Mac OS X Applications & Plugins

 

I.      Applications

a.     System

                                               i.     Spark – allows the ability to add system wide keyboard shortcuts, I use cmd-opt-ctrl-S to open System Preferences.  (free)

                                             ii.     Carbon Copy Cloner – creates a copy of a disk.  (free)

                                            iii.     Stuffit Expander – unarchives many different compression formats.  (free)

                                            iv.     TinkerTool – performs various “hacks”.  (free)

                                             v.     Dashboard Kickstart – starts dashboard widgets on login and after waking from sleep to avoid waiting when you want to use it.  (free)

                                            vi.     Xbench – benchmarking, I’d be interested to see the results.  (free)

                                          vii.     XNmap – a feature-full IP scanner, but not the best GUI.  (free)

b.     Chat

                                               i.     Colloquy – IRC in a nice Mac GUI.  (free)

                                             ii.     Adium – IM Client that supports many protocols and is very customizable, doesn’t do audio or video.  (free)

                                            iii.     Microsoft Messenger – MSN instant messaging.  (free)

                                            iv.     Skype – audio conferencing that also allows calls to land lines.  (free, $ to make land line calls)

c.     Media

                                               i.     Flash Player 8 Projector – standalone flash player, sbemails in fullscreen.  (free)

                                             ii.     Acquisition – Gnutella and BitTorrent file sharing with a beautiful interface.  (free to try, $18.99 to buy)

                                            iii.     Handbrake – rip DVDs, oh wait, that’s not for you.  (free)

                                            iv.     NewsFire – RSS reader with many features and a beautiful interface.  (free with annoyances, €16.99 to buy)

                                             v.     ourTunes – java-based (read ugly) utility to download people’s shared iTunes music.  (free)

                                            vi.     Senuti – utility to copy music off of iPods.  (free)

                                          vii.     VLC – multi-format video/audio player that includes many interesting features.  (free)

d.     Remote

                                               i.     Cyberduck – SFTP Client with a Mac-like interface.  (free)

                                             ii.     Remote Desktop Connection – Microsoft Remote Desktop Client.  (free)

                                            iii.     Chicken of the VNC – VNC viewer.  (free)

e.     Miscellaneous

                                               i.     Google Earth – view satellite images of the Earth.  (free)

                                             ii.     Mactracker – view specs and other details on Apple products.  (free)

                                            iii.     Smultron – nice plain text editor; good for html, xml, conf, etc.  (free)

f.      Other

                                               i.      

II.    Plugins

a.     System

                                               i.     LargeType – displays text across the screen in large print.  (free)

                                             ii.     DoubleCommand – utility to change certain keyboard mappings, good if you use a Windows intended keyboard.  (free)

                                            iii.     macam – a set of USB web cam drivers.  (free)

                                            iv.     Growl – allows for system-wide notifications.  (free)

b.     Safari

                                               i.     SafariStand – adds various functions to Safari.  (free)

                                             ii.     SIMBL – allows for other plugins.  (free)

                                            iii.     Safari Enhancer – external program that changes various functions of Safari.  (free)

                                            iv.     Safari Extender – adds items to the contextual menus (right click) in Safari. (15 day trial, $10)

                                             v.     PithHelmet – blocks ads.  (free)

                                            vi.     Saft – adds lots of functionality to Safari. 

                                          vii.     Word Browser Plugin – to view .doc filed in Safari.

                                         viii.     PDF Browser Plugin – a nicer PDF in browser PDF viewer than the built-in one, Adobe has one too but I think it’s a little too busy.

                                            ix.     DownloadComment – adds the download URL to the file’s comments.

                                             x.     Taboo – warns you when you’re going to close a window with multiple tabs, saves you from a lot of accidents, it also can get rid of the annoying “this download may contain an app” warning.

                                            xi.     Inquisitor –

                                          xii.     Safari Standardized Feed Icon Installer – changes the RSS icon to the one Mozilla and Microsoft both agreed to use.  (free)

                                         xiii.     Other Stuff – a website that links to many other Safari plugins.

c.     Mail

                                               i.     HTTPMail – allows Mail to use Hotmail.  (free)

d.     iChat

                                               i.     Chax – adds many features to iChat.  (free)

e.     Quicktime

                                               i.     DivX – adds DivX codecs to Quicktime and includes a DivX player as an alternative to Quicktime.  (free)

                                             ii.     Flip4Mac – adds Windows Media codecs to Quicktime and includes a WMV player as an alternative to Quicktime.  (free)