Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

News for nerds, stuff that matters

The Best Mac OS X Software Tools

Posted by kdawson on Sun Mar 11, 2007 05:04 AM
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?"
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold:
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • The List (Score:3, Informative)

    by BarryJacobsen (526926) on Sunday March 11 2007, @05:10AM (#18306596)
    (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)

      by zaphod_es (613312) on Sunday March 11 2007, @05:59AM (#18306648)
      What, 22 favourite apps and no Quicksilver? This is the one program I just could not live without, it is what makes my Mac usable. I hardly use the mouse anymore and access and/or run almost everything on my computer with two or three keystrokes. And it's free!
      [ Parent ]
    • Re:The List (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2007, @09:16AM (#18307352)
      Linked version with condensed summary. I wanted to find out more about some of them. Others may benefit too.

      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
      [ Parent ]
      • Onyx by Hao Wu (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @12:03PM
      • Re:The List by Daniel_Staal (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @12:24PM
      • Ecto 2 has serious problems by MisterSquid (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @12:55PM
      • Nitpicks... by Savage-Rabbit (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @04:20PM
      • Don't wopprt crippleware! by Weezul (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @05:16PM
      • Re:The List by sgant (Score:2) Thursday March 15 2007, @07:06AM
      • Re:The List by MsGeek (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @11:08AM
      • Re:The List (Score:5, Informative)

        by Divebus (860563) on Sunday March 11 2007, @12:41PM (#18308536)

        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.

        [ Parent ]
      • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.
    • he lists PDF by spasm (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @02:17PM
    • Re:The List by dracvl (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @02:22PM
    • http://mydreamapp.com/ by Criminally Insane Ro (Score:1) Sunday March 11 2007, @03:52PM
    • Too Short And Too Much Attention by llscotts (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @07:48PM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • The bit i like (Score:1, Interesting)

    by 15Bit (940730) on Sunday March 11 2007, @05:34AM (#18306630)
    "...any language that still requires typing shows the essential failure of the computer industry to pry programming out of the hands of geeks."

    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?

  • BootCamp (Score:3, Interesting)

    by suv4x4 (956391) on Sunday March 11 2007, @06:44AM (#18306690)
    Who else thinks that BootCamp being in the top 20 best OSX products is kinda silly?

    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)

    by sugapablo (600023) on Sunday March 11 2007, @07:27AM (#18306862)
    (http://www.sugapablo.net/)
    Being a web developer who works from home, here's my short list of tools I like:

    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)

    by Salsaman (141471) on Sunday March 11 2007, @08:43AM (#18307204)
    (http://lives.sourceforge.net/)
    No mention of fink or Darwin ? Those are pretty much the only tools I know on OSX.
  • by Brackney (257949) on Sunday March 11 2007, @08:46AM (#18307214)
    I was quite fond of CodeTek's Virtual Desktop. http://codetek.com/ctvd/ [codetek.com] It made me feel right at home when jumping between my Linux desktop and the Mac. Lots of real-estate, some nice customization features, and mouse focus behavior I preferred to OS X's. Sadly, the application hasn't been properly supported for a while. It does work, mostly, but isn't as flawless as it once was. I recently had to turn it off because of some misbehaviors with Firefox.
  • No mention of... (Score:1)

    by plasmacutter (901737) on Sunday March 11 2007, @08:51AM (#18307236)
    (Last Journal: Tuesday November 06, @02:39PM)
    mplayer, vlc, or the veritable slu of third party and oss quicktime plugins that give you multiple redundant and dependable playback of every video format on the planet.

    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)

    by Beefslaya (832030) on Sunday March 11 2007, @08:54AM (#18307244)
    For starters:

    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.
  • Little Snitch from ObDev [obdev.com].

    BBEdit or TextWrangler from Bare Bones Software [barebones.com].

    Opera [opera.com].

