Apple Mac Apps I can’t live without

Friday, 01 May, 2009

If you use your Mac like I do, you'll love your programs of choice. All my work is done on my Mac laptop as well as alot of personal organisation too, so apart from paper documents that I still receive and need to keep, I pretty much have a mobile office.

I can't resist checking out new and interesting sounding apps, although most never get opened more than a few times, but those that do have made it onto my list of Mac apps of choice below. It includes the typical, major software packages I design with as well as independent utilities and programs that enhance my digital life.

DATA

DevonThink
A comprehensive and robust note organisation system.

Evernote
Rapidly improving notes service syncing across different platforms.

ORGANISATION

Things
Superb GTD to-do program that syncs with my iPhone.

Now Up-To-Date / NOW X
A calender system that I've favoured over Apple's iCal, with more customisation and features. About to be superseded by NOW X.

Moneydance
Finance program to keep track of all my accounts offline. Not ready to move to online services yet.

COMMUNICATIONS

Entourage
I prefer the functionality of Microsoft's Entourage, but constantly check out new releases of Apple's Mail and the new Postbox.

SpamSieve
Essential utility to sit alongside email clients to filter out spam.

Skype
Phone, video calling and messaging.

TweetDeck
Desktop power program for Twitter.

DESIGN

PhotoShop
Most used program. Web interfaces, illustration and collages are my outputs of choice.

Illustrator
The tool for branding/logos.

InDesign
Stationary and print materials design.

WEB DEVELOPMENT

Dreamweaver
Still using this beast for powering and updating current web projects.

TextMate
For any simple coding. Strips away all those strange encodings and formats.

Transmit
FTP program of choice. Deals easily with broken uploads - essential for large files and flaky connections.

Flash
Occasionally used for interactive content. Not nearly used enough though.

PHOTOS

Aperture
Professional level photo program. More tools than iPhoto and faster. I also use the Flickr Uploader plugin to get files straight to my online account.

BLOGGING

Ecto
Desktop blogging program. Can easily prepare posts in advance, ready to set live.

NetNewsWire
Been a fan of their 3 column layout since when they were still charging for this RSS Reader.

UTILITIES

LittleSnapper
Photos and screenshots program with annotation tools. Works with Quicksnapper online to share files.

Dropbox
Superb synching utility for keeping files updated across different machines.

CandyBar
Icon organisation utility. Its just eye candy, but oh so essential for the Mac OS experience.

iStat menus
Stats in your menubar. Great to keep an eye on transfer rates, temperature and fan speeds.

Quicksilver
OS Navigation with keystrokes. Time saver.

VLC
Multi-format video file player. Plays anything I've ever wanted to watch.

Onyx
When my machine needs a spring clean, out comes Onyx.

Transmission
Neat torrent application.

Weather Vane
Instant weather forecasts on your menubar.

What would you add or take away from this list?

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British Chinese, Digital Design Consultant. Web Geek, Technologist, Blogger and Careful Entrepreneur. Budding Photo Journalist.

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