Software

To win our contest, you simply needed to send us your memories about your first computer. I love thinking about my first computer... it really brings back the good ole' days. Thanks go out to Acqualia.com for providing us with their great Application 'Picturesque'.


Our Winners: READ MORE »

Last year, Parallels introduced a revolutionary program for the Mac. Parallels Desktop for Mac was the first commercial program to allow you to run multiple operating systems natively on an Intel Based Mac. It started out with limited features, but quickly built upon them to include what most people need for day to day use in a Windows environment. READ MORE »

After the great response from Part 1, here is Part 2. In this group, we cover DVD Backups, Binary News Tools, Password Management, Social Bookmarking, Project Management, Clipboard Solutions, Bluetooth Phone Integration, File Transfer, and OS X Enhancements.

Not all of these are free, but many of them are. Each piece of software is excellent, and I use them all. There are plenty of alternatives to even these, and if you have a favorite, leave it in the comments, and they might make it into Part 3.

DVD Backups:
I covered Mac The Ripper in part 1, but since then, protection has gotten tougher. The latest way to backup is with a combination of Fairmount and VLC. Could it be illegal? Perhaps. Check your local laws.
Fair Mount - Allows decryption of DVD content on the fly. It doesn't perform the actual decryption, but forwards it on to VLC for decryption. After decryption, simply drag and drop the VIDEO_TS folder somewhere on your Hard Drive, and then you can do with it what you wish. It comes with DVD Remaster, so you have to download it to get Fair Mount. Could it be illegal? Perhaps. Check your local laws.
VLC - If this player can't play it, odds are, the media on your Mac can't be played. You need this installed for Fair Mount to work. READ MORE »

Recently, every week I see two or three lists of 'Must Have Top 10 Mac Apps'. These lists usually contain the same apps over and over. Occasionally you will find one you have never heard of, and there is usually a reason for that (i.e. it's not ready for prime time).

These lists provide all of the staples: Adium, Camino, VLC, etc. All good apps, but give me a break. Every week??

The more i look through them, I've found a similar theme.
I decided to write a Top 10 list of criteria for being a Top 10 Mac Apps list on Digg.com

10) Must include ADIUM-X and AppZapper on EVERY list. Anyone not adhering to this rule will be immediately 'buried'.
+

9) The list must be evenly divisible by 10. Top 11, 7 , 3 and 25 will be immediately buried and reported as 'OK This is lame'.

8) Each list must contain enough apps to make Windows users angry enough to comment on your Digg post. Comments must include links to Windows Apps that do basically the same thing, just not as pretty or as reliable.

7) Every Application must have been in the TOP 5 of previous Top 10 Mac Apps lists seen at Digg.com.

6) At least two of the apps must be new releases, with an allowance for one of them to still be Beta, and not in general release.

6b.) App must have been endorsed by Phill Ryu or one of his close associates.

5) Any use of the word ULTIMATE in the title will give you >500 Diggs. BEST and COOLEST will only provide <500 Diggs. READ MORE »

View Switchers Guide - Part 2 Here
As more people begin switching to OS X from Windows, they are going to need some additional software, other than what comes stock with OS X. While this list isn't totally complete, it's a good starter list, to enable a somewhat seamless transition. I wanted to keep this list fairly simple, and not overwhelm the new Mac user. That's why you don't see my favorite podcast apps, big commercial packages, etc. Most of this software is free or donation ware. If you use it, support the developers.

Note: Nov. 27, 2007 - This list is becoming outdated, when I compile the new list, I will link it here.

Browsers:

Firefox, Camino, and Opera. While Safari is used 90% of the time on my Mac, I keep these on hand - most websites designed to lockout Macs will generally work fine if you use one of these browsers. You shouldn't have to worry about compatibility, but some web designers still cater to Internet Explorer.

Chat:

Adium X - If you access more IM services than simply AOL, then you will want to use Adium X, since it supports many plug-ins and also can keep you connected to multiple IM services at once.

Conversation - This is a very iChat like client for using IRC chats. READ MORE »