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In no particular order....
  • Pixelmator Classic. (image/graphics editor) Simple UI but very capable.
  • UpNote. (PKM, notes). Visually appealing. Quick and nimble. cross-platform. Note linking capabilities on par with things like Obsidian.
  • MP3Tag. (metadata editor) A must-have for making sure audio files get cataloged and arranged correctly. cross-platform.
  • SimpleMind Pro. (mindmap) A terrific mind map tool that is criminally ignored. cross-platform.
  • VLC. (media player and more) A great media player that can also convert files. cross-platform but the Mac version lacks a few features that are available on other OSes.
  • Apple Pages. (word processing/desktop publishing) When I want to easily create material to print, Pages straddles the fence between word processing and desktop publishing.
  • 4K Video downloader+. An important utility for downloading media from Youtube and other sites. Can download playlists, entire channels, full video, audio-only of video files, and much more.
  • Audacity. (audio editor) Cross-platform, easy to use. A ton of functionality.
  • Handbrake / MakeMKV. (video converting, ripping). Both tools help me to rip my physical DVD collection to populate my Plex server.
  • LibreOffice. (productivity suite) It doesn't look pretty but it is highly capable. It can handle highly complex Word documents that MS Word for Mac chokes on.
 
In no particular order....
  • Pixelmator Classic. (image/graphics editor) Simple UI but very capable.
  • VLC. (media player and more) A great media player that can also convert files. cross-platform but the Mac version lacks a few features that are available on other OSes.
  • Apple Pages. (word processing/desktop publishing) When I want to easily create material to print, Pages straddles the fence between word processing and desktop publishing.
  • Audacity. (audio editor) Cross-platform, easy to use. A ton of functionality.
  • LibreOffice. (productivity suite) It doesn't look pretty but it is highly capable. It can handle highly complex Word documents that MS Word for Mac chokes on.
Apart from agreeing with all these, I'd just add that LibreOffice is absolutely unsurpassed at opening documents created with old software - Word Perfect, WordStar, Claris Works, MS Works, Word 4.1 onwards, Lotus, MacWrite, anyone? And that's just SOME of the word processing formats alone!.
 
I tried it out on CW files made with both CW 8&9 and it worked a charm.
The earliest files go back to 1995. I'm going to put up for sale on the MacOSRumors MarketPlace
my 15" 2009 MacBook Pro w/assorted s'ware now that I no longer need it to open those files.
 
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FindAnyFile
KEKA: compressor of files
Handbrake: video codec converter
Jopliln/Standard Notes: Not taking apps
Pixelmator: Cheap alternative to photoshop. Not as powerful but doesn't require subscription.
Bitwarden: password manager
ublock origin: extesnion for browsers to block ads

any one know free/cheap video editor?
 
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DiskWarrior

i don't know how relevant it is today, but like 20 years ago my hard drive got corrupted (no boot) and it restored it like nothing ever happened. Old timers know this one, but I mention it just in case it helps any one.
 
FindAnyFile
KEKA: compressor of files
Handbrake: video codec converter
Jopliln/Standard Notes: Not taking apps
Pixelmator: Cheap alternative to photoshop. Not as powerful but doesn't require subscription.
Bitwarden: password manager
ublock origin: extesnion for browsers to block ads

any one know free/cheap video editor?
Now that some of the chronic issues have been resolved, I'm looking to returning to Joplin.
 
What does this do?

Hammerspoon is an app to automate things on macOS using Lua. It gives you access to many parts of the macos api and you can use it to automate your workflow. There are many examples of user configurations to give you an idea of what's possible. It doesn't really have a GUI, and you need to load your config file with the things you want to automate. This gives you a lot of flexibility to make it work how you like, but you need to be comfortable working with the Lua code (or at least, copy and paste code). I don't know Lua, but I can more or less read the config files and understand what's going on.

The good thing with Hammerspoon is that it can replace the functionality of many small apps; like window management, app launcher, display management, etc. But you need to add the code to your config to do so.

My config is pretty simple, as it only does two things:

1) launch some apps (of focus on them if they are already launched) via some shortcuts (all of them are cmd + ctrl + a letter I choose)

2) Window management using a spoon (which is like an external library in Hammerspoon terms; there are many of them with functionality already baked in) via some other shortcuts. It workings by pressing cmd + option + alt and the arrow keys to move windows to my liking.