  • iTerm (Score:2)

    by tji (74570) on Sunday March 11 2007, @09:28AM (#18307424)

    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]
    • Re:iTerm by PsychoSid (Score:1) Sunday March 11 2007, @03:45PM
    • terminal.app rocks by sentientbrendan (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @06:06PM
    • Re:iTerm by Builder (Score:2) Monday March 12 2007, @08:24AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Parallels (Score:1)

    by chord.wav (599850) on Sunday March 11 2007, @09:33AM (#18307458)
    (Last Journal: Thursday February 10 2005, @11:01AM)
    Parallels with coherence mode rules.
    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?
    • Re:Parallels by myowntrueself (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @04:38PM
      • Re:Parallels by Skippy_kangaroo (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @05:51PM
        • Re:Parallels by myowntrueself (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @07:20PM
          • Re:Parallels by Skippy_kangaroo (Score:2) Sunday March 11 2007, @07:44PM
  • No mention of QuickSilver? (Score:1, Redundant)

    by AugstWest (79042) on Sunday March 11 2007, @10:28AM (#18307738)
    It's the greatest launcher ever...

    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.
  • by wfolta (603698) on Sunday March 11 2007, @10:35AM (#18307784)
    I'd substitute Interarchy for Transmit. Otherwise, looks reasonable.

    Also, OmniOutliner is VERY nice for many tasks. And Silverkeeper is a free basic backup program that does well enough for me.
  • by niktemadur (793971) on Sunday March 11 2007, @10:38AM (#18307804)
    (http://web.mac.com/eurobar)
    ...but, as always, subjective at best. I still have a G5 iMac, and many of the apps on the list are useless to me, as they're specifically for the Intel processor. However, these lists are informative in that they help to become aware of potentially useful apps to any mac users out there.

    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]. Isn't this still the industry standard for assembling DVD structure and navigation?
    - 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].
  • by dildo (250211) on Sunday March 11 2007, @11:05AM (#18307960)
    Just my personal preferences, but I imagine lots of people will agree with me.

    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.)
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Path Finder, the better Finder (Score:2, Informative)

    by davebarnes (158106) on Sunday March 11 2007, @11:08AM (#18307976)
    (http://www.marketingtactics.com/)
    I use Path Finder (http://www.cocoatech.com) every day, all during the day.
    Can't imagine only having the Finder to use.
  • NetworkLocation (Score:1)

    by towad (461996) on Sunday March 11 2007, @11:33AM (#18308128)
    (http://www.applefritter.com/)
    Those interested in NetworkLocation might also want to take a look at Wilma. It has a cleaner, more tradional Mac interface.

    http://www.codehackers.net/wilma/ [codehackers.net]
  • Missing Program (Score:3, Informative)

    by maytagman (971263) on Sunday March 11 2007, @12:03PM (#18308306)
    How on earth did he not include Onyx? I'd probably say its top 5... http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html [titanium.free.fr] from the site: It allows you to run misc tasks of system maintenance, to configure certain hidden parameters of the Finder, Dock, Dashboard, Exposé, Safari, Login window and many Apple's applications, to delete cache, to remove a certain number of files and folders that may become cumbersome, to see the detailed info of your configuration, to preview the different logs and CrashReporter reports, to check the Preferences files and more. I would even go so far as to say it deserved to be number one...
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Menumeters (Score:3, Informative)

    by Espectr0 (577637) on Sunday March 11 2007, @02:22PM (#18309194)
    (Last Journal: Monday August 16 2004, @09:50AM)
    Come on, who doesn't have menumeters? It's even free. Handy little tool to know the transfer rate of your network card.
  • What about Growl? (Score:3, Informative)

    by libwolf (1074434) on Sunday March 11 2007, @04:32PM (#18310194)
    Don't forget http://www.growl.info/ [growl.info] - just need to know a tiny bit of scripting and it's amazingly useful
  • by thanasakis (225405) on Sunday March 11 2007, @04:39PM (#18310242)
    iPhoto is great, but I need something more "traditional" like ACDSee or XnView for windows. XnView for mac basically sucks, so it doesn't count. I usually end up firing up gqview under X11, which is almost ok, except that I would prefer a native app.

    I would welcome any other suggestions.

