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The Best Mac OS X Software Tools
Posted by
kdawson
on Sun Mar 11, 2007 05:04 AM
from the steroids dept.
from the steroids dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Mac advocate John C. Welch weighs in with his list of the top 20 Mac OS X products (except Welch manages to list 22). The collection of software tools ranges from the obvious, such as Boot Camp, to the obscure but perhaps more useful — little-known apps like Peter Borg's Lingon, for creating launchd configuration files. What's on your personal list of indispensable Mac productivity aids and programming tools? Also, do you think Welch gives too much air time to built-in OS X tools at the expense of third-party products such as NetworkLocation?"
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The Best Mac OS X Software Tools
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The List (Score:3, Informative)
(http://writings.barrettj.com/)
Ecto
Transmit
Sync Services
BBEdit
Missing Sync for Windows Mobile
OmniGraffle Pro
ConceptDraw
iChat AV
AppleScript
Script Debugger
Microsoft Entourage
SketchFighter 4000 Alpha
TypeIt4Me
NetworkLocation
Apple Remote Desktop 3
MacLink Plus Deluxe
Parallels Desktop for Mac
Remote Desktop Connection
Snapz Pro X
Boot Camp
PDF
Lingon
Workgroup Manager
Quicksilver (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Quicksilver (Score:5, Informative)
Textmate! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:The List (Score:5, Informative)
Ecto [kung-foo.tv] a blogging client (but the site seems to be down: try this for more info [versiontracker.com]). Shareware, $17.95.
Transmit [panic.com] an FTP client. Shareware, $17.95
Sync Services [apple.com] -- comes with 10.4
BBedit [bbedit.com] text/html editor. $125, but worth it.
Missing Synch for Windows Mobile [markspace.com] - synchronize with PDA/smartphones. $49.95/$39.95
OmniGraffle [omnigroup.com] - diagramming / flowchart program. $79.95 / $149.95
ConceptDraw [conceptdraw.com] - another diagramming / flowchart program. $299
IChat AV [apple.com] - built-in to 10.4
AppleScript, Scriptdebugger - also built-in. No link. I'm getting lazy.
Microsoft Entourage [apple.com] -- part of MS Office.
Sketchfigher 4000 Alpha [ambrosiasw.com] -- a game from the great Ambrosia Software [ambrosiasw.com]. $19.00
TypeIt4Me [ettoresoftware.com] - keyboard macro expander. $27
NetworkLocation [centrix.ca] - automatically trigger configuration changes depending upon where you are on the network (e.g., at home, work, etc.). $15
Apple Remote Desktop 3 [apple.com] - control / configure Mac systems remotely. $499 / $299 (unlimited / 10 systems)
MacLinkPlus [dataviz.com] - file conversion software (e.g., from WordPerfect documents to/from Word, and many others). $79
Parallels Desktop for Mac [parallels.com] - virtualization software (e.g., run Win XP simultaneously with OS X). $79.
Remote Desktop Connection [microsoft.com] - connect remotely to a Windows desktop. FREE
Snap X Pro [ambrosiasw.com] - screen / movie capture. $29
Boot Camp - dual boot Windows. I'm lazy.
PDF - Portable Document Format from Adobe? What?
Lingon [sourceforge.net] - tool for making launchd scripts for 10.4.
Workgroup Manager [apple.com] - manage local systems - part of 10.4 Server.
---
Okay, a mildly interesting list. Here's a few more suggestions:
Cyberduck [cyberduck.ch] - FTP and SFTP client. Donationware.
VLC [videolan.org] - cross-platform video viewer / transcoder.
Blender 3D [blender.org] - cross-platform 3D modelling / rendering.
Bookends [sonnysoftware.com] - excellent bibliography software. $99
Celestia [shatters.net] - cross-platform real-time 3D astronomy simulator.
Plot [plot.micw.eu] - a, uh, plotting / graphing program.
proFit [quansoft.com] - another plotting / graphing program, non-free. $95
WordService [devon-technologies.com] - adds a bunch of text reformatting tools to the Services menu, making them accessible in any program. The same page has a bunch of other useful and free services.
The original article lists PDF, but no tools. While its true OS X native support makes PDF pretty easy to use, there's still some tasks that are awkward and some useful tools out there to do t
Re:The List (Score:5, Informative)
I find it quite telling that one of the most popular applications for the MAC is a program that lets you run a different OS.
If you've been paying attention here for the last year, most of the commentary surrounding virtualization on the Mac has revolved around people finally able to dump their infernal Windows machine and do everything on a Mac instead. Parallels [parallels.com], along with Boot Camp, is quite possibly the largest driver of Mac sales in the last year. There are a few functions not available on the Mac [yet] and Parallels lets people run those few apps they'd miss from Windows. Yes, Paralleles does run Linux. I currently know more people who dumped their Windows machines in the last year than I know remaining Windows owners - and those aren't far behind.