If you're interested, I'd recommend you starting with a small config (you can use mine) and tweak it to your liking (changing the apps for the ones you use, etc). There's a getting started guide on the Hammerspoon page as well. Feel free to ask me if you need any help.
 
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Shotcut : https://www.shotcut.org/download/

A bit of a learning curve but there are loads of tutorial videos on YouTube.

thanks for the suggestion!

Depends on what you're looking for, but DaVinci Resolve's base edition is ridiculously high quality, and for free. Professional grade video editing, effects, color grading, and audio editing.

DaVinci resolve I believe has high learning curve on par with hollywood movies editing capabilities.

I am looking for something just to do cuts, text over video, audio addition. Something like that Canva video editor for simpletons but native app.

imovie is too limited and just lost its way, PowerDirector is great but subscription.
 
Hammerspoon is an app to automate things on macOS using Lua. It gives you access to many parts of the macos api and you can use it to automate your workflow. There are many examples of user configurations to give you an idea of what's possible. It doesn't really have a GUI, and you need to load your config file with the things you want to automate. This gives you a lot of flexibility to make it work how you like, but you need to be comfortable working with the Lua code (or at least, copy and paste code). I don't know Lua, but I can more or less read the config files and understand what's going on.

Isn't this like AppleScript, Automator, shortcuts? I do not even know the difference between the past 3 but thats what I know about automation on macos.

The good thing with Hammerspoon is that it can replace the functionality of many small apps; like window management, app launcher, display management, etc. But you need to add the code to your config to do so.

My config is pretty simple, as it only does two things:

1) launch some apps (of focus on them if they are already launched) via some shortcuts (all of them are cmd + ctrl + a letter I choose)

2) Window management using a spoon (which is like an external library in Hammerspoon terms; there are many of them with functionality already baked in) via some other shortcuts. It workings by pressing cmd + option + alt and the arrow keys to move windows to my liking.

i'll check it out

If you're interested, I'd recommend you starting with a small config (you can use mine) and tweak it to your liking (changing the apps for the ones you use, etc). There's a getting started guide on the Hammerspoon page as well. Feel free to ask me if you need any help.

ah...sounds like something that is very useful unfortunately I am not a coding guy and I know the learning curve is steep. Last time I did coding was HTML websites around 2000. I even got lost with CSS. TBF, I just want to cut short cuts and not learn the fundamentals :p so things keep not working correctly for me by copying and pasting stuff around.
 
most of this is built in, what am I missing?
Popclip is highly customizable.
Take a look at the extensions library; you can put almost any function on Popclip:

Personally I have it set up with:
Copy, cut, paste. Search. Make note in notes. Make stickie. Make reminder. Dictionary. Spelling. Google Translate.

Couldn't live without it now.
 
Here are some I rely on daily, in no particular order:

- BusyCal
- TextSniper
- Alfred
- Mimestream
- 1Password
- Things

Here are some I rely on daily, in no particular order:

- BusyCal
- TextSniper
- Alfred
- Mimestream
- 1Password
- Things
Mimestream has performed flawlessly for my Gmail accounts. And they are quick to deploy fixes.
 
There are lots of cool apps here! Thanks for the updates. Personally, I really like BoltAI after using it for a while. It's my favorite now. The app is great; it’s what Apple Intelligence aims to be, but it’s already out and quite affordable. Using LLMs has boosted my productivity a lot, and it also makes it easy for me to work with models hosted locally. I highly recommend this app.
 
Apple Notes: good for note taking and writing, while iA Writer is good too!
Pixelmator Pro: enough for me to do some basic graphic design, or image cropping.
Pages especially for publishing like CV, portfolio
Keynote or iA Presenter: great for making slides although I don't always need to do them
Netnewswire free open-source RSS reader
Books and Libby (web app): good for reading ebooks and magazines, although I usually do on iPad
Music
 
 
Text Sniper
Popclip
Keyboard Maestro
Cleanshot X
Alfred
PowerPoint
Word
iDoceo (if you are a teacher, you have to have this app)
Goodsync
 
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