[RevEvs]

1) Launchbar
2) MPlayer
3) Proteus
4) iTunes
5) Sailing Clicker

revs

[bewebste]

LaunchBar
Azureus (BitTorrent client)
Acquisition
NetNewsWire
VLC
OmniDiskSweeper
GraphicConverter

And last but not least:

Snooooood!

[leeeo]

Launch Bar (who woulda thought!!!)
Pixadex
Cocktail
Camino
Acqlite

[NYCFarmboy]

My favorite inexpensive application:

Weatherpop. (puts the outside temperature in the bar at the top of the screen..and you can pull down for a quick 5 day forecast.

http://www.glu.com/products/weatherpop/

[dannyn]

Let's see.... My most-used shareware apps...

GraphicConverter
One of my favorite shareware apps ever. I use it mostly for its batch operations, conversion options, and browsing image folders. I leave my heavy graphics work to Photoshop, while all of my grunt work goes to GC.

Transmit
Clean, elegant, and solid FTP app. I've been using it since version 1. Editing text files directly off of the server is really handy.

Name those Files!
Slick file renaming app.

Ultimate Pen
Draw on top of any application! Yes, there's Desktastic, but Ultimate Pen has a few refinements that make it better to use on a regular basis.

And, of course, LaunchBar!

Other stuff I use:

VLC
BTV Pro
Snapz Pro
Cocktail
TinkerTool
Salling Clicker

[tritonus]

1. iTunes
2. Amazing Slow Downer
3. VLC
4. MLdonkey
5. DVDBackup

[ryaxnb]

Originally posted by tritonus:
1. iTunes
2. Amazing Slow Downer
3. VLC
4. MLdonkey
5. DVDBackup

No Launchbar?
Launchbar is great

[snerdini]

LaunchBar!!!

Seriously, it's the only shareware app I need...
Oh yeah, maybe Cocktail too

[tritonus]

Originally posted by ryaxnb:
No Launchbar?
Launchbar is great

What does Launchbar do. It sounds like a workaround for the Dock. I like my Dock now.

edit: Oh, checked versiontracker.com's product description for it. Bah, I don't like "abbreviations" that much. Mouse clicking and Finder's search engine are fine for me.

[lavar78]

Originally posted by tritonus:
What does Launchbar do. It sounds like a workaround for the Dock. I like my Dock now.

edit: Oh, checked versiontracker.com's product description for it. Bah, I don't like "abbreviations" that much. Mouse clicking and Finder's search engine are fine for me.

You are a strange, strange man.

Yes, I'm joking.

[Eddies in the aether]

Sticking to free/shareware and in no order of usefulness:

Keyboard maestro
TransparentDock
Default Folder X
Menu Meters
Weatherpop
dChip (PC only but works on VPC)
R
Bioconductor
M Player
MT-NW
Camino
ImageJ
GraphicConverter

[mrwalker]

1. SubEthaEdit
2. Transmit
3. Imagewell
4. CocoaBrowser
5. CocoaMySQL

...and of course

6. Scrap Book

I wrote the last one, so I'm biased

edit:

I've written another one, and I'm biased towards that one too:

7. Sticky Notes


-mrwalker

[mcsjgs]

A new favorite:

Macaroni

for automating system maintenance:

http://www.atomicbird.com

[bbales]

OK, so after reading all the raves about LaunchBar I finally downloaded it and gave it a try. While I'm having a few difficulties, I have to say, what a great application!!

This one is going to be really, really useful...

[lavar78]

Originally posted by bbales:
OK, so after reading all the raves about LaunchBar I finally downloaded it and gave it a try. While I'm having a few difficulties, I have to say, what a great application!!

This one is going to be really, really useful...

Would we lie to you?

[bbales]

Of course you wouldn't! And I just bought my license for LaunchBar about 20 minutes ago.

Thanks everyone! And for you out there without LaunchBar, try the demo, and then buy it.

[DennyA]

Yeah, not to get too far off the "lists" topic, but I have to add one for Launchbar. I just got my iBook and bought Launchbar after seeing this topic. Now I really, really wish I had it for my PCs. :-) Best. Mac. Utility. EVER.

[pdot]

in no particular order,

1) VLC
2) Mplayer
3) Forty-two
4) USB Overdrive
5) Mozilla (would be Safari if it wasn't for the cookies issue)
6) iTunes

[ryaxnb]

Originally posted by DennyA:
Yeah, not to get too far off the "lists" topic, but I have to add one for Launchbar. I just got my iBook and bought Launchbar after seeing this topic. Now I really, really wish I had it for my PCs. :-) Best. Mac. Utility. EVER.

