First, the essentials for me, on my iMac (many of which moved with my from PC background) :
Google Chrome - go-to web browser. (Safari just doesn't cut it, Firefox is good but doesn't work quite the way I'd like it to.) VLC - the media player that will play anything! F.lux - mentioned elsewhere in comments, this adjusts monitor brightness from daytime to nighttime. Pathfinder - excellent power-user file manager for OSX. DaisyDisk - find where all that hard disk space has gone. CleanMyMac 2 - scrub the detritus from OSX and apps. Torrent - for my torrenting needs.:) Parallels Desktop - for when I need to run Windows software. Mozilla Thunderbird - my mail manager of choice. FontExplorer X Pro - organise and manage font library, root out dupes and duds. Last.fm - because here in the UK at least, I can still listen to full tracks. Still the best way to find where to buy particular tracks. Spotify - I still love my MP3s, but this way I can legally share the love. Sophos Anti-Virus - because I know better than to believe the hype about Macs being less at risk. LastPass / XMarks - recent addition, no more hassle losing passwords or bookmarks between browsers. DesktopServer - for Wordpress site development and deployment. Toast Titanium - still need to burn the occasional disc. Steam - need I say more? Pocket - where my read-later stuff goes. Alfred - Like Spotlight, but with brains.
There are a few Windows apps that I miss, because there isn't a good Mac equivalent :
TeraCopy - Pathfinder does bulk copy operations, but doesn't support CRC checking / diff. Everything - Spotlight is good, most of the time, but not fast. Alfred is better, but still no speed demon.
I used to use Beyond Compare for work purposes back when I was involved in USB flash device duplication - great for checking master copies prior to duplication, and double-checking selected duplicate sticks during duplication.
Along those lines, I'd also recommend TeraCopy - fast file copying with the option of CRC checking to spot any corrupted or missing files.
I must admit, I didn't buy a new version of Office for personal use for a long time (last PC version was Office 2000), and only got Office 2011 for Mac because I was found a cheap deal off eBay, plus Pages couldn't digest some of the Word documents I needed to use.
Given that there's no indication that Microsoft are going to do a new version of Office for Mac any time soon, I'm now looking into trying LibreOffice.
Worst part is that because I only occasionally need to crack open Word, Excel or Powerpoint, when I do want to do so I invariably have to wait whilst Microsoft AutoUpdate installs the latest update.
Best part, though, is that Office for Mac has an actual proper menu - I would probably go insane trying to use the fecking Ribbon!
I'll second that. Especially for big screens. (I have a 27" iMac.) Only caveat is that it's not so good if you're doing graphic work and want to be sure that your colours are correct - but then, if you're working into the evening or night I daresay you have other problems you need to deal with first.
I think the clue is in the word 'beta'. The whole point of this exercise is for users to help Slashdot iron out the kinks in the new design. As far as I'm aware, they are not forcing people to use the Beta site, and you can still use the 'classic' site in the meantime.
From an aesthetic viewpoint, it certainly doesn't look that bad - if it were faux-MySpace, I might be able to understand the anger. As it is, if you're really *that* opposed to change of Slashdot's look, either pitch ideas for a design that improves on how the site currently works, or help identify the problems with the proposed redesign. Clogging up the site with this neo-Luddite whinging will most likely get you nowhere, and if you decide to go elsewhere I suspect you won't be missed.
WTF is Schemer? Even the god damn article doesn't tell me and if I don't know WTF it is, how does anyone else? Just another effen Google tool that nobody was told about being shut down because nobody used it. Chicken and Egg Issue. You don't tell folks about it so nobody fucking uses it. Shut it down.
If it's any consolation, I suspect quite a few people (myself included) wondered that when Schemer first launched in 2011. And never bothered to go back.
Most surprising graph on that page (for me, anyway) was the one for desktop browsers - hardly any movement at all. Most depressing one, needless to say, has to be the one for Internet Explorer - looks like IE8 and earlier versions are going to stick around for a while yet.
Strangely enough, I found out that my scanner wasn't supported anymore after I got a new machine with W8 on it. It worked just perfectly under XP, but under W8 the only choice is to throw it away (again: throw away a fully functional piece of hardware) and buy a newer one.
This problem dates back to Vista - Microsoft completely rejigged the hardware driver architecture, making XP drivers unusable. Sadly, note all hardware makers chose to issue updated drivers for older products, or only produced drivers for the 32-bit versions of Windows, ignoring the fact that the 64-bit version was the one being installed on most new PCs. My parents had to ditch their working Canon flatbed scanner as a result.
