Preparing for the new arrival
Links to software and tools for setting up the new Macbook Air
Basic Applications
- LibreOffice vs. iWork?
- Chrome Browser
- Thunderbird or Chrome off-line mail app?
What add-ons are needed for synching with Gmail contacts and Google calendars?
- Cyberduck
- SSH graphic shell or use terminal?
Music and media players
- Music player alternative to iTunes?
- VideoLAN
- Will iTunes fuck up my library?
Audio production
Communications
- RingCentral
- Skype
- Adium – Versatile IM client, based on Pidgin and recommended by Pidgin for Mac installations.
Cloud Services
- Evernote
- Dropbox
- AWS or Dreamcloud?
- Check DreamHost wiki for information on Dreamcloud GUIs
- Free File Synch or set up Git?
- Free File Synch for Mac is in application folder on onyx.
- GitX is a graphic client for Git on the Mac, but Git requires a more substantial installation on the server and clients, and a large learning curve.
Data Base tools
Primarily to work with MySQL, but some tools can be used with other data base servers. It's probably a good idea to install a MAMP package on the local machine for development purposes.
- Sequel Pro – MySQL management app designed for Mac Coco. Very pretty. Donationware. Extensable with a small collection of bundles. Last release was January 2013.
- SQLEditor – Commercial, but only $79. Updated for Mavericks. A design tool with UML diagrams and presentation/documentation tools. Works with various SQL flavors.
- HeidiSQL – Can be run on a Mac using Wine.
Editors and Graphics
- Text editor/programming editor
- TextMate – Recommended by Lifehacker. A little confusing about the cost. Is it free or $56?
- TextWrangler
- Scrivner???
- Markdown editor or viewer?
- LightPaper – Simple text editor and Markdown viewer. Freeware and worth a try.
- MultiMarkdown
- Some kind of no-distraction editor. Something like Write Monkey.
- FocusWriter? Maybe too minimal. Doesn't have useful export options. No typing noise. No Markdown support.
- Scribus for desktop publishing
- Image editors and graphics creation apps
- Lifehacker – The Best Image Editing App for Mac OS X recommended Pixelmator, which is only $29.99.
- GIMP is what I've used on Windows machines and is free.
- Photo editor/organizer similar to Lightbox.
- Picasa client?
- Flickr client?
- Skitch – Screen capture tool that's part of Evernote now. Has very good annotation features that go beyond the OSX built-in screen grabber. (Recent version on network.)
- FontExplorer X Pro – At $89, a little expensive, but a popular font management tool for Mac.
- HandBrake – The popular open source video transcoder. Also available for Windows.
- ScreenFlow – Don't need this right away, but even at $100, it's the most recommended screen recording and screencasting software.
Lists and Resources
- Set Up and Get to Know Your New Mac, a post at Lifehacker that's current to Mavericks.
- Lifehacker's Mac app directory
- Lifehacker Pack for Mac 2013
- The Ultimate Mac Setup for Web Designers at Mac.AppStorm. Five years old, so the apps may not be appropriate for Mavericks.
- MacLibre is a collection of free, Open Source applications in a bundle. It was last updated in 2008. The site has links to the individual app developers.