# Top 10 Software Programs for Mac



## amo (Oct 29, 2001)

I'm a bit a new PC to Mac convert and I'm wondering, what are your Top 10 Programs that you think every Mac user should have?  I'm talkin about programs that may not be out for X ye as well, like Photoshop.


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## themacko (Oct 29, 2001)

BBedit Lite
AOL Instant Messanger
Adobe Photoshop + Image Ready
MS Office v.X
Quicken Delux 2002
Carracho Client
Toast Titanium
iTunes 2
Transport FTP
LimeWire
[/list=1] 

That was tougher than I thought it would be.


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## godzookie (Oct 29, 2001)

1 Photoshop
2 Quark
3 Illustrator
4 Director
5 AfterEffects
6 Commotion
7 Radius
8 FinalCut
9 Premier
10Flash

I'm a little more specialized so I don't think every mac user will need Commotion and AfterEffects but I do... 

Nick


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## zerologic (Oct 29, 2001)

How about 13... in no particular order 

Fire.app
Office v.X
Corel Graphics Studio X
Freehand X
Carracho 
rBrowser
PhotoGrid X
Toast 5 PR2
Personal Organizer
Quicken 2002
BBEdit 6.5
Virtual PC Test Drive
Stuffit Deluxe 6.5

Combine all of those and I'm Classic FREE baby!


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## fryke (Oct 29, 2001)

I think it's a bit of a strange question, because ppl have very different things they want to accomplish with software. Carracho or Hotline for example have one purpose: To get more software.  (Legally of course.)

You should ask for the top ten free/shareware software. But even then you'll get nothing but a flame war on here ("BBEdit!", "No! You crazy?! Use TextEdit!!!").

Just browse over to www.versiontracker.com ... You'll find the newest software on there, and you can also search the database for the software you need.


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## godzookie (Oct 29, 2001)

Hey Carracho and hotline have more than one purpose, Software and pr0n 


nick


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## ThE OutsiDer (Oct 29, 2001)

Not in order-


Fire.app
Audion
Tranmit
Adobe appz
Lightwave 7
Omniweb
Mozzilla
Carracho
Pitbull (although doubtful now that hotline is slowing down)
Dock swap
SNAX


games-
GamePad Companion Demo
Quake 3
Starcraft carbon
Wolfenstein
Elite forces
UT
Medal of honour 2
Cinemaware games that will be re-released soon!


NO EXCUSE NOT TO HAVE FILE - 
The Classic Environment? (actual name of the app)


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## jove (Oct 29, 2001)

Hello,

iMovie 2 - free but awesome
iTunes 2 - free but cool
Graphic Converter - I know people who use Macs just for this gem.
Weatherling - when my parents ask me how the weather is...
Eight Ball - for those tough decisions
Toast -  the best burner out there - still in beta on X
CoolCam - the easiest web cam
PlayerPro - MIDI, Mod, Wave, you name it
BlackLight - its just cool.

Besides the ol' internet standards - that's all I use.


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## RacerX (Oct 29, 2001)

Applications:
(1) WorldText/TextEdit/SimpleText (depends on what OS I'm using)
(2) Photoshop+ImageReady
(3) AppleWorks
(4) iTunes
(5) OmniWeb/Netscape (depends on what OS I'm using)
(6) Acrobat
(7) PageMill/Freeway/GoLive (depends on my mood)
(8) Fetch/RBrowser (depends on what OS I'm using)
(9) Toast
(10) VirtualPC

Games (Mac OS X):
(1) Unreal Tournament
(2) Cro-mag Rally
(3) Quake III

Games (Classic OS):
(1) Rainbow 6
(2) Rogue Spear
(3) Quake II
(4) Unreal
(5) Doom (Ultimate and II)
(6) F/A-18 (Hornet and Korean)
(7) Bugdom
(8) Centipede/Apeiron


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## ThE OutsiDer (Oct 29, 2001)

LOL it was meant to be a top 10...


Doesnt anyone here use  - The Classic Enviroment?


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## jamall (Oct 30, 2001)

Here's my top ten in no particular order, and not including games:
iMovie 2
Photoshop 6
Bryce 5
InDesign 2
GraphicConverter
MS Entourage
OmniWeb
Stuffit Deluxe 6.5 (Magic Menu in particular)
Virtual PC (for the rare occasion when the Mac won't do)
Hotline


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## Dak RIT (Oct 30, 2001)

Top 10 Most Important Programs for MacOS X imo:

1.  OmniWeb
2.  iTunes
3.  Stuffit Expander
4.  XDarwin
5.  Photoshop
6.  Illustrator
7.  Interface Builder
8.  Project Builder
9.  iMovie
10. AOL Instant Messenger

Note not all of these are suggested every person have all of, because people have different reasons for using a mac, which suggests different software.  Some of these programs could be placed into a category and argued about forever... I simply chose a single program to showcase (no reason to have 3 web browsers if 1 will do everything you need).

