Cool list, I was looking for something like cashbox. I had previously used an excel sheet, but I’m not too fond of the Mac version.

keepass is a good alternative to iSafe… I used it on windows, and was glad there was an OSX version, it opened up my file w/o a problem.

CHECK IT OUT

I’m looking for an MS-Access replacement…something that can import .mdb files and .dbf files. ANy suggestions?

Command+shift+4 lets you take a screen shot of a selected area. Hitting space after doing command+shift+4 will change the icon to a camera and will take a screen shot of whatever window you hover over. No need for paparazzi.

Cool mac apps, always loved how beautiful and useful they are. Any similar/replacement apps for Windows XP?

Matt you are so cool I wish I was as awesome as you. Much love.

Hey, thanks for the list. I recently switched as well, but already had 4 or 5 of these. I use notebook by circus ponies, so i don’t need sidenote, but I’m going to check out cashbox! I was just thinking about trying something like that yesterday.

Did you figure out the screen capture? I think Kakaze was trying to tell you that you can capture a selected area of a window. After you click Command-Shift-4 , you get a cross-hairs icon. Now, drag the cross hairs into a selection you want.

Very nice list. You should check “Imagewell”, which is my favourite small screenshot-and-imaging-tool. And you can replace “Paparazzi” by the “Pearl Crescent Screen Saver”-Extension which does exactly the same, but inside Firefox.

The thing that Paparazzi does that the system tools don’t for grabbing website screenshots is that it can capture the entire web page, even when it’s longer than the viewport. The Screen Grab extension for Firefox works well too in that regard. Otherwise you’re left with multiple screen or window grabs and then pasting them together.

Maybe you should also consider giving Opera Browser a try since you are testing new stuff ;)

No Textmate?????????

Nothing is comparable to that on the windows/linux sides.

Try Xtorrent instead of Transmission, it’s a hell of a lot better, although still in Beta. Def. one of the best new mac apps.

Good list, but realize that there are just as good or better (free) Windows alternatives to every single Mac-only program you mentioned, so I’m not really seeing the “worth it” or the “made my life easier” element to this equation.

I hate M$ as much as the next person, but as long as you download random crap and you use Firefox consistently, the operating system is relatively safe. (Take it from me).

I found Mac too simplistic when I messed around with one of my friend’s a while back.

Please don’t use opera. Yeah.. nice list and all… i don’t own a mac, oh well… but i only reccomend opera mini if you have mobile web… please dont use anything but firefox for web browsing,,, pc or mac (sorry safari :( )

No, camino is the best web browser for the mac. Camino. ‘nuff said.

Hi, i se Safari for now, but opera was really great on PC plataform. What about FireFox??? well i never could try it simply don’t like me. I’ve a question for anybody, do you know an app to use with industry projects (packaging section in special). Thanks great post, i love try apps.

I’m sorry but as a new convert I’ve realized that there’s really no substitute for uTorrent. It surprises me that there are really no full-featured torrent clients for the mac (I don’t count Azareus because it’s a java-hog). Transmission is ok, but it’s being banned on a lot of the trackers I use.

I also love firefox on my PC, but it really lags on OS X. I like Camino and Opera.

“there are just as good or better (free) Windows alternatives to every single Mac-only program you mentioned”

False. There is nothing that comes close to the ease of use of Handbrake for going from DVD to a video file and Adium is leaps and bounds above Trillian (the closest thing to it on Win).

“I found Mac too simplistic when I messed around with one of my friend’s a while back.”

The Mac can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. People who say something like the above clearly have no idea what they’re talking about and have never really taken the time to learn anything about a Mac.

Camino > Firefox on OS X, fact.

Mail.app + iCal >>> Thunderbird on OS X. Throw out the training wheels dude!

And if you think of using Sunbird instead of iCal…

Little Snitch, the fantastic port blocking app – how could this be missed off the list?

So we get bunch of apps that run on many OS’es (Firefox, Thunderbird, VLC) besides OSX, niche-apps (Vienna, Paparazzi etc.), apps that offer functionality already present in some other systems (Sidenote, iSafe), an app that costs money, and in exchange it offers basic functionality that REALLY should be in the OS itself (Candybar), and which is already present in just about every other system other than OS X. Only worthwhile apps in that list are Handbrake and Delicious Library, and those two are not interesting enough to warrant a switch to a whole new OS.

