[Leslie]

Well the 17" didn't arrive. Got caught up in customs so will only get it tomorrow. Very frustrating.

As a new Mac user, I wanted to know what you "oldies" out there can advise us newbies what free software is available, where to find it and what it does? Obviously, my 17" will come with OSX and I've ordered Office for Mac but PC's have numerous free sofware. Does Mac have the same?

Thanks in advance.

[icruise]

It's a little tricky to just name good free software -- there's a whole lot out there. I'd suggest looking on versiontracker.com's Mac OS X section for starters.

[AssassyN]

Yep, there's plenty of it out there if you check the right places. Here's some that I use quite often:

VersionTracker
Mac OS X Apps
Download.com for Mac
ChezMark's OS X page (updated weekly)

Also, I highly recommend downloading "Camino" to use as your web browser, it's tabbing features and toolbar shortcuts are miles beyond IE's features.

Sorry to hear your 17" PB didn't arrive today, just kill time by downloading yourself some nice software to put on it tomorrow.

[icruise]

Yes, Safari and Camino seem to be the browsers of choice among those Mac users "in the know" I'd try them both and see which you prefer.

[Leslie]

Thank you but, where on earth/cyberspace do I get a copy of Camino from?

[djjava]

Originally posted by Leslie:
Well the 17" didn't arrive. Got caught up in customs so will only get it tomorrow. Very frustrating.

As a new Mac user, I wanted to know what you "oldies" out there can advise us newbies what free software is available, where to find it and what it does? Obviously, my 17" will come with OSX and I've ordered Office for Mac but PC's have numerous free sofware. Does Mac have the same?

Thanks in advance.

iLife Suite takes care of lots of your needs... infact, lots of stuff already loaded on your PB will do ok... but as everyone else has suggested websites to look at, that is the best thing to do for non-apple software.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by Leslie:
Thank you but, where on earth/cyberspace do I get a copy of Camino from?

Right Here ;-)

VersionTracker has next to everything.

[eevyl]

It may be pretty obvious, but the PowerBooks come already bundled with a lot of software. My PowerBook G4 12" came with Graphic Converter, OnmiGraffle, OmniOutliner, Art Directors Toolkit and of course the full set of Apple software, including iLife.

As other already said, Versiontracker is a good source of any type of software. I prefer MacUpdate, mainly because Versiontracker is loaded with ads and the main page is slow as hell to load.

[Leslie]

Thank you. I've downloaded Camino and see it's saved as a Zipped file on my PC desktop. Now, the question arises, will the Mac be soooo fantastic that it's able to unZip my Zip and read what's in there? No pun intended.

[eevyl]

Every Mac comes with Stuffit Expander installed, which is capable of uncompress almost any kind of compressed archive in the Multiverse.

Anyway, you really thought that a Mac application would be compressed in an uncompatible format? You are a PC user for sure, no pun intended

[ngrundy]

Please for gods sake realise that you can copy applications out of dmg's and put them where ever you want.

I've seen multiple people who have just brought 12" PB's think you had to keep the image mounted / mount it when you wanted to use the app.....

[designbc]

As a switcher, I had the same questions when ordered my 1GHz Ti PB in january (couldn't wait for the 17).
Now I can tell you one thing: I think that no PC comes with as much software as a Mac. I've found everything I've needed so far in the sites mentioned above.
Don't worry and enjoy your new toy.

[gatorparrots]

Don't forget Hyperjeff's Mac OS X categorized Applications listings:
http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/