Essential Mac software?

[Fragil1ty]

So, in accordance with getting a new Mac, I now need to know software worth installing.  I'm beyond out of touch with the Mac world, so I what are the "essential" programs I need to install.

So far I have Caffeine and a couple other small things installed.   I tried to install Inkscape, but it refused to start up, so I uninstalled it.

Depends what you're going to use it for really, what are you going to be using your Mac for my man? general use? web design? photo editing etc? programming?

But general use:

• Alfred
• Caffeine
• Rightzoom
• Chrome or Firefox, your choice here
• Pages, etc (free in the store)
• The Unarchiver
• Obsidian menu bar (black menu bar at the top of the screen)
• Bartender (hides unwanted icons in your menu bar)

These are just the main ones that I can think of off the top of my head.

[Belfong]

If you use KeePass, there is a great looking Mac client for it. It's alpha at the moment but it's natively built for Mac.

[mashby]

My recommendations:
   * 1Password (https://agilebits.com/onepassword)
   * TextExpander (http://smilesoftware.com/TextExpander/)
   * SuperDuper (http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/) to clone your drive. BRILLIANT app.
   * Little Snitch (already recommended by dustinhxc)
   * iStat Menus (already recommended by dustinhxc)
   * Moom (http://manytricks.com/moom/)
   * A launcher like Quicksilver, Launchbar or Butler
   * Notational Velocity (http://notational.net)
   * Skitch (https://evernote.com/skitch/)
   * Fluid (http://fluidapp.com)

More here...

[slickmamba]

One that hasn't been posted yet is better touch tool, allows for window snapping like in windows, great for doing multiple things at a time

[nubbinator]

One that hasn't been posted yet is better touch tool, allows for window snapping like in windows, great for doing multiple things at a time

Sounds like something I need.  I love window snapping in W7.  It's so natural and so useful to slap a window up top for full screen and to the sides to do half screen on that side.

[slickmamba]

One that hasn't been posted yet is better touch tool, allows for window snapping like in windows, great for doing multiple things at a time

Sounds like something I need.  I love window snapping in W7.  It's so natural and so useful to slap a window up top for full screen and to the sides to do half screen on that side.

It can also do corner snapping

[slip84]

I've actually been liking pixlr's web interface for photo editing, but it's not as robust as photoshop.  Still great for freeware though.  I've been trying to remember the name of a tool I used to use to batch edit the metadata in photos.  It was fantastic for organizing photos.

I do not have a Mac, but I'm going to respond here anyway.   

Are you aware that you can get Photoshop CS2 for free legally?     (This is somewhat old news, but I figured you may not have heard)  It is somewhat dated, but honestly has *most* of the features you'll need for photo editing.  I use it daily and have no need to search for something new or better at this point.

I've read both ways on this. Apparently they shut down their activation servers and they're not handing it out for free, but allowing you to install if you hold a license already.

[ADFX_Pixy]

The Unarchiver- Used to open .zip files and other files that Mac's can't open natively (except .exe as far as I know).
Memory Clean- If your Mac has low amounts of ram (like mine, a measly 4GB), occasional cleaning helps the performance of your Mac and prevents it from slowing down.

Both can be found in the Mac App Store.

[HoffmanMyster]

I've actually been liking pixlr's web interface for photo editing, but it's not as robust as photoshop.  Still great for freeware though.  I've been trying to remember the name of a tool I used to use to batch edit the metadata in photos.  It was fantastic for organizing photos.

I do not have a Mac, but I'm going to respond here anyway.   

Are you aware that you can get Photoshop CS2 for free legally?     (This is somewhat old news, but I figured you may not have heard)  It is somewhat dated, but honestly has *most* of the features you'll need for photo editing.  I use it daily and have no need to search for something new or better at this point.

I've read both ways on this. Apparently they shut down their activation servers and they're not handing it out for free, but allowing you to install if you hold a license already.

I install it on every computer I have and have no issues installing and using the key on their website. I do have issues registering and it asks me every time I start it up even if I tell it to never ask again. But I'd rather do that than pay for it or torrent it. YMMV though. 

[slip84]

I've actually been liking pixlr's web interface for photo editing, but it's not as robust as photoshop.  Still great for freeware though.  I've been trying to remember the name of a tool I used to use to batch edit the metadata in photos.  It was fantastic for organizing photos.

I do not have a Mac, but I'm going to respond here anyway.   

Are you aware that you can get Photoshop CS2 for free legally?     (This is somewhat old news, but I figured you may not have heard)  It is somewhat dated, but honestly has *most* of the features you'll need for photo editing.  I use it daily and have no need to search for something new or better at this point.

I've read both ways on this. Apparently they shut down their activation servers and they're not handing it out for free, but allowing you to install if you hold a license already.

I install it on every computer I have and have no issues installing and using the key on their website. I do have issues registering and it asks me every time I start it up even if I tell it to never ask again. But I'd rather do that than pay for it or torrent it. YMMV though. 

I getcha. I have never used Photoshop on Windows. This is... weird.

[xandr]

If you're doing any coding, have a look at Dash. It's an excellent documentation browser that hooks into most editors/IDEs.

[intelli78]

Just want to say that I tried Flux based on the recommendations in this thread, and I really like it. It has noticeably decreased eye fatigue, and it also seems to affect my sleeping patterns less.

[cruzin]

Just want to say that I tried Flux based on the recommendations in this thread, and I really like it. It has noticeably decreased eye fatigue, and it also seems to affect my sleeping patterns less.

Yeah, I definitely notice a difference in eye strain when I disable it now and then. Any other apps you've tried and like?

[intelli78]

I posted a while back with some suggestions:

A few that I've found over the years

Karabiner (formerly KeyRemap4Macbook) - this is geekhack after all...
Brackets - a free HTML/text editor by Adobe
Filezilla - FTP
Handbrake - video encoding
OpenEmu - multi-system emulation, ROM management, etc. this project was very hyped, and is finally available
The Unarchiver - extract RARs, 7z, etc
Transmission - torrenting

You might also be interested in checking out this thread I started a while ago: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=59587.0;nowap