     
  • ControllerMate (Score:1)

    by lungofish (6224) on Sunday March 11 2007, @05:34PM (#18310646)
    http://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/ [orderedbytes.com]

      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)

    by toothless_kinch (123562) on Sunday March 11 2007, @08:56PM (#18311842)
    (http://localhost/scripts/root.exe)
    I could not have finished my novel without Avenir [returnself.com].
  • my mac application list (Score:2, Informative)

    by 10sball (80009) on Sunday March 11 2007, @09:16PM (#18311920)
    (http://placenamehere.com/)
    A few things I personally couldn't live without that are missing from this list

    * 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)

    by nandnor (1002136) on Sunday March 11 2007, @09:35PM (#18312016)
    My OS X 'must have' toolkit is a mix:

    3rd party /shareware:

    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)

    by pjludlow (707302) on Sunday March 11 2007, @09:46PM (#18312060)

    Looking at the folder of software I use for new installs this is what I would have (no particular order):

    1. Firefox
    2. Flip4Mac
    3. Littlesnitch
    4. menuCalendarClock-iCal
    5. MenuMeters
    6. Onyx
    7. LotsaWater (screensaver, seriously it is awesome!)
    8. StuffitExpander
    9. Synergy
    10. Toast (or use "Burn" if you want freeware)
    11. Transmit
    12. VLC
    13. Whatsize
    14. GoogleEarth
    15. Azureus

    Some other nice programs (although not essential):

    1. Fission
    2. MacTheRipper
    3. Handbrake

    Obviously I have more programs but these are the ones I feel could be used by most people.

  • MacFUSE sshfs (Score:2)

    by vonFinkelstien (687265) on Monday March 12 2007, @12:40AM (#18312969)
    I love MacFUSE and sshfs for using my webpage provider as a cheaper, faster, and better alternative to iDisk. No more syncing files from work and home. I just edit the file directly on the server. I mount it on my Ubuntu box at work. The old iMac G3 at work needs to be upgraded to Tiger before I can use it. Grr.
  • Adium (Score:2)

    by INeededALogin (771371) on Monday March 12 2007, @03:35AM (#18313649)
    (Last Journal: Friday May 14 2004, @01:15PM)
    WTF! No mention of Adium in the article or in the thread. It is only the best chat program on the planet.
    • Re:Adium by argent (Score:2) Monday March 12 2007, @06:17AM
    • Re:Adium by MalleusEBHC (Score:2) Monday March 12 2007, @06:35PM
  • Run scripts when you change your location? You want to pay *money* for this?

    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.
  • If Microsoft had done a better job of gussying up Windows after Windows 3.11 I'd be all over Coherence mode, but the double hit of Windows 95's taskbar (with all the disadvantages of Apple's menu bar and none of its dubious advantages) and their choice of screen-scraping Citrix technology instead of virtualizing GDI in Terminal Server makes the multi-windows support a bit of a dancing bear. Every time you move a window or see ALL your "Windows" windows pop up when you click on one it's clear that they'll never be first class citizens on the Mac desktop. And the task bar? Can't live with it, can't live without it. Your best bet is to run Parallels in its own full screen window... it does a good job there.

    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.
  • by Builder (103701) on Monday March 12 2007, @08:30AM (#18315405)
    Ok, so I'm trying the old tried and tested 'Blah sucks!' to try and get support trick :)

    I cannot find a single way of talking to an IR device (http://www.alti-2.com/sport/neptune/Neptune2.htm) from OS X. It worked in 10.1, but doesn't work in 10.4 anymore.

    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)

    by IntergalacticWalrus (720648) on Friday March 16 2007, @11:11AM (#18376185)
    This list is unfortunately lacking in the free/opensource department. And like many other Mac sites they fail to indicate what's closed source and what's not, and when they say "free" they really mean that "beer" kind of free which is annoying (but that's another subject).

    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)

    by AugstWest (79042) on Sunday March 11 2007, @11:02AM (#18307934)
    Or, just:

    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.

    [ Parent ]
  • Re:Huh? (Score:2)

    by Divebus (860563) on Sunday March 11 2007, @12:47PM (#18308576)

    Of course the "Mac" thing is important.

    Why? Is there another kind?

    [ Parent ]
  • 21 replies beneath your current threshold.