This is always an arguable point, but I’m more convinced than ever that Apple’s software (from Tiger to bundled apps to expensive apps) are some of the best desktop applications ever devised.

Argue away.

Besides that, the growing cadre of Mac software developers are publishing some of the best niche applications. Ever.

Examples? Well, on the Apple side, there’s the bundled iLife package. iTunes, iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand. Buy a Mac mini at $499 and iLife comes free. With Mac OS X Tiger. That’s about $200 of very good software. It’s like the Mac mini was bundled with the software.

Need more? Here’s a minor list of my favorite Mac software (non-Apple, non-major developer). PhotoToMovie and PhotoMagico. SuperDuper and ChronoSync. Transmit. BBEdit. SOHO Business Cards and Labels. ComicLife.

There’s more where that came from.

Yes, I’m a Photoshop and Illustrator user; have been for years; will continue. Plus, I love Fireworks (Macromedia, soon to be Adobe).

The Windows users that I talk to and show Mac software to usually are dumbfounded. The Windows power users have equivalents, none as elegant.

What’s your favorite Apple and Mac software?

Apparently, a bunch of folks are seeing value and quality in all things Apple as today’s quarterly financial results were stunning. Apple is on a roll, that’s for sure. I spent over an hour downloading updates for a couple of Macs today. 10.4.2, plus iPhoto, plus all the pro applications got updates.

Apple is cranking along like never before. $7.5-billion in the bank, growing sales and market share, products to die for, commanding market share in portable music players.

We’re seeing a new period in Apple’s life.

BTW - Bambi is right. ComicLife is so good we’re developing a whole website on comics.

I’m in the process of upgrading to Tiger 10.4.2 now, on both machines. iMac is next. Anybody have any problems? I haven’t found much on Apple’s message boards. Anybody heard from Ron recently? Tera, you’ve been keeping him busy with site upgrades, huh?

Jeff, you need an avatar or a photo. I’ll get you one if you like. Tell me about yourself and I’ll grab an image that matches.

By the way, I don’t run wireless, but I know Mister Ron has wireless everything, so I’ll give him a call. It’s still early over there.

Jeff Mincey - 13 July 2005 11:52 PM

The word on the Apple forums (and elsewhere) is that shortly after the 10.4.2 upgrade some people lose their wireless connections and can no longer talk to their Airport base stations. (In fact, at least one web site has posted a fix or work-around to this problem.)

I’ve got a snow Airport and it worked fine after the update. In fact, I’ve had no issues with any of the update at all. Anyone wanna bet that Ron hasn’t upgraded the servers yet? He got in a pickle a few upgrades back when Apple broke our mail.

Jeff Mincey - 13 July 2005 11:52 PM

Note: I see I’m the only one without a pic, so I suppose I shall have to succumb to the clamor and upload one. (Okay, so there is no clamor, but a man has to do what’s necessary to maintain his illusions.)

Hahahahaha. Clamor? What clamor?

Jeff Mincey - 13 July 2005 11:52 PM

The word on the Apple forums (and elsewhere) is that shortly after the 10.4.2 upgrade some people lose their wireless connections and can no longer talk to their Airport base stations…

Note: I see I’m the only one without a pic, so I suppose I shall have to succumb to the clamor and upload one. (Okay, so there is no clamor, but a man has to do what’s necessary to maintain his illusions.)

So, where is the photo already?

Oh, I’m running an iMac with an Airport card as a base station. Works great.

Osiris - 14 July 2005 03:27 PM

My favorite apps are ChronoSync (I can’t thank you enough Tera for recommending it), Transmit, iPhoto Library Manager, and above all….Quicksilver…

Overall, the out-of-box software included with any new Mac is simply astonishing compared to a Windoze box. Did you know that Windows can’t even play a DVD movie out of the box? That just blew me away…

I’ve never been able to get the hang of Quicksilver so I use DragThing again. Again, based on Tera’s recommendation. My SO also uses SuperDuper! and raves about it.

Vernelle Kam - 14 July 2005 07:36 PM

I’ve never been able to get the hang of Quicksilver so I use DragThing again. Again, based on Tera’s recommendation. My SO also uses SuperDuper! and raves about it.

FWIW, I don’t see the cool factor in Quicksilver. DragThing allows for hot corners, even a hot side. I set mine to left of screen, and right of screen, and all it takes to bring up the whole palette of applications is a flick of the wrist or a keystroke. Seems both easier to use than Quicksilver and more powerful. But that’s just me.

I concur. DragThing absolutely rocks. I know a few folks go for QuickSilver but DragThing wins big in a feature for feature comparison. BTW - the 10.4.2 bug on DragThing 5.6 is sporadic. I have one Mac where it’s there and another where it’s not. Go figure.

