Getting my Mac soon - What applications should I download first?

[-Josh-]

Hey fellas!
I'm new to the mac world, so I'm pretty clueless on what I should download when I first pop this baby open. How good is Ichat? coming from Windows, all I use is MSN messenger.

So a list of things you like, with a small sentance on what exactly the program does and, if you don't mind, why you have it.

thanks so much!!


Josh

 

[tomoisyourgod]

depends what you plan on doing on your mac. Unlike windows, OS X comes with some really good apps already installed such as iLife etc...

You can get MSN messenger for Mac, although I prefer something called Adium.

good to hear your making the switch Josh

 

[cbrain]

Hi,

iChat is only for AIM users, .Mac users and Jabber users.

I agree with tomoisyourgod, Adium is a really good choice.

You might also want to try Growl which is a really good alerts system, Vienna which is an RSS reader, Google Earth, Aspyr Game Agent which tells you which games will run on your Mac, Paintbrush which is just like Microsoft Paint (Paintbrush is on the Apple Download Site and Smulltron, a really good text editor which highlights certain code terms depending on what type of file your working with.

Hope this helps.

 

[cwedl]

You can't simply use iChat on the MSN messenger network, so Adiumx would be a good choice or messenger for the mac.

I use vlc player available from www.videolan.org to play loads of different video formats, however if you want to use quicktime to play your video files, I would use perian (http://www.perian.org), and Flip for Mac (http://www.flip4mac.com/) (you can just download the free version of this just to watch wmv files).

Thats all I use, but for more information for Mac beginners have a look at this guide (http://guides.macrumors.com/Mac_Beginner's_Guide) it will tell you everything you need to now.

Thanks

 

[Jack Flash]

First off, go ahead an get AppZapper. You'll make use of it plenty in your first weeks as a Mac user.

Next, I recommend getting Adium to fix your instant messaging needs.

Here are some free applications you might as well have in your toolbox:

Adobe Reader - I prefer this to Safari .pdf support
Caffeine - Prevents your display from dimming from inactivity. (Good for watching movies)
Camino - Good to have an alternative browser
CarbonCopyCloner - Good backup tool
Cyberduck - Free FTP
Flip4Mac - WMV Plugin
Growl - System-wide notifications
HandBrake - Video Conversion
LineIn - Routes Audio
Onyx - System Maintenance
Perian - Quicktime Plugin
Quicksilver - Application Launcher
Seashore - Pint Program
Skype - Video conference with Windows users.
Transmission - Bittorrent Client
UnRarX - .rar Decompression
iAlertU - Cheesy Mac "Car-Alarm" but it could help...
iStat Menus - Great system monitoring tool
smcFanControl - Regulate Fan Speeds

 

[byakuya]

Here is my list that I will try to update as often as possible (has been a while though)

I love istat pro (widget) and istat menu also...best system monitoring utilities that I have come across on the mac.

byakuya

 

[motulist]

Here's all you need to know.

Also, go to this section and read the guides in the yellow box at the top of this page.