OSX Essentials
As more people I know are switching to OSX machines, I inevitably get the question “What should I install?”
So here’s my list of essential tools to jazz up your OSX machine.
Virtualization
Parallels for OSX version 2.x.
I haven’t upgraded to version 3 yet - mostly because I’ve heard people complain about stability issues. Although I’d love to use VMWare Fusion for cross platform compatible VM images - it seems to make my AirPort behave weirdly. I’m apparently not alone.
Although Parallels is not as tuneable as Xen, and not as standardized as VMWare - I’ve had few issues with Parallels. It works - and it’s pretty damn cheap @ ~$90 CAD.
Extra OSes
Ubuntu 6.06 Alternate Install
This should fall under Parallels somehow, but I do all my real UNIX work in Ubuntu. OSX is still a weird bastard child of NextStep and BSD with a good dose of GNU thrown in the mix. Nothing behaves quite the way you’re used to with respect to any other UNIX.
I just gave up and use Linux. I keep a backup image just in case I need to do an emergency restore.
Swiss Army Knife
Bar none - QuickSilver is the most awesome UI enhancement I’ve ever used. Everything I do goes through Quicksilver now. Calendaring events, launching applications, picking menu items, address book lookup…
Honestly - if I didn’t have QuickSilver - I’d switch back to Ubuntu Linux.
Chat
GAIM for OSX. Use MSN, AIM, Jabber/GMail, Yahoo - pretty much everything except IRC in one client.
For those times you need IRC
Skype
…or VoIP
Blogging
It works. It stays out of my way. What more do I really want?
Web
It still beats the snot out of Safari because of all the plugins available. But if you really need a fast fast browser, use Safari.
Dev
You are using source control aren’t you
Skip Apple’s build of Python. It’s broken.
GTD
LifeBalance + The Missing Sync
Yes. I still use a Palm. The battery life is just too good on it to go to something else. LifeBalance is one of the few outliner apps I know of that uses GTD style contexts, and it syncs between the laptop and the Palm. Mix in a QuickSilver keybinding to launch LB on my desktop with 1 keystroke and it’s a pretty good way of capturing all my tasks.
OOP is a great tool for those times when I really want a good outliner, and not just task collection. Unfortunately - no Palm sync.
Video
Play virtually any video or audio file format - and it’s free.
Copy your DVDs!
Office
Read/write MS Office files with a free, but slow Office suite.
P2P
Again - slow, but feature rich. Having the ScaneRSS plugin helps to automatically download TV programs from tvrss.net too.
Miscellaneous stuff
Citrix ICA Client
xPad
SideNote
Things you shouldn’t do:
Do not mess with Spotlight. You’ll regret it.
Do not decide to see what happens when Parallels runs more VMs than you’ve got physical memory.
About this entry
You’re currently reading “OSX Essentials,” an entry on crankycoder.com
- Published:
- 07.18.07 / 5am
- Category:
- python
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