The Best Mac OS X Software Tools

An anonymous reader writes "Mac advocate John C. Welch weighs in with his list of the top 20 Mac OS X products (except Welch manages to list 22). The collection of software tools ranges from the obvious, such as Boot Camp, to the obscure but perhaps more useful — little-known apps like Peter Borg's Lingon, for creating launchd configuration files. What's on your personal list of indispensable Mac productivity aids and programming tools? Also, do you think Welch gives too much air time to built-in OS X tools at the expense of third-party products such as NetworkLocation?"

Comments

The List

[BarryJacobsen]

Ecto

Transmit

Sync Services

BBEdit

Missing Sync for Windows Mobile

OmniGraffle Pro

ConceptDraw

iChat AV

AppleScript

Script Debugger

Microsoft Entourage

SketchFighter 4000 Alpha

TypeIt4Me

NetworkLocation

Apple Remote Desktop 3

MacLink Plus Deluxe

Parallels Desktop for Mac

Remote Desktop Connection

Snapz Pro X

Boot Camp

PDF

Lingon

Workgroup Manager

Re:The List

[Anonymous Coward]

Linked version with condensed summary. I wanted to find out more about some of them. Others may benefit too.

Ecto a blogging client (but the site seems to be down: try this for more info). Shareware, $17.95.
Transmit an FTP client. Shareware, $17.95
Sync Services -- comes with 10.4
BBedit text/html editor. $125, but worth it.
Missing Synch for Windows Mobile - synchronize with PDA/smartphones. $49.95/$39.95
OmniGraffle - diagramming / flowchart program. $79.95 / $149.95
ConceptDraw - another diagramming / flowchart program. $299
IChat AV - built-in to 10.4
AppleScript, Scriptdebugger - also built-in. No link. I'm getting lazy.
Microsoft Entourage -- part of MS Office.
Sketchfigher 4000 Alpha -- a game from the great Ambrosia Software. $19.00
TypeIt4Me - keyboard macro expander. $27
NetworkLocation - automatically trigger configuration changes depending upon where you are on the network (e.g., at home, work, etc.). $15
Apple Remote Desktop 3 - control / configure Mac systems remotely. $499 / $299 (unlimited / 10 systems)
MacLinkPlus - file conversion software (e.g., from WordPerfect documents to/from Word, and many others). $79
Parallels Desktop for Mac - virtualization software (e.g., run Win XP simultaneously with OS X). $79.
Remote Desktop Connection - connect remotely to a Windows desktop. FREE
Snap X Pro - screen / movie capture. $29
Boot Camp - dual boot Windows. I'm lazy.
PDF - Portable Document Format from Adobe? What?
Lingon - tool for making launchd scripts for 10.4.
Workgroup Manager - manage local systems - part of 10.4 Server.

---
Okay, a mildly interesting list. Here's a few more suggestions:

Cyberduck - FTP and SFTP client. Donationware.
VLC - cross-platform video viewer / transcoder.
Blender 3D - cross-platform 3D modelling / rendering.
Bookends - excellent bibliography software. $99
Celestia - cross-platform real-time 3D astronomy simulator.
Plot - a, uh, plotting / graphing program.
proFit - another plotting / graphing program, non-free. $95
WordService - adds a bunch of text reformatting tools to the Services menu, making them accessible in any program. The same page has a bunch of other useful and free services.

The original article lists PDF, but no tools. While its true OS X native support makes PDF pretty easy to use, there's still some tasks that are awkward and some useful tools out there to do t

Re:The List

[Divebus]

I find it quite telling that one of the most popular applications for the MAC is a program that lets you run a different OS.

If you've been paying attention here for the last year, most of the commentary surrounding virtualization on the Mac has revolved around people finally able to dump their infernal Windows machine and do everything on a Mac instead. Parallels, along with Boot Camp, is quite possibly the largest driver of Mac sales in the last year. There are a few functions not available on the Mac [yet] and Parallels lets people run those few apps they'd miss from Windows. Yes, Paralleles does run Linux. I currently know more people who dumped their Windows machines in the last year than I know remaining Windows owners - and those aren't far behind.

Quicksilver

[zaphod_es]

What, 22 favourite apps and no Quicksilver? This is the one program I just could not live without, it is what makes my Mac usable. I hardly use the mouse anymore and access and/or run almost everything on my computer with two or three keystrokes. And it's free!

Re:Quicksilver

[bismark.a]

I don't own a Mac, but I swear that my next laptop will be a Leopard tera-core sexy machine. And one of the reason for that is beautiful apps like Quick Silver.

Re:Quicksilver

[nick.ian.k]

Just because they're both launchers does not mean that one does the "exact same thing" as the other. That's like saying GIMP does the "exact same thing" as Photoshop.