Do I REALLY have to pay $12.95 so I could change icons in Finder? Is that app a good reason to switch to OS X? IMO such an apps are a reason to stay AWAY from OS X! I can have that same functionality for free in other systems, without having to install third-party apps!

Typing this on Mac Mini running 10.4, BTW.

I find it funny when people like Fred say such things as liking Windows as long as they don’t do too much, but don’t use Mac because “as they say” Mac can’t do too much. OXYMORON. I use both platforms and reality is Mac is just a more efficient, stable platform, and at least 4 years in advance than Windows and for the most part has similar programs. Reminds me of the difference between a Porsche and a stationwagon that breaks down daily. And the Mac is also cost effective, in many circumstances, less expensive than PC. Plus if so desired, can use Windows via VPC, not the best, or newer Intel Macs also run Windows.

Another reason to switch to a Mac and OS X is Microsoft’s increasingly hostile licensing! With Windows Vista, they’re not only doing the same “Windows activation” they started with XP – but you’re only going to be allowed to transfer your license 1 time to another computer. After that, you have to buy another copy of Vista to stay legal!

What happens if you’re like most PC users who swap video cards, motherboards and CPUs every year or two in their clone systems? Change too much and Vista counts it as a new PC. So you can only upgrade so much before buying another copy of the OS? No thanks!

“Another reason to switch to a Mac and OS X is Microsoft’s increasingly hostile licensing!”

Well, compared to Linux, OS X has also “hostile licensing”. And compared to Vista’s, licensing, Linux is paradise. So why not go there instead?

The list is good, but NetNewsWire (Ranchero.com) is better for RSS feeds, although I am looking forward to Mail’s ability to do this in Leopard.DVDpedia and Bookpedia (Bruji.com) are way better than Delicious Library much more functionality, and the Front Row like interface is what I really use to launch my movies. I’ll be checking out cash box right now.

nobodys mentioned open office yet !!

true, Candybar functionality should be part of the OS. Not that we can’t change the icon manually, it’s just a hassle.

“Well, compared to Linux, OS X has also “hostile licensing”. And compared to Vista’s, licensing, Linux is paradise. So why not go there instead?”

Yes, Why not? Why doesn’t every one switch to linux? It’s free and a licensing paradise, so why are majority of the users still on Windows/OS X?

You know there is something called compromise when people make a decision, this is no different.

Don’t use Transmit. Use Cyberduck instead, it’s free and much better!

cyberduck.ch

You didn’t mention Quicksilver. An essential and free app that finds and launches any application – and MUCH more.

TypeIt4Me – speeds up typing by several hundred percent! Use it to make shortcuts for any frequently used text, your name, address, greetings, anything.

ComicLife – Can anything be more fun?

Yeah I like Ubuntu, it’s coming nice. But i think this blog is about Mac apps so windows and linux out.

Very cool, love most products. Mayb I also suggest VoodooPad? A simple idea, a notepad with hyper links. I write my posts on it, rough draft websites with it. Very neat.

MacJanitor, even though I am sure everyone uses it.

Bittorent is cool, Carracho is even cooler. I’ve aachieve download speeds I never knew were possible.

SMARTReporter. Not an essential but a life savior that sometimes can detect hard drive failures before they happen.

The Unarchiver for all thes weird compression format.

And finally, Camino as an extra browser. A light version of Firefox I use to browse on google while I use Firefox for everything else.

To answer Stefan’s question about a replacement for MS Access, you can try using Filemaker (made by a company owned by Apple, available from www.filemaker.com). To import mdb (Access) files, you can use an app called FMPro Migrator, available from www.fmpromigrator.com. Hope this helps!

I don’t think I could get through a day without GraphicConverter. Call it ‘poor man’s PhotoShop, or ‘what iRFanView would be if it didn’t suck’; but once you dig a little bit through the features, you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish with this little wonder.

Great list, got some cool stuff that will help a bunch…I was hoping to find something comparable to publisher. That’s the only app that I miss since I have switched over to mac. I used it for calendars, someone advised me to get printshop and I hate it. Any ideas? Thanks for the help!

