About a year ago I did an article
on essential software for students going to school (either K-12 or
college), and now that I'm running an almost-current Mac, I'm going
back to see what counterparts of apps I suggested earlier are on my
iBook's hard drive. I'll list the current program, as well as last
year's in brackets.
Mac OS X (Mac OS 8.1/Mac OS 8.5/8.6)
I've pretty much switched all my day-to-day things over to
OS X not only because of its power, but also for its stability.
Not only does my iBook rarely crash, but things that used to drag the
processor down (burning CDs is a good example) are given enough
processing power to work, but you can do other work as well.
AppleWorks 6 & TextEdit (AppleWorks 5)
Since AppleWorks 5 wasn't OS X native, I decided to use the copy
of AppleWorks that came with my iBook (6) and have had a very
satisfying experience with it. All my AW5 files open fine, and the
interface is more cleaned up, rather than tons of buttons. On slower
Macs, it takes longer to load than AW5, but compared to Office v.X,
it's still a much better program for all but the most demanding
tasks.
I also found that Apple's built in TextEdit app can be customized
and can be quite useful for some things that don't require lots of
fancy features at all (like these articles and HTML code editing).
And, since it's Cocoa, it takes advantage of all the built-in goodies
of OS X.
OmniWeb (Internet Explorer 3 & 5)
I don't like IE that much anymore. I'm tired of Microsoft's games,
and a while back I switched to iCab (IE
3 is still my favorite, since it wasn't 100% Microsoft and had a
little of its Mosaic heritage in it). Although iCab for OS X is
a fine piece of software, it's still a Carbon app, so I decided to
try OmniWeb,
and even though it doesn't conform to every standard, it's the
best-looking Web browser I've used. It's also quite fast and
compliments Apple's Mail program nicely.
GraphicConverter (PaintIt! and ColorIt!)
I use GraphicConverter
a lot. It's basically like PaintIt!
in terms of features and capabilities, except that it can read/write
a lot more formats. For simple, fast graphic editing, GC is an
excellent program.
nothing (HyperCard)
I've dropped the use of HyperCard, but I think I'd still use it if
there was a Cocoa/Carbon version available.
PCalc 2 (TI-81 Emulator)
PCalc 2 came with my iBook and
isn't a graphing calculator, but it works quite nicely, and it's
free.
Mail (Internet Mail & News 3 / Outlook Express 5)
I dropped Outlook Express in favor of Eudora. Eudora for OS X
was still in beta when I got my iBook, and it felt kinda slow. When
the final version was out, I was kinda disappointed in the lack of
taking advantage of OS X's power, so I gave Apple's Mail app a
try. Lots of people hate it, but I find it to be quite fast, and it
takes care of my many email accounts, both POP and IMAP.
iTunes (GrayAMP)
Well, it only seems natural that I'd replace my old MP3 playing
software with the only major one (and the best one) for OS X.
I'm talking about iTunes
3. I have all kinds of playlists, covering all the CDs I've
ripped and the other music I've accumulated. Lots of features - just
go to Apple's site to read about 'em.
LiteSwitch (LiteSwitch)
One of two original apps I still have (in updated form),
LiteSwitch is a control panel that allows Command+Tab, Option+Tab,
Control+Tab program switching (just like Windoze). This is all it
does, and it does a good job at it. You can download it from
proteron.com. The dock does
this now, but I still like the switching box that appears (it's
translucent and can be resized).
Palm Desktop (Palm Desktop)
The other old app whose counterpart I use now is Palm
Desktop. I used to use it as an organizer, but now that I have a
Palm Vx, I use it to sync my handheld and organize things. The
OS X version is just like the older versions, just with an
interface to match OS X. If you don't have a PalmOS handheld,
you may still find this useful.
Adium (AOL Instant Messenger)
I didn't mention AOL Instant Messenger the first time, but I used
to use it. Now that I have OS X, I use Adium,
and you can read about the virtues of instant messaging in one
of my previous articles.
Well, that's it for this week. Be sure to change and add to this
list to create your own software list of "must-haves" for your Mac,
whether it be an old 68k (look at last year's version of this
article) or a new dual-processor G4 tower (read this year's version).
November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04.
SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02.
Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
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