If you were trying to be helpful, you'd've mentioned what Quicksilver does differently. Of course, you didn't, and you posted AC because you must fear burning karma. Why? If you're that obsessed with karma points, why not go for the easy "informative" points while simultaneously telling me why I'm wrong? Seems fairly stupid to me.

Checking the wikipedia entry on Quicksilver, it does look as though Quicksilver has functionality that goes quite a ways beyond what Katapult presently offers. The standout to me is the idea of cataloging various scripts for handling actions through Quicksilver: "fucking sweet" would be a tremendous understatement. Some common actions can be handled via Katapult (such as finding and playing songs in Amarok), though it doesn't seem to be anywhere near as configurable. This is definitely looks to be one of those areas where the ultra-tight integration of OS X applications pays off heavily, even to a stalwart Linux advocate such as myself. Very nice!

printer friendly version

[JoeKuboj]

much better
http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArt icle.jhtml?articleID=197700391
http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArt icle.jhtml?articleID=197700439

BootCamp

[suv4x4]

Who else thinks that BootCamp being in the top 20 best OSX products is kinda silly?

On Windows (or even Linux) you don't see "top 10 best products" list that often, if at all, simply because they are too many to just list a "top 20 best".

Computers have moved to a point where different people use them for wildly different purposes. As such, you simply can't have "top X products" for an entire OS. If on Mac it's not the same, it's that much sadder.

Re:The bit i like

[Watson Ladd]

Programing is hard. It doesn't matter if you use drag and drop widgets, or switches on the front board. You still need to specify what you are doing in a precise manner. With Labview it is easy because it has a very limited domain. Not so with general programing.

Textmate!

[thelamecamel]

No textmate either! It certainly does everything the journo wants from BBEdit. And for LaTeX and Ruby it's utterly indispensable. I think it's the only shareware I've ever bought.

Kiddie pools...

[Beefslaya]

For starters:

I would throw in iTerm, virtueDesktops, Parallels, TextMate, Navicat for Mac.

Without these programs, I couldn't make it in the fast paced Graphic Design field of Macs (Any other IT people out there want to shit nails when someone says Mac's are for graphic design? Last time I checked, my Macs didn't look like big blue pumpkins.)

----My Motto:
I don't care if the customer's stuff is working or not. I just don't want to be affected by whatever they have. My equipment MUST work, Therefore I use Apple.

Re:Essential Mac tools...

[AugstWest]

Or, just:

vi (built-in)
screen (built in)
apache (built-in)
ssh (built-in)
emacs (built-in)

and the list goes on.

It's my favorite *nix workstation. I don't wear an earring, drive a Jetta, or own a kayak, mountain bike or iPod.

The things I had to install immediately

[dildo]

Just my personal preferences, but I imagine lots of people will agree with me.

0. Start Safari, get Firefox, remove Safari from the dock.
1. OS X Developer tools. Going to be compiling lots of stuff.
2. Subversion.
3. VLC
4. TextMate
5. GraphViz
6. Clisp
7. SBCL
8. XWindows

I was so impressed with the compile speed on my new MacBook. I blink and it is done. (Except for compiling
Erlang, that took 30 minutes and burned a hole through my desk. Dude.)

Path Finder, the better Finder

[davebarnes]

I use Path Finder (http://www.cocoatech.com) every day, all during the day.
Can't imagine only having the Finder to use.

Re:Essential Mac tools...

[Stamen]

I think your post needs to be repeating. People love stereo types, so I'm probably whistling in the wind, but there are many people like you out there, I'm one of them. People who are love Unix and also love OS X. However I do own an iPod, a few of them.

People have to realize that OS X is mostly open source, except for the windows manager and the user-land stuff. The first thing I install on OS X is XCode so that I have gcc, and then DarwinPorts so I can "port" myself to happy goodness.

Of course I'd rather OS X run on any PC (you can if you work at it), but Apple hardware is pretty decent, and contrary to popular belief it isn't much more than equal hardware from Dell or whomever (that was the queue for someone to point out that you can buy that 9 pound 2 inch thick Dell laptop for 600 bucks; come on, you know you want to). It's OS X that I really like, what it runs on isn't as important to me.

I think there a 3 distinct groups of people using OS X.
* The home user who is attracted by the commercials that say how easy it is to use

* The artists/designers who use Photoshop/Final Cut Pro/etc

* People like me, *nix peeps that enjoy a really nice windows manager and seamless hardware drivers

Now saying all that, OS X on the server isn't so good, for that it's hard to beat BSD or Linux.

Missing Program

[maytagman]

How on earth did he not include Onyx? I'd probably say its top 5... http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html from the site: It allows you to run misc tasks of system maintenance, to configure certain hidden parameters of the Finder, Dock, Dashboard, Exposé, Safari, Login window and many Apple's applications, to delete cache, to remove a certain number of files and folders that may become cumbersome, to see the detailed info of your configuration, to preview the different logs and CrashReporter reports, to check the Preferences files and more. I would even go so far as to say it deserved to be number one...