A group of programs though that I think isn't getting enough attention from people is XFree86 and XDarwin.  Almost no matter what reason you're using a Mac, you can benefit from these.  Every other program I listed is only useful to some people.

Cheers,
Dak


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## twyg (Oct 30, 2001)

> _Originally posted by ThE OutsiDer _
> *LOL it was meant to be a top 10...
> 
> 
> Doesnt anyone here use  - The Classic Enviroment? *



Most of us don't if we don't have to 

Even just sitting there Classic takes up CPU time doing nothing... That's poor, but acceptable at least until we get all our stuff up and running fully carbon.

Top ten sitting in my dock right now...
1) Opera
2) Canvas
3) iTunes
4) Adium
5) Fire
6) BBEdit 6.5
7) Slacker
8) MoonDock
9) TeaTimer

For work it's definately
1) Photoshop & ImageReady
2) Canvas
3) Dreamweaver for initial "rough" html
4) BBEdit 6.5 for fixing the extra sh*t that Dreamweaver produces
5) Opera
6) Mozilla
7) Outlook Express (Classic version)
8) Office
9) Fire and Adium
10) IE (notice it's placement on the listing)

That's my listing...


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## Iuis (Oct 30, 2001)

I use for 'work':
1.-PhotoShop
2.-Iustrator
3.-Graphic Converter
4.-Golive
5.-File Maker Pro
8.-Quick Time Pro
9.-Stuffit Expander de Luxe
10.-Spring Cleaning

for fun I use:
1.- iVisit
2.- ircle


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## mindbend (Oct 30, 2001)

I don't think a single person answered the question properly, which was "apps that every Mac user should have", not "Your favorite ten apps".

Here's what every Mac user should have, including justifications:

1. Microsoft Office (Appleworks is for amateurs, Office is mandatory for biz to biz communications. Have fun sending Appleworks docs to clients.)
2. Explorer (Yes, more bowing to the evil empire, but Omniweb still ain't cutting it and the others are miles away overall. Does anyone really NEED an alternative web browser, it's only web browsing for crying out loud).
3. Lemmings (the game--one of the most unique games ever made and fun for all ages, though good luck getting it ro run on new macs/OSs)
4. Acrobat Reader (AFAIK, OS X doesn't read Password protected PDFs and doesn't offer a solution)
5. For pre-X OSs, ATM (adobe type manager), preferably Deluxe. A must have for font management and Postscript font printing/rendering.
6. Toast Titanium (with CD burners being more prevalent, everyone should have real burning software. Toast is the best by far. Have you used the PC equivalents, they are unbearable to use! What cave apes designed those interfaces? Nero, are you serious? What a mess. Easy CD Creator. Yeah right, Easy Mess Maker.)
7. Quicken/Quickbooks or similar accounting app. (Computer based accounting is the way to go. Pick one for home or business or both, but defintely pick one and use it.)
8. Synchronize (from www.qdea.com, this little known app is a godsend. With many people having multiple machines (work/home/laptop), it is critical to automate file synchronization. Most people don't even think about apps like this or know they exist, but once you use one, there's no going back. There are other file synch apps, but none work better as I've tried them all. Unfortunately it's not OS X savvy yet, but they're working on it. 

Huh, I'm out of apps. I went through everything, and these are all I can call "must haves" that aren't already part of the OS or available at initial install (iTunes, iMovie, etc.)


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## Jadey (Oct 30, 2001)

Lots of folks have mentioned a hotline or similar client for getting software- or a limewire type client for getting mp3s. Try iSwipe - it's all of those rolled into one. Here it is:

http://www.versiontracker.com/redir.fcgi/kind=1&db=mac&id=12136/iswipe1.0b8osx.sit


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## serpicolugnut (Oct 30, 2001)

Photoshop/ImageReady
Dreamweaver
Illustrator
Freehand
Flash
Quark Xpress
FinalCutPro
OmniWeb
Office v. X
Lightwave 3D
After Effects
Extensis Suitcase


This is what I call the designers dozen. These twelve apps will enable any designer to create web, print, 3D and video. All twelve may not be native yet, but those that aren't run just fine in Classic for me. Personally, I'd give my left arm at this point just to have my two major tools, Photoshop and Dreamweaver carbonized. Heck - I'd switch to GoLive if they could beat Dreamweaver to the OS X party.