The bit i like (Score:1, Interesting)
I couldn't agree more. I definitely remember the idea being bandied round a few years back of high level drag and drop programming for the masses. We have Labview which does that for automated instrumentation control and analysis, is it really so hard to make a high level programming language in the same mould?
Re:The bit i like (Score:5, Insightful)
printer friendly version (Score:4, Informative)
(http://www.aviatorjoe.net/)
http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableAr
http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableAr
BootCamp (Score:3, Interesting)
On Windows (or even Linux) you don't see "top 10 best products" list that often, if at all, simply because they are too many to just list a "top 20 best".
Computers have moved to a point where different people use them for wildly different purposes. As such, you simply can't have "top X products" for an entire OS. If on Mac it's not the same, it's that much sadder.
Some of Mine: (Score:2, Informative)
(http://www.sugapablo.net/)
Web Developer Ext. for Mozilla: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/60/ [mozilla.org]
MailTags: http://www.indev.ca/MailTags.html [indev.ca]
FTP/SFTP Client: http://cyberduck.ch/ [cyberduck.ch]
Text Editor: http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/ [barebones.com]
OpenOffice: http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/ [openoffice.org]
Image Editor: http://www.macgimp.org/ [macgimp.org]
Strange ommisions (Score:2)
(http://lives.sourceforge.net/)
CodeTek's Virtual Desktop (Score:2)
No mention of... (Score:1)
(Last Journal: Tuesday November 06, @02:39PM)
this is something the user must install, because the default codec packs for quicktime are, imho, even worse than those for windows media player.
Kiddie pools... (Score:4, Interesting)
I would throw in iTerm, virtueDesktops, Parallels, TextMate, Navicat for Mac.
Without these programs, I couldn't make it in the fast paced Graphic Design field of Macs (Any other IT people out there want to shit nails when someone says Mac's are for graphic design? Last time I checked, my Macs didn't look like big blue pumpkins.)
----My Motto:
I don't care if the customer's stuff is working or not. I just don't want to be affected by whatever they have. My equipment MUST work, Therefore I use Apple.
Three more (Score:2)
(http://thelifeofbryan.multiply.com/ | Last Journal: Tuesday February 20 2007, @12:20AM)
BBEdit or TextWrangler from Bare Bones Software [barebones.com].
Opera [opera.com].
iTerm (Score:2)
For others moving from Linux to Mac OS X, like I did (for my laptop at least, my server & mythtv boxes are still Linux), iTerm is the first thing to install. Mac OS X has a terminal program, but it's weak at best. iTerm is a good terminal program, with multiple tabs and cutomizable display settings.
http://iterm.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]
Parallels (Score:1)
(Last Journal: Thursday February 10 2005, @11:01AM)
I still have no good replaces for SQLYog, Filezilla and scite (No I don't want to port it and use it under X, I wan't a Mac app)
At this time I'm running all of them "parallelized"
Any suggestions?
No mention of QuickSilver? (Score:1, Redundant)
http://blacktree.com/ [blacktree.com]
It's like bash completion right in the GUI, just hit ctrl-spce, type a letter or two, and hit enter. I can't live without it anymore.
I'd substitute Interarchy for Transmit (Score:2)
Also, OmniOutliner is VERY nice for many tasks. And Silverkeeper is a free basic backup program that does well enough for me.
Interesting list... (Score:2)
(http://web.mac.com/eurobar)
That said, here are a few apps the guy neglected to mention:
- Claris Filemaker http://www.filemaker.com/ [filemaker.com]. Hands down, the best database software out there, for the Mac or any other OS.
- iWeb http://www.apple.com/ilife/iweb/ [apple.com]. Ridiculously easy to use, yet web pages still come out clean and looking pretty good too.
- DVD Studio Pro http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/dvdstudiopro/ [apple.com]
- Visual Hub http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/ [techspansion.com]. For its' ability to convert video files in any format out there into any other.
- Disk Warrior http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/ [alsoft.com]. In the extremely isolated cases of ever having to need it, this is the single most important life-saving app out there.
Oh, and an honorable mention: Mac The Ripper. Site is down, but you can check out their forum http://www.ripdifferent.com/ [ripdifferent.com].
The things I had to install immediately (Score:2, Interesting)
0. Start Safari, get Firefox, remove Safari from the dock.
1. OS X Developer tools. Going to be compiling lots of stuff.
2. Subversion.
3. VLC
4. TextMate
5. GraphViz
6. Clisp
7. SBCL
8. XWindows
I was so impressed with the compile speed on my new MacBook. I blink and it is done. (Except for compiling
Erlang, that took 30 minutes and burned a hole through my desk. Dude.)
Path Finder, the better Finder (Score:2, Informative)
(http://www.marketingtactics.com/)
Can't imagine only having the Finder to use.
