Favourite Mac Apps

This is some of the Mac software I recommend. Because of who I am, this list will naturally tend towards the geeky.

If a bit of software is in this list, then I use it, probably quite frequently.

Blogging and Social Networking

  • XJournal: LiveJournal blogging client (free)
  • MarsEdit: Blogging client for multiple platforms, including WordPress and Movable Type (shareware)
  • Twitterrific: Twitter client (free)
  • Pukka: fast, light, multi-account del.icio.us client (shareware)Pukka: Simple. Delicious.

Productivity

Books

  • Delicious Library: Scrumptious book cataloguing software. Can read barcodes using your Mac's builtin camera and find the book's details without you pushing a button! (commercial)

General Dashboard Widgets

  • Wikipedia: Quick access to Wikipedia articles from your dashboard (free)

Chat

  • Adium: Multi-protocol instant messaging client (free)
  • Skype: If I have to tell you what Skype is, you probably don't need it (free)

Writing

  • Scrivener: Outlining, research and writing tool. I use this for drafing web content, articles and fiction. If you write, give it a try (shareware)
  • NeoOffice: Port of OpenOffice to the OS X, with a more Mac-like look and feel (free)
  • Reference Tracker: Keeps track of citations/references for writers; easily add references from web pages or using an ISBN lookup. Handy, nice interface, still in beta but definitely usable, if a touch quirky (free beta)

Photography

Financial

  • iBank: Financial management software with a pleasant interface (shareware)

Games

  • Oolite: Open source Elite clone, with spookily identical playability to the original (free)

Audio

  • Airfoil: If you have an Airport Express with iTunes, or more than one Mac, try Airfoil. Send any system audio to your remote speakers, use another Mac as a remote speaker, play video with the soundtrack synced perfectly on your remote speakers. (commercial)

Geeky/Utility

  • QuickSilver: The application launcher that's so much more than an application launcher. All the cool geeks use this (free)
  • Growl: Highly configurable notification system. Tons of apps plug into Growl to give you a nice consistent way of being told about stuff (free)
  • Transmit: FTP client with a nice interface and lots of features (shareware)
  • Disk Inventory X: Disk usage viewer. Similar to KDE's KDirStat (free)
  • Parallels: Very funky virtualisation software. Run Linux, Windows, etc. in a virtual machine on your OS X desktop (commercial)
  • Chicken of the VNC: Friendly VNC Client (open source, free)
  • Super Duper: Disk cloner (shareware)
  • Mac Pilot: Hidden preferences adjuster. Fiddle with all sorts of funky settings in (relative) safety (shareware)
  • SoundSource: Menubar utility to change your sound input/output devices without diving for the System Preferences (free)
  • MenuMeters: Put CPU, disk, network and other meters right in your menubar (free)

RSS

  • NetNewsWire: RSS reader that can sync with other Macs and the web-based NewsGator service. There's also a Windows client, FeedDemon. Both clients are available free; the web service needs a subscription. (free)

Art

  • Freeverse Lineform: Vector drawing package that I use to do things like this. Great value for money! (commercial)

Web Design

  • RapidWeaver: Theme-based web development. This website and several others I've created have been written using it (commercial)
  • RapidFlickr: RapidWeaver plugin that creates a gallery based on Flickr photos — this site's photo gallery uses it (shareware)
  • CSSEdit: Awesome CSS editor. Point it at a web page and see exactly what your CSS is doing. Has saved me from going mad on more than one occasion (shareware)
  • TotalValidator: Standalone application or web-based service that validates and spellchecks web pages in one fell swoop (free basic/paid enhanced version)
  • Coda: Editor, ftp client and preview in one system, with shell and reference books built in (shareware)
  • Color Schemer Studio: Colour scheme designer. Can do funky things like generating a colour scheme from a photo you provide (shareware)
  • Taco HTML Edit: HTML editor with live previewing (free)
  • PHP Function Reference Dashboard Widget: All the PHP documentation in a nice widget on your dashboard (free)

Weird and Wonderful

  • Pzizz: Helps you get to sleep, or take power naps (really!) Odd, but definitely worth trying if you feel a little run-down during the day or have problems getting off to sleep at night (commercial)