10 killer Mac apps:
• Mac OS X: Let’s face it, there aren’t a lot of options when it comes to operating systems for computers, particularly if you want to run Mac applications. But Mac OS X is as good as it gets. Sure, there are things to be said for Windows and Linux. But in terms of malware risk, ease of use, and elegance, Mac OS X is largely what makes Mac applications worth using.
MacDailyNews Take: Mac OS X also saved the company.
• Adobe Photoshop CS5
• Fission
• Mozy
• SuperDuper!
• TextMate
• HandBrake
• Panic Transmit 4
• Corona Game Edition
• Google Chrome 5
Full article (slideshow) here.
I couldn’t make a top-ten list of anything, much less make recommendations, but for anyone to declare their list is all you’ll ever need is remarkably… well, you get the idea.
Having said that though, I never pass up a chance to read a top-ten list, in case I may have overlooked something.
Any Mac user who has to put OS X at the top of their list may as well move number Two into first place and find another number
Ten, because our OS is a given.
The number one spot should be reserved for the moneymaker; the application that pays the bills, a killer app for which there is no substitute, otherwise it should be an app that fills a need to keep you grounded, personally.
Number Two might be a sub for, or a compliment for One, and together they make you extremely productive and maybe even provide a platform for your talents.
Number Three should be reserved for preserving that productivity regardless of platform or skill set, to ensure you never falter, even if it is a lessor, but redundant version of One and Two.
Four and Three are interchangeable where security is concerned, especially if Four serves as a redundant system for Three.
Five is perhaps the most important, where flexing your Gray Matter is concerned and serving as a relief valve for the pressures of the Rat Race. Five might be an activity that is wholly unrelated to the top two and usually serves to push you out of the comfort zone of the very activities you could do in your sleep.
Six compliments five.
Seven is reserved for the mind-numbing activities that serve to track the mundane details of your life.
Eight is the aggregator that serves as the encyclopedia of your domain.
Nine is networking.
Ten, you keep around because someone you know is fond of it.
That’s my approach to the Top Ten and if your like me you have subsets for each cardinal number, like 1a, 1b, etc., because we couldn’t possibly narrow our favorites to only ten.
@ spinoza2,
Apparently you don’t feel the need for backups: Foolish.
Anyone here dissing SuperDuper! has either never used it or is simply full of crap.
Launchbar
Default folder
Spamsieve
1password
iPhoto
Fontagent pro
These are “killer apps”? I don’t use any of them on a regular basis, and a few I don’t even recognize (guess I’ll have to look them up).
It’s pretty hard to come up with a “10 killer apps” list for something as diverse as Mac OS X programs, because it depends on the user. If you’re going to include Adobe Photoshop CS5, why not Final Cut Studio? Each is vitally important for a professional in that specific field. If you’re going to include Google Chrome 5, that’s fine, but more Mac users use Safari or FireFox; aren’t “killer apps” the ones with the most impact on the platform? What about one of the virtual machine programs, such as VMWare Fusion? Being able to run a guess OS “on the side” is killer functionality for many. I think iTunes (in need of a make-over) may be the most influential Mac OS X program of all, because it holds the iTunes Store and App Store, and it’s the interface for all those iOS devices.
By all means Chrome… If you hate privacy!
@rexprimoris
Actually Mac sales continued to decline despite OS X. The iPod saved Apple by re-establishing it as a mainstream brand. That and the iPhone and iPad, and their halo effects, have been driving Mac sales since.
@MacMental
Apple also pushed web apps for the iPhone at first. So either they were wrong, or web apps are the future.
“Apparently you don’t feel the need for backups: Foolish.”
Nope, got that covered, too. My Time Capsule has worked like a swiss.watch since getting some three years ago, it works great. And of course Time Machine is part of OS X.
That’s the thing with ‘killer apps” on a Mac. Between the 100s of features built into the OS and iLife, there’s really little else you need. If you ask me I’d say that the killer app on a Mac is its integration, everything is so seamless that the whole OS/iLife ecosystem acts like a single “mega-app”. Nothing else comes close to this level of power and functionality.
