by 7 people |
This is my favorite Mac software, the programs I find the most useful, fun, or difficult to do without. They are, in my opinion, the cream of the crop, selected from the hundreds of applications, widgets, and add-ons I've downloaded to my PowerBook over the last 2 1/2 years. I hope you'll find some of these useful, too.
Remember that all the software with a price will also have a free demo (and in some cases a free "lite" version), so try these out before you buy them. And please use the module at the end of the page to leave me feedback and suggest any software packages that I've missed. I'm always on the lookout for the next essential Mac app!
Applications
- iLife
- At about $16 per app, Apple's iLife application suite is well worth the money. iPhoto and GarageBand alone would be worth the price. Add in iMovie, iDVD, and iWeb, and you've got a powerful personal publishing studio right on your computer. $79
- JBidWatcher
- If you buy items on eBay, this program is a real godsend. JBidWatcher lets you monitor auctions, place bids, and "snipe" (bid at the last minute). Populating the watchlist is as easy as dragging an eBay URL into the JBid window. Free (donations)
- Moneydance 2006
- Moneydance is a nice replacement app for Quicken. All the essential home budgeting features are there, including keeping track of multiple accounts, setting recurring payments, and synchronizing with my online bank accounts. Moneydance even imported my old Quicken file without a hitch. $29.99
- Zinio
- With Zinio, you can subscribe to real-world magazines, download them and view them on your computer. The magazines look exactly as they do in the real world, right down to a nifty page-turning effect. Plus you get added enhancements like hyperlinks to websites mentioned in the magazine, and none of the dead-tree guilt. Varies (per subscription)
Audio & Video
- Audacity
- Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sound. There are other, more spendy options for audio editing, but Audacity really holds its own. Free
- Audio Hijack Pro
- Audio Hijack Pro records any audio that you can play through your speakers, including streaming audio. Especially useful for you podcasters out there. $32
- Flip4Mac WMV
- Flip4Mac WMV fills one essential niche on your hard drive: it allows you to automatically play Windows Media (WMV) files as seamlessly as the Mac plays Quicktime media. You'll probably just install this one and forget it, but you won't be sorry you did. Free
- SoundConverter
- SoundConverter is absolutely invaluable when it comes to converting audio files. Just set your desired output format, drop the file onto the green target and presto! SoundConverter handles dozens of input and output formats with ease. It couldn't be simpler to use, and after a few conversions, you'll wonder how you got along without it. $10
- VLC media player
- The VLC media player steps up when other players let you down. VLC can handle loads of video and audio formats. Free
Communication
- Adium X
- Adium is a free instant messaging application that can connect to just about any IM service you can think of. It's your one-stop shop for keeping in touch with your buddies. Free
- Colloquy
- If you spend any time at all on IRC, you'll love Colloquy. It's pretty, solid, and unobtrusive. Free
- Skype
- Turn your computer into a telephone on steroids. Skype allows you to make phone calls to other Skype users anywhere on the planet for free. For a small charge, you can also call any landline on the planet, or get an incoming Skype phone number that anyone can dial into from a regular phone line. Skype is a favorite of podcasters looking to record interviews without using expensive telephone recording equipment. Free for basic program
Text Editors and Outliners
- NoteTaker
- Outliner programs are virtually unheard of in the Windows world, but a thriving, mature class of products on the Mac. NoteTaker from Aquaminds is one of the best and most versatile outliner apps. I love being able to right-click a selection of text from any other program and drop it into a NoteTaker notebook. $69.95 (free trial)
- TextMate
- TextMate has become my new editor of choice. TextMate's "bundles" concept allows the program to become a virtual chameleon, shifting from a PHP editor to HTML editor to blog publisher in a snap. Snippets can automate repetitive text entry, and context-sensitive keyboard shortcuts make editing a breeze. The program has a bit of a learning curve, but it's worth it. €39
Honorable Mention: Bare Bones Software's TextWrangler is excellent, and with its built-in support for SFTP, I often end up using it to tweak PHP, HTML, and CSS. Free - VoodooPad
- VoodooPad is one of those programs that is not well served by a brief description. It's like a wierd mashup of a text editor, a personal wiki, an outliner, and a sketch pad all in one. Just try it and see if you don't completely fall in love. Free, $29.95, $49.95
Utilities - Alerts & Monitors
- Gee!
