Whirlpool

The Essential Mac OS X Applications
This is a 'refined' version of the previous thread, listing useful applications in a summary form. Please keep discussion in the existing thread.

Notes
The applications listed here are only a shortlist of perhaps the most popular applications available. Many other applications can be found at VersionTracker and MacUpdate.

Application Suggestions
Please do not post on your own, we're trying to keep this thread as clean as possible! Any suggestions should be sent via whim for addition.

X11
Some applications may require X11 to run, you can download it from here. Information on X11 can be found here.

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Interface enhancements & addon's
Shapeshifter
Shareware - Website

ShapeShifter is a revolutionary new product that lets you change the overall appearance of your Mac using 'themes'.

Konfabulator
Freeware - Website

Konfabulator is another "widget" application, similar to dashboard which allows you to have widgets on your desktop.

Stattoo
Shareware - Website

Your digital life has a lot of statistics: incoming mail, appointments, disk space. Stattoo "tattoos" stats right on your desktop picture: out of the way, but always handy!

CandyBar
Shareware - Website

Trick out your Trashcan. Decorate your Drives. Mix up Mail. CandyBar 2 lets you change the Mac OS X icons you usually can't!

Pixadex
Shareware - Website

Pixadex is to icons, what Apple's iPhoto is to images. Brought to you by Panic and The Iconfactory, the team who created CandyBar, Pixadex lets you import, organize and search huge numbers of icons quickly & easily.

Deskshade
Shareware - Website

DeskShade 2 sports a fast and easy to use desktop manager where you can keep all your favorite pictures, iPhoto albums, drop images and more. DeskLock allows you to quickly and efficiently lock your workstation.

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Menubar addon's
MenuMeters
Freeware - Website

MenuMeters is a set of CPU, memory, disk, and network monitoring tools for MacOS X which sit in the menubar.

Synergy
Shareware - Website

Synergy puts three buttons to control iTunes in your menubar: previous track, next track, and play/pause; as well as providing you with visual feedback about the currently playing tune.

ByteController
Freeware - Website

ByteController is the freeware solution to Synergy.

Meteorologist
Shareware - Website

Meteorologist: Weather Access from your main menu or dock

MenuCalendarClock
Shareware - Website

MenuCalendarClock is an iCal compatible menu calendar and a configurable menu clock. Besides an elegant and streamlined look, it offers many compelling features to make it the ultimate calendaring utility for the Mac.

JumpCut
Freeware - Website

Jumpcut is a clipboard enhancement tool for Mac OS X. It runs as a "faceless" application that puts a menu in the right-hand corner of the menu bar.

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Quick Application Launching
QuickSilver
Freeware - Website

An evolving framework for accessing and manipulating many forms of personal data.

LaunchBar 4
Shareware - Website

LaunchBar is an award winning productivity utility that offers an amazingly intuitive and efficient way to control your computer. It provides instant access to thousands of files and folders and more.

Butler
Shareware - Website

Butler is a file launcher, a bookmark manager, a web search utility, a pasteboard extension and so much more...

TigerLaunch
Freeware - Website

TigerLaunch is an easy-to-use and easy-to-configure application launcher for OS X. It displays an Apps menu at the top of your screen listing all your applications in alphabetical order—no matter what folder they appear in.

iChoose
Freeware - Website

iChoose makes it easy for you to store your favorite links, without filling up your screen with big clumsy icons. Links are quickly accessed through a discreet icon placed in the menu bar.

F10 Launch Studio
Shareware - Website

F10 Launch Studio is the premier launch management suite for Mac OS X. Its patent pending design delivers an extraordinarily fast and efficient way to launch applications and documents. It will literally change the way you use your computer by streamlining the most commonly performed task: launching.

DragThing
Shareware - Website

The main purpose of DragThing is to make items on your Mac such as files, folders, applications, disks, URLs, clippings, and even windows, quickly and easily accessible, while taking up as little space on your screen as possible.

Web Browsers
Safari
Free - Website

Safari is the standard but powerful browser that ships with Mac OS X.

PithHelmet - PithHelmet is an extended site preferences and ad blocking plugin for Apple's Safari browser. The basic purpose of the plugin is to empower you the user to view the web as you like. You can block ad images, Flash, Shockwave or horrible midi loops.

