Mac Software: Different Strokes for Different Folks

I always find it interesting how different people have their computers set up in different ways and manage to get their work done with different applications. Most of these users have stuck by their applications for years, some even keeping their old versions out of preference. The following are some of the applications I use often and my opinion of them.

Microsoft Word v.X: While many Mac users use AppleWorks, which comes with iMacs and iBooks, I find Microsoft Word more suited for my needs. While it is slower than AppleWorks (but also remember AppleWorks 6 is almost 4 years old now), it offers many more features and greater compatibility with other file formats (even though it seems that .doc is the standard these days). I find Word X to work fairly well - some annoyances being autocorrect, auto-spell check, and the automatic linking of web URLs, the first two of which can be turned off.

Audiocorder: This is a very useful recording application, which I find useful to record myself while playing the piano or guitar in order to more easily observe places in a song where I tend to make mistakes.

Desktastic: This application basically puts a chalkboard on your desktop- you can type on it or draw on it in different colors. This isn't so much useful as it is fun- although it is nice if you need to quickly jot down a phone number or address.

MacSolitaire: I've been torn between the alpha release of Eric's Solitaire Sample for Mac OS X and this much simpler version of Klondike, and I've decided that MacSolitaire is definitely the better of the two. Not only are the cards clearer, but it even tells you when you have no more moves available so you don't keep endlessly searching for what to do next.

Toast Titanium: On my computer it probably should be called "Toast Aluminum," but whatever you call it, it's still an excellent application for writing and copying CDs. It's much simpler (for me, at least) than Apple's "drag and drop" solution, which seems to create CDs that aren't compatible with older OS versions. Not to mention that Toast offers PC format and hybrid format as options when you decide to create your CD. For audio CDs, there's Jam, but I haven't actually used it yet.

Virtual PC: This has got to be the coolest application available for the Mac. If a PC application needs to be run or a PC file needs to be opened, Virtual PC comes in handy. I only have version 5, but I have yet to have a problem with it. While my version came with Windows 2000, I decided to use my spare copy of Windows 98 instead, because it uses less memory and runs faster inside VPC.

Safari/Safari Enhancer: Thanks to Safari Enhancer, I have switched to Safari full time. I used Safari Enhancer to import the OmniWeb bookmarks from my previous machine and to remove the annoying metal appearance. Safari isn't just fast - it's simple and takes up little screen space compared to some of the alternatives. Popup blocking is also very helpful, but I wish Safari wouldn't automatically smooth some of the fonts as much as it does.

iTunes: Another great Mac application, iTunes enables me to organize my many gigabytes of music and view it by genre, artist, and album. I'm not a fan of playlists; instead I prefer to keep the "browse" window open and browse songs like I do on my iPod, by artist and album. I just wish there were an "iTunes enhancer" that would get rid of the metal appearance. It bothers me how it clashes with the Aqua interface of the rest of the OS.

Correct Quotes: Not updated since the early 90s, this HyperCard stack is a compilation of hundreds of famous quotes for nearly any situation. I find this especially useful when writing essays. This is one of two applications that I use that only work in the Classic environment.

Adobe Photoshop 7.0: This one needs no introduction; everyone is familiar with this as the standard image editing program for the Mac or Windows PC. I do everything from edit digital photos from my digital camera to creating custom graphics. I've heard a lot of criticism about version 7.0, but I haven't found anything to complain about as of yet.

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM): I prefer this to iChat, even though AIM does have annoying ads. I like the buddy profile feature that iChat does not offer, as well as the buddy list that shows the status of a user with an icon, not a color. I can't get used to the "chat bubble" feature of iChat; I found it extremely annoying. It seems harder to follow who said what in a chat bubble than in a standard chat window.

Perhaps I am one of the few that don't use the iApps that often, in fact about the only iApp I use is iTunes. I have no use for iMovie, and I prefer browsing my pictures with the Finder instead of using iPhoto. I was never able to get my PDA to sync with iCal, so I went back to using Palm Desktop, which I quite like anyway (see Hands On: Palm Desktop 4.0).

I really don't use an email client anymore; I find webmail much more convenient, and for presentations I haven't really made up my mind yet. I'm used to PowerPoint, but I recently got Keynote after hearing its good reviews, and I plan to use it for my next presentation.

What I would like is a graphing calculator application for Mac OS X. OS 9 had one, and Microsoft offers one for free (and it actually seems pretty decent) on it's website for Windows XP. So where is one for OS X?

Choosing which applications to use comes down to personal preference. Whether it's Windows, Mac, BeOS, or Linux, there are many programs out there, and when you find the right one to complete the task you want it for, you'll know it.