I got a IM from Jeff Kee yesterday and he tells me that he just destroyed his Toshia laptop, but the good news is that he just got a brand new 15″ MacBook Pro to replace it. He must of read my bio to know that I’m a complete Apple whore, so once he told me, I went off about what apps he should be installing. With the help from The Ultimate Mac Apps List, I’ve compiled my own list of Essential Apps that Jeff needs to install as soon as he’s finished setting up his Mac:
Some people I know don’t even use the iChat program that comes bundled with their Macs after they use Adium. It combines all your popular chatting programs - AIM, Yahoo, MSN, GTalk, ICQ - into one, very customizable contact list. The only problem that I have with Adium is that it doesn’t incorporate the iSight into any of the chat programs. I have to open up iChat or Skype to video conference with people, but since not many like seeing my beautiful mug, it hasn’t been that much of a nuisance.
AppZapper is the perfect name for this application as it completely zaps away everything and anything that has to do with the application you’re aiming for. I know most Mac users will say that they can just drag and drop their application to the trash can to uninstall, but trust me - that doesn’t get rid of everything that program has installed onto your computer.
Handbrake is the kind of program the movie industry is deftly afraid of. It’s a simple to use program that extracts the contents of your dvds into a playable format on your computer or your video ipods. The instructions come with the program, so all I’m going to say is that you just have to press a few buttons, go have a cold one and your video files should be ready in a snap. Of course, that all depends on how fast your computer is, so don’t blame me if you get drunk waiting!
Quicksilver has quickly become one of my favorite apps. I know I haven’t realized the full potential of this program launching program, but hopefully I will soon. Basically, this program helps you save time by providing a very simple keyboard short cut to launching programs on your Mac. For example, if you want to launch Excel, all you have type into your keyboard is Control+Spacebar, then “Ex”. Simple, huh? You basically just type the name of the program you want to launch and it will launch. I’ve seen people find telephone numbers and email addresses simply by typing in their friend’s names.
Vienna is basic RSS Reader that has helped me surf 2-3 times more websites than I normally would if I was to surf them through Firefox. For those of you who don’t know, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and the Really Simple part is that it basically takes all the graphic fluff you see on most sites, takes it out and just gives you the content for you to read. Vienna automatically refreshes your subscriptions every 30 minutes, so that you’re up to date with all your favorite sites.
VLC pretty much plays any kind of media file out there. Actually, it plays EVERY media file out there, since I can’t find anything it won’t play. Trust me, i’ve looked!
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Tell you what buddy, if I stop doing windows development, then decide that I dont like linux, I will run straight for you asking what Mac to buy.
Deal! I’ll wait for that cold day in hell! hahaha . .
I don’t have a mac but I certainly add my vote for VLC. Whats even greater is portableapps.com has a portable version of VLC that doesn’t require installation and can run directly off a USB key!
thanks for the list Gary,
I’ve installed most of it. Adium however - I just got sick of it because of the differences between the authentic MSN messenger, and it’s not like I have any other messenger services so I went back to the generic Messenger:MAC by Microsoft.
i wonder how many times the word mac appears in your site… and you’re LUCKY i didn’t get any pics of you wasted last night - someone did though. and i will hunt them down lol
Thanks, for giving credit to our site! I like you blog.
Nice, time to download away, I particularly think that quicksilver is pretty cool. I would rather type and use hotkeys any day than actually have to move my hand over to the mouse. Eesh!
WOw look @ your comments. i’m totally impressed. i can TOTALLY VOUCH for MrGaryLee as the biggest whore in Steve Jobs’ harem. He completely set up my mac and is wonderful!