Approcket. On. PCs. Direct Copy. Of Lanchbar. But It Should Work.

[Eciton]

-LaunchBar
-Colloquy (IRC)
-NetNewsWire Lite
-Fire
-ceepeeyou
-Synergy (shareware iTunes controller)
-BitTorrent
-iScooper
-VLC

[fisherKing]

my revised list:

imote
(key combo controls for itunes from any app)

itunes track
(displays current song in a simple text window)

dockblock
(locks the dock, so u can use your fullscreen!)

openmenu
(fully customizable contextual menus!...
i have folders, scripts like restart&shutdown)

shapeshifter
(themeing made simple!)

10.3 rules! (btw)

[EuDaMac]

In no particular order.

Fink - The best way to install open source software on OSX

The Gimp - Get it via Fink

Webmin - THE best way to administer any *nix box. A great help configuring SAMBA beyond Apple's implementation.

VLC - Plays about everything

VNCThing - My favorite VNC client

RBrowserLite - Does what I need with FTP.

R-Name - Saves so much time for renaming hundreds of files. Great for images.

Audacity - Open source audio editor that supports VST plugins.

OpenOffice - This product fills a great need for those who do not want to dish out the cash to MS.

[MCroft]

Here are a few that I like.

• Diablotin - Freeware Library Manager
• Eudora - sponsored mode is free, powerful mail client
• Macjordomo - mailing list management
• MySQL
• WireTap - audio capture
• Sub Etha Edit - rendezvous enabled shared editor
• Fuzzyclock

[[email protected]]

VLC
HimmelBar
Carbon Copy Cloner
GuitarShed
QPict

Not top 5 perhaps, but here are 5 more:
PSync
Fink (just gotta be careful not to install too many damn softwares with this)
Time Out!
Shrook
jSearch

...and my special thanks goes to versiontracker.com for keepin' our ware appetite satisified.

[JohnJohnJohn]

the iApps. Use them all the time.
Transmit for FTP. Great program with great support.
WeatherMenu for weather. It's outright better than WeatherPop and cheaper and better support.
BBEdit
ImageWell - Find it on version tracker.

[JeffHarris]

In no particular order:

LaunchBar

WeatherPop Advance

Watson

Pixadex

Candybar

Default Folder X

PTH Clock
PTH Volume

Synergy

Transparent Dock (yeah, you use it only once, but I love it!)

[GORDYmac]

1: MenuMeters
2: Meterologist
3: Photo2Movie
4: Wiretap
5: Acquisition

EDIT: Wait, I have to do 10:

6: Synergy
7: Still Life
8: Poisoned
9: MPGTXWRAP (?)
10: GraphicConverter

[petergallagher]

1. TexShop (http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop): incredible value in conjunction with
I-installer (http://www.rna.nl/ii.html) from Gerben Wierda. I-installer painlessly installs a full binary distribution of TeX for Mac OS X (a repackaged distribution TeX Live for the programs, Thomas Esser's teTeX for the foundation and some additional packages)

2. The Magic Number Machine (http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~mattg/): a scientific calculator with some extraordinary enhancements: including full 25-digit precision; fully graphic display, a host of standard functions and it looks great!

3. Raqua: from the R project for statistical computing. Without doubt, hands down, the best environment for statistical analysis and graphing. So you don't do stats? Give the aqua build of R a try (d/l from http://www.r-project.org/). Check the demos.

4. Imagewell (http://www.xtralean.com/Products/ImageWell/). Nothing better for shaping and sending quick grabs to the web

5. Blosxom (http://www.blosxom.com). The cream of blog

[mh0ffmann]

1. LaunchBar (discovered thanks to this thread... how could anyone live without it?!?)
2. DragThing
3. VLC
4. X Resource Graph
5. Proteus

[e0feldgg]

1. Graphic Converter -- i still use it every day
2. Acquisition - better than anything else for file sharing -- though Poisoned is on its way up
3. Firebird/Camino used interchangeably. i got to really like using 'bird on a work PC (almost like surfing on a Mac) though it still kinda sucks in the Mac version
4. OSEx
5. MplayerOSX

[Mr Scruff]

I have to say - an amazing amount of first posters in this thread!