NetworkLocation (Score:1)
(http://www.applefritter.com/)
http://www.codehackers.net/wilma/ [codehackers.net]
Missing Program (Score:3, Informative)
Menumeters (Score:3, Informative)
(Last Journal: Monday August 16 2004, @09:50AM)
What about Growl? (Score:3, Informative)
I need a good image browser for MacOSX (Score:2)
I would welcome any other suggestions.
ControllerMate (Score:1)
I wish every OS had a program like this, because I've been able to use it to replace all of the annoying drivers (I'm looking at you, Logitech) for all the USB input devices I own. It also works on devices that don't have Mac drivers, like a lot of the more advanced keyboards. I have a logitech G-15, and though the display doesn't work on the Mac, thanks to CM all the extra buttons do, and are easier to reprogram and use than with the native Windows driver.
You plug in a usb device and bring it up in ControllerMate. It shows you a list of all the inputs. Any time you hit a button or move an axis, that specific control lights up inside CM, and you can then drag it into the programming area and set it to do whatever you want - key input, axis control, run scripts, launch apps, just about anything.
I wound up paying the shareware fee on this one within 20 minutes of using it, not because I needed to (actually, for what I needed it to do the free version worked fine) but because I was so impressed.
Avenir (Score:1)
(http://localhost/scripts/root.exe)
my mac application list (Score:2, Informative)
(http://placenamehere.com/)
* VoodooPad [flyingmeat.com] - for general note taking, todo lists, etc
* TextMate [macromates.com] - self explanatory
* Camino [caminobrowser.org] - for web surfing
* Paparazzi! [derailer.org] - for taking quick screenshots or thumbnails of web pages
* Colloquy [colloquy.info] - irc client
* twitterific [iconfactory.com] - interface for twitter
* NetNewsWire [newsgator.com] - Feed reader
my OS X key apps: (Score:1)
3rd party
Transmit
BBEdit
NeoOffice
Chicken of the VNC
iPodRip
Indigo
Think
comments:Transmit is the best--I use it to sync content locally and across the network--hands down the best FTP. NeoOffice works great as an Office suite, Chicken of the VNC is a good remote desktop client, and Indigo, while the most expensive sw here, is the best software for home automation (INSTEON, x10)
bundled apps:
Safari
Terminal
AppleScript
Apache
PHP
comments: lots of great stuff included in OS X that can be easily turned on by changin some configs.
Terminal is a killer app!
Utilities:
Airport Admin Utility
Network Utility
notes: wrappers for command line configs, these make life easy.
My personal List. (Score:2, Interesting)
Looking at the folder of software I use for new installs this is what I would have (no particular order):
Some other nice programs (although not essential):
Obviously I have more programs but these are the ones I feel could be used by most people.
MacFUSE sshfs (Score:2)
Adium (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Friday May 14 2004, @01:15PM)
Network Location? (Score:2)
(http://www.scarydevil.com/~peter/ | Last Journal: Monday September 26 2005, @06:53PM)
Someone who's so big on using Applescript should be able to figure out how to do this. It's trivial. It's even trivial from the shell. Yeh, I can see this being a pain for the point-and-click gang, and Apple really needs a location preference pane with things like "turn on Bluetooth in this location, disable it in that" but *sheesh*.
I need to polish up my location change detector and post it on Macupdate, but I'll bet there's one in Doug's Applescripts already.
Coherence... just say no. (Score:2)
(http://www.scarydevil.com/~peter/ | Last Journal: Monday September 26 2005, @06:53PM)
And with Coherence is coming new drag-and-drop support that makes a mockery of the ability to export only part of your Mac to the encapsulated Windows and any malware it may be harboring, because if you enable it you open up the whole Mac file system as a network share. Now, before anyone goes on about the "virus-proof" nature of the Mac: when you're running Windows in Parallels you're running Windows, with everything that implies. A virus might not be able to *infect* the Mac around it, but if it screws up your personal files trying you're not going to care much that "/System" is secure.
Parallels is a great tool, but it's a great tool with or without Coherence. And the extra complexity and insecurity just hasn't been worth it for me.
And yet Apple still sucks for many users (Score:1, Flamebait)
I cannot find a single way of talking to an IR device (http://www.alti-2.com/sport/neptune/Neptune2.htm
Apple can't help, their support in India is among the worst in the world that I have ever used, and even raising an ADC support request didn't help.
So for my needs, apple sucks
FOSS apps (Score:2)
Personally I use non-free software only when I REALLY need something and there's absolutely no free alternative (and yes that's the "freedom" kind of free here).
Open Source Mac [opensourcemac.org] is a good resource for free/opensource software on the Mac. I'd suggest you check it out if you haven't already.
Re:Essential Mac tools... (Score:5, Informative)
vi (built-in)
screen (built in)
apache (built-in)
ssh (built-in)
emacs (built-in)
and the list goes on.
It's my favorite *nix workstation. I don't wear an earring, drive a Jetta, or own a kayak, mountain bike or iPod.
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Of course the "Mac" thing is important.
Why? Is there another kind?