The application is:
TextMate
(not ‘TexMate’, please note MDN)
You can read about it here:
http://macromates.com/
Originated on BeOS and was ported to Mac OSX, later Windoze.
Mozy??!
That software is total SHIT. Trust me.
NOTE to Time Capsule and Time Machine users:
These are great for local backups. You you also need to make an off-site backup as well in case your building burns down, or floods, or gets nailed by an EMP, etc.
There are lots of easy off-site options these days. I use both my MobileMe iDisk ($99, 20 GB, via Apple’s ‘Backup’ app) and the DropBox site (2 GB) which is free.
Personally, I’d have listed DropBox as a killer app over Mozy.
@Frank: I’m with you:
GraphicConverter from Lemke
http://www.lemkesoft.com/
I’m fed up with Adobe these days and rarely using their stuff any more. The alternatives are plentiful and powerful. There are certainly plenty of alternatives to Photoshop CS5 if you don’t require the pro features.
“You you also need to make an off-site backup as well in case your building burns down…”
Good point. I work as an insurance consultant for electronics and computers, and you wouldn’t believe what can happen to fry or damage your home office. I’ve done more high-voltage power surges, floods, and fires this summer than you’d want to know, and those surge protectors do nothing if the surge is strong and sustained.
I use SugarSync and like it a lot, it also has a nice iPad/iPhone app. I also use Dropbox, which is good but a bit too expensive for what you get. I also do regular full backups to an external disk and leave it in my car.
I forgot ‘Carbonite’ which has saved my rear end/data. That makes it ten. I didn’t include any Apple apps because everyone gets those.
@ Connor MacBook
> Apple also pushed web apps for the iPhone at first. So either they were wrong, or web apps are the future.
Whether web apps are the future or not, Apple’s initial “push” of web apps for iPhone was a delaying and misdirection tactic, to get the iPhone SDK ready for third party developers and put the App Store infrastructure in place, while letting the competition think Apple did not want native third-party apps for iPhone. You don’t do all that at iPhone 2.0, unless that was really the plan all along.
Rapidweaver
Pixelmator
iWork
Ripit
Handbrake
I wanted to make some copies of the DVDs that I have and downloaded handbrake but couldn’t figure it out. Any insight? I ended up downloading burn and it did the job.
iWork
cyberduck
transmission
handbrake
pixelmator
mozy
firefox
google earth
vlc player
Graphic Converter, yes. For audio- Amadeus Pro is fantastic. Carbon Copy Cloner for cloning hard drives.
Garageband, Logic Pro. Quite a few, in fact.
1- EyeTVHD
2- 1 Password
3- DevonAgent/DevonThinkPro Office
4- iWork
5- Final Cut Studio
6- Logic Pro
7- RipIt
8- VMWare Fusion
9- Pixelmator
10- Aperture
If someone would fix this retired app (still kinda runs with buffer overflows when you quit) Visual Hub. Was a great app and could handle stuff that would crash other converter apps.
For those who need it the Paid version of Flip4Mac to allow conversion into and out of WM files.
One app that I personally think is awesome for those with Macbooks:
BetterTouchTool
Works with Magic Mouse too and in the future I’m sure it will support the wireless trackpad as well
BENTO!
@A.Turing
I haven’t used iWork since Since I was forced to buy office 2004 which works fine buy the way, for some courses I’ve taken that required it. I last used the trial of iWork back in early 2006 and it was lacking. I just couldn’t get away using it in attempt of avoiding to purchase office.
Now, I tested a newer trial and it’s quite better. But I don’t think it’s worth the price for so little it is. I think it should be included with the iLife suite. I don’t mind apple raising the price of iLife by $15 for including the iWord apps, I’d happily pay it. iLife to me sound like everything. A complete productivity suite. It would be the most killer app suite on market if apple did this. Heck, a new mac user would be pretty much set.
Carbon Copy Cloner is the best disk cloning software, and it’s FREE! (donation-ware)
This is a stupid list.
There are far better apps on Mac than these “top 10”
I can think of QuicKeys, Scrivener, the Omni apps, NoteBook and RapidWeaver as just examples off the top of my head.
Oh yes, and Xcode!
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