[CaptainPsyko]

Okay, so I'm a switcher. I just bought my first brand new 12 " powerbook, and it'll be here next week.

So now the question is, 'now what?'

I'm getting a mac, what am I going to need to put on it? I'm looking to spend as little money as possible here, and I don't want to have to fuss with Unix just yet (I won't have time this semester to learn what amounst to TWO new OS's.) Especially helpful would be suggestions of free options that can be used as stopgaps while I raise money for all this software I'm going to need.

I need a word processor, preferably with full Office compatibility - I'm hoping to not have to shell out for MS Office if I can avoid it, but I need Powerpoint or equivalent, and I need 100 % word compatibility. I can do without outlook/access/excel. But Word and Powerpoint or COMPATIBLE equivalents are a must.

I'm going to need a good Multi-IM client. AIM and MSN are musts. I'll use both seperately if need be, but I'd rather not. I despise windowclutter.

I need a web browser that can handle tabbed browsing. I know Mozilla is ported, but have heard not so good things?

Some good P2P action would be helpful.

But more importantly than specific niches I need filled are all the little programs you folks use that give you amusement or make your lives easier.

Part of the reason I switched was it seemed like all the really cool, simple, free/shareware programs of the sort that i admittedly love to play with, are on the mac. I've heard great things about Konfabulator, and the (very non-free) Boswell. Anybody care to enlighten me about those two, (I.e. what exactly I'd use them for, whether they are worth my time/effort/money?)

Also, what do you reccomend? What do you use? Whats cool? Everyones got their own slate of programs. I want to know what yours is, and why I should use some of it.

And please, no links to Versiontracker. I know about Versiontracker (I've done at least that much of my homework). I don't want to know where to get stuff. I want to know what stuff to get.

[justinf77]

I will help the best I can...

- OpenOffice is a decent office suite, and I believe it offers compatibility with Word, though not sure about Powerpoint. It runs on X11. You do not need to learn another operating system, it is rather easy to install and has a decent interface. It is also free. Eventually upgrade to MS Office X. I think it is worth the money, especially with the new education pricing.

- Proteus. Search for it on VersionTracker. I think it is only $15 and works with all IM services.

- Safari. Download it from Apple.com. Excellent tabbed browsing and speed. Will most likely become the #1 browser on the Mac if not already. Also try Camino, from versiontracker.com. Another good browser, though I prefer Safari.

- Poisoned is a good P2P app. Connects to Kazaa, Gnutella, and other networks simultaneously.

- I tried Konfabulator, it was OK. I got bored with it after a while. In terms of good programs, there are a whole bunch of cheap programs that make life easier. I think there is a whole thread on them somewhere, but here are a few to try out: Synergy (music), iKey (macros), Meteorologist (weather), LaunchBar (quick app launching).

I think this is all I can do. Anything else, just ask. Good luck with the Mac, its an awesome machine!

[WJMoore]

Originally posted by CaptainPsyko:
Okay, so I'm a switcher. I just bought my first brand new 12 " powerbook, and it'll be here next week.

So now the question is, 'now what?'

I'm getting a mac, what am I going to need to put on it? I'm looking to spend as little money as possible here, and I don't want to have to fuss with Unix just yet (I won't have time this semester to learn what amounst to TWO new OS's.) Especially helpful would be suggestions of free options that can be used as stopgaps while I raise money for all this software I'm going to need.

I need a word processor, preferably with full Office compatibility - I'm hoping to not have to shell out for MS Office if I can avoid it, but I need Powerpoint or equivalent, and I need 100 % word compatibility. I can do without outlook/access/excel. But Word and Powerpoint or COMPATIBLE equivalents are a must.

I'm going to need a good Multi-IM client. AIM and MSN are musts. I'll use both seperately if need be, but I'd rather not. I despise windowclutter.

If you want 100% Office compatibility you need Office. If you can cope with a little less compatibility you can probably get away with AppleWorks that comes pre-installed. There is OpenOffice for X11 but you said you want avoid UNIX so I will assume that option is not relevant.

I use Proteus for all my IM needs (does ICQ, IRC, MSN and Yahoo!) it is shareware. Fire is a free alternative that does AOL Instant Messenger™, ICQ®, MSN® Messenger, Jabber, limited IRC, and Yahoo!.

poisoned is the go for P2P

Safari (comes with OS) should handle all of your tabbed browsing requirements.

The newly renamed (from Hydra) SubEthaEdit is a great free text editor.

I used Konfabulator when it first came out but I'm over it now, it looks cool but its use is limited especially since I don't have a permanent Internet connection.

If you have a Bluetooth mobile (primarily Sony Ericsson) Romeo is very cool.

Hope that provides something for you to start with.

[moki]

Originally posted by CaptainPsyko:
I need a word processor, preferably with full Office compatibility - I'm hoping to not have to shell out for MS Office if I can avoid it, but I need Powerpoint or equivalent, and I need 100 % word compatibility. I can do without outlook/access/excel. But Word and Powerpoint or COMPATIBLE equivalents are a must.

If you absolutely need 100% Word compatibility, I suggest you pick up Microsoft Office. If you're a student, you can purchase it at a very steep discount.

It all depends on what you're doing, really. If you're just writing papers without heavy footnotes/endnotes, something as simple as Apple's TextEdit might work fine for you. It has complete ruler/font/formatting support.

I'm going to need a good Multi-IM client. AIM and MSN are musts. I'll use both seperately if need be, but I'd rather not. I despise windowclutter.

Here are two multi-IM clients:

Proteus -- http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/12703

Fire -- http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/8933

Personally, I use iChat. I didn't like it at first, but its grown on me quite a bit. Your mileage may vary.

