What Do I need to Enjoy My New MacBook (my very first)

I just ordered my very first Apple computer, a 15” MacBook Pro to replace an aging Toshiba laptop. I have always liked to play with technology, but until now, I have not touched an Apple. Actually I still haven’t touched a Mac, as my computer won’t likely arrive for another 10 days.

I have used all flavours of Windows, several distributions of Linux (currently using Ubuntu) and OS/2.

Anyway, I am excited to be adding a Mac to my collection of computers, and would like any advice on what accessories, applications and programs I should be looking to add to the configuration. I am not a graphic artist, musician or photographer, but I do enjoy casual gaming and I will be using this laptop for more common business practices (spreadsheets, word processing and lots of email).

I ordered:

MacBook Pro
Core i7 Processor 2.66 GHz
4GB 1066 DDR3 Memory
256 GB SSD
15” Hi Res Antiglare Screen (my home office is very sunny)

I did not order any other pre-installed software or accessories, I figured I’d buy these as I need them.

I would get MS Office, it's still the best out there for compatibility with Windows folk. iWork is still missing a lot of fairly basic functionality unfortunately. For mail I now use Mail, although if you have MS Office Entourage is a nice stepping stone between Outlook and Mail.

Adium is far and away the best Chat client so download that if you want a chat client to use for Yahoo, MSN, AOL, FaceBook and most others too.

Just a few more you might want to consider:

- App Zapper, cleans up any files associated with an app you decide to delete
- Handbrake, converts almost anything to h.264, which will be your new favorite codec
- VLC, plays almost anything and a good alternative to iTunes/quicktime
- Flip4Mac, lets you watch non-DRM WMV on the web. Was very important a few years ago, but less so now.
- Firefox, still better than Safari IMO because of the add-ons, but not sure how long it will hold off Chrome which uses Webkit and has many of the add-ons

...my mind has gone blank!

Zoolook nailed all the main apps that I was going to suggest. However...
here are a few more fun ones you might want:

-SuperDuper!, a backup/copying utility.
-Alfred, Quicksilver, and Google QuickSearchBox. 3 applications with similar functions (searches, app launching, etc.), but they all have their own little extras.
-Bodega, a little "app store" application that spotlights apps for you
-Adobe Air, a plugin for internet applications (Twhirl and Antenna are two of my favorites)
-Onyx and Tinkertool, perform system maintenance, reorder startup items, etc.
-Cinch, brings the "snap" feature from Windows & to OS X.
-Notebook, great notepad/organizer, great for keeping your thoughts organized (from CircusPonies).

These are the top ones I can think of.
Welcome to Mac, and I hope you enjoy these!

I know someone mentioned getting MS office for your business purposes, which is great since everyones familiar with it. But I wouldn't automatically discount apples iWork suit. Keynote is great for making presentations.

Some things you might like:

OpenOffice (free version of MS Office, handles .doc files)
AppCleaner (it's easy to uninstall apps on a Mac, this just cleans up little files left behind)
Journler (free journal keeping program)
Gimp (free Photoshop equivalent, more or less)
Cyberduck or FileZilla for ftp client
iAlertU (free Macbook alarm system)
Perian, Flip4Mac and VLC (to make sure you can play any file)
iShowU (not free, but a very powerful, easy to use screen recording program, if you're into that kind of thing)
Alarm Clock (cute, useful app if you like looking for ways to use your computer for every little thing)
Disk Inventory X (neat way of seeing how your HDD is being used)
Handbrake and Burn for DVD burning
Onyx (for maintenance)
LiteIcon (for customizing system icons)
RightZoom (if you want the green zoom button to maximize your windows the way Windows does)

So many, but that's all I can think of right now.

Thanks for the suggestions. Looks like I will have some things to do once it arrives.

I've been using my mac for about 6 months, but I had no idea it could do some of those things. The Windows 7 commercials were starting to get to me, but thanks to Cinch I'm not jealous anymore. Thanks for the suggestions.

What's that about the Win 7 commercials? I'm Steve Jobs... and Windows 7 is my old ideas?

One of the main reasons I moved to the mac is the multi-touch touchpad. There is a great program called better touch tool which lets you configure the h311 out of the touchpad and the magic mouse. As an added bonus it also does the windows snapping feature all for the price of free. Same dude also made secondbar which adds a second bar to a multi monitor setup.
Better multi monitor & multitouch experience for Mac OS X by Andreas Hegenberg SecondBar & BetterTouchTool Blog

If you are a fan of opensource try macports
The MacPorts Project -- Home
or fink
Fink - Home

Istats menu if you like monitoring your computer
iStat Menus, a Mac app by iSlayer

Dude, that's an awesome machine!!!! What do you need to enjoy it? You already have what you need coming!

...anything else is just a plus!

I just got my Mac Pro yesterday, and learning my way around it. I've been a Windows user since I began using computers, and I will say for you it will take sometime to get use to. Right now though I am beginning to get a feel of things for Mac OS X.

A lot of cool things, and I think you'll enjoy the multi-touch gestures. When I was looking into the Mac regarding the multi-touch technology, I wasn't sure if I'd like the idea, and it caught on. It's so much easier than having a mouse too, since you can scroll on the trackpad.

Anyways, its such a wonderful machine. Everything works so well together, and to my delight I didn't have to download the latest version of flash player to name a few. It really does work right out of the box!

Enjoy your Mac man, I haven't been able to put mine down!!

I'm gonna throw in Firefox. It is sometimes needed when you run into an older site that isn't safari friendly