[sisenor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif So cool, this is one thing that often bugs me when working on several Word documents at once because I don't like how Apple sees apps and not windows like Windows does (great pun). Do you have more apps like this that make life easier?

That's cool, but did you know you can alt-tab between apps while expose'ing?

Also, I can't believe I didn't know this (because I know my way around a Mac) is that you can save virtually anything as a .PDF. Just apple-p to print and hit the pdf dropdown menu.

 

[hudsong]

One word: Quicksilver
http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/
Oh yeah, a really great word processing app I use is called Scrivener:
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

 

[saint.panda]

Another thing worth trying out is Camino, Mac's Firefox. The main advantages are that it's faster, uses the keychain and has a pretty good ad blocker (besides the standard pop up blocker), and it's prettier. On the downside there aren't too many extensions yet since Camino is written on a Mac native toolkit and you have to get used to different and sligthly less ideal shortcuts. I'm not a big fan of Safari.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx (...)

I found so many great apps today, thanks a ton for the recommendations!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisenor /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's cool, but did you know you can alt-tab between apps while expose'ing? Also, I can't believe I didn't know this (because I know my way around a Mac) is that you can save virtually anything as a .PDF. Just apple-p to print and hit the pdf dropdown menu.

Yeah, but I think it's not quite the same thing as the Windows tab switch or the Witch thing.

I also didn't know what you could create pdfs natively and thought it was because I installed Acrobat, which is also rather worthless for Mac because you can't create bookmarks from headers in a word document.

 

[sisenor]

Boy, you're getting spoiled newbie

Here's a couple widgets and then you're 86ed:

-symphonic

-(to check your girlish figure) mirror

 

[AlanY]

Congratulations on getting a Mac. They're really nice machines, the OS is a joy to use, and the community is friendly

I'm not one of the Quicksilver fanatics. I actually like tangible manipulation of icons and things, so don't feel odd if you can't get into that program (or if you don't even quite get what it's for).

My favorite app is OmniOutliner. I use it for literally everything: rough drafts of writing, as a freeform database, for lists, todos, etc. I also second the recommendation for Camino. It's the best OS X web browser, based on Firefox, but with a Mac user interface. By default, some of the Firefox-type features are turned off (like "find as you type", keyword lookup in the URL bar, etc.), but they can all be turned on, either through options or downloadable preference panes. See www.pimpmycamino.com for various add-ons if you find the defaults in Camino lacking. Oh, and you can get a single button for closing tabs, like old versions of Firefox, by customizing the toolbar.

If you need to keep track of your hours (for billing purposes, invoicing, etc.), there are a lot of good OS X apps. One that doesn't get mentioned very much and is somewhat hard to find is TimeLog. I think it's the best because it has fantastic iCal integration, a good, very usable UI, accessible through the menu bar, and very thoughtful reminder panes that pop up.

If you need a general alarm clock, timer, stopwatch-type program, Alarm Clock 2 is really good.

Some people have been mentioning concentration tools. One app that hasn't been mentioned yet, I don't think, is Desktopple Pro. A new version just came out. It lets you hide the desktop icons and optionally the title bar if you want to concentrate on a single window for whatever reason.

 

[Usagi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisenor /img/forum/go_quote.gif Boy, you're getting spoiled newbie

I would have to agree. All these apps are excellent! You guys/gals are making it extremely difficult to pry myself off from this machine.

 

[saint.panda]

Forgot to add my favourite app: MailTags. Makes working and integrating Mail and iCal so much more convenient. Then I also use HighPriority to have access to the to do's directly in the Mac menu bar.

SoundSource is great if you use a USB dac or bluetooth headset. This preference pane adds a output/input selector to the menu bar, very convenient.

I also like Growl which is a pop up notifier for pretty much everything. You can download growl plugins for Camino so you don't have to worry about the download window for example. Growl gives you a short pop up once the download is finished. It also works great with Adiumx, skype, etc. for example when you're browsing the net while chatting and don't want to miss the important messages without constantly having the chat application up front.

Another cool widet is Amazon Album Art, which finds cover art for iTunes. Works about 80% of the time, which is pretty good for such a simple widget.

 

[blessingx]

Here's another cool one - gSpell. Uses Google to spell-check so names, slang, etc. not normally checked by dictionaries are.

 

[jowille]

Being an MS Windows guy for many years, I broke down and bought an imac for my dad for christmas.... Of course, I had to play with it to learn it well enough to teach it to him....

I need to get one of the big ones!!!!!

 

[GlendaleViper]

Wow! I was coming in to give you the thumbs up, and I'm leaving with a truckload of great apps! Thanks a lot everyone!

 

[blessingx]

I'm doubling up on the Google apps, but Google Desktop entered the app launch/search line-up since the above posts. Creator of Quicksilver even worked on it.

 

[bperboy]

Yay for You! No more fixing winblows! I <3 my MacBook Pro!

 

[jrussell6]

+1 on the coming to give congrats, and leaving with some great apps....
I personally couldn't live without audio hijack pro and Fission.... just makes me so happy but too bad internet radio is about to take a hit...
also, i really suggest the combination of Toast/Popcorn/Mactheripper... i won't talk about what you can do, but i've got alot of movies. combine it will a couple neat cables and you've got a dts h/d capable media center.

anyway, a neat little trick i learned is hold down control and use you two-finger trackpad...... now how about that.... ZOOM. just fun. anyway congrats on joining the useful side of things.

 

[pkshiu]

I also switched (well, became dual platformed) recently with an iMac. They are great. Toughest thing to get used to in the beginning is the "close window" vs "quit app" difference between OSX and Windoze.

One other thing that is unexpected is that I switched hoping to use iPhotos to manage my gigabytes of photos, only to find that it is not really up to the task -- because it does not handle "externally" stored files very well. I ended up trying and buying aperture, which is a great program. But it's not cheap.

While I am here, has anyone tried to stream locally stored video from a mac to a PC (XP) using iTunes? That is one thing that I wanted to do and it does not work. The network seems to stall the streaming. I can stream the other direction, which is strange.

 

[DivxRipPimp]

In system preferences, there is a mouse option to make 2 fingers on the track pad right click! i love it... (and 2 fingers dragging on the trackpad for scrolling and 2 finger + ctrl zooming)

OHOHOHOHOH SCREEN SHOT!