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## Iuis (Oct 31, 2001)

Well..indeed it is a hard question to answer. I think it all dependes on the user...some people only need internet and email..no other apps.
So I don't think you question "apps that every mac user should have" could be answered.. since every mac user out there has a diferent needs or uses for his/her machine.. So the answer would be "it all depends"


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## godzookie (Oct 31, 2001)

> 1. Microsoft Office


No, I define my mother as the average mac user, and she sure as shit don't need to blow 600 dollars on no MS office. She types her letters in Appleworks, prints and mails them. She can open the few MS office files that she gets from email forwards in Appleworks.



> 2. Explorer


Agreed.



> 3. Lemmings


oh hell yeah, thats the best game ever.



> 4. Acrobat Reader



Maybe not, but I'll give ya this one.



> 5. For pre-X OSs, ATM


No, the average user does not own a couple hundred fonts that would require owning ATM. The built in font system in 9/X is just fine for the average user.



> 6. Toast Titanium



Again, no. Toast is useless unless you are burning hybrid CD's, auto run CD's etc. The built in burning solution that Apple provides works peachy.



> 7. Quicken/Quickbooks


Hell no. Some would refer to me as a "power user" and I sure as shit don't use Quicken. I have no need for it. My checkbook and the ATM are much faster and more convinient in managing my accounts. Unless Quicken starts shipping for PDA's where instead of a checkbook I can write my balances, etc into a PDA while *at* the store, otherwise its redundant, but thats just me.



> 8. Synchronize


 Contrary to popular opinion, most people don't carry *that* much work home with them much less have computer centric jobs. Second of all, *most* average joe's don't have more than one computer much less a ethernet network of 10 macs at home.

Just a little feedback on your suggestions.

Top 10ish required apps for the average mac user

1) Email viewer
2) Internet Explorer AND Netscape (too many sites don't work with one or the other.
3) Quicktime (file DVD player under quicktime)
4) Audio Player
5) Instant Messaging program
6) Appleworks or other 'office' solution
7) Antivirus Utility
8) Graphic Converter/Debabelizer/other 'can open any graphics format on the planet' program
9) Conflict Catcher or Equivalent
10)Norton Utilities


Cheers,
Nick


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## serpicolugnut (Oct 31, 2001)

Well, your mother MAY be the avergage Mac user, and she MAY not need Office, but any Mac user who interacts with others is probably going to need Office for compatability. The company I work for (BellSouth) is all PC, which is fine. I choose to use a Mac. And as long as I can open the documents they send me, and they can open the documents I send them, my Mac works just fine. If I start sending them Appleworks files that they can't open, then all I'm doing is making my choice in using a Mac look bad. I know that I could use the translators to convert Appleworks files to/fro - but it still can do wacky things with layout/fonts, etc.

By the way - if you want Office but don't want to pay $600. Try this...

Buy the Word/Entourage SE for $130. If you buy now, you will get a FREE upgrade to Office v. X. Repeat - get Office v. X for $136 by purchasing Word/Entourage SE now, and MS will send you Office v. X for FREE when it's released. 

Not a bad deal at all....


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## godzookie (Oct 31, 2001)

Hey, don't talk about my mamma like that  j/k

You are probably right (and that office deal IS  a good deal.... things that make me go hmmmm) I think it really depends on the environment you are working in. If you are in an office environment then owning....office should be a requirement, however if it is just your home imac email/web machine, do you *really* need it? And the home imac email/web machine is what I *assume* most mac users have. then again, I could be wrong.


Nick


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## mindbend (Oct 31, 2001)

This has been a fun thread. It's fun to see how different users interpret what is important to them and others. I really dropped the ball on a couple, such as forgetting Stuffit Expander and Utility programs. I still stick by Office though, I consider it the number one "must have" like it or not.

As for the $500 rice tag, yeah that's nuts, I'm not spending it for X until I can get some kind of deal.


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## Jadey (Oct 31, 2001)

> _Originally posted by serpicolugnut _
> *Buy the Word/Entourage SE for $130. If you buy now, you will get a FREE upgrade to Office v. X. Repeat - get Office v. X for $136 by purchasing Word/Entourage SE now, and MS will send you Office v. X for FREE when it's released. *



Where did you read this? It says on MS's web page here:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/officex/t_buy.asp
that the upgrade is $299, not free. 

I also agree that buying Office is a waste of $ for home users. Office is for the office


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