[1c3]

1. iTunes
2. Proteus
3. Safari
4. ShapeShifter
5. Poisoned

[fiddler]

1) Safari
2) Another Launcher (more features than LaunchBar, for less money! Free full-featured trial with optional donation)
3) Proteus
4) VLC
5) Bittorrent

[NYCFarmboy]

Just installed 4 new apps for os X that really take my Mac back to what I want it to look like/operate.

I'm running Jaguar, not sure which will work with Panther:

1. ClearDock _gets rid of that white background box behind the application icons in the dock. MUCH nicer without.

2. Labels X _files organized by color again (something that was on 9.0 that I really missed.

3. Metalifizer _metalizes the interface of Mail, and many other carbon software applications...I never cared for the white striped interface toolbars. It does not work on cocoa applications though (chiefly Microsoft Word/entourage/excel etc).

4. WindowShadeX (ok..10 dollars..but I LOVE it). Brings back the window shade collapse bar..which I vastly prefer over X putting windows in the dock.

[mark9939]

Well I haven't put my 2 cents in here yet so here we go..

Safari
MenuMeters
Adium 2
iTunes
VLC
Bittorrent
Poisoned

(No particular order)
and everyody should check out the nightly builds of adium 2. amazing.

-M

[bergy]

These are my "tried and true" favorites. I guarantee you'll like them!

1. Iclip .. that's how I put all these links in this post ... easy as pie. It will change your life!
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10744

home page: http://inventive.us/iClip/

With iClip, you quickly store, organize and access bits of information that just aren't practical to save as entire documents. It allows you to quickly copy & paste and drag & drop clippings to and from its multiple "clipping bins" so that you can easily access them in the applications you're using. The clippings can be of various types such as text, pictures, Internet locations, sounds, and more. Clippings can be organized into unlimited groups called "clipping sets" to help you keep all of your clippings neatly arranged. Since the Scrapbook application that was in older Mac OS versions isn�t a part of Mac OS X, iClip can conveniently serve as a replacement for it. You stay focused on the tasks you're accomplishing while saving time and streamlining your workflow.

2. Macaroni ... all your maintenance tasks run automatically without having to leave your computer on ... a must have!
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9633

Macaroni is a tool which handles regular maintenance for Mac OS X's Unix core. Normally these tasks run on a regular schedule, in the middle of the night. However if you don't leave your Mac on all night, they never run. Your Mac won't wake from sleep to handle this. Macaroni solves this problem. If a scheduled maintenance task is not run when it's normally scheduled, Macaroni automatically ensures that it's run at the next opportunity, whenever the Mac is on.
Repairs permissions once a week as well!

3. Simple Keys ... it's all most will ever need!
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/8999

SimpleKeys is a quick and simple way to set your function keys to type common phrases for you on OSX. Great for email signatures, emoticons, or filling out web forms (since it does record tabs). There are other apps out there that do similar things, but SimpleKeys is the quick, simple solution. It types for you, simply.

4. Broadband Optimizer ... read the rave reviews! Easy to uninstall if you don't like it.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6727

Like most operating systems, MacOS X doesn't come out of the box to take full advantage of a high-speed, broadband internet connection. Luckily, because of its Unix base, there's an easy fix for that. By making certain tweaks to your network settings, you may be able to almost double your download speeds.

5. PDF Shrink .. great for emailing large Pdf's
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9206

PDFshrink reduces the size of PDF files by optimizing the resolution and compression method of images, removing unused elements such as metadata and thumbnails, eliminating duplicate images and compressing other parts of a PDF file.

My "Other" 5 top shareware favorites ... sorry I couldn't resist ...


1. Snapz Pro ... screencapture par excellence
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6149

Once Snapz Pro X is installed, a single keystroke can immediately save anything visible on screen in a wide variety of image file formats. Using Snapz Pro X, you don't have to tell people about how cool a game is or how to use a particular program -- you can just take a picture or movie of it and show them. Snapz Pro X supports saving screen images as .bmp, .pict, .gif, .jpg, .png, .tiff, .pdf, or Photoshop files, and can even record the action as a QuickTime movie!

Screenshots can be scaled, cropped, color depth-changed, and dithered. Snapz Pro X can also add borders, generate automatic thumbnails, overlay watermarks/copyright notices... you name it, we got it! Snapz Pro wasn't just ported to Mac OS X, it was rewritten from the ground up to use the exciting new technologies that Mac OS X has to offer. Support for these cool new features permeates Snapz Pro X like genetic superiority in a thoroughbred: long file names, automatic preview icons on image files, Unicode/international support, and bullet-proof operation are just a few of the pleasantries you will enjoy.



