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Just Got a Mac, what should I know?

So

So

Lifer
So, I broke down and got a Mac. A bit of background: I was coming from an Ubuntu netbook and I mostly used it for programming or SSHing to Linux servers (plus the usual net / media stuff). I got a 13" Air, and so far I'm really happy. That said, I'm sure there's a ton of non-obvious OSX stuff (and apps) I should be aware of.

Apps I've already put on here:
Libre Office
Adium
TextWrangler (supposedly the best Notepad++ equivalent)
Steam
Firefox
Dropbox

I also updated python and grabbed the Arduino IDE.

Thoughts, hivemind?

Recommendations so far:
Cyber Duck
Transmit
Coda
 
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Transmit instead of cyberduck (cyberduck is very slow over LANs, or at least was)

Highlighting a file and then hitting "enter" renames the file

"cmd" + "space" opens spotlight search. Type the first few letters of the application you want to run and then hit enter and it will launch it.
 
Seems like there's a need for an updated "best/favorite/essential software" thread. Last one I've found here is over a year old. I've noticed that what worked best for me on Windows may not work best on OSX.

Even some things that worked well with Snow Leopard aren't necessarily 100% on Lion yet. (such is my impression, for example, reading the recent growl reviews in the app store and discussion group anyway).
 
Gooberlx2 said:
Seems like there's a need for an updated "best/favorite/essential software" thread. Last one I've found here is over a year old. I've noticed that what worked best for me on Windows may not work best on OSX.

Even some things that worked well with Snow Leopard aren't necessarily 100% on Lion yet. (such is my impression, for example, reading the recent growl reviews in the app store and discussion group anyway).
Click to expand...

I have no problem with this thread being that thread.
 
silverpig said:
Transmit instead of cyberduck (cyberduck is very slow over LANs, or at least was)

Highlighting a file and then hitting "enter" renames the file

"cmd" + "space" opens spotlight search. Type the first few letters of the application you want to run and then hit enter and it will launch it.
Click to expand...

Good to know! I was trying to figure out how to rename a file last night, without resorting to the terminal. 😛
 
Just know that if you're happy with your system & post about it Apple haters will be out in droves to crap in your thread.
 
So said:
I have no problem with this thread being that thread.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. I would suggest altering the thread title, keywords or both to make searching easier.

I'll start. So far my windows --> OSX transition has gone like this:

Changed:
Chat: Pidgin --> iChat (I just use jabber with google and facebook)
Photo Library: Photo Gallery --> iPhoto
Video NLE: Movie Maker (Vista version) --> iMovie
Video Playback: WMP+Haali --> VLC+Flip4Mac+Perian
Music: WMP+Zune --> iTunes
Mail: Gmail WebUI --> Mail/iCal/Address Book (I'm amazed at how much better these work than any other clients I've used)
Text Editor: Notepad++ --> TextWrangler

Same:
Browser: Chrome
FTP: Filezilla (sounds like there may be better alternatives though? cyberduck?)
RAW Developer: Lightroom
Transcoder: Handbrake
Java IDE: Netbeans
VOIP: Skype
Office: LibreOffice
Remote Desktop: Teamviewer
Notes: Evernote

Need Suggestions:
Archiver: 7zip+QuickPar --> ??? (would love par file repair built-in)
Newgrabber: GrabIt --> ???
Torrent: uTorrent --> ??? (seems transmission is well liked?)
Image Editor: Paint.net+Gimp --> ??? (Maybe Pixelmator? Thoughts?)
 
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XCode.

Even if you don't use the IDE or the SDK, there are still plenty of useful tools in the XCode package.

For Video playback, check out MPlayerX as well. It has prettier font support for subtitles than VLC.

For viewing images and PDF, the built-in Preview is as good as it gets, plus you get some editing options (Tools > Adjust Color/Adjust Size).
 
Gooberlx2 said:
Makes sense. I would suggest altering the thread title, keywords or both to make searching easier.

