# Made the switch...what essential Mac programs do I need? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602 "2007-02-02T20:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/1 "2007-02-02T20:53:37Z")
Part IMHO, part “Yeah, you probably want to…” Different browsers? Neat programs? What? -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/2 "2007-02-02T20:58:31Z")
If you are into graphics, then you need [Graphic Converter](http://www.lemkesoft.com/). ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/3 "2007-02-02T22:02:08Z")
If you have iLife and Office, I don’t know what else you’d need unless it was something specific. I only have Firefox to navigate to [www.gap.com](http://www.gap.com) to buy jeans but use Safari for everything else. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/4 "2007-02-02T22:11:58Z")
You’ll need Firefox - there are a handful of commerce sites that can’t understand Safari. Anything beyond that will be highly dependant on what you want to use the computer for. (eg: web design, photo editing, audio/video editing, music composition, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/5 "2007-02-02T22:20:59Z")
I haven’t paid for any software, so this is all free. I use Firefox and Safari. With extensions you can make Firefox do things no other browsers can. I use Opera just for a weather-feed “widget” you can get. If you use newsgroups, my favorite reader is MT-Newswatcher though I think I read it’s old and primitive compared to some others. There’s something called flip4mac that lets you play WMV movies in Quicktime Player. flvThing plays flash videos from Youtube or whatever. For viewing jpegs I like Jview and also Jade FAT which is an old System 9 application. There’s something called Software for Starving Students which has some various little things to play with, and a few cheesy games, though a lot of the programs have poor interfaces. It also includes OpenOffice, but in the X11 version which doesn’t have a smooth Mac interface. Activity Monitor comes with the OS I think but it’s an important thing to use, to show you when a program is hung or has memory problems. I thought I’d mention that. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/6 "2007-02-02T22:47:44Z")
Well, what did you do in Windows? We can come up with good or better Mac programs to do what you want. ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/7 "2007-02-02T22:51:02Z")
Quicksilver (#1 Killer App I can’t live without…) - [http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/](http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/) Adium - [http://www.adiumx.com/](http://www.adiumx.com/) Fetch - [http://www.fetchsoftworks.com/](http://www.fetchsoftworks.com/) Unison - [Panic Blog » The Future of Unison](http://www.panic.com/unison/) (to be used with [Http://www.easynews.com](Http://www.easynews.com)) ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/8 "2007-02-02T22:54:02Z")
[QUOTE=UncleRojelio] If you are into graphics, then you need [Graphic Converter](http://www.lemkesoft.com/). [/QUOTE] Current versions of OS X already come with this. My laptop, purchased in November 2005, did. I’ve downloaded VLC (for playing .avi files) and Firefox. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/9 "2007-02-03T01:48:36Z")
> [@](#): > > It also includes OpenOffice, but in the X11 version which doesn’t have a smooth Mac interface. Is there a version of OO which does have a smooth Mac interface? Where would one get it? I’m fine with switching to control instead of command, and using a menu bar in a different place, but it would streamline my mom’s computer (also a Mac) so much if all of her programs had the same interface. And it’s kind of hit-and-miss whether any given computer will come with GraphicConverter. My older desktop did, but my newer laptop didn’t. And while it’s great fun and very powerful, it also comes with no documentation (their business model seems to be to give the software away free, but charge for the help), so you’ll have to experiment with it. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/10 "2007-02-03T02:49:05Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Is there a version of OO which does have a smooth Mac interface? [/QUOTE] I’m really liking [NeoOffice.](http://www.neooffice.org/) Back story: I work for a university, so I can get a fairly inexpensive MS Office license. I got a MacBook Pro several months ago, and I’ve had nothing but problems since the Office installation. Apple Support’s solution was to do a clean reinstall, so rather than going that route, I installed NeoOffice. I’m not the most intensive Office user, but so far, the differences are minimal. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/11 "2007-02-03T03:39:33Z")
Prerequisite smartass answer: Bootcamp and Windows XP 😃 Other than that, I dunno, get a copy of Aleph One and play Marathon on the Mac like cavemen did back in the 90’s? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/12 "2007-02-03T04:01:59Z")
Stuff I can’t live without: [NewsFire](http://www.newsfirerss.com) (RSS client) [iStat Pro](http://www.islayer.com/index.php?op=item&id=7) (system status Dashboard widget) [TextWrangler](http://barebones.com/products/textwrangler/index.shtml) (text editor) I’ve also recently started using [SuperDuper!](http://www.shirt-pocket.com/) for backing up my hard drives, and so far I’m liking it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetterAssortment](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RandomLetterAssortment](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetterAssortment)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/13 "2007-02-03T15:12:52Z")
Bootcamp and Windows, or some flavor of Linux (Kubuntu would be a good choice). Mac OSX is made of failure & AIDS. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/14 "2007-02-03T18:41:12Z")
[QUOTE=RandomLetterAssortment] Bootcamp and Windows, or some flavor of Linux (Kubuntu would be a good choice). Mac OSX is made of failure & AIDS. [/QUOTE] 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/15 "2007-02-03T23:14:07Z")
[QUOTE=RandomLetterAssortment] Bootcamp and Windows, or some flavor of Linux (Kubuntu would be a good choice). Mac OSX is made of failure & AIDS. [/QUOTE] WT-huh? Thanks all. I’ll be looking at most of these. Just need some good programs to use to get around with. This Safari sorta sucks, so Firefox, here I come. And I don’t understand why installing Windows would be any better…OSX is different, true, but so far I’ve been fine. Compared to my PC notebook that drives me up the friggin wall, this is great…I have over 80 processes on that damn notebook that run and after 5 tries, I can’t get rid of hardly any of them. I don’t need Messenger!!! Stop it! Stop eating my processing time so that Word runs like syrup on a cold day. My virus blocker has specialk slow-running warnings about being used on my specific notebook model…great. But I guess I could just turn the virus protection off…oh wait, I can’t. Love ya Windows! :smack: -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/16 "2007-02-03T23:35:53Z")
[QUOTE=RandomLetterAssortment] Mac OSX is made of failure & AIDS. [/QUOTE] **RandomLetterAssortment** , your comments are inappropriate for GQ. Please do not repeat this. Thanks. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/17 "2007-02-04T00:01:31Z")
[QUOTE=RandomLetterAssortment] Bootcamp and Windows, or some flavor of Linux (Kubuntu would be a good choice). Mac OSX is made of failure & AIDS. [/QUOTE] Is that supposed to be funny? It’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-the-switch-what-essential-mac-programs-do-i-need/390602/18 "2007-02-04T02:41:52Z")
Don’t over look Text Edit. If you have a good font file, this program can be surprisingly effective for "graphic’ text stuff. It will import real graphics as well.