PithHelmet can be found here

Firefox
Freeware - Website

Firefox empowers you to browse faster, more safely and more efficiently than with any other browser. Pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, RSS integration and more.

Camino
Freeware - Website

The Camino project has worked to create a browser that is as functional and elegant as the computers it runs on. The Camino web browser is powerful, secure, and ready to meet the needs of all types of users while remaining simple and elegant in its design.

OmniWeb
Shareware - Website

OmniWeb elevates your web user experience to be more productive, more efficient, and more fun. Tabbed browsing, session saving, RSS, ad-blocking and more.

Shiira
Freeware - Website

Shiira is a web browser based on Web Kit and written in Cocoa. The goal of the Shiira Project is to create a browser that is better and more useful than Safari. All source code used in this software is publicly available.

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E-mail Clients
Thunderbird
Freeware - Website

Thunderbird makes emailing safer, faster, and easier than ever before with the industry's best implementations of features such as intelligent spam filters, built-in RSS reader, quick search, and much more.

Entourage:mac
Shareware (Part of the Office suite) - Website

If your day revolves around connections and ideas, use Microsoft® Entourage® 2004 for Mac to pull it all together. Consolidate your e-mail, contacts, calendar, notes and project details in one easy-to-access place.

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Internet/Connection Related
Authoxy
Freeware - Website

Authoxy runs locally as a proxy server to intercept HTTP and HTTPS requests, forwarding them on to your regular proxy with authentication details you define in a System Preference Pane. Such a process is required to use many web services (MacHelp, QuickTime, iTunes) behind a proxy requiring authentication.

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Faxing
PageSender
Shareware - Website

With pagesender, fax or E-mail anything you can print. Use the built-in pagesender Fax Center to manage and automate your fax activities.

Chat/Instant Messaging
Adium X
Freeware - Website

Adium is a free instant messaging application for Mac OS X that can connect to AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and more.

Proteus
Shareware - Website

With Proteus you can log into all your IM accounts with ease. AIM (including .Mac accounts), MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Jabber, iChat Rendezvous, Gadu Gadu and more.

Fire
Freeware - Website

Fire is a free Instant Messaging client for Mac OS X. It supports the seven most popular Instant Messaging services: AIM, ICQ, irc, Jabber, MSN, Yahoo! Messenger and Apple Rendezvous.

MSN Messenger
Freeware - Website

Microsoft's Official client for the Mac platform.

iChat
Free - Website

You can use iChat to send "instant messages" to your friends and family when they're online. You can also use iChat to audio and video conference, to keep in touch with friends, family, and colleagues around the world.

Logorrhea
Logorrhea is your one-stop solution for iChat log browsing and searching. It can be found here!

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Chat/IRC
Colloquy
Freeware - Website

Traditionally, chat clients on the Mac have been anything but glamorous. Colloquy is an advanced IRC & SILC client which aims to fill this void. By adhering to Mac OS X interface conventions, Colloquy has the look and feel of a quality Mac application.

X-Chat Aqua
Freeware - Website

X-Chat Aqua is a MacOS X IRC client. If you are familiar with Chat for UNIX/GTK+/X Windows, then you will be at home with X-Chat Aqua.

Snak
Shareware - Website

Snak is a program that will let you participate in discussions in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels. Actions, multiple-connections, address book and more..

Conversation
Shareware - Website

Yes, it is feature number one of Conversation! Menu organisation respects Mac OS X standards - so you already know how to use it. The interface is simple but not restrictive, it gives you access to most IRC commands.

FTP
Transmit
Shareware - Website

Column view. idisk. sidebar. ftp/ssl. search. zooming. tabs. Transmit 3 takes Mac OS X ftp to the next level. again.

CyberDuck
Freeware - Website

Cyberduck is an open source SFTP (SSH Secure File Transfer) and FTP browser licenced under the GPL. It has been built from the ground up with usability in mind, having the same consistent graphical user interface for both SFTP and FTP browsing. Multiple connections are supported.

CuteFTP Mac
Shareware - Website

Cute FTP Mac is the easiest way to transfer files between your Mac and remote FTP servers. Take advantage of its Aqua® style interface, Site Manager address book, extensive server type support and fast transfers.

Interarchy
Shareware - Website

With Interarchy you can efficiently and reliably fetch, edit or SFTP/FTP transmit files to any kind of Internet server using FTP, SFTP or HTTP.

