Great apps that one should not be without

[david]

> From: Jeremy Weiss <ladmo_x at mindspring.com>
>
> p.s. is there any apps that none of you can live without? just got me
> ibook a few weeks ago and am new to os X and was wonderin what im
> missing. thanks again for the info!

ONE HARDWARE SUGGESTION
If you don't have an AirPort card and base station you just aren't 
living the full iBook lifestyle. Right now I am sitting on the deck 
watching the hummingbirds flit about whilst checking my email and 
reading the news online. Yesterday I walked over to my neighbor's porch 
and we did a little online research while his kids were in the pool. 
Well worth the money to be free of wires and have the ability to work 
wherever I choose.

SOFTWARE MUST HAVES
Whenever I convince someone to buy a Mac, or to switch to Mac, I give 
them a CD containing these goodies.

LaunchBar - lets me launch applications, jump to websites, even start 
an email message with just a few key presses no matter what program is 
running. This isn't like setting up F keys. For example, if I want to 
launch Safari, I type command spacebar to activate LaunchBar and then 
type the first couple letters of Safari. Then when LaunchBar is showing 
the right application selected, I press return. LaunchBar learns from 
your selections so today I only need to type 'sa' to get Safari 
selected.

DragThing - I hate the dock. It tries to do too many jobs and it does 
none of them well. As much as I like LaunchBar, I also like having a 
dock and for launching applications, dragging files onto, and switching 
between programs. DragThing is an especially great dock because it 
permits multiple docks and multiple palettes on one dock.

GraphicConverter - opens nearly every form of graphic file known to 
mankind and can save graphic files in just as many. Also creates 
thumbnails, previews, slices and dices, and basic editing.

BBedit Lite - I broke down and bought the full version last year when I 
began doing Java programming. Just a fantastic text editor. BBedit is 
no longer supporting lite but it should still be available for download.

DiskWarrior - this doesn't fix every disk problem but between it and 
Apple's disk utility, the only problems I couldn't fix were dead drives.

Toast - Sure, OS X can burn CDs but Toast is tons faster, has more 
options, and can burn sessions. If you only have 100Mb to burn, why 
waste a CD? Sessions will let you fill up the disk a little at a time.

Stuffit Standard or Stuffit Deluxe - You don't want to just decompress 
files, you'll probably want to compress files as well. I've found 
Deluxe to be perfect for my needs but Standard is great for most people.

Some sort of Backup software - I'll not recommend a specific product 
without knowing your habits and what other hardware you own. There are 
lots of different options including simply making a CD of your 
documents folder every week. Whatever you decide on, use it frequently.

Default Folder X - Apple has now made two attempts to make the file 
selector better. The original file selector was a D-, this new 
incarnation is, at best, a C-. Default Folder makes the file selector 
much easier to use. Among other features, you can designate a default 
folder for each application.

Spell Catcher X - someday maybe all applications will have access to 
Apple services and perhaps someday one of those services will be a 
really good thesaurus, dictionary, and shortcut typer. Until then, 
Spell Catcher X provides spell checking as you type for all 
applications. Only one dictionary to add special words to. Yippee!

MUST HAVES FOR OS 9 SWITCHERS - but Windows switcher will like them too
Unsanity makes a number of haxies that restores the Apple Menu, 
Windowshading, and Finder labels.

HONORABLE MENTION

WeatherPop - if your computer is online most of the day this menu bar 
tool shows you the temperature and an iconic weather report, as well as 
a 3 day forecast.

VirtualDesktop - this is a hard application to describe - it really has 
to be used to be appreciated. Imagine having multiple monitors 
connected to your iBook.

Keyboard Maestro / QuicKeys X - when I first switched to X, what I 
missed most was QuicKeys. Keyboard Maestro was able to do only a very 
small portion of what QK could do but then, there was no QK for X at 
the time. When QK X did come out it was a pale imitation of the OS 9 
product. Since then Keyboard Maestro has gained considerable power and 
QK X is now almost back to full strength. Check them both out.

I CAN COMBINE ICONS & CANDYBAR - if you like customizing your Mac, 
these two applications let you create personalized icons and change the 
system and toolbar icons

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Good qualities are easier to destroy than bad ones, and therefore
uniformity is most easily achieved by lowering all standards.
  ~~ Bertrand Russell

David