- Gee checks your Gmail account on your specified schedule, and displays your unread message count on an icon in your menu bar. Free
- Growl
- Growl provides a framework for system-wide notifications, unobtrusive notices for everything from completed downloads to the current track in iTunes. Free
- The Unread
- If you have multiple inboxes, Mail.app's icon count probably won't be sufficient. The Unread lets you choose which mail folders to track, and displays the total unread count in your menu bar. Free
- Menu Meters
- Menu Meters adds a fleet of monitoring tools for your menu bar. Keep track of CPU usage, network activity, disk and memory usage. Very helpful for knowing when some application is eating up your CPU cycles. Free (donations)
- Slim Battery Monitor
- If you've got a laptop, install the Slim Battery Monitor. It's completely configurable and takes up 70% less space than the built-in battery monitor. Free (donations)
Utilities - General
- AppZapper
- Okay, so this isn't exactly an "essential" piece of software, but aside from being truly useful, it's got an element of whimsy to it that makes me smile every time I use it. Just drag a program you want to delete onto the AppZapper window and watch as it collects all associated files -- preference files, data, folders, etc. Choose which files you want to leave intact, and then press Zap. The screen flashes and a ray gun sound effect signals that the files have been moved to the trash. You can also run the ZapGenie, which finds all your apps and lets you choose which ones you want to delete. $12.95
- Disk Inventory X
- Ever wonder just what the heck is filling up your hard drive? Disk Inventory X will show you graphically, allowing you to identify files for deletion or archiving. Free
- The Missing Sync
- Mark/Space provides the essential syncronization software for Palm, Windows Mobile and PSP devices. The software provides conduits for linking your Mac apps like AddressBook and iCal with your PDA. If you've got a mobile device, The Missing Sync will make your life much, much easier. $39.95
- Quicksilver
- If I had to choose one Mac app I simply could not live without, this would be it. Quicksilver extends your Mac user interface with keyboard commands to launch applications, send emails, navigate your hard drive, save notes to a text file, and so much more. There are plugins galore for Quicksilver, making it endlessly configurable and useful. The program is free, so invest your time in learning how to use it. Once you have, you won't be able to imagine life without it. Free (incredibly)
- Remote Desktop
- One of the most useful things to ever come out of Redmond, Microsoft's (yes, Microsoft's!) Remote Desktop is a brilliant little program that allows you to connect to a Windows computer and interact with it exactly as if you were sitting at the remote machine. I often use this to work remotely, by initiating a VPN connection and then firing up Remote Desktop to let me check email and perform any other task I need to on the remote machine. Free
- SplashID
- Keeping track of your online passwords can be a pain in the tuchis, but this password manager from SplashData is a godsend. Generate and store hundreds of unique usernames and passwords and easily recall them with the SplashID interface. Best of all, you can synchronize your database with your PDA and have access to your login info wherever you go. $29.95
- SuperDuper!
- Look no further: SuperDuper! is the best backup program available for the Mac. I connect my external Firewire drive to my Powerbook at the end of the day, run SuperDuper!, and sleep peacefully knowing that I have a bootable duplicate of my hard drive ready in case of disaster. Free for backup and cloning, $27.95 to add functionality like scheduling, etc.
