My Favorite OS X Software

Life with OS X... week 3. Here's what's on my list so far:
(list does not include software that comes with OS X by default)

» Adium

The best multi-protocol chat (IM) client I've seen for Mac.
Check out the Tokyo Train Station Sound Set. An excellent replacement for gaim.

» Aperture

Having become very used to ACDsee under Windows, I was somewhat disapointed with the lack of Metadata management features within iPhoto. I purchased Aperture and have been learning it along the way. Its methodology is quite different, and it doesn't really handle Metadata as precisely as ACDsee, but it does handle it and some of its features are way beyond what ACDsee can do. So far I'm quite pleased with it.

» Colloquy

An excellent IRC client.

» Firefox

Extensions, Extensions, Extensions!
In particular, check out Bookmarks Synchronizer 3 which can sync your Firefox bookmarks with your .Mac account, or anywhere else via FTP, HTTP, HTTPS or WebDAV.

» Google Earth

Requires no explanation

» (The) Missing Sync for Windows Mobile

My friend QuasiJones pointed this one out to me. It does a great job of synchronizing my T-Mobila MDA (HTC Wizard) with both iSync on the Mac and Outlook on Windows XP. I just wish it had support for some other applications, such as SplashID.

» NeoOffice

An Aqua version of OpenOffice, yay!

» PictureSync

This program can sync your photos from a bunch of different applications to a bunch of different on-line services. I use it to upload pictures from Aperture to Flickr.

» Remote Desktop Connection

Do you have a Windows system that you need to connect to via RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol)? This is the tool to use. From Microsoft. PowerPC only binary, but works well on my Intel MacPro.

» SplashID Desktop

Absoloutely the best password & private data management application I've ever seen. I started out using it on Windows XP to sync with my Nokia 6600 (running Symbian 60). Then I bought a T-Mobila MDA (Windows Mobile 5) and have used it to sync with that from Windows XP using ActiveSync. Now I've moved to OS X and run the SplashID Desktop for OS X.

While SplashID Desktop on OS X won't sync with your Windows Mobile (or PocketPC) device (not even with The Missing Sync), you can export an encrypted .vid file and import it on the device. Or in my case, every once in a while I import the .vid on the Windows XP version and then sync over ActiveSync as I am syncing my phone with both a Windows XP and MacOS system.

One huge benefit of using an application like this is that not only can you keep track of all of your various logins and passwords, but you can use different passwords for each web site. Better yet, I generate completly random passwords for each site and SplashID does it all for me.

I highly recommend it!

» Thunderbird

Again, extensions!

My favorite ones include:

• Display Mail User Agent
• Buttons! (just one button I use: Delete Thread, very useful!)
• Quote Colors

» Yahoo! Messenger

During the week I usually run Adium, because of its multi-protocol support. However, on the weekends I'll usually run Yahoo! Messenger. I much prefer the way it notifies you of new mail (using Growl). It also supports video.

» Skype

Skype finally has video for OS X!
It also supports integration with the Apple Address Book now, as well as Growl.

That's all for now. I'm sure that will keep you busy. :-D