The Top Mac Web Sites: The Good, Bad, And New.

Browser bookmarks are your friend. If you have too many ‘bookmark buddies’ then you’re in good company. Me.

I have a few dozen Mac sites bookmarked-- the good, the bad, the ugly, and some new ones. Some I visit every day, others not so much. Here’s a look at the top sites, not so good sites, and a new Mac site.

First, I’m an Apple, Mac, iPod, iPhone, Steve Jobs news junkie. If it were not for RSS feeds I wouldn’t have time or opportunity to get pregnant. Now heavy with child #2, I blame it all on my RSS habit.

Tops on my list of Must Read Daily is MacSurfer; simple, easy to scan, all the links to anything to do with Apple, the Mac, or iPods and iPhones. Also on my daily read is MacMinute, but for different reasons. There’s a bit more information connected to the headline.

Speaking of headlines, there’s MacDailyNews, which is a pure Mac, Apple, iPod, iPhone, Steve Jobs root fest, complete with cheering crowds in the comments section. They’re on top of what’s going on, always the fanboy site, always digging the competition (what’s left of it).

For somewhat more technical reads I head to Macworld and ArsTechnica. Macworld needs a new name. AppleWorld seems to fit. ArsTechnica is geeky and opinionated, sometimes elitist, but a worthy read.

Second, I’m a Mac tool hound (houndess?, houndette?) and find myself hitting MacUpdate and VersionTracker multiple times daily in the never ending hunt for Mac software.

See? Nothing special there. Those are the standard fare sites for all things Apple and Mac, and deservedly so. For humor, how do you beat FakeSteve, or CARS, or Mactopia.

RSS helps me with sites such as ThinkSecret, and AppleInsider, though neither seem to have many scoops these days. Maybe because Apple kills employees or vendors who leak information. Kill? That’s what I heard.

MacOSRumors was long considered to be site for guaranteed frustration, if not abuse of your Macophile senses, but seems to have gone the way of As The Apple Turns, which was at the other end of the scale. They couldn’t sell the former, and no one can find the author of the latter.

There’s Apple and Mac news sites galore, including MacNN, The Mac Observer, MacsimumNews, AppleMatters, and many, many others. The definitive list appears near the bottom of the MacSurfer home page.

Looking for hints on how to get the most out of Mac OS X, or fix a problem? Of course, there’s a MacOS Hints site, and a MacFixIt site.

I’m the official Mac360 Value Vixen™ and tend to look for sites that point me to great software are lower than almost free prices. Check LowEndMac for the best info to keep your Mac running on a tight budget forever.

One thing we’ve noticed in the past year or so is the growing number of new Mac users-- as in formerly Windows PC users who switched to a Mac. Guess what? There’s a site just for newbies to the Mac.

Chris Kerins of MyFirstMac has put together a site that’s aimed at new Mac users. Help, how-to’s, and more-- all designed to help those PC users learn about the Mac and how to make the experience a better one.

Finally, for sassy insight, no Apple or Mac oriented site does a better job than DaringFireball. I’m not a subscriber to John Gruber’s site (that costs money), but love his ability to get to the heart of a matter and skewer the increasing supply of media jackasses.

There’s a few dozen more Mac sites I haven’t mentioned. There’s just not enough time or space, though I’m sure you have a few favorites beyond the standard popular sites I’ve mentioned.

What Mac sites are on your list for Must Read Daily efforts? Share yours in the Comments section below.

Check out the daily list of our 9 Word mini-Reviews at NoodleMac, and Kate's daily in-depth Mac software reviews at PixoBebo.

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