Useful Mac Software
Back to some Apple talk. Now, if you are thinking about making the Switch you need to think about software. Think of all the applications you rely on, which you paid out for and only work on Windows. If you plan on using a Mac as a replacement machine you need to replace all this software.
Not wanting to shell out on anything like Adobe or Macromedia's expensive offerings I've relied on shareware. Here's what I've used and then bought:
- Graphic Convertor - A graphics application is a must and this is a nice replacement for Fireworks or Photoshop.
- Konfabulator - Not really a must but it's a nice idea and there are some nice widgets if you look hard enough for them. You can even get in to writing your own.
- LaunchBar - If the Dock isn't good enough being used to the Taskbar this might be the ideal compromise. Bought upon recommendation and no regrets so far.
- Watson - "Time saving tools". Still not sure if this was a worthwhile investment yet.
I've also downloaded freeware like Apple's X11 and OpenOffice. However, there are still a couple of applications missing from my essential Windows suite. I've not found anything to replace TopStyle and most importantly the must-have application Action Outline. The search goes on...
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have you tried BBEdit for a css/html editor?
I have not personally used it, but people rave about it.
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great site jake, thanks-
For an ActionOutline replacement, you can try the Linux version of Treepad. The freeware version is at:
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Not sure if that'll run on OSX, but it's worth a try. The freeware/Lite version is a little more plain than ActionOutline, but it does the job (I've been using the Windows version for years).
- Julian
Just wanna tell you, that you'll love BBEDIT, it does everything from programmering to coding, and I've never found a file it could not open.
Cheers
Remember that you can get the whole Adobe and Macromedia, and Microsoft Office suites are available on the Mac.
I wouldn't place Graphic Converter in the Photoshop replacement category. It will handle just about all formats out there, and as such is invaluable, but multi-layered complex graphics is not it's forte.
Another alternative :- to those who use VB, would be RealBasic, and the extra benefit here is you can compile w32 executables from the same source that will compile a mac executable.
If you *really* need topstyle or the like, just install VirtualPC.
I tried the BBEdit demo a while back and can see its appeal. It's not cheap though is it....
Graphic Convertor replaces the other bigger/better software in terms of what I need them for. All I tend to do is resize and crop images and sometimes change the brightness levels of digital photos. This makes Fireworks and Photoshop bloatware to me and Graphic Convertor the ideal cheap replacement.
VirtualPC. Didn't Microsoft just buy that company? Not sure about the future of the Mac running Windows....
I use Goldberg to crop and convert images. If it is _just_ convert, then Kunvert does the job very well. Other than that I recommend you take a look at the recently released ImageWell. Very handy for quick edits and upload to a website.
To quickly browse through images Simple Image Browser is nice and handy.
I use BBEdit Lite (freeware) once in a while and I am not impressed.
Most of my other applications are cross platform, like ZOE, Tomcat or Eclipse.
A small and simple outliner is available here for free:
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Check Off ($5) might fit the bill as a replacement for Action Outline:
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You really should give Leo a try, a superb outliner that supports literate programming. Warning: you will get hooked! It's open source and certainly worth the trouble it takes to get it working on OS X. Ignore the (old) Leo(Macintosh) entry on sourceforge, that's not meant for OS X. I hope you will like it as much as I did.
Homepage:
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Very good online tutorial:
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Thread on sourceforge on how to get it to run on OS X:
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A Free CSS Authoring Tool for Mac:
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Comprehensive list of Mac Freeware:
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