“Well, compared to Linux, OS X has also ‘hostile licensing’. And compared to Vista’s, licensing, Linux is paradise. So why not go there instead?”

Because to ANYONE who is not a GEEK, LINUX is HOSTILE!

Linux will NEVER—repeat, N-E-V-E-R – be easy enough for 98% of computer users.

To the damn ENTITLEMENT GENERATION, anything that is not FREE is HOSTILE…geez….

Command-Shift-4 Spacebar lets you select windows, dialog boxes, the menu bar, or the dock to save as a PNG file.

There is also a very nifty little app to design webpages and blogs called RapidWeaver.

There’s also one of the most amazing graphics programs I have ever used: Studio Artist. Not free of course, but well worth every penny and more.

Try out cha-ching for keeping track on your money. Its glossy and good looking. It has a set of nice features as iSight integration for taking pictures of the stuff you buy, keywords for the transactions, “drawers” that work like playlists/smart playlists in iTunes. Try it out, although its shareware….its definatley worth the 15 dollars that they want for full version.

“Yes, Why not? Why doesn’t every one switch to linux? It’s free and a licensing paradise, so why are majority of the users still on Windows/OS X?”

Well, if OS X is so great, why do 90+% of computer-uses still use Windows? And you conveniently lump OS X/Windows together, and then proclaim that Linux sucks because OS X and Windows combined have more users. By same logic I could say that OS X sucks because Windows and Linux combined have more users than OS X. And it seems to me that Linux and OS X have more or less the same amout of users on the desktop.

“Because to ANYONE who is not a GEEK, LINUX is HOSTILE!

Linux will NEVER—repeat, N-E-V-E-R – be easy enough for 98% of computer users.”

You know, “never” is an awfully long time. My wife has used Windows, Linux and OS X. She had least amount of problems in Linux. She finds many things in OS X to be too hard and inconvenient when compared to Linux. And she’s not a computer-guru, she is just a typical user who want’s to get her job done.

Few years ago Linux WAS too hard for average Joe. But that has changed fast. Hell, it’s not too hard for my neighbour. It’s not too hard for my wife. By and large, things “Just Work”. What things are “too hard” in Linux? Installation of apps? It’s alreay easier than on Windows or OS X. Many of the apps listed here also run on Linux, and they are just as easy to use there as they are on OS X. So what is the problem here?

My wife did use Linux few years ago. And back then things were too hard for her, and she wanted to get rid of it quick. Fast forward few years, and things have progressed A LOT, and she’s happily using Linux.

“To the damn ENTITLEMENT GENERATION, anything that is not FREE is HOSTILE…geez….”

No, the things that I find hostile are EULA’s that take two hours and a lawyer to go through. EULA’s that say stuff like “we reserve the right to change the terms of this EULA at our whim. We deny you the right to give copies of this software to others. We deny you the right to modify this software. We deny you the right to run this software hardware of your choice”. In short: EULA’s that are full of things that I’m denied to do, instead of being about what I CAN do.

Why is Vista’s EULA too restrictive whereas OS X’s is not? And if less restrictive licenses are a good thing, then you can’t deny the fact that Linux has less restrictive license than OS X does.

I use both OS X and Linux. And I think it would be a good thing if more people used more than one OS. But it seems to me that among Mac-user we have this blind zealotry, where everything non-Mac is automatically crap. The biggest reason why I feel like moving away from Mac is the crowd of people who use Macs. Linux-users are quite often labeled as “zealots”. And they might have their share of tthose. But it seems to me that the amount of zealotry in the Mac-community is A LOT more common than it is elsewhere.

Warning: This is a shameless plug!

I just wanted to push that ForgEdit programmers text editor has one feature that probably benefits switching progammers, namely customizable key bindings. Being a switching programmer myself, this is the one feature i miss most on other editors.

One great, though not free [$89], app is the virtual machine Parallels. Talk about making switching easy, as well as easing you through the learning curve for moving to a new OS! I’m happily running WindowsXPsp2 and Novell SLED10 Linux desktop under Parallels on my MacBookPro. Next, I think, will be OpenSolaris. Why not have it all? ;-)

Another indespensible, but not free [$40], app that a MacOSX user needs if they’re also a Palm [or Windows Mobile or PSP] user is the Missing Sync by Mark/Space.

