inactivity
* Logout after 30 minutes of inactivity
##### NOTES ON SYSTEMS INTEGRATED WITH DARK GENIUS #####
If the system is always connected to dark genius, you can use it as a nameserver.
System Preference Pane -> Network -> Select the relevant connection
DNS SERVER: 192.168.123.100
Else you can manually configure the list of domains that you want to override.
Anything in /etc/hosts will be used in place of any upstream nameserver.
>>>>>> $ sudo open /etc/hosts
add the line
192.168.123.100 dg.krm
To the file. This means that mac's built in DNS resolver will resolve dg.krm to this ip address.
Unfortunately, resolver won't accept wildcards, so we can't use
*.dg.krm. Instead, we have to manually add each subdomain. Here's a list that is current as of 7/03/2008. Each time a new subdomain is added, you will have to add it here.
################
Finally, these apps go on every mac I use.
>>> ls /Volumes/Masons_Mac_Apps_For_Clean_Installs
Adium_1.2.3.dmg
Cyberduck-2.8.4.dmg
Documentation
Firefox 2.0.0.12.dmg
Growl-1.1.2.dmg
Install-Subversion-on-Mac-OS-X.html
Nocturne.1.0.4.zip
Notes_On_A_Clean_Install.txt
QUICKSILVER_INSTALL_README_FIRST.txt
Quicksilver.tar.bz2
Subversion-1.4.4.pkg.zip
TextMate_1.5.7.dmg
TextWrangler_2.3.dmg
Transmission-1.06.dmg
VMware-Fusion-1.1.0-62573.dmg
ccc-3.0.1.dmg
vlc-0.8.6e.dmg
witch.dmg
)
noob)