New version of DragThing (5.6.1, I think) was released today to fix that little glitch. I think DragThing is an excellent example of an application that “becomes” part of Mac OS X. I used in OS 9.x and won’t set up a new Mac without it. Excellent.

Thanks for starting this thread on great software. I was hoping that you would add it as a topic.

My favourite software in no particular order:

ComicLife (thanks to Tara’s recommendation)
NoteTaker (awesome outlinner although some people prefer CP’s Notebook)
StickyBrain
Audio Hijack Pro (again thanks to Tara for the review)
iClip (the latest version will allow you to clip a whole article)
Nissus Thesaurus (although I’m not sure I’ll need it when I upgrade to Tiger)
DragThing (I love the newer versions and was finally sold on it at the end of 2004)
Quicksilver (for quick searches)
DockFun! (which allows me to have different docks for similar apps)
Konfabulator (because I love having the little widgets on my desktop where I can see them
and not in a separate layer like Dashboard…and the Konfab. widgets are prettier)

I’m hoping that Tara will do a review of Zengobi’s Curio. It’s really neat and I am seriously thinking of buying it.

I’m a registered Curio Pro user (bought in naturally before they introduced the lower priced versions) and it is pretty keen. Be even more keen if I worked harder and thus called upon it more.

Mated with my 6x8 Intous3 tablet, Curio is almost as good having a paper notepad that’s stored electronically. I say “almost” since it’s still a different ballgame writing with a pen while looking at the screen, but there’s no other arrangement (other than being flush enough to afford a Cintiq tablet) that comes as close to a computerized version of full whiteboard freedom combined with the flexibility of electronic tools. Not for everybody, but I dearly wanted it. Sometimes, linear typing just isn’t what you’re needing.

PennyK - 16 July 2005 11:19 PM

Thanks for starting this thread on great software. I was hoping that you would add it as a topic.

My favourite software in no particular order:

ComicLife (thanks to Tara’s recommendation)
NoteTaker (awesome outliner although some people prefer CP’s Notebook)
StickyBrain
Audio Hijack Pro (again thanks to Tara for the review)
iClip (the latest version will allow you to clip a whole article)
Nissus Thesaurus (although I’m not sure I’ll need it when I upgrade to Tiger)
DragThing (I love the newer versions and was finally sold on it at the end of 2004)
Quicksilver (for quick searches)
DockFun! (which allows me to have different docks for similar apps)
Konfabulator (because I love having the little widgets on my desktop where I can see them
and not in a separate layer like Dashboard…and the Konfab. widgets are prettier)

I’m hoping that Tara will do a review of Zengobi’s Curio. It’s really neat and I am seriously thinking of buying it.

I, too, have tried a number of new Mac apps because of Tara and Bambi’s recommendations. These include some of the above, such as ComicLife (what a neato Mac app, now with iLife integration).

DragThing - there is NOTHING better than this.
SuperDuper - for backup clones; needs an auto scheduler
ChronoSync - for copying to other machines; has an auto scheduler
TextWrangler - I stopped upgrades to BBEdit because of this

mac_the_mac - 17 July 2005 09:13 PM

I, too, have tried a number of new Mac apps because of Tara and Bambi’s recommendations. These include some of the above, such as ComicLife (what a neato Mac app, now with iLife integration).

DragThing - there is NOTHING better than this.
SuperDuper - for backup clones; needs an auto scheduler
ChronoSync - for copying to other machines; has an auto scheduler
TextWrangler - I stopped upgrades to BBEdit because of this

Don’t forget NetNewsWire and NewsFire for RSS readers. I haven’t done Curio yet but will ask Bambi as she’s the queen of Mac apps.

First things first - glad to see the forums, love mac360!

My most-used app has to be VooDooPad. Slickest thing since sliced bread.

Pages is definitely becoming a favorite with me, and a good Illustrator alternative for those of us who aren’t hardcore graphics designers is Intaglio.

Osiris - 14 July 2005 03:27 PM

I still have a few complaints about iPhoto, like when you “delete” a photo in an album, the photo is still in your library, and can be a real bitch to go and find so that you can erase it once and for all. It’s getting there though…

Hold down the Option and Command keys while hitting delete - deletes it from the current album AND the library.

Overall, the out-of-box software included with any new Mac is simply astonishing compared to a Windoze box. Did you know that Windows can’t even play a DVD movie out of the box? That just blew me away…

No, I didn’t know that!

I was surprised to find out that waking from sleep on a Windoze laptop takes almost as long as a cold start…I just assumed that since my iBook takes 3 seconds, a high-end PC laptop would be even faster. Nope - a friend’s super-super HP takes a couple of minutes, and he says that’s typical.  Since learning this, I make it a habit to wake my iBook from sleep whenever he’s around, and then say - in my best Cartman voice - “ohhhh, I’m sorry, your laptop won’t do that, will it??”