I need a web browser that can handle tabbed browsing. I know Mozilla is ported, but have heard not so good things?

Mozilla/FireBird/Camino, etc. all have their shortcomings, IMHO. Safari is probably the best all around browser available for MacOS X. There are plenty of alternatives available, though, and this article might help you:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/003/s...rowsers-1.html

[C.J. Moof]

Since you tell time in semesters, I bet you qualify for the $99 Office for Students and Teachers version. That's about what Office is worth.

I agree with the others- Proteus is my IM client of choice, Poisioned for P2P, and LaunchBar is the greatest UI enhancement I've ever seen- I get lost when I go to a machine without it. Safari is a very good browser, but once in a while you'll come across a page coded by a "I checked it in IE6 on XP, so it works!" webmonkey, so keep IE5 around.

If you're on a constant connection, Meterologist is very nice. I'm also very fond of MenuMeters to monitor my CPU and bandwidth use, and GeekTool to paste my log files onto the desktop. Backlight can put your screensaver onto the background. It's not very battery-friendly, but having the fish from Marine Aquarium swimming around in the background is so nice.

You should be able to come up with all of these using the search tools on www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com .

[mpbritt]

Originally posted by CaptainPsyko:
Okay, so I'm a switcher. I just bought my first brand new 12 " powerbook, and it'll be here next week.

So now the question is, 'now what?'

I'm getting a mac, what am I going to need to put on it? I'm looking to spend as little money as possible here, and I don't want to have to fuss with Unix just yet (I won't have time this semester to learn what amounst to TWO new OS's.) Especially helpful would be suggestions of free options that can be used as stopgaps while I raise money for all this software I'm going to need.

First things first. You do not have to "learn TWO new OS's" to use a Mac. You can use Mac OS X and never, ever have to open Terminal or know anything about Unix. Don't worry about that.

I need a word processor, preferably with full Office compatibility - I'm hoping to not have to shell out for MS Office if I can avoid it, but I need Powerpoint or equivalent, and I need 100 % word compatibility. I can do without outlook/access/excel. But Word and Powerpoint or COMPATIBLE equivalents are a must.

MS Office is $149 for students. But since you say you don't want to spend that much money right now I would suggest you look at the X11 apps OpenOffice.org and AbiWord. I've found that both apps do what I want with relation to MS Word compatibility. But if you want to do complex tables or anything like that OOo is the one to go with.

I don't know how good the presentation module of OOo is, since I haven't used it, but Keynote is $79 for students and it is far and away superior to Powerpoint.

I'm going to need a good Multi-IM client. AIM and MSN are musts. I'll use both seperately if need be, but I'd rather not. I despise windowclutter.

The only multi-IM client I've ever used is Fire, which I liked very much. But I use iChat exclusively now. I don't know anyone who uses any other chat services except for AIM.

I need a web browser that can handle tabbed browsing. I know Mozilla is ported, but have heard not so good things?

Safari, Camino, Mozilla Firebird, and Mozilla will all meet your needs nicely. There is also OmniWeb but it does not have tabbed browsing. Personally I'd stay away from Opera, but that's just my personal dislike for that browser. The interface annoys me.

But more importantly than specific niches I need filled are all the little programs you folks use that give you amusement or make your lives easier.

The single best app that I've ever come across for Mac OS X is Launchbar. I love it. You can launch any app on your computer without taking your hands off the keyboard. It greatly helps increase my productivity.

You can find everything I've mentioned, except Abiword, on VersionTracker. If you want to try out AbiWord you'll need to install Fink to download it and the Apple Developer tools. But those will come with your new PowerBook.

Welcome to the family!
Michael

[Ratm]

A huge list of freeware/shareware apps with LINKS...woohoo!
http://www.macaddict.com/phpBB2/view...&start=200

[malemutekid]

Originally posted by CaptainPsyko:
I need a word processor, preferably with full Office compatibility - I'm hoping to not have to shell out for MS Office if I can avoid it, but I need Powerpoint or equivalent, and I need 100 % word compatibility. I can do without outlook/access/excel. But Word and Powerpoint or COMPATIBLE equivalents are a must.

I am a college student and can buy OfficeX for $60 with no box from my university computer store. I personally have been fine with AppleWorks and TextEdit and hope I never have to put ms on my iBook. I would check with your university computer store if you have one.

[khufuu]

Another P2P option would be Aquisition or even Limewire. I have both of these plus Poisened. When I'm having trouble getting what I want on Poisened, I try the other two and usually get it.

[Spliff]

Originally posted by CaptainPsyko:
Okay, so I'm a switcher. I just bought my first brand new 12 " powerbook, and it'll be here next week.

Oh man, I hope you don't get screwed by bad timing. Updates for Powerbooks are expected within a month. You better pray that Apple doesn't use you to clear out the inventory of old 12" Powerbooks.

I'd consider canceling your Powerbook and re-ordering when the new 12" Powerbook is announced.

[Ratm]

I love mlMac cause edonkey kicks fasttracks ass
the UI needs a little work but the developer has said that he's working on it ..
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19912

[CaptainPsyko]

Originally posted by Spliff:
Oh man, I hope you don't get screwed by bad timing. Updates for Powerbooks are expected within a month. You better pray that Apple doesn't use you to clear out the inventory of old 12" Powerbooks.

I'd consider canceling your Powerbook and re-ordering when the new 12" Powerbook is announced.

Yea, so I heard. I actually timed my order so that the Paris Keynote falls within my ten days to return it.

I figure, if he's not going to announce it there, I can't wait any longer.

Fact is, I need this baby for school.

Of course, if he does announce something irresistible...

well, thats why I timed things the way I did.