Since there are so many lists of essential Mac software, I figured I would compile my own....with a twist. This list is geared towards software that I think most other college students can benefit from. Oh yeah...and with the exception of one item, everything can be found online for free. Links included.
Organization:
Quicksilver - The program is amazing. At the most basic level, it works as an application launcher, but it can do almost anything. Take you to the porn site you visited yesterday, look up words in the dictionary, create emails, control iTunes, make text files on the fly, etc, etc...It is especially good if you have a laptop because you can quickly access any file or application you need without them clogging up the dock or desktop.
Coverflow - Awesome program for organizing your iTunes library by album art. My review, as well as a link, can be found here.
Academic:
Microsoft Office 2004 - Obviously this is a must have. You undoubtedly will have plenty of papers to write and this is pretty much the universal format. You could opt for OpenOffice because it is free, but Microsoft Office is so widely used that coughing up the extra money for this one is actually worth it. Or find a friend with a copy. Buy Office.
iProcrastinate - A great app released by a student in order to help manage deadlines for papers, assignments, etc..Homepage
GIMP - This is an open source photo editing tool that is comparable to Photoshop with one huge difference. It’s free! If you have to do image/photo work for classes or you just need to edit out the herpes bumps you caught from the innocent girl the first week of school then this is the program for you. Like photoshop, it can be a little complicated because it is an advanced editor.
iClip - This program gives MacOSX multiple clipboards for copying and pasting. This is very useful when you are plagiarizing multiple internet sites for the paper due tomorrow.
Cyberduck - A simple, easy to use FTP client. If your school gives your free disk space for storage on campus computers then this is the program to use to access it from home. Get it here.
Communication:
Chax - This is a great addon for iChat that includes such features like tabbed messages to clean up IM windows cluttering the screen and notification in the dock to let you know when the easy girl down the hall sends you a late night booty IM. It has a lot of other features as well that allow more customization of iChat. Homepage
Adium - If you want something a little bit more dynamic then check this out..it pretty much allows full customization of all aspects and you can add multiple accounts from multiple services. Really useful if you have stubborn friends that insist on using MSN or GoogleTalk. Plus it looks pretty sweet and has a ton of features. Downside: No video.
Backup:
Carbon Copy Cloner - Invest in an external hard drive and use this to back up your entire hard drive. As the name implies it makes an exact copy of your hard drive onto a target drive. There are other options for backup, like SuperDuper, but this one is free and is easy to use. Get it Here.
MacTheRipper - Want to make a backup copy of the DVD you “bought”, but can’t get around that damn encryption? Try this...It will rip a copy of any DVD onto your harddrive so you can burn it onto a backup DVD.Download.
Other:
Uno - Simple program that allows you to customize the windows so that they all look unified. Just check it out. Download.
Transmission - Being in college means downloading a lot of stuff from Torrent sites and this is a great client. It looks clean and does its job perfectly. Plus it is small and doesn’t take up much space or processor power.
Ourtunes - Curious how to download music off all those shared libraries in iTunes on your college network, well this little program will allow you to download them all if you want to. Download.
iAlertU - Only useful if you have a laptop. This program is really cool..it functions as an alarm if you are somewhere like the library and want to get up to grab some Redbull, but don’t want to bring your laptop. Use the Apple remote to arm it and if moved or taken, your laptop makes loud noises and locks up as well as snapping a pic with your eyesight camera.Download.
Windows Media Player/Flip4Mac/VLC - Video formats can be pretty finicky, which is why I have all three of these. You could do fine without Windows Media Player since Flip4Mac does essentially the same thing, but video files can be finicky. If you have a video file that won’t open though just try VLC it has a way of playing the unplayable.
You probably noticed that the applications included with new Macs aren’t included. I did this in order to shorten the list and because I figure most college student already have things like iTunes and what not. Hope this helps out...if anyone has additions feel free to add them.
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