2. iPhoto Diet ... also, take a look at iPhoto Buddy for multiple Libraries

Diet:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11668

Buddy:http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12175

iPhoto Diet is a utility for slimming down iPhoto libraries. It removes the original copies of modified photos based on several selectable criteria. For example, criteria include removing unrotated originals or redundant duplicates. As well, iPhoto Diet can remove the icon thumbnails from photo files, saving additional space. Useful utility prior to burning your iPhoto libraries onto CDs or for freeing up hard drive space. iPhoto Diet can be run manually or set to run automatically at desired times.

3. Desktop Publisher Pro .. incredible value ..
you won't believe what it does for the money! Ten times better than Appleworks and 2% of the cost of a major desktop publishing program!
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/7982

DesktopPublisher Pro is a high quality, low cost, full featured desktop publishing tool for the professional and novice alike.

DesktopPublisher Pro delivers the power-packed desktop publishing solutions that power users need to transform concepts into stunning professional quality designs. Both first-time users and experienced graphic designers will appreciate the intuitive powerful text handling capabilities of MacPublisher Pro. Enter txt directly into text boxes, cut and paste, or import from text files. MacPublisher Pro flows text around graphics; it allows you to link text boxes and precisely place text and graphic objects.

4. Term's Little Helper
http://www.brattoo.com/propaganda/in...ction=software

With Mac OS X you have a beautiful world at your fingers and it can be even more wonderful. Mac OS X comes with a powerfull toy, the Terminal, but the Terminal sometimes is confusing, hard to understand, ugly and you just might feel that it's not worth the trouble trying to use it. On the other hand you just might be a poweruser obeying the new and wonderful world of the Terminal, but still, admit it, like most Mac users tends to think it would be nice to have a litte gui.

This is what Term's Litte Helper does, it gives you absolute access to many of the Terminals features without the typing.

Term's Little helper gives you the power of the Terminal to access information about disks, network, processes, logs, system and more like the fine feature that translates to obscure BSD error messages into clear understandable text.

5. Mesa 3 .. a great looking and practical spreadsheet program ... nothing else like it

http://www.plsys.com/mesa.features.htm

Mesa is a traditional spreadsheet which combines a powerful yet easy-to-use icon-based interface with the features you expect from a 1-2-3- and Excel-compatible product. Whether you want a simple single-worksheet budget, a multi-worksheet consolidation, simple printouts or complex reports with charts, Mesa will do the job -- fast! And it's a Cocoa application...

[eme]

Launchbar
Shapeshifter
MaxMenus
Poisoned
iTunes
SpeedDownload

WeatherMenu or WeatherPop? recommend me one please

[zigzag]

Originally posted by bergy:
4. Broadband Optimizer ... read the rave reviews!
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6727

Like most operating systems, MacOS X doesn't come out of the box to take full advantage of a high-speed, broadband internet connection. Luckily, because of its Unix base, there's an easy fix for that. By making certain tweaks to your network settings, you may be able to almost double your download speeds.

I just tried Broadband Optimizer (Panther, Safari, G5, cable). I noticed download speeds of around 200 kb per second, where I usually get 350+. I uninstalled it, restarted, and right away I was back to 350+. Strange.

[monkeybrain]

1. Another Launcher - so great. I have internet search set to F1, so i just type F1 and a nice box pops up letting me search loads of places. It's also just replaced synergy for me; synergy was randomly turning itself off and costs. And it's free.

2. iTunes

3. Contextual menu items (do they count? They should!) - ones I use are: FinderIcon (change icons without opening info box) QuickImage (fast preview of images) and Quick Access (which is brill - lets you move files to any location through a dialogue or from a list of your favourite folders, makes filing stuff away very fast and easy).

4. Menumeters - easy way to see network and others usage in menu-bar.

5. Little Snitch - amazing what tries to phone home and tries to get in.

[Carbonic]

heres mine in no particular order...

-omnibrowser ( better than safari for me ! )
-Apple iApps
-acquisition
-getTunes
-iJournal
-Bittorrent
-DVD Player
-transmit
-vlc
-Apple Mail

[torifile]

Originally posted by Carbonic:

-omnibrowser ( better than safari for me ! )

You mean OmniWeb?

[dlefebvre]

Volume Logic. The best solution so far to keep the volume of your iTunes libray constant.