Fetch
Shareware - Website

Fetch is an easy-to-use, full-featured file transfer client for the Apple Macintosh. Fetch supports FTP and SFTP.

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Usenet/News
Unison
Shareware - Website

Discuss. Download music. View images. Find movies. And more. It's all on Usenet, the global sharing network, and all possible with Unison.

NewsMac
Freeware - Website

The Internet is changing the way we get our news, but with so many web sites and our ever busier lives, it's often hard to find the things that matter to us. NewsMac is a versatile RSS news aggregator that lets you view news headlines and story descriptions before you have to even touch your web browser

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Multimedia
iTunes
Free - Website

The Best Digital Jukebox: Organize, share and enjoy your music. Import Music. All your music in one place in AAC, MP3 or Apple Lossless. Create Playlists. Generate lists of your favorites. Dig deep into your library with Party Shuffle. Share Music, Burn CDs. Burn any playlist. Sync with iPod. Sync your music, audiobooks and photos; then listen to or view them on your iPod.

Quicktime
Free (Additional cost for Pro) - Website

At its simplest, QuickTime is software that allows Mac and Windows users to play back audio and video on their computers.

VLC (VideoLAN Client)
Freeware - Website

VLC (initially VideoLAN Client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

Windows Media Player
Freeware - Website

Microsoft's Media Player for the Mac platform.

Flip4Mac - WMV Codec
Shareware - Website

What are WMV Components anyway?
They are components for QuickTime that add Windows Media format support to your favorite QuickTime-based applications.

RealOne Player Mac
Freeware - Website

Watch near DVD-quality video, view video clips in full-screen theater mode, optimize your sound with our graphic equalizer, behaves just like your other Mac applications and plays QuickTime files.

MPlayer OS X
Freeware - Website

MPlayerOSX is binary distribution of MPlayer (The Movie Player for Linux) and comes with native GUI in MacOSX. After installation you can simply (by Drag&Drop) play almost all 3ivx, DivX 3,4,5 and other codecs files in the window or fullscreen mode.

MacVCD X
Freeware - Website

Discover the easy way to play VCD, SVCD* and almost everything else with this easy to use video media player software for Mac OS X. Play VCD, SVCD*, AVI*, DivX*, MPEG, video, Quicktime movies and more with MacVCD X.

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Multimedia Display
Clutter
Freeware - Website

Clutter is a small application that lets you put music CDs on your desktop. You can drag them anywhere, they're really windows. Line them up neatly or put them in piles, it's your choice. Each one looks like the real CD's cover, and double-clicking it tells iTunes or SlimServer to play that CD.

Peer 2 Peer
Tomato Torrent
Freeware - Website

Tomato Torrent is a straight forward and easy to use client for the Mac platform.

Transmission
Freeware - Website

Transmission is a free, lightweight BitTorrent client. It features a simple, intuitive interface on top on an efficient, cross-platform back-end.

Azureus
Freeware - Website

Azureus implements the BitTorrent protocol using java language and comes bundled with many invaluable features for both beginners and advanced user.

Bits On Wheels
Freeware - Website

Bits on Wheels is the first 100% Native BitTorrent client for the Macintosh.
It is completely written in Objective-C and Cocoa. (Currently Freeware, It is not opensource nor public domain).

Cabos
Freeware - Website

Cabos is Gnutella file sharing program based on LimeWire and Acquisition. It is free software, no spyware, no adware. It has simple interface, multi languages support, and iTunes / iPod integration.

Acquisition
Shareware - Website

Highly integrated and featured Mac P2P client which is similar to Kazaa.

mlMac
Freeware - Website

mlMac is a GUI for mldonkey. It manages the daemon for you: it downloads it on the first launch, and can update it when a new version is available.

Poisoned
Freeware - Website

Poisoned can connect to several networks simultaneously. Unlike Kazaa and several other file sharing applications, Poisoned contains no spyware and no adware. In addition, Poisoned, is, and always will be, free and open-source software.

DirectConnect
Freeware - Website

Unlike other impersonal, server-driven file-sharing networks, Direct Connect offers a community-oriented, open, user-controlled network. Moreover, Direct Connect's network architecture is built on a peer-to-peer foundation; users run, control, and maintain the network.

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Productivity/Development
skEdit
Shareware - Website

skEdit is a text editor for Mac OS X (10.3 or later), with a focus on web design and development.