Good for you, since you had the option to do that. I suspect things are going to get interesting for people buying new machines who want to ditch Windows 8.x, since Microsoft is now moving to purge Windows 7 from the retail channel, and only offering downgrade options to its business customers...
I can understand why an in-place upgrade would be problematic - particularly if you wanted to move from 32-bit XP to the 64-bit version of Windows 7/8 - but it baffles me that Microsoft didn't at least try to make it easier to transfer user's data. The only explanation I can think of is that doing so would have meant posting marginally less-than-stellar profits.
I'm guessing that companies rolling out pre-planned upgrades might account for some of that - but I have to wonder if the remainder is either downgrade options being exercised by those who've bought that option, or people wiping their systems and reinstalling Windows 7 after trying out Windows 8.
FWIW, I was one of those who tried Windows 8 at the end of last year - the desktop environment was OK, but Modern UI drove me nuts, and I ended up going back to Windows 7. I'm considering whether to give Windows 8.1 a chance...
That was going to be my suggestion as well. Has the added benefit that, unlike Vista, it will still be supported by Microsoft for years to come.
I still wince when I remember being the only person in my old workplace still stuck with an ageing PC running Windows 2000, long past when Microsoft had stopped supporting it and many newer applications required XP or later. Don't go there - it ain't a fun place.
Over a hundred comments and still no mention of Mozilla Persona / BrowserID. It's the best of both worlds, saving you from having your own authentication system (and users from having another password to remember), while still not giving personal data to Google. It's dead simple to implement, why don't more websites do it?
Probably because so few people remember it's out there? I vaguely recall reading something about it when it was first announced, but I've not seen any mention of it since. *shrug*
Google Plus is if the is search engine that I created Google stoled it um from me and the the thing they call Google Plus am I at date my blog or anything I update Googles have a lawyer working on it as we speak
I'm debating whether you're one of those spam autoposter AIs, or perhaps Bizarro...
Ironically, Facebook's advertising is amongst the least intrusive around - for now. They also provide means to give them feedback (on the website - sadly, their mobile apps are lacking on that account, amongst many others) about which ads you prefer and which you don't want to see. Mind you, their lack of profiling data can show up at times, usually in the form of repeated generic ads being served up.
SocialFixer is a browser add-on, it runs inside of your browser on your computer. You're thinking of Facebook Apps, which interact with Facebook's back-end through the Facebook Platform, either as web services, traditional software or mobile/tablet apps.
Agree with your comment about us getting what we paid for with Facebook. Still disappointing, nonetheless, if only because of the potential longer-term repercussions for Facebook's viability - they seem to be increasingly undermining the service's usefulness in their quest for profits.:(
You raise some good points - both the ability to cosistently copy and paste information between different applications and unified support for a wide range of printers and other devices were the Achilles Heal of a lot of alternative operating systems back in the day.
He might have typed his comment on a touch device like an iPhone or iPad, hence the typo. (I am typing this on an iPad, but I am also a fairly decent typist after all these years, in spite of the extra hoops required by the on-screen keyboard to get some characters. Needless to say, trying to write code on this thing would be a nightmare. D: )
Nowadays they cannot do that thanks to continuing oversight imposed as part of the US antitrust settlement. So now they have to try other methods to attempt to impede competitors, with "attempt" being the operative word, thankfully - people are a lot wiser now.
Don't recall that one, but I used Norton Desktop for Windows back in the Windows 3.x days. Multiple desktops, nested groups of programs, program icons directly on the desktop as well as icons for printers, it was a really neat system shell. Sadly, it was already dead by the time Windows 95 arrived.
Well, in one sense 7 carries the software DNA of both NT and OS/2 - unfortunately, there was some less than intelligent design applied to the transitional versions, in terms of security and reliability.
(I think I have probably managed to offend multiple sets of geeks plus proponents of both Evolution and Creationism. My work here is done.;-D )
I actually remember both of those, *and* why you would need those particular solutions back in the day. (For those of you youngsters, PC motherboards prior to the mid-90s were not blessed with the on-board ports that are standard today...)
...but I can definitely see hard disks still having a role as external backup or archival storage for years to come. The amount of data (photos, music, video) that people are accumulating will guarantee this!
Slashdot Mirror
First, the essentials for me, on my iMac (many of which moved with my from PC background) :
Google Chrome - go-to web browser. (Safari just doesn't cut it, Firefox is good but doesn't work quite the way I'd like it to.) :)
VLC - the media player that will play anything!
