Nov 122007
 

So in a couple of earlier entries, I’ve alluded to part of my setup process being the installation of ‘key applications and utilities’. These are generally Mac-specific small developer apps that I can’t live without as part of my standard workflow. I’m not talking about the big things that everybody might expects (Photoshop, Illustrator, Pages, iWork, iLife, etc.), but the cool little apps that really show the uniqueness of the Mac, and make it such s vibrant platform. So I thought I’d highlight a few of these today…

Quicksilver :: Quicksilver is basically a launcher. However, rather than having yet another toolbar or waste of pixels on the screen, it’s totally fluid in how it works. You type a predetermined key combination to activate it, then type the first couple of letters of whatever you want to launch, be it application, document, folder, etc. That’s pretty much it. The new version of Spotlight can do most of the same stuff very quickly, but Quicksilver also adds some scriptability that really makes it cool and indispensible. Plus the price is right (free as in beer, not as in speech).

VoodooPad Pro :: The ultimate local wiki/notepad/information storage receptical. You can store objects in it such as graphics, files, etc… can write in it and then export to nay number of formats, it has buit-in sketch functionality. Great application. I can’t live without it, and the developer is so responsive and cool. Price: $29.95. Pro Version (which is the one I use) is $49.95.

FlySketch :: Another product from Flying Meat, flysketch is a quick little screen capture/annotating utility. Infinitely useful and very slick. I used it to annotate the picture of my ‘Dock folder correction’ entry if you want to see what sorts of things it can do. It’s amazingly handy. Price: $24.95, or $44.90 for FlySketch *and* VoodooPad. Well worth the money.

Text Wrangler :: The best free text editor on any platform. And yes, that includes vi , eliteist freetards. Suck it. The only thing might be better is it’s big brother BBEdit, which does everything TextWrangler does and oh, so much more. Of course, it also costs money. Price: Free.

WriteRoom 1.0 :: Writeroom is something I’ve wanted for ever: the ability to just have a completely blank screen with no distractions to write in. It hides everything but the black screen with green text (fully customizable, of course). Why specifically 1.0, you might ask? Because Version 2.0 costs money. Not that it’s cost ($24.95) is totaly unreasonable, just not something I use enough to justify at the moment. But when I need it, I *really* need it. I might but the new version just to reward the developer for making good Mac software. Price: free (version 1.0)

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 Posted by at 10:41 pm

  3 Responses to “Essential Mac OS X apps and utilities”

  1. VoodooPad seems like a good app to use for D&D planning. Do you use it for that?

  2. Among other things, yes. This quest I’ve been on for the ‘ultimate campaign planning tool’ led me to a few applications, actually. Perhaps I’ll make an entry on that search… hmm…

  3. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/20
    /leopard_reintroduces_security_vuln/

    As I am new to Macs and stumbled across your site while Googling about, I wonder if you can clarify the above link. It is my understanding that Macs are immune to all viruses. That’s what is stated in the advertising and by my friends who are Mac users. Are they all liars? If so, I will remain using my PC and try Linux instead.

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