Coda
Shareware - Website
Text editor + Transmit + CSS editor + Terminal + Books + More = Whoah.

BareBones Edit (BBEdit)
Freeware + Shareware - Website

BBEdit is the leading professional HTML and text editor for the Macintosh. Specifically crafted in response to the needs of Web authors and software developers.

SubthaEdit
Shareware - Website

SubEthaEdit is a powerful and lean text editor. And it's the only collaborative one you can actually use. By combining the ease of Bonjour with the world's best text collaboration engine, it makes working together not only possible but even fun…

CSSEdit
Shareware - Website

Quite simply put, CSSEdit will save your sanity when editing style sheets. Its intuitive approach to style sheets and powerful editing features will make you deliver beautiful standards-based sites in no time!

OpenOffice
Freeware - Website
X11 is required for OpenOffice, see initial post for information.

OpenOffice.org the product is a multi-platform office productivity suite. It includes the key desktop applications, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to other office suites.

Sophisticated and flexible, OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office.

NeoOffice/J
Freeware - Website
X11 is required for NeoOffice, see initial post for information.

NeoOffice/J is a fully-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing programs) for Mac OS X. Based on the OpenOffice.org office suite, NeoOffice/J has integrated dozens of native Mac features and can import, edit, and exchange files with other popular office programs such as Microsoft Office.

Microsoft Office 2004:Mac
Shareware - Website

Microsoft Office includes software for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations.

iWork
Shareware - Website

Got ideas? iWork ’05 brings them to life with Keynote 2 — offering cinema-quality presentations for everyone — and Pages — a word processor with an incredible sense of style.

AppleWorks
Shareware - Website

The latest version of the best-loved application for the Mac, is an elegantly designed productivity program that works the way people think and work. It combines six core capabilities — word processing, page layout, painting, spreadsheet, database, and presentations — into one easy application.

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CD/DVD/Media Writing
Toast
Shareware - Website

Toast 6 Titanium, Roxio's award winning CD/DVD burning software for Mac OS X, is the foundation of your digital life. Toast helps you do even more with iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand.

Popcorn
Shareware - Website

Popcorn helps you easily make high quality copies of your DVD movies. Powerful compression technology gives you the flexibility to copy even the largest movies to a single DVD disc.

Finder Replacements/Modifications/Enhance­ ments
PathFinder
Shareware - Website

Path Finder is a powerful file manager with many built-in utilities and tools. Built using 100% Cocoa and Objective-C, Path Finder leverages the built-in power of Mac OS X to give you fast, powerful access to your files and applications.

Macintosh Explorer
Shareware - Website

Looking for a totally new way to browse your hard drives? The first of its kind to offer filter based file browsing, tabbed file browsing, and thumbnail picture previews instead of generic icons, Macintosh Explorer is the new, unique way to browse your hard drives.

TerminalHerePlugin
Freeware - Website
The Terminal Here plugin (or TerminalHerePlugin or THP) provides a Contextual Menu Module for the Finder in OS X. This CMM provides a popup menu item when right clicking on a directory or file with the option to 'Open Terminal Here'.

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System enhancement/modification
Tinkertool
Freeware - Website

TinkerTool is an application that gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into Mac OS X. This allows to activate hidden features in the operating system and in some of the applications delivered with the system.

OnyX
Freeware - Website

OnyX is one of the best tools around to boost your Mac system, after using OnyX you have a big chance that your system based on Mac OS X 10.1 or later runs a lot faster than before.

uControl
Freeware - Website

uControl is a keyboard remapper and more. Meaning, those useless keys can now be reused, remapped, or reduced.

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Mouse tools/gestures
Cocoa Gestures
Freeware - Website

Cocoa Gestures adds mouse gestures to any Cocoa program such as Mail, Address Book, iCal, TextEdit, Safari, Chimera, OmniWeb, Path Finder, Stone Design's great suite of applications like Create, and many others. Please note: It only works for Cocoa applications.

SideTracker
Shareware - Website

SideTrack is a replacement driver for Apple PowerBook and iBook trackpads. With SideTrack installed your standard trackpad becomes a powerful multi-button scrolling mouse.

Content Creation
iLife
Shareware - Website

With iLife ‘05, the must-have upgrade for everyone who uses a Mac, you can easily create stunning softcover books; import, organize, and edit RAW photos.