F.lux - mentioned elsewhere in comments, this adjusts monitor brightness from daytime to nighttime.
Pathfinder - excellent power-user file manager for OSX.
DaisyDisk - find where all that hard disk space has gone.
CleanMyMac 2 - scrub the detritus from OSX and apps.
Torrent - for my torrenting needs.
Parallels Desktop - for when I need to run Windows software.
Mozilla Thunderbird - my mail manager of choice.
FontExplorer X Pro - organise and manage font library, root out dupes and duds.
Last.fm - because here in the UK at least, I can still listen to full tracks. Still the best way to find where to buy particular tracks.
Spotify - I still love my MP3s, but this way I can legally share the love.
Sophos Anti-Virus - because I know better than to believe the hype about Macs being less at risk.
LastPass / XMarks - recent addition, no more hassle losing passwords or bookmarks between browsers.
DesktopServer - for Wordpress site development and deployment.
Toast Titanium - still need to burn the occasional disc.
Steam - need I say more?
Pocket - where my read-later stuff goes.
Alfred - Like Spotlight, but with brains.
There are a few Windows apps that I miss, because there isn't a good Mac equivalent :
TeraCopy - Pathfinder does bulk copy operations, but doesn't support CRC checking / diff.
Everything - Spotlight is good, most of the time, but not fast. Alfred is better, but still no speed demon.
I used to use Beyond Compare for work purposes back when I was involved in USB flash device duplication - great for checking master copies prior to duplication, and double-checking selected duplicate sticks during duplication.
Along those lines, I'd also recommend TeraCopy - fast file copying with the option of CRC checking to spot any corrupted or missing files.
I must admit, I didn't buy a new version of Office for personal use for a long time (last PC version was Office 2000), and only got Office 2011 for Mac because I was found a cheap deal off eBay, plus Pages couldn't digest some of the Word documents I needed to use.
Given that there's no indication that Microsoft are going to do a new version of Office for Mac any time soon, I'm now looking into trying LibreOffice.
Worst part is that because I only occasionally need to crack open Word, Excel or Powerpoint, when I do want to do so I invariably have to wait whilst Microsoft AutoUpdate installs the latest update.
Best part, though, is that Office for Mac has an actual proper menu - I would probably go insane trying to use the fecking Ribbon!
I'll second that. Especially for big screens. (I have a 27" iMac.) Only caveat is that it's not so good if you're doing graphic work and want to be sure that your colours are correct - but then, if you're working into the evening or night I daresay you have other problems you need to deal with first.
Er... wow.
I think the clue is in the word 'beta'. The whole point of this exercise is for users to help Slashdot iron out the kinks in the new design. As far as I'm aware, they are not forcing people to use the Beta site, and you can still use the 'classic' site in the meantime.
From an aesthetic viewpoint, it certainly doesn't look that bad - if it were faux-MySpace, I might be able to understand the anger. As it is, if you're really *that* opposed to change of Slashdot's look, either pitch ideas for a design that improves on how the site currently works, or help identify the problems with the proposed redesign. Clogging up the site with this neo-Luddite whinging will most likely get you nowhere, and if you decide to go elsewhere I suspect you won't be missed.
WTF is Schemer? Even the god damn article doesn't tell me and if I don't know WTF it is, how does anyone else? Just another effen Google tool that nobody was told about being shut down because nobody used it. Chicken and Egg Issue. You don't tell folks about it so nobody fucking uses it. Shut it down.
If it's any consolation, I suspect quite a few people (myself included) wondered that when Schemer first launched in 2011. And never bothered to go back.
[Just checked, yes I deleted my Schemer account.]
Thanks for the link!
Most surprising graph on that page (for me, anyway) was the one for desktop browsers - hardly any movement at all. Most depressing one, needless to say, has to be the one for Internet Explorer - looks like IE8 and earlier versions are going to stick around for a while yet.
Strangely enough, I found out that my scanner wasn't supported anymore after I got a new machine with W8 on it. It worked just perfectly under XP, but under W8 the only choice is to throw it away (again: throw away a fully functional piece of hardware) and buy a newer one.
This problem dates back to Vista - Microsoft completely rejigged the hardware driver architecture, making XP drivers unusable. Sadly, note all hardware makers chose to issue updated drivers for older products, or only produced drivers for the 32-bit versions of Windows, ignoring the fact that the 64-bit version was the one being installed on most new PCs. My parents had to ditch their working Canon flatbed scanner as a result.
They do count you. As a Windows 7 user.