And if you’re editing CSS files, in addition to TextMate for PHP & other programming, you might try MacRabbit.

ImageWell is cool, but there’s a program to use with a lot of pictures, and drop shadows or cool frames?

What about Appzaper (no free)

I never knew about hitting space after command+shift+4. That’s great, thanks Kakaze.

I’m going to be checking out Cashbox as well… Glad I stopped by.

Thanks.

Hi everyone. Great discussion.

You might find “Little Secrets” to be a great and inexpensive alternative to iSafe. I have used it for years, and found it reliable, simple, and safe.

I use the built-in screen capture mode discussed in earlier postings for screen captures, but as mentioned earlier, this will not work for pages that require scrolling.

So try out the “print to PDF” functionality in Mac OS X for doing things like saving webpages, PayPal/eBay pages, and the like. The print to PDF feature is system-wide, works beautifully, and not only that, but the files are text-searchable in Preview or A. Reader, and Spotlight indexes them instantly also, making them super easy to find later on (excellent for eBay auction descriptions).

a nice list of apps. one suggestion: if you like transmission, try xtorrent (http://www.xtorrent.com) ..

it’s by the guy who made aquasition. he makes some of the most gorgeous, well designed ‘mac like’ apps out.

xtorrent is in beta, but even so it works pretty well, looks great, & pioneers new features like inbuilt torrent search engine, web browser, and integration with itunes etc. surely, transmission’s days are numbered.

sorry if i sound overly enthusiastic, but i really do think you should give it a go!

x

oops, i ment ‘acquisition’ .......

xx

Nice article. I use several of the apps mentioned.

Here are a few that I find indispensable! A few are shareware, but reasonably priced.

Default Folder let’s you set a default document folder for each application you use. It also let’s you easily select folders in Open and Save dialogue boxes. You can click on open Finder Widows and automatically switch to it. or Option-Click to copy the name of an existing file to a new document. I can’t work without it.

For fast keyboard driven launching and searching that works as a good augmentation to Spotlight, try LaunchBar.

Onyx is free and runs all the standard UNIX maintenance scripts… without using Terminal. It clears cache files, etc. and even lets you tweak a few interface elements.

A nice, always available iTunes controller is Synergy.

SlimBatteryMonitor (free) adds a cute little battery gauge to your menu bar. it’s much nicer that the stock Apple battery monitor.

If you connect different external monitors, with different resolutions, to your MacBook Pro, take a look at SwitchRes X.

if you use lots of fonts, FontCard groups all your font families together and makes all your font menus heirarchical.

There are also some cool games and utilities that work with the motion sensor that’s built into every recent Mac laptop! There are some links on the Apple web site.

Welcome to the Mac Universe!

Openoffice is the free open source Microsoft Office replacement. Does it do all that MS Office does? No, and if you have been say “borrowing” somebodies copy of MS office then you need do it no more.

And it does do databases so it is also a replacement for MS Access.

I’d go for XTorrent instead of Transmission. Much better, and more OS X-like.

Nice collection, and well-presented.

Check out Bitrocket for a torrent client. It is much faster than either Transmission or Azureus! 10.4 only, though.

Looking for some “Development tools like VS,ASP.Net”?

http://www.unix.com/showthread.php?t=31487

Yummy FTP

http://www.yummysoftware.com/

Not a bad list:

I would add quicksilver (quicksilver.blacktree.com/) or launchbar (www.obdev.at), Mellel (redlers.com) and Find It! Keep It! (www.ansemond.com)

Salling Clicker (http://www.salling.com/Clicker/mac/) used to be one of those apps that was only available only on the Mac. It has recently gone cross-platform but is still the quintessential Jetsonian tool.

Great list! Already using several of the apps listed. Couple new ones that I will be sure to give a try as well.

Who cares what OS people choose to use. Damn some computer users are worse than religious organizations. Use what you like and don’t preach to others. Remember opinions are like a$$ holes, everyone’s got one.

