Wednesday, February 02, 2005

OSX Apps that I can't live without

Well, that's perhaps a little extreme (I did go without my computer for, like, a couple of hours once. But I didn't like it)

After living with OSX for a few months now there are some apps that I do however find pretty indispensable... so, in no particular order, here they are:

  • skEdit - HTML and text editor with syntax highlighting (for multiple languages) and built-in SFTP.
  • QuickSilver - instantly launch an application (or open a file or locate information) by tapping in a few letters from its name - Hard to describe. Harder to live without
  • TimeLog - track hours spend on client projects. Easy to use and intuitive.
  • LocationX - indespensible if you change location frequently (network settings, SMTP servers and timezones all taken care of)
  • GmailStatus - got GMail... keep an eye on it without having to lift a finger. Wish in included IMAP and POP3 monitoring as well
  • Adium - like MSN Messenger, iChat, Jabber... but integrates all into one. Shame not video conferencing support any time soon.
  • Skype - sometimes IM isn't enough, and you need to hear someone speak and iChat won't run on their PC
  • OnyX - helps to keep your Mac in tip-top shape
  • SizzlingKeys (for iTunes) - iTunes control at your finger tips
  • StartupSound - you don't hear it often, but sometimes it's enough to wake the dead ! This is a great way to control the volume
  • MAMP - Apache, PHP, MySQL, phpMyAdmin for OSX... with one neat control panel. Still got to wade through .conf files, but it's an improvement !
  • rBrowserLite - it's FTP, but free ! If you need SFTP check out CyberDuck which handles SFTP as well.
  • Firefox - Safari rocks (after all, it's why I got my first PowerBook) but FireFox is a great platform for testing sites
  • BluePhoneElite for managing SMSes and calls via Bluetooth to many brands of handset
  • e2sync includes Entourage into the happy iSync family
  • iScrobbler for AudioScrobbler updates without intervention
  • Meteorologist to keep track of the weather
  • Virtue for multiple desktop support, taking advantage of the Quartz rendering engine

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