Good for you, since you had the option to do that. I suspect things are going to get interesting for people buying new machines who want to ditch Windows 8.x, since Microsoft is now moving to purge Windows 7 from the retail channel, and only offering downgrade options to its business customers...
I can understand why an in-place upgrade would be problematic - particularly if you wanted to move from 32-bit XP to the 64-bit version of Windows 7/8 - but it baffles me that Microsoft didn't at least try to make it easier to transfer user's data. The only explanation I can think of is that doing so would have meant posting marginally less-than-stellar profits.
I'm guessing that companies rolling out pre-planned upgrades might account for some of that - but I have to wonder if the remainder is either downgrade options being exercised by those who've bought that option, or people wiping their systems and reinstalling Windows 7 after trying out Windows 8.
FWIW, I was one of those who tried Windows 8 at the end of last year - the desktop environment was OK, but Modern UI drove me nuts, and I ended up going back to Windows 7. I'm considering whether to give Windows 8.1 a chance...
That was going to be my suggestion as well. Has the added benefit that, unlike Vista, it will still be supported by Microsoft for years to come.
I still wince when I remember being the only person in my old workplace still stuck with an ageing PC running Windows 2000, long past when Microsoft had stopped supporting it and many newer applications required XP or later. Don't go there - it ain't a fun place.
Over a hundred comments and still no mention of Mozilla Persona / BrowserID. It's the best of both worlds, saving you from having your own authentication system (and users from having another password to remember), while still not giving personal data to Google. It's dead simple to implement, why don't more websites do it?
Probably because so few people remember it's out there? I vaguely recall reading something about it when it was first announced, but I've not seen any mention of it since. *shrug*
Google Plus is if the is search engine that I created Google stoled it um from me and the the thing they call Google Plus am I at date my blog or anything I update Googles have a lawyer working on it as we speak
I'm debating whether you're one of those spam autoposter AIs, or perhaps Bizarro...
Ironically, Facebook's advertising is amongst the least intrusive around - for now. They also provide means to give them feedback (on the website - sadly, their mobile apps are lacking on that account, amongst many others) about which ads you prefer and which you don't want to see. Mind you, their lack of profiling data can show up at times, usually in the form of repeated generic ads being served up.
SocialFixer is a browser add-on, it runs inside of your browser on your computer. You're thinking of Facebook Apps, which interact with Facebook's back-end through the Facebook Platform, either as web services, traditional software or mobile/tablet apps.
Agree with your comment about us getting what we paid for with Facebook. Still disappointing, nonetheless, if only because of the potential longer-term repercussions for Facebook's viability - they seem to be increasingly undermining the service's usefulness in their quest for profits. :(
You raise some good points - both the ability to cosistently copy and paste information between different applications and unified support for a wide range of printers and other devices were the Achilles Heal of a lot of alternative operating systems back in the day.
-MT.
He might have typed his comment on a touch device like an iPhone or iPad, hence the typo. (I am typing this on an iPad, but I am also a fairly decent typist after all these years, in spite of the extra hoops required by the on-screen keyboard to get some characters. Needless to say, trying to write code on this thing would be a nightmare. D: )
-MT.
s/do "business"/did "business"/
Nowadays they cannot do that thanks to continuing oversight imposed as part of the US antitrust settlement. So now they have to try other methods to attempt to impede competitors, with "attempt" being the operative word, thankfully - people are a lot wiser now.
-MT.
Don't recall that one, but I used Norton Desktop for Windows back in the Windows 3.x days. Multiple desktops, nested groups of programs, program icons directly on the desktop as well as icons for printers, it was a really neat system shell. Sadly, it was already dead by the time Windows 95 arrived.
-MT.
Well, in one sense 7 carries the software DNA of both NT and OS/2 - unfortunately, there was some less than intelligent design applied to the transitional versions, in terms of security and reliability.
(I think I have probably managed to offend multiple sets of geeks plus proponents of both Evolution and Creationism. My work here is done. ;-D )
-MT.
I actually remember both of those, *and* why you would need those particular solutions back in the day. (For those of you youngsters, PC motherboards prior to the mid-90s were not blessed with the on-board ports that are standard today...)
-MT.
...but I can definitely see hard disks still having a role as external backup or archival storage for years to come. The amount of data (photos, music, video) that people are accumulating will guarantee this!
-MT.
That's odd, I recall that Google has a pretty successful blogging platform - namely, Blogger and BlogSpot.
-MT.
Yeah, figured I would get more response over there... :D
-MT.