If you miss the windows start menu (I did), try out HimmelBar at http://softbend.free.fr/himmelbar/index.html

Hi there,

Nice list of apps:

In terms of FTP I prefer OneButtonFTP

http://www.onebutton.org/

Other cool can’t function without apps include Yep ( http://www.thekip.com/ ), the versatile Quicksilver ( http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/ ) and the not just software EyeTV ( http://www.elgato.com/ )

Lingon is also another awesome application for setting up launchd (http://lingon.sourceforge.net/ ).

sfaf

Try MoinX. It is a personal wiki that runs on your desktop. I use it as a second brain. It is wonderful for jotting down ideas and linking to resources.

Want to lookup a word on a web site in Safari? Just position your mouse pointer above the word and press:

Apple-key + ctrl +d

(Does this also work for Firefox, etc. ?)

Delicious Library will also work with any FireWire digicam, not just the iSight. That’s how I use it.

Office: www.OpenOffice.org, www.NeoOffice.org

DTP: www.scribus.net (works on intel, too)

Photo: Gimpshop (+ CMYK plug-in), www.gimpshop.net

Writing undisturbed: WriteRoom (http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/product/writeroom)

All of them are free. And all of them except Scribus are Universal Binaries (lazy Adobe).

Just one note, I don’t see why you are using iSafe since there is a built in feature for this in the os. Go to utilities in the applications folder and boot up keychain access. This is where all your saved passwords etc is stored (securely) in the os and you can also add your own “secure notes” (see file-menu).

Other than that, there are alot of programs that does roughly the same stuff, so in the end it’s all up to what you fancy.

Has anyone tried Perian? It is supposed to access all those VLC / MPlayer codecs from within QuickTime. 10.4 only.

http://perian.org/

Flip4Mac is also pretty essential if you want to recompress WMV files

I agree with Janne I think we should all use multiply os. I use os x, windows, and linux. My opinion is os x is by far the easiest fast and most accessible os out there. Windows in my opinion doesn’t do anything i want it to do. So i look for software for software to do it. I find millions of results but most of them are crap. Linux I haven’t really got into because my netgear wg311 v3 wireless card doesn’t have drivers that support linux. And as for its easy to use. Not when it comes to emulating windows drivers. But other than that i like the customizing you can do on it. And the best feature i have found on any os is expose (yes i know of Kompose and various windows imitations)but nothing is as great as expose.

ps. Anyone who can help me compile my sources with ndiswrapper in fedora core 5 please tell me. stupidbob307@gmail.com

Great list, good feedback from everyone, glad I stopped by!

A few apps I find indispensible:

AppleJack – http://applejack.sourceforge.net/

MenuMeters – http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/menumeters/index.html

TinkerTool – http://www.bresink.de/osx/TinkerTool.html

A new spreadsheet for Mac OS X is Tables:

http://www.x-tables.eu/more/overview.html

Bit off topic, but I have my netgear wg311 v3 wireless card running on Ubuntu and Debian…try here.

http://www.jimbo7.com/wiki/index.php?title=WG311v3

what kind of rar-program should i use?

Taco HTML Edit is a great freeware program for coding HTML / PHP etc.

It is very pretty, has very nice syntax coloring, and it’s free.

Check it out—it is very worth it.

Matt- you should check out iClip too. it’s a copy/paste shareware app. super useful, slick looks, and option to disappear ala the dock.

Just to note: a lot of these ARE in the OS already. – Stickies is nice for notetaking(I Hide my apps, and it’s opened+hidden on login) or Dashboard also has sticky notes (they could be a lot better). – Transmit is so great mostly because it is just a GUI for the command-line FTP apps, which is why it’s so fast. – Anyone can copy/paste icons in the Finder’s “Get Info” (or “Show Inspector” w/Option key. Go to iconfactory to download free icons!), and – Screenshots taken with Apple-Shift-4 (selected S.shot) and then pressing will shoot the window you click on (or Apple-option-shift-4 to shoot to the clipboard, and paste into an icon!).

Obviously each of these apps adds a little more to the OS’s built-in capabilities. Great list, thanks!

in ”- Screenshots…” it should say “Pressing SPACE…” to select a full window to shoot.

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