Edit high-definition 16:9 video from the newest camcorders and create movies automatically with iMovie.

Create multi-track recordings in GarageBand 2. Of course, iTunes seamlessly integrates with iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD and GarageBand and syncs with every member of the iPod family.

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DVD Ripping/Converting
Forty-two
Freeware - Website

forty-two is the easiest way to convert a DVD into either an AVI movie , a folder of ready to burn bin/cues for VCDs and SVCDs or a ready to burn .iso DVD disk image on Mac OS X.

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Font Management
Extensis Suitcase
Shareware - Website

Professional-level font management for Windows and Mac OS X. Find the right font fast with multiple search and preview options. Streamline your workflow with auto-activation, corrupt font detection and repair, duplicate font management and more.

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Blogging/Text/Documenting Tools
Ecto
Shareware - Website

ecto is a feature-rich desktop blogging client for MacOSX and Windows, supporting a wide range of weblog systems, such as Blogger, Blojsom, Drupal, MovableType, Nucleus, TypePad, WordPress, and more. ecto is the successor of the wildly popular Kung-Log

xCHM
Shareware - Website

xCHM is a .chm viewer for UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris). Success stories of xCHM on Mac OS X have also been received, and apparently xCHM even works if compiled under the Cygwin environment in Windows.

VoodooPad
Shareware - Website

VoodooPad is a new kind of notepad. It's like having your own digital junk drawer, where you can jot down notes, web addresses, to-do lists... Anything on your mind. VoodooPad automatically links each page together, to form a miniature world wide web, on your desktop!

OmniOutliner
Shareware - Website

Welcome to OmniOutliner 3, an amazingly flexible program for creating, collecting, and organizing information.

MacJournal
Shareware - Website

MacJournal is the world's most popular journaling software for the Macintosh. Create a personal journal, record daily ideas, manage scripts and novels, or generate blogs, MacJournal has the power and functionality to do it all.

TextWrangler
Freeware + Shareware - Website

At its most basic, a text editor is a tool for simply editing text. You can use a text editor for a wide variety of tasks from cleaning up data, to editing configuration files on your Mac or server, to writing HTML or coding.

Textmate
Shareware - Website

TextMate brings Apple's approach to operating systems into the world of text editors. By bridging UNIX underpinnings and GUI, TextMate cherry-picks the best of both worlds to the benefit of expert scripters and novice users alike.

Networking/Tools
AP Grapher
Freeware - Website

AP Grapher is a freeware program for Mac OS X to graph the signal strength of a wireless base station such as Apple's Airport Basestation, although it should work with any brand of base station.

Use it to help position your base station for optimal signal reception, to help troubleshoot a flakey connection, or just for fun. Note, it only shows the signal strength for the base station that you are currently connected to.

Little Snitch
Shareware - Website

Little Snitch tells you when a program tries to send info to the internet so you can see whats going on in the background!

Kismac
Freeware - Website

isMAC is a free stumbler application for MacOS X, that puts your card into the monitor mode. Unlike most other applications for OS X it has the ability to run completely invisible and send no probe requests.
KisMAC supports several third party PCMCIA/PCCards cards with Orinoco and PrismII chipsets, as well as Cisco Aironet cards. Original Airport Cards are supported too. The newer Airport Extreme Cards are only supported in a limited active mode.

Please note: This program is not intended for novices, but for professional users. Take this as a warning.

iStumbler
Freeware - Website

iStumbler is a free, open source tool for finding AirPort networks, Bluetooth devices Bonjour services, and now GPS locations with your Mac.

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Telephony
Skype
Shareware - Website

You could think of us as the big, free Internet telephony company.

Our software’s quick and easy to get started with. Download, register, install, plug in your headset, speakers or USB phone and start calling your friends. The calls have excellent sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption. You don’t even need to configure your firewall or router or any other networking gear. It just, you know… works.

Project Management
Merlin
Shareware - Website

Merlin is the new generation of project management software for the Apple Macintosh. It does not matter if you are not a project expert to date. Merlin assists you to become one.

Too many functions to mention!

Dashboard Widgets
Usage Meter Widgets
Freeware - phoenixonline.co.uk/widgets

Richard Heard's Usage Meter Widgets for Mac OSX Tiger's Dashboard. He has available widgets for Netspace, iiNet, Optus, Ozemail and aaNet.