I'll start. So far my windows --> OSX transition has gone like this:

Changed:
Chat: Pidgin --> iChat (I just use jabber with google and facebook)
Photo Library: Photo Gallery --> iPhoto
Video NLE: Movie Maker (Vista version) --> iMovie
Video Playback: WMP+Haali --> VLC+Flip4Mac+Perian
Music: WMP+Zune --> iTunes
Mail: Gmail WebUI --> Mail/iCal/Address Book (I'm amazed at how much better these work than any other clients I've used)
Text Editor: Notepad++ --> TextWrangler

Same:
Browser: Chrome
FTP: Filezilla (sounds like there may be better alternatives though? cyberduck?)
RAW Developer: Lightroom
Transcoder: Handbrake
Java IDE: Netbeans
VOIP: Skype
Office: LibreOffice
Remote Desktop: Teamviewer
Notes: Evernote

Need Suggestions:
Archiver: 7zip+QuickPar --> ??? (would love par file repair built-in)
Newgrabber: GrabIt --> ???
Torrent: uTorrent --> ??? (seems transmission is well liked?)
Image Editor: Paint.net+Gimp --> ??? (Maybe Pixelmator? Thoughts?)
Click to expand...

I've used a Mac for 5 years and have a few tweaks of your list:
Chat: Like Pidgin, but native to the Mac and far slicker
Video Playback: VLC+Perian (because Flip4Mac seems redundant and I prefer as few plugins as possible)
Mail: If you use Gmail, Sparrow is a must. I stopped using Mail completely.
Text Editor: BBEdit, the big brother to TextWrangler.

Archiver: The Unarchiver lets you unrar natively just like you would zip files.
Torrent: Transmission, light, compact and native to the Mac (meaning utorrent team will always focus in windows first).
 
- SabNZBd+ - for Usenet binaries
- Caffeine - to keep your Mac awake when you want it to
- Microsoft RDP Client for Mac - remote desktop into Windows machines
 
dagamer34 said:
I've used a Mac for 5 years and have a few tweaks of your list:
Chat: Like Pidgin, but native to the Mac and far slicker
Video Playback: VLC+Perian (because Flip4Mac seems redundant and I prefer as few plugins as possible)
Mail: If you use Gmail, Sparrow is a must. I stopped using Mail completely.
Text Editor: BBEdit, the big brother to TextWrangler.

Archiver: The Unarchiver lets you unrar natively just like you would zip files.
Torrent: Transmission, light, compact and native to the Mac (meaning utorrent team will always focus in windows first).
Click to expand...

i agree with all of these suggestions. vlc + perian is a nice combo, and i also stopped using flip4mac because vlc has played all of my wmvs just fine. i still prefer adium for my IM client because its worked flawless for me for years now, plus it has the icons i like. 🙂

i'd also like to add two image editors - pixelmator and acorn. i honestly flip between the two because they are both that good.
 
secretanchitman said:
i agree with all of these suggestions. vlc + perian is a nice combo, and i also stopped using flip4mac because vlc has played all of my wmvs just fine. i still prefer adium for my IM client because its worked flawless for me for years now, plus it has the icons i like. 🙂

i'd also like to add two image editors - pixelmator and acorn. i honestly flip between the two because they are both that good.
Click to expand...

Skitch is good for quick edits.

uTorrent on Mac is greatly improved these days. And features a pretty nice scheduler and built in RSS support. I prefer Transmission if only because it is familiar, but uTorrent is still pretty good.
 
I'd like to second the recommendation for Transmit. It's the best FTP app and has terrific support. It's worth supporting small and dedicated app developers, imo. On that note, I also use SuperDuper for scheduled backups. I use this in addition to TimeMachine and Crashplan *you can never have too many backups*. The guy who runs SuperDuper has always responded to my questions quickly. Great app.

Pixelmator has made me abandon Photoshop entirely. I'm not great with PS but Pixelmator does everything I needed Photoshop for and more.

Transmission is my fav. torrent client.

Dropbox, as everyone else said, is also great.

I couldn't live without Parallels either. It's nice to be able to test code in Windows / Linux without needing a second machine.
 
 
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I just purchased my first Mac as well. It was a 13" MB Air too! I love the new mouse shortcuts. Here are few I used most...
two finger swipe left/right - move forward/back in a browser & some full screen apps.
two finger swipe up/down - move up/down in an open app/browser
3/4 finger swipe up - view all open apps
3 finger swipe left/right - switch between open, fullscreen apps.

some other shortcuts. Command + C/V is your copy/paste
Command + Tab is your Alt + Tab.
One odd thing I have noticed is that when I come back from sleep, the mouse takes about 3 seconds before it comes active even though the screen is already active. Not a huge deal, just a quirk. All in all, I love the MBA & am now considering buying a 27" iMac.
 
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