[xdude]

By far one of the more useful threads in a while.

My top 3-4:
1. LaunchBar (surprise, surprise)
1. iAddressX : menu item that links to all of your address book info. The only other utility I would place up there with LB.
2. Transmit : solid FTP software.
3. PTHClock : adds a dropdown cal to the time. Though looks like they've gone commercial and I'm waiting for the Panther friendly version.

[dole]

In no particular order

1. NetNewsWire
2. Adium 2
3. HimmelBar
4. Ticker
5. SubEthaEdit
6. Poisoned
7. Thoth
8. WhatSize
9. Transmit
10. TransparentDock

[krisneph]

Hey guys here are my favorite

LaunchBar - Just started using this and it ROCKS!

VLC - Great app plays almost everything.

Camino and Firebird - I'm on 10.1.5 so I don't have Safari but these are great.

I need a I bookmark manager to manage and use my bookmarks with all my browsers. What do you guys suggest. There are a lot to choose from please recomend one.

[stevek]

Cool thread... I've taken more than a couple of the suggestions and am using them regularly now

- Launchbar... what can I say. Such a cool idea. It's like google for your whole computer - better than that actually.

- TransparentDock. It just looks better without that nasty background. Plus, I can make the app arrows white! w00t.

- Adium 2. Great even though it's still alpha.

- NetNewsWire. Wow, I mean, it's like an information orgy or something. lol. It's all there, too and it works!

- Meterologist. Weather in the menubar. It works. Awesome.

- iPhoto Buddy / Diet. Great combination if your iPhoto is a little sluggish (or extremely sluggish... my library currently has over 1200 photos in it ). Now all I have to do is find an easy way to convert my albums into individual libraries... any script gurus out there want to help me out with this one?

- Cyberduck. FTP. Free. I think it works great. I'd recommend it to someone. Plus it does FTP over ssh, too. (I've still got Fetch as a backup, though)

- Cunning Fox. $10 shareware but real cool app that shows you what's running, how much cpu it's using, how much ram, etc. Great presentation and implementation.

Great, thread guys. Keep it up. Lots of good info here for people looking for software recommendations!

One request - anyone know of a good download manager I can use when I've got to resort to dial-up? I've had a hell of a time staying connected today while downloading Graphic Converter. I'm thinking about something that's able to stop and resume files in mid-download so I won't have to make up the lost ground when / if I get disconnected.

Thanks!

[philcozz]

In no particular order:

- Thunderbird
- Firebird
- LaunchBar
- MacJournal
- Synk X
- Yasu
- Acqlite
- iTunes

Good stuff...

[Dr_Doom]

1. Launchbar
2. NetNewsWire
3. OmniOutliner


I think that good shareware is some sort of a function of the purchase price to time from evaluation download to puchase.

In the case of LaunchBar it was was $20 dollars/10 Minutes (7 items was such a tease).

In the case of NetNewsWire it was $40/1 Week of usage.

In the case of Omni Outliner it was $30/3 Days of usage.

Other items I have bought and really dig:

Pixadex: Why look at xicons.com w/o it.
CandyBar: So I like cartoony system icons.
Transmit: Need I say more?
OmniGraffle: Omni Group just rocks I guess.

Other than games, I wonder which of these 10,000 windows applications I am supposed to need so much.

Cheers,

Dr_Doom

[booboo]

FruitMenu
Pic2icon
SparkME
Carracho
VLC
AudioHijack

Obviously, the iApp's.

And why didn't anyone else mention Carracho?

[seen_xu]

D-Vision 2: allow convert all mpeg 2 files to Xvidz
Poision: great peer to peer intergration
Mplayer OS X 2: Play all Xvidz
VLC: alternative video playback tool, in charge .cue tasks on my laptop.
iVisit: real multi-party video audio solution, , and it is cross platform.
Fire: throw laggy msn away
Launchbar: reduce diffusive dock
Synergy: great extension goes with iTune
WeatherPop: weather forecast
Toast: burn your own bread
Pixadex: icon gathering
Candybar: system icon replacing app
gBrowser: must-have picture browsering tool, even has small compatiblity problem with Panther, but I still prefer him rather than a slow iPhoto.
GCam: record with ya webcam, have some fun with it.
Freesnap: snap at ease.
Atomix Dojam X SC: free english-chinese, chinese-english dictionary.

Those are mentioned here, should every mac nuts ownz.