Here’s a nice rundown of apps that I install on every Mac I own. I’m really not quite sure how I would function without them… They may not be the best solution for everyone but I’ve certainly found them all useful and essential to my line of work. Just wanted to share….
The Freebies
Firefox – web browser of choice as a web designer.
Skype – the perfect solution for communication at home and abroad. Also great for training and teaching because of the screen share feature.
Xmarks – Syncs my bookmarks between all of my macs and all of my browsers – it event makes them available on the web. Syncs passwords too!
VLC – Play anything video player.
TweekDeck – My new favorite desktop client for Twitter and Facebook.
Logmein – Remote desktop to my mac from anywhere on the planet.
Switch – Allows me to convert audio files to different types fast.
Skitch – Quick way to share a screenshot, idea, or graphic with the web.
Renamer4Mac – Fast way to rename tons of files at once. I usually use it for renaming photos.
Vimeo Uploader – Fast way to get new videos up on vimeo.
Dropbox – Gives me 2GB of online storage that syncs automatically with all of my macs local and web.
iStat Menus – Gives me a quick look at what my computer is doing and why it’s taking so long!!!
Caffiene – Keeps my computer from sleeping by clicking 1 quick button in my menu bar. Great for rendering video.
Pogoplug Drive – Combined with their pogoplug hardware I can access my Hard Drive from anywhere.
This stuff costs $$
Coda – My favorite HTML CSS editor and FTP too.
iShowU – The best app I know for doing screencasts.
Stomp – Quick tool for preparing video and screencasts for the web.
AppZapper – the uninstaller Apple forgot.
1 Password – password repository that I sync between Macs using dropbox.
Toast – Favored DVD CD burning software.
Mailplane – Multiple gmail accounts in a desktop application. True gmail on your desktop.
Final Cut Studio – Video editing software, motion graphics, audio editing, and more…
Adobe Master Collection – Photo and graphic design software.
iWork – Word processing and document creation for a fraction of the price of Word and highly functional.
Non-essential but cool (some free some $$)
Onyx – All the customization features for you mac that Apple forgot to give you access to. (Be careful with this one…)
Cyberduck – gosh darn best FTP app I know of.
MPEG Streamclip – faster way to convert video free.
Photo Drop – super fast way to batch convert photos (makes cool droplets)
Handbrake – rips any DVD into iTunes.
Meta X – allows me to apply iTunes naming, image, data, etc to the video I rip using handbrake.
DVDxDV – rip/convert the DVD video back into any Quicktime video format.
Audio Hijack Pro – Allows me to rip or mute any audio from any source including applications on my mac.
Picasa – Simple yet fast way to manage, organize, and share my photos.
So what apps do you use?
