osx software (tiger)

NOTE: if you’re setting up a new mac, first check out our initial setup guide

if you’re setting up a mac for web dev, check out our osx dev setup guide

there’s an updated version of this page for leopard and later

day-to-day applications  

25 Jul

it really doesn’t matter what applications you install first, but over time, i’ve grown used to a few applications that make the experience of using my computer unique, efficient and enjoyable. there’s no easier way to roll through what apps i use than to show you.

the dock 24 Jul


in order of appearance:

  • current project
  • any additional running apps
  • trash

install dock spacers

download dock spacer icons and drag them to your dock to separate icons.

menubar items 24 Jul


in order of appearance:

  • mailplane google mail in an app, does growl, menubar, multiple accounts, and iphoto support currently in private beta
  • xscope
  • twitterific
  • spaces
  • airport
  • sound
  • switch user
  • time
  • magiCal
  • spotlight

missing from the lineup:

behind the scenes

  • spanning sync for easy syncing of ical and gcal
  • disable apple’s spotlight menubar nice option if you’re using quicksilver
  • anti RSI is an app that i discovered soon after a 100 hour work week. it helps prevent repetitive stress injuries by interrupting your work schedule. annoying at first, but helpful in the long run
  • fluid for site specific browsing

applications, the run down  

web browsers 25 Jul

firefox

safari 3

safari 2

webkit

currently using firefox with firebug as the go-to development browser, but these notes for webkit were very handy in tiger. not sure if this works with leopard.

  1. install nightshift which should install webkit for you
  2. get rid of webkit’s ‘thank you’ page in terminal, run:
    defaults write org.webkit.nightly.WebKit StartPageDisabled -bool YES
  3. set up a crontab with cronnix to make webkit download and install automatically

ie6 and ie7

currently, vmware fusion or parallels remain the best way to use ie6 or ie7. you’ll essentially have to install windows on your mac in what’s called a virtual machine – luckily it’s pretty easy with this software. I have three images, one with ie6, one with ie7 that’s set to auto update, and one with ubuntu, for linux testing.

internet apps 25 Jul

heavy lifting, design and development 25 Jul

TextMate

http://macromates.com/ my text editor of choice, requires a lot of configuration to get the best out of it.

coda is also good for web design, i love the way it looks, but prefer textmate 10-1

manage fonts

design

  • adobe cs

write

screen shots

image correction

make favicons

widget creation

screen casting

site mapping

software enhancements 25 Jul

color picker

enhance ichat

enhance iphoto

enhance itunes

  • curator search, find, and copy album art to itunes. this makes cover flow amazing.
  • ipod itunes allows forward and backward syncing of ipod.
    since i have an iphone now, and i can’t copy files directly to the iphone, i don’t use this very often.

video 23 Jan

internet video

DVD Encoding, Converting to iPod format, Disc Burning

  • Mac the Ripper for extracting the video_ts folder from a DVD
  • Handbrake for converting the video_ts folder to iPod’s m4v format
  • dvd image utility converts video_ts folder to an image file that osx’s built in burning software can then burn

playing movies, strange video formats

  • perian
  • vlc
  • windows media player (as a last resort)

utilities 25 Jul

dashboard widgets

drivers

interface enhancements

automator

save downloaded actions in your Library folder at:

~/Library/Automator

backup

superduper! is simple and easy. set it up, keep an external connected at night, and forget about it. you’ve got a backup.

my usage

i let superduper create a bootable disk image of my machine. if i ever need to restore a file, i can just open the diskimage, find the file, and roll with it. if something really bad happens to my machine, i can always use apple’s disk utility to restore my entire hd from the backup.

i keep two backups on hand. one that’s a week old, and one that’s done every night at 3am. if anything goes wrong, i install something that hoses my system, i have options.

quicksilver  

have not tested quicksilver in 10.5 yet, i miss it already, but in defense of apple, their new spotlight search really is a lot better. it works as an application launcher now, so it’s got that going for it. still, no hotkeys and twittering from it – yet…

post to twitter 16 Aug

http://blog.codahale.com/2007/01/15/tweet-twitter-quicksilver/

using terms from application "Quicksilver" on process text tweet tell application "Keychain Scripting" set twitter_key to first generic key of current keychain whose name is "Twitterrific" set twitter_login to quoted form of (account of twitter_key & ":" & password of twitter_key) end tell set twitter_status to quoted form of ("status=" & tweet) set results to do shell script "curl --user " & twitter_login & " --data-binary " & twitter_status & " <a href="http://twitter.com/statuses/update.json">http://twitter.com/statuses/update.json</a>" -- display dialog results return nothing end process text end using terms from

create ical events

http://lucaschan.com/weblog/2007/06/08/speedy-ical-events-to-dos-with-quicksilver/

use osx services

service scrubber allows you to clean up your services menu, and in turn keep quicksilver quick.

b-side applications  

used in tiger, but not with leopard 19 Feb

  • uno unifies tiger’s appearance

a few apps tested but not in use 24 Jul

  • omnioutliner favorably using backpack instead
  • camoflage using expose and hiding windows was effective enough
  • Calendar Creator Service, ditched in favor of quicksilver’s built in ical support
  • google notifier ditched in favor of mailplane
  • google growl ditched in favor of mailplane
  • simplifymedia for itunes music sharing, though don’t see the point
  • remote buddy for remote management of osx machine with phone
  • marco polo for better location switching still a little buggy, but much better for laptops with external disks, etc

14 Nov

offsite and online backup solutions

i’ve been playing with http://mozy.com/ but am currently pretty disappointed with the service. two months of backup time, and i’m only at 2.8% complete – also, the software runs all the time, i’ve noticed my computer slows when it shouldn’t

windows on mac 22 Jun

WINE could be a great solution for running the ie’s on a mac, unfortunately, i couldn’t get it to work in leopard.

the making of  

Backpack: Get Organized and Collaborate