Utilities - System
- AppleJack
- Installing AppleJack gives you a boot-time utility to repair your disk, repair permissions, validate the system's preference files, and get rid of possibly corrupted cache files... all without inserting the system disk. I use this before every OS upgrade. Free
- Macaroni
- Mac's OS X is a rock-solid operating system, but that doesn't mean it's maintenance-free. Atomic Bird's Macaroni runs OS X maintenance scripts on a regular schedule, keeping your Mac in tip-top shape automagically. $8.99
- Onyx
- Onyx is a maintenance, optimization, and personalization utility for Mac OS X. It allows you to manually run maintenance scripts, to view system logs, and to tweak oodles of hidden configuration settings for the Finder, Dock, Dashboard, and more. Free (donations)
- RCDefaultApp
- RCDefaultApp is a preference pane add-in that allows you greater control over which applications are associated with which file extensions, which applications open when you attach a digital camera or insert a CD, and much, much more. Free
Web Browsing & News Reading
- Bon Echo (Firefox)
- Safari is my browser of choice, but there are occasions (as when building Squidoo lenses) that stuff just doesn't want to work with Safari. That's when I turn to Bon Echo. Bon Echo is a set of specially-optimized builds of Firefox for G4-, G5-, and Intel-based Macs. Free
- Net News Wire
- Net News Wire is hands down the best news reader on the planet -- and I mean on any platform. The free reader is enough to satisfy most news junkies, but you'll probably want to pay for the full version to take advantage of the built-in browser and other handy extras. The software was recently acquired by NewsGator, which means NNW now synchronizes your read and unread feeds with NewsGatorOnline, so you can read your feeds from any browser and never worry about duplicating a story. $29.95
- Saft
- Saft is an absolutely essential plugin for Safari. It adds dozens of features to your browser, including draggable tabs, full-screen browsing, and searchable history. But the automatic tab-saving feature is something I can't live without. If, like me, you've accidentally quit Safari -- or had it crash -- with 20 tabs open, you'll really be thankful to have Saft installed. $12 (free demo)
- URLWell
- This little menu bar utility is a clipboard for URLs. Handy when you're doing research or just want to park a few web pages to come back to later. The original link has disappeared, but URLWell is being hosted temporarily at the link above. Free
Web Development
- Transmit
- Transmit is a top-notch graphical FTP client with loads of features. Connect to your server and edit files using your favorite text editor. Synchronize directories with ease. Upload files in a snap using the Dashboard widget. It's hard not to get hooked on this app. $29.95
(Honorable Mention: If you need an FTP graphical client without the pricetag and the bells and whistles, try Fugu.) - MAMP
- MAMP stands for: Macintosh, Apache, Mysql and PHP. MAMP installs a local server development environment on your Mac, including PHPMyAdmin and both PHP4 and PHP5. Just start the servers with the dashboard widget and develop your site in MAMP's htdocs directory. Free
- Style Master
- CSS can be a real challenge for the beginning web designer, but Style Master makes things much easier. This CSS editor with WYSIWYG editing comes with loads of features to make creating custom stylesheets less of a hassle than coding by hand. $59.99
Reader Feedback
Your essentials
I'd love your feedback. What are your favorite Mac apps? Are there any on this page that you can't stand?
submit
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Reply
- zhenyar zhenyar Nov 13, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
- Very good, but do sometimes have problems Firefox, there are mistakes.
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Reply
- sam watson sam watson Jul 1, 2009 @ 6:26 pm
- the ones i use and run all the time are.
iClock - replace apples menubar clock with something more versatile and useful
http://www.scriptsoftware.com/iclock
1Password- best of the the password tools for logging in. worth the price.
http://agilewebsolutions.com/products/1Password
AppTrap - excellent free uninstaller
http://konstochvanligasaker.se/apptrap/
CopyPaste - the original multiple clipboard tool. ridiculously useful.
http://www.scriptsoftware.com/copypaste
Transmit - ftp
http://www.panic.com
Growl for notifications from various apps which support it (i.e. Adium) (free):
http://www.growl.info
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Reply
- julian julian Jun 2, 2009 @ 10:40 pm
- copypaste and iclock are essential software that are used all the time not just once in a blue moon.
http://www.scriptsoftware.com
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Reply
- George George Apr 20, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
- Moneydance is great, but I recommend Fortora Fresh Finance. Really easy to use, and has all the features people need. Check it out at http://www.fortora.com
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Reply
- too//damn//ninja too//damn//ninja Mar 28, 2009 @ 4:29 pm
- Great list, helped me find some gems! Nice one!
ps- if i may, my only suggestion to add would be 'Spotify'... :)
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by stumax
I live in Seattle, and co-organize a podcasting meetup and a twice-yearly geek event. See my home page -- The New Big -- for details. (more)
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