Menumeters

[Espectr0]

Come on, who doesn't have menumeters? It's even free. Handy little tool to know the transfer rate of your network card.

What about Growl?

[libwolf]

Don't forget http://www.growl.info/ - just need to know a tiny bit of scripting and it's amazingly useful

Too Short And Too Much Attention

[llscotts]

First, there are far too many criticial/essential Mac OS X apps to narrow down to 20. This is a silly, arbitrary number because people seem to like lists, and have very short attention spans. Any list of 20 is easily criticized because it leaves out too many goodies. Go beyond critical/essential to the merely excellent/marvelous, and the list will quickly quadruple, at least. Second, this list reflects the opinion of someone who tried the first app he liked in a given category and hasn't researched the alternatives. There are too many selections here that are leaders in sales in their category but are way behind in functionality and value. Welch may be an expert or whatever (I have no idea what distinguished background he comes from), and he gets some useful tools right, but he's obviously not nearly expert enough to be getting this kind of attention for his list of 20. Some examples of his cockeyed perspective:

1. Snapz Pro X. This is every "expert"'s favorite, because it's been around so long and was leader for many years. But it's over-priced for what it does, and the way it works is outdated. Snapz Pro X hasn't been updated in years, because the developer is too busy laughing at how much money he's making without doing anything. Especially in the realm of movie making, Snapz is way behind tools like iShowU, which can be had for a fraction of the cost and are much faster and easier to use. For plain old screenshots, I've found the $10 Constrictor to be a satisfactory replacement. Constrictor isn't perfect, but it has a few very cool bells & whistles that Snapz doesn't, which make the problem of "cleaning up your desktop" and "replacing your background picture" a thing of the past.
2. BBEdit. BBEdit is a great program, no question about it. However, it's also bloated and outdated from a user interface perspective, and for programmers there are newer alternatives that might work better and don't rely on the older Carbon framework (no that's not the only thing I don't like about BBEdit). For example, TextMate is what all the younger Mac programmers are using, and there's a good reason for it. TextMate is a programmer's dream come true, including HTML tools. I've been using the open-source Smultron for over a year and really like the way it's developing. It's not perfect, but for zero bucks it's a pretty great option. Smultron, by the way, is one of the brainchildren of Peter Borg, who developed Lingon, one of the actually cool choices on Welch's list. Putting BBEdit on the list is such a cliche, and certainly doesn't belong in a list of essentials. Heck, even the lowly TextEdit that comes with Mac OS X has cool features that are unknown to most Mac users. For example, it's a terrific HTML editor and has options for controlling the way HTML is output that make it much better for ensuring gunk-free code than any of the WYSIWYG tools. Yet you can format your HTML in TextEdit while in RTF mode (as long as you don't try to include images). Great for text tables, lists, etc.
3. Transmit. Yawn. Everybody loves Transmit... I'm a license holder, and I used to love Transmit, too. Until I tried Yummy FTP, that is. Yummy FTP has so many great features that Transmit lacks, and most important it's a speed demon. I got so tired of Transmit's poky behavior that I went around trying all the Mac FTP clients out there. When I got to Yummy FTP, I couldn't believe how great it was. Yummy can get files to the server while Transmit is still thinking about what you asked it to do. :-) Don't fall for Transmit without trying Yummy FTP. Transmit is very good software... heck, it's Mac software, right? ... but Yummy is the one to get if you do a lot of moving files around. Like Transmit, it can integrate with the Finder and Dock, so moving 20 files is just a drag-and-drop operation in the Finder if you want it to be. But wait! I don't have time to go into all of Yummy's virtues. I wrote them all up in a

my mac application list

[10sball]

A few things I personally couldn't live without that are missing from this list

* VoodooPad - for general note taking, todo lists, etc
* TextMate - self explanatory
* Camino - for web surfing
* Paparazzi! - for taking quick screenshots or thumbnails of web pages
* Colloquy - irc client
* twitterific - interface for twitter
* NetNewsWire - Feed reader

My personal List.

[pjludlow]

Looking at the folder of software I use for new installs this is what I would have (no particular order):

1. Firefox
2. Flip4Mac
3. Littlesnitch
4. menuCalendarClock-iCal
5. MenuMeters
6. Onyx
7. LotsaWater (screensaver, seriously it is awesome!)
8. StuffitExpander
9. Synergy
10. Toast (or use "Burn" if you want freeware)
11. Transmit
12. VLC
13. Whatsize
14. GoogleEarth
15. Azureus

Some other nice programs (although not essential):

1. Fission
2. MacTheRipper
3. Handbrake

Obviously I have more programs but these are the ones I feel could be used by most people.