Finder Plugin

Open Terminal Here
Freeware - Website

Contextual Menu item for Finder, Right click on a file in finder and have it opened in terminal at that folder.

Productivity/Development
skEdit
Shareware - www.skti.org

skEdit is a text editor for Mac OS X (10.3 or later), with a focus on web design and development.

I used to be a diehard Thunderbird Email client user, but until lately, I've been having nothing but troubles with it, I would enter an entire message and then it would erase itself before I went to send it, crap like that, finally, I junked it, removed all traces of it and purchased
PowerMail v5.5.1.

Powermail is feature rich, offers many features of thunderbird and much more,
has 5 built in spam filters to choose from, allows you to choose your OWN spell checker,
etc.

Are there any other Power Mail User's Around?

Ray Marotta; Admin, InTheMac.com

Would be nice if this thread could be updated as to what applications have universal binaries avaliable. For example I know Shapeshifter does not have a universal build (yet) edit does now

any good uninstaller programs??

For programs that are not easily uninstalled i would use app-zapper

Allume System's Internet Clean-Up is a great apple application ... and dirt cheap this January at $15.

It solves more problems that Norton Internet Security for Mac OS X and has configurable pop-up blockers, mail protection, internet cache and cookie checkers, a configurable history wiper and many other features.

4.5 out of 5 in my book!

Џaџo writes...

Kismac
Freeware - Website

KisMAC supports several third party PCMCIA/PCCards cards with Orinoco and PrismII chipsets, as well as Cisco Aironet cards. Original Airport Cards are supported too. The newer Airport Extreme Cards are only supported in a limited active mode.


To get Kismac working on intel macs in passive mode, try this link
Did it last night and worked a treat already started collecting the neighbors packets :P

screammy.name/projects/kismacmacbook

Newbie to imac osX, need some help with Entourage quitting unexpectedly during Webpage Q & A.

MainMenu (menu bar maintenance app)
www.santasw.com

:)

This not the place to ask question about Microsoft's Entourage so I am not surprised you have not been answered.

Might be about time to take AppleWorks out of the list…

Has anyone bought the version of ShapeShifter?...

You might want to add:

HandBrake - handbrake.m0k.org (Freeware)
Nice application to create ipod, apple tv, mp4 movies from DVDs and other sources.

Is there a widget around that can show the latest new widgets and or top 50 widgets on the apple website

Being very new to apple and loving whirlpool this was my first stop for such a list. However it seems that a lot of stuff on this list might be old. Are there any other "Killer App" lists for Apple that are more up to date out there?

VMware Fusion – Run windows virtually
Crossover – install windows programs .exe setup files
Cog – Simple version of itunes
Amsn – msn messenger for mac – use webcam.
pathfinder – another tick of approval
logic audio – the best I've found for sound production
anxiety – to do list that syncs with ical and mail
soundconverter – drag and convert sound files
Unrarx – .rar utility
liquidmac – FUN!
Art rage – awsome
Stickywindos – like windows taskbar tabs but on your desktop sides as well (good to open programs on different spaces quickly

google if you know how to ;)

Crossover does sound like a good piece of kit to have but what speed advantage would it have over running Outlook in a Windows VM box (using my favourite, "Parallels")?

its not that good – pretty much the same – but you probably don't have to take up as much ram – can't install non supported software very well – I upgraded to 4gig ram and now just run fusion with windows and then use unity so the programs integrate with leopard

I'm enjoying a program called 'menucalanderclock'

And a plugin for mail that lets you see vertical panes rather than horizontal panes (can't remember the name)

jayendra writes...

its not that good – pretty much the same – but you probably don't have to take up as much ram – can't install non supported software very well

I seem to be surviving on the stock 2GB RAM so I'll just stick to Parallels. Cheers dude.

I trying to find either a cheap or free alternative to the Roxio Popcorn 3 software for my MAC loving dad. Preferably without any nasty little surprises.

Any suggestions will mostly appreciated.

shEp writes...

I trying to find either a cheap or free alternative to the Roxio Popcorn 3 software for my MAC loving dad. Preferably without any nasty little surprises.

Burn is my major utility for all sorts of burning duties

My app recommendations;
- Perian : most video plugins for quicktime
- Aptana : Eclipse-based Web Dev app
- Quicksilver : ultra productivity tool
- iStatPro + iStatMenu : monitor your mac!
- get Webkit nightly if you want fast web browsing