Martin one of our famous blog readers submitted a wish, … He would love to see a list of of the most useful mac os x apps. I know there are lots of other sites on the web taking care of it already, but hey guys its a growing community. Well keep up your great work. Martin.
The question is not so easy answered though. Mac OS X leopard has already most of the things I need built-in. But there are still some. Let us start with some basic tools I use.
VMware Fusion. is a virtual machine software product developed by VMware for Macintosh computers with Intel processors. Fusion allows Intel-based Macs to run x86 and x86-64 “guest” operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris as virtual machines simultaneously with Mac OS X as the “host” operating system using a combination of virtualization, emulation and dynamic recompilation. While similar in most respects to VMware Workstation.
Skype is a software application that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service, and in some countries to free-of-charge numbers are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.
Keypass X is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish)
Microsoft Office 2008, Word PowerPoint, Excel and Entourage. More or less the same buggy thing like on Windows.
LaTeX is based on the idea that authors should be able to focus on the content of what they are writing without being distracted by its visual presentation. In preparing a LaTeX document, the author specifies the logical structure using familiar concepts such as chapter, section, table, figure, etc., and lets the LaTeX system worry about the presentation of these structures. It therefore encourages the separation of layout from content while still allowing manual typesetting adjustments where needed.
Cyberduck is an open source FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Mosso Cloud Files and Amazon S3 browser for the Mac. It features an easy to use interface with quickly accessible bookmarks. The outline view of the browser allows to browse large folder structures efficiently and you can quickly preview files with Quick Look. To edit files, a seamless integration with several external editors makes it easy to change content quickly. Both Amazon CloudFront and Cloud Files from Rackspace can be easily configured to distribute your content in the cloud. Many OS X core system technologies such as Spotlight, Bonjour and the Keychain are supported and a large number of translations makes you feel at home.
Freeciv is a multiplayer, turn-based strategy game for workstations and personal computers inspired by the commercial proprietary Sid Meier’s Civilization series. The game’s default settings are closest to Civilization II, both in gameplay and graphics (including the units and the isometric grid).
These are the Programs that make my 24 iMac to a Powerful blog machine. There is only one thing I am missing. On windows there is a free Software called Live Writer. Live writer make blogging very easy but I don’t find a Sirius alternative for Mac. If you know something pls don’t hesitated post a commend.
Regards Konrad
For me there are some other nice tools and Apps.
iTunes 🙂 Of course the one to go for Music management on a mac and for syncing all the stuff with iPhones and iPods.
GIMP. I like the new Version. GIMP is now much faster and gives you a lot of possibilities to work for. Lots of filters and switches to play with pictures :)I
Personally i like NeoOffice (a OpenOffice derivate). NeoOffice don’t use X11-Environment but is fully integrated in the GUI on a Mac. For me it’s a real alternative to Microsoft Office 2008 which is (for me) just TOO big. Especially memory management in Office for Mac 2008 is sometimes a bit interesting.
What i use is a little tool called “geektool”. It allowes you to use scripts to generate widgets on the desktop without using the widgets of Mac OS X. Example: I see a live view from the systemlog in the background of my desktop. Thats very nice for debugging and pretending your busy…
instead of Cyberduck I use Filezilla as FTP-Program. Works just fine. VMWare Fusion ist a must have 🙂
My favourite messenger is Adium. It connects to nearlly everything i know, inluded Skype and Facebook.