List of Essential Software for Mac OS X.

[NTL1991]

Hello. I need to know what software I need to download or buy for a basic Mac OS X Computer.

I have already got on the list:

Microsoft Office 2004
iLife '06
Toast 7
Maybe Photoshop 7
AppleWorks 6
Firefox
Thunderbird
Adium
Windows Media Player 9


Does anyone know anymore software that is essential for normal use of a Mac?

Thanks,
Nick

[NanoBite]

Hi Nick,

This is a helpful link:

http://paulstamatiou.com/2005/12/19/...ould-download/

AppleWorks 6 should already be installed on the mac.

MacTheRipper is good to have...if you are getting Toast...they go together well.

There are some iTunes widgets which are good to have, I especially like SizzlingKeys..which you will find if you search the web.

Oh, I almost forgot...Flip4Mac is essential to view those WMA files using QuickTime....!

[trpnmonkey41]

iLife comes with every new computer and the free version of StuffIt should suit most needs

[NTL1991]

Thanks, but this is an older G3 Power Mac and has OS 9 currently on it, and I don't think iLife came with OS9... I don't know.

I'll check out that list and look on Google.

Nick

By the way, I have a quick question. My Mac doesn't come with any OEM disks. Will a G4 Power Mac OEM Restore CD work with my G3?

Nick

[trpnmonkey41]

oh yea no iLife didn't come with OS9 (hasn't even been around for that long as a suite)

[dtravis7]

You do not have to have Thunderbird as OSX's Mail is a perfectally fine Email client, Even Firefox is not needed but you might perfer it to Safari, but give Safari a chance first.

Instead of Windows Media Player, Try Flip4Mac as Microsoft is no longer supporting WMP9 for the Mac.

[NTL1991]

Well, I use a Firefox/Thunderbird Combo on all my PCs, but I have used Safari w/ OSX 10.3 on a Quicksilver a few years back in school and I liked it alot... Like you said, I'll give it (and OSX Mail) a try first. I'll also try Flip4Mac. Does that include a Media Player or does it just decode it and play it in QuickTime?

Thanks,
Nick

[trpnmonkey41]

flip does everything in quicktime

[NTL1991]

Another Question. My Mac doesn't come with any OEM disks. Will a G4 Power Mac OEM Restore CD work with my G3? There's a cheap one for $8 on eBay but it's for a G4 Power Mac...

Thanks,
Nick

[trpnmonkey41]

I am not sure if they started being system specific yet so it might work (not sure).

[NTL1991]

Yeah, one listing says "Restores OS 9 to Power Mac G3 and early G4 computers" It's only 8 bucks with shipping so what the heck.

Nick

[dtravis7]

Yeah like trpnmonkey41 said, Flip4Mac does it all in Quicktime. Microsoft even has a URL to it on their page.

I am also a PC user and love Firefox/Thundbird and on the PC. So I know where you are coming from. There is also Camino, it's the same engine as Firefox but with an interface more OSX like. It's also very nice.

[D3v1L80Y]

Hello. I need to know what software I need to download or buy for a basic Mac OS X Computer....Does anyone know anymore software that is essential for normal use of a Mac?

Microsoft Office 2004 - Essential for school/work perhaps, otherwise not needed. Free alternatives include NeoOffice and OpenOffice
iLife '06 - Included with every new Mac, no need to purchase
Toast 7 - not a necessity. Discs can be burned using iTunes or Finder
Maybe Photoshop 7 - Extremely expensive image editor that is definitely not an essential piece of software for an average user.
AppleWorks 6 - Old and outdated, yet still useful. Not needed if another office application suite is used
Firefox - Good to have, free download. merely a personal preference
Thunderbird - Nice to have, not needed. Again, a personal preference
Adium - Very good mulit-IM client. Not a necessity, but good to have. Free download
Windows Media Player 9 - Nice to have, not needed. A plethora of other alternatives exist. Most are free downloads.

In a nutshell, none of these are essential to the normal use or operation of a Mac or any computer for that matter. The included software with a new Mac would be plenty to get an average consumer through his daily computing. The majority of the software you listed is more a matter of personal preference and not essentialness.

[NTL1991]

Well, Thank you for your input, but this isn't a brand new mac. It is a B&W G3 PowerMac and only has OS9 installed on it. I am planning on buying OSX Tiger to put on it and then I just wanted a list of software that the average user uses. That would be Word Processors, Media Players, etc. etc.

Nick

[dtownley1]

yeah, I found Appleworks was only good about 4 or so years ago. MS Word has more powerful capabilities, and I also found there were a few bugs with Appleworks on OS9 - I didn't use it much on OS X, but I guess the stability would have improved.

One program I can't get by without, is mPlayer (possibly only OS X?). It's a really stable media player. For some reason, it operates somewhat differently on Intel macs (opening movies spread out from the controller window (like scaling an image), rather than having the controller in one window and the movie in another, as it used to be on my old iBook) It plays .avi movies really well and also handles a lot of other media files.

VLC is OK, but pops up with lots of random problems. None serious, but it just keeps bringing them up. It plays pretty much anything, and doesn't require any special codecs or additional downloads.

...and I just noticed you said you're running OS 9. Personally, I've found Safari is a whole lot faster than Firefox, although Firefox has some necessary plugins for me (deviantart browsing and Japanese translators) I didn't think firefox was available for OS 9.