[FTrain]

I'm curious what any of your opinions are of the most interesting software applications available for the Mac. I know that's REALLY open-ended but perhaps that's the point--I don't know what I don't know, so probably don't know what question to ask. But I'm trying to learn more about the platform and could use your help.

I guess what I wonder is, from a consumer standpoint, if you asked people what the interesting software is for the Mac, they'd tell you iTunes or iPhoto. But I wonder what the experts think. Are those truly innovative, or would a developer or computing pro look to something completely different (and perhaps not even visible to the consumer) as the most interesting thing?

Perhaps the way to ask the question is: what are the great software opportunities for the Mac? What software "things" are essential to the future of the Mac and what are the things the company appears to be trying to exploit to build for the future?

Does any of this make sense? Let me know your thoughts. Thanks very much.

[saddino]

You're sure to get a whole bunch of different answers, and some product plugs, as I admit I will end up doing but I think part of the problem of getting a true answer will be that "innovative" (which simply means "new") can be used to describe just about anything.

Is iPhoto innovative? Well, there were photo managers before iPhoto came along, so it isn't a "new" product. However, the iPhoto interface is indeed "new" and thus innovative. Does an innovative interface make an innovate product? That's the subjective part -- and no two people will agree on a "list" of innovative products, Mac or otherwise.

Given that reality, almost all applications that exist on the Mac also exist (in one form or another) for Windows. So, are you looking for Mac-only products (which by definition of existing only for the Mac, are likely "innovative" in anyone's sense of the word) that have no competitors under Windows (or Linux)? My guess is yes, that's what you want to know.

So here (arguably) are some candidates:
SubEthaEdit
LaunchBar
Konfabulator
Watson (soon to be departed, alas)
Spring
theConcept (my product, ahem)

[fetopher]

I'm sure you've seen this thread which details everyone's top 5 or so apps for the mac. I'm not sure what kind of a list you're going to get apart from that one. However, for me, the best application on mac at present is Quicksilver. The more I learn about it, the that seems possible. Some folks think that applications like this and Launchbar will die when Tiger is released with Spotlight. I'm pretty confident that is not the case. Spotlight will launch apps and find files, Quicksilver does everything else. And, as more developers are getting on board and plug-ins are being developed, even more will be possible. Go take a look at the Quicksilver forums at the link above.

[fetopher]

Oh, and I forgot, another application that is really wowing me is NewsFire. It's a news aggregator that has potential to be the best on a mac. Read my own review of NewsFire here.

[Diggory Laycock]

http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/

QuickSilver.

[FTrain]

Thanks guys. This is along the line of what I'm curious about. I guess what I was thinking when I posted the question is, from a software perspective, what are the differentiators for the Mac. What sets the Mac apart from other platforms? I guess is doesn't necessarily have to be things that are exclusive to the Mac platform. But maybe just the things that you can look to and say "that's why I have a Mac" or "that's why I prefer working on the Mac platform".

I used the iPhoto example as one that, as a consumer user, I have contact with. As a consumer, the reasons I love OSX are the user friendliness, how intuitive the functionality is. All the applications just always feel easier to use than the ones made for my Windows laptop. But maybe I just always figure that consumers have a very cursory understanding of just how great Macs REALLY are, and I always imagine the pros reading our posts and thinking that we don't know the half of it. I guess I'm trying to get a better feel for just how good we have it and just how dynamic the platform really is.

These posts are great. I'll look at the links you've provided and check out Quicksilver. Thanks.

[cpac]

Originally posted by FTrain:
But maybe just the things that you can look to and say "that's why I have a Mac" or "that's why I prefer working on the Mac platform".

I'm sure the single biggest reason people like working on a Mac is the OS itself. Why the OS?
-more stable
-easier to use
-power for those who want it (unix, CLI, X11 capabilities)
-plug & play - "it just works"
-no known viruses (not to say they aren't possible, but it's certainly not a problem of the magnitude it is on Windows)
-great little features like being able to turn anything you can print into a .pdf without any additional software, expose, etc.

There's also the hardware - getting more and more price competitive for what you get, better quality, and all in the coolest enclosures on the planet.

That said, the applications that have changed the way I do things include:
-Sherlock (movies, airplane, & yellow/white pages)
-Address Book + Applescript (yay for easily written mail merges!)
-OmniWeb (I find other browsers very lacking in comparison)
-.Mac - SO easy to share pictures, videos, etc.
-iTunes, iPhoto

And there are things coming with Tiger that will change things even more:
-Spotlight
-Automator
-Dashboard

Finally, there's this sort of community where everybody is willing to help find solutions to whatever snags you run into.

That's why, in brief, I use a Mac.