New(Refurbished) Macbook Air 11" Setup

The new Airs and Pros released - thus dropping the price of the refurbished Macs. I picked up last year's top of the line Macbook Air for $1149 refurbished. I am in the process of setting it up as a new machine and figured I'd make notes on installs/setups.

Apps I install right away
Application Launcher
One of my favorite programs for the Mac is Quicksilver.
Quicksilver — Mac OS X at your Fingertips
What you can do with it
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/switcher-hangout/239284-quicksilver-more-than-launcher.html
Others here like Alfred - but I don't like how you have to pay for various parts that are free inside quicksilver.
Alfred App

Trackpad control
Better Touch tool gives you Windows 7 like snapping as well as customization of pretty much any gesture you can think of. It also gives you easy move/resize with hot keys like I'm used to with Linux
Great Tools For Your Mac By Andreas Hegenberg » BetterTouchTool, BetterSnapTool & SecondBar
Consider buying better snap tool to help support this great app
Mac App Store

Web Browsers
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox Web Browser
I install Firefox with 2 add-ons -
noscript
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/
and cookie monster
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookie-monster/
I then set this as my default browser. I recommend doing it this way as then any click of any web link will open in Firefox - but all scripting and cookies are shut off. This any click-jacking/spam/accidental click should have little to no effect.
Optional add-ons
User Agent Switcher
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/user-agent-switcher/
My company likes to check you have a compliant browser - which is a pain but you can fake out most checks with this add-on. You want a bunch of agents installed so grab this xml to get a full list of browsers/OSes
Tech Patterns :: Firefox UserAgent Switcher list

Other Browsers
I do install Chrome and Opera as I've found having various browsers gives you a chance to debug web problems.
https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/
Opera browser | Faster & safer internet | Free download

development
Xcode
Mac App Store - Xcode
Xcode allows you to write programs for OSX and iOS. Most people do not need this functionality - but it also provides command line tools for FOSS (Free Open Source Software). Once Xcode is installed go to Xcode -> Preferences -> Downloads and install Command Line tools. This will allow you to install Open Source software from Source.

Macports
Macports gives you access to package management of FOSS software.
The MacPorts Project -- Download & Installation
You tend to need Xcode with Command line tools installed as this is compiled from source. There is Also Fink which comes pre-compiled.
Fink - Home

Utilities
Onyx
Provides checking/cleanup/access to different settings.
Titanium's Software • Download

Perian
Although going off support - it is still a useful utility for having preview in Finder for various movie formats. As of now it still works quite well.
Perian - The swiss-army knife of QuickTime® components

Istats
I like Menu as I have every monitor available from the menubar but it is expensive
iStat Menus, a Mac app by Bjango
There is a free widget for the dashboard
iStat Pro, a Dashboard Widget by iSlayer

Turn off Dashboard - personally I don't use the dashboard or widgets so I turn it off using Onyx -> Parameters -> Misc -> uncheck Dashboard

Video
VLC
VLC gives you a viewer that will play just about anything. Perian is good for previews but if you want a solid video player that will play any format I highly recommend VLC
VideoLAN - Official page for VLC media player, the Open Source video framework!

Remote
CORD
RDC client to connect to Windows Boxes
CoRD: Remote Desktop for Mac OS X

Chicken of the VNC
There is a built in VNC viewer but I like the options of Chicken of the VNC
Chicken of the VNC | Free software downloads at SourceForge.net

Dropbox
Save everything to the cloud
http://www.dropbox.com

Adobe
Adobe - Downloads
I still like Acrobat Reader as it has a better global search
Flash is still alive and well on the web and it helps to be upgraded to the latest version

Hardware/Peripherals
Protection
Skins
Zagg
ZAGG | ZAGGskins | Laptop Skin, Cases, Screen Protectors, Covers, Shields, Skins, Invisible Shield
I like the Zagg Skins as a stick on. There is Also Gelaskins which doesn't seem to provide full protection - but I've been pleased with it as a skin.
GelaSkins | iPhone Skins, iPhone Cases, iPad Skins, iPod Skins, Laptop Skins, Gaming Skins, eReader Skins, Custom Skins & Cases, and more?

Speck hardcase
Macbook Cases, Sleeves, and Bags | Speck Products
I've had good luck with these cases protecting my machine from falls.

iPearl mcover hardcase
I tried these out as there were $20 from Amazon.
mCover® Hard Shell Cases for Mac | PC Laptops | Ultrabooks | iPads | Netbooks and Kindles | Nook by iPearl Inc, USA | www.ipearl-inc.com | mcover.us | mcover.net
It is OK - I think I like the Speck better - but it does have flip up feet to help put the computer at a better angle. It is also cheaper than anything out there - but I would say the build/look of the case is cheaper. Still seems to provide decent protection.

external drives
I have been using WD and Seagate lately. I actually am recommending Seagate Goflex. I like the interchangeable interface - they have USB 3.0, Firewire and Thunderbolt. The down side for Thunderbolt is the expense. $99 for the adapter and you still need a $50-$60 Thunderbolt cable. That being said - the drive is quite fast. I also like Seagate because they provide Paragon NTFS drivers for their drive. You have to buy an upgrade to make it for any NTFS drive - but you can keep your Seagate drives NTFS if you want to share with PCs if you need to. I tend to format with HFS+ Journaled. I've found that when you share drives and they are NTFS they tend not to show their contents on iOS devices. But sometimes you need to share between Macs and PCs so that is the tradeoff.