An incomplete list of all the best Mac applications
Note: I try to avoid obvious choices such as Apple’s own software, or software from major developers such as Adobe.
Application Launcher:
http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/
or
http://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/index-de.html
or
http://www.dragthing.com
or
http://manytricks.com/butler/
Word Processing:
http://www.redlers.com/
or
http://www.nisus.com/
Multiple Clipboards:
http://pth.com/products/pthpasteboard/
Switching between Windows:
http://www.manytricks.com/witch/
Global Auto-Correction and Expansion of Text Snippets:
http://ettoresoftware.com/EttoreSoftware/About_TypeIt4Me.html
or
http://www.smileonmymac.com/textexpander/
Password Manager:
http://1passwd.com/
Macros and Automation:
http://www.scriptsoftware.com/ikey/
or
http://www.cesoft.com/products/quickeys.html
Font Management:
http://www.linotype.com/fontexplorerX
Sync between iCal instances and Google Calendar:
http://blog.busymac.com/blog/2008/01/busymac-announc.html
Sync your Mac with PDAs or phones:
http://www.markspace.com/
Batch-Renaming Files:
http://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderRename/
BitTorrent Client:
http://transmission.m0k.org/
and
http://clutchbt.com/
TV Shows:
http://tvshows.sourceforge.net/
(Some good shows: Dexter, Reaper, 24, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Prison Break, Heroes, Creature Comforts, South Park, The Simpsons, Futurama)
Live TV:
http://zattoo.com/
or
http://www.elgato.com/elgato/int/mainmenu/home/what-is-eyetv.de.html
Support for DiVX directly in QuickTime Player:
http://www.perian.org/index.html#detail
Support for Windows Media Files in QuickTime Player:
http://www.flip4mac.com/wmv.htm
Another media player supporting tons of formats:
http://www.videolan.org/
Rip DVDs to your disk:
http://www.mactheripper.org/
and
http://handbrake.m0k.org/
or
http://www.roxio.com/deu/products/popcorn/standard/overview.html
Manage your DVD collection:
http://www.delicious-monster.com/
Copy music from your iPod to your Mac:
http://www.fadingred.org/senuti/
or
http://code.google.com/p/ipoddisk/
Send any sound to an AirPort Express:
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/mac/
Use your cell phone, iPod or iPhone as a remote control:
http://code.google.com/p/telekinesis/ (for iPhone or iPod)
http://www.salling.com/Clicker/mac/ (for other cell phones)
Automagically manage your files:
http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel.php
or
http://www.tomhancocks.com/?p=63
Best version of Open Office:
http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/de/index.php
Diagrams, Flowcharts and similar stuff:
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/
Instant Messaging:
http://www.adiumx.com/
Image Editors:
http://www.pixelmator.com/
or
http://flyingmeat.com/acorn/
or
http://www.lemkesoft.de/
or
http://www.nolobe.com/iris/
Pixel-Oriented Image Editors:
http://loewald.com/pixelninja/
http://opensword.org/Pixen/
Vector Image Editors:
http://www.purgatorydesign.com/Intaglio/
or
http://www.freeverse.com/lineform/
or
http://www.tweakersoft.com/vectordesigner/index.html
Hex Color Picker (no idea why this isn’t included as a standard):
http://wafflesoftware.net/hexpicker/
And another cool color picker:
http://www.lithoglyph.com/mondrianum
Other helper apps for graphic designers:
http://iconfactory.com/software/xscope
and
http://www.code-line.com/software/artdirectorstoolkit.html
Web Browers
http://caminobrowser.org/
or
http://www.mozilla-europe.org/de/products/firefox/
or
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb/
Web Searching:
http://wafflesoftware.net/monocle/
Turning Web Apps into “Real” Apps:
http://fluidapp.com/
And the same specifically for gmail:
http://mailplaneapp.com/
Also, gmail notifier:
http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/notifier_mac.html
Snippet Keepers:
http://reinventedsoftware.com/together/
or
http://www.barebones.com/products/yojimbo/
or
http://c-command.com/eaglefiler/
or
http://www.circusponies.com/store/index.php?main_page=notebook
Text Editors:
http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/index.shtml
or
http://smultron.sourceforge.net/
or
http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/index.shtml
or
http://www.codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/
or
http://macromates.com/
or
http://www.forgedit.com/
CSS Editors:
http://macrabbit.com/cssedit/
and/or
http://www.culturedcode.com/xyle/
FTP Clients:
http://cyberduck.ch/
oder
http://nolobe.com/interarchy/
oder
http://www.panic.com/transmit/
All of the Above (Text, CSS and FTP):
http://www.panic.com/coda/
RSS Readers:
http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals/NetNewsWire/
Application Firewall:
http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html
Getting Things Done:
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/
Clean up your hard disk:
http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/
or
http://mildmanneredindustries.com/baseline/
or
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/
or
http://www.derlien.com/
Backup:
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
or
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
Screen Recording:
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/
Fix a broken file system:
http://www.alsoft.com/
ScummVM (to play Monkey Island):
http://www.scummvm.org/
MAME (to play Pac Man):
http://mamedev.org/
Connecting a Wii, Xbox 360 or PS3 to your Mac:
http://www.riverfold.com/software/wiitransfer/
and
http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/connect360
and
http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/medialink
Best site to find Mac apps:
http://www.macupdate.com/
or
http://osx.iusethis.com/
QuickLook Plugins:
http://www.qlplugins.com/
Mac ports of “unix” apps:
http://www.macports.org/
or
http://www.finkproject.org/
Run Windows apps:
http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/
or
http://www.parallels.com/
or
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html
or
http://sourceforge.net/projects/darwine/
MacTech has a speed comparison of Fusion, Parallels and BootCamp, helping you figure out which one works best for you.
Best site for cool icons:
http://iconfactory.com/
And for those with an iPhone or an iPod touch and need some apps, too:
http://www.apple.com/webapps/
and
http://jailbreakme.com
One more thing; Websites Mac users should read:
http://www.crazyapplerumors.com/
and
http://daringfireball.net/
Finally, Shawn Blanc has a neat list of reviews for some of the greatest Mac apps available.