APPLE
UTILITIES
BACKUP
COMMS
PHOTO
NETWORK
OFFICE
MISC.
APPLE
First of all, don’t overlook the applications Apple has provided with OS X.
Time Machine. Obviously. Ignore it at your peril.
Back To My Mac, available with a MobileMe account. It absolutely simplifies remote access to your other Macs.
Dictionary: look up any word or its synonyms in almost any document by Control-clicking on it
iChat: the best Mac-to-Mac video chat, plus text chat and file transfer, able to do conference-calling and file transfer in Leopard
iCal: get your team’s lives organised by sharing calendars
Mail: good, reliable, backup-friendly and free. Say goodbye to Entourage
Address Book: used by Mail and many other 3rd-party applications for contact data
Disk Utility: format disks in one of several styles; do software RAID 0, 1, and concatenation (check it in Dictionary), repair disk directories and permissions, and sector-copy one disk to another for identical backups
iPhoto: decent consumer or pro-am level image management with lots of useful convenience features, now also supporting most RAW formats
MobileMe: £59 p.a. Email, file sharing, backup; calendar, bookmarks, keychain, Address Book sync; Web Applications, iPhone push sync, etc. Not cheap, but good and in my view essential if you have an iPhone
First of all, don’t overlook the applications Apple has provided with OS X.
Time Machine. Obviously. Ignore it at your peril. Back To My Mac, available with a MobileMe account. It absolutely simplifies remote access to your other Macs. Dictionary: look up any word or its synonyms in almost any document by Control-clicking on it iChat: the best Mac-to-Mac video chat, plus text chat and file transfer, able to do conference-calling and file transfer in Leopard iCal: get your team’s lives organised by sharing calendars Mail: good, reliable, backup-friendly and free. Say goodbye to Entourage Address Book: used by Mail and many other 3rd-party applications for contact data Disk Utility: format disks in one of several styles; do software RAID 0, 1, and concatenation (check it in Dictionary), repair disk directories and permissions, and sector-copy one disk to another for identical backups iPhoto: decent consumer or pro-am level image management with lots of useful convenience features, now also supporting most RAW formats MobileMe: £59 p.a. Email, file sharing, backup; calendar, bookmarks, keychain, Address Book sync; Web Applications, iPhone push sync, etc. Not cheap, but good and in my view essential if you have an iPhoneMAINTENANCE & DISK UTILITIES
Never be without Applejack and SMARTReporter. They’re free, and potential lifesavers.
Applejack*: Free. The nearest thing to a diagnostic and maintenance magic bullet. Currently incompatible with Snow Leopard
DiskWarrior*: £50. Nothing repairs disk directory damage better
Drive Genius: £50. Similar to DiskWarrior but does more. Have it as a second string to the bow
Data Rescue II*: £50. The first choice to recover data from damaged disks that won’t mount
FileSalvage: £60. Can “learn” file signatures to search for and sometimes recovers data such as Hasselblad .fff file packages that Data Rescue II cannot
SMARTReporter*: Free. Periodically checks your hard drives for their state of health and warns you if a hardware failure is imminent. Usually. Unfortunately, and through no fault of its own, it can't check drives connected by FireWire or USB. For that, I recommend…
SoftRAID*: £60. Software RAID tool to create RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays. Live monitoring of disk I/O gives early warning of any drive malfunction
Onyx*: Free. More than a hundred system tweaks, optimisations and maintenance routines
Xupport: £10. Similar to Onyx, but with a slightly different feature set. Well worth a look
TinkerTool*: Free. Change the look of the Finder, optimise broadband connections and much more
Macaroni*: £5. Runs the built-in OSX maintenance routines to your schedule
MacDrive: Enables Windows PCs to read and write to Mac-formatted disks. And rightly so.
GrandPerspective*: Free. Gives you a picture of your file system, allowing you to find those monster space-hogging files and folders eating your hard disk
Never be without Applejack and SMARTReporter. They’re free, and potential lifesavers.
Applejack*: Free. The nearest thing to a diagnostic and maintenance magic bullet. Currently incompatible with Snow Leopard DiskWarrior*: £50. Nothing repairs disk directory damage better Drive Genius: £50. Similar to DiskWarrior but does more. Have it as a second string to the bow Data Rescue II*: £50. The first choice to recover data from damaged disks that won’t mount FileSalvage: £60. Can “learn” file signatures to search for and sometimes recovers data such as Hasselblad .fff file packages that Data Rescue II cannot SMARTReporter*: Free. Periodically checks your hard drives for their state of health and warns you if a hardware failure is imminent. Usually. Unfortunately, and through no fault of its own, it can't check drives connected by FireWire or USB. For that, I recommend… SoftRAID*: £60. Software RAID tool to create RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays. Live monitoring of disk I/O gives early warning of any drive malfunction Onyx*: Free. More than a hundred system tweaks, optimisations and maintenance routines Xupport: £10. Similar to Onyx, but with a slightly different feature set. Well worth a look TinkerTool*: Free. Change the look of the Finder, optimise broadband connections and much more Macaroni*: £5. Runs the built-in OSX maintenance routines to your schedule MacDrive: Enables Windows PCs to read and write to Mac-formatted disks. And rightly so. GrandPerspective*: Free. Gives you a picture of your file system, allowing you to find those monster space-hogging files and folders eating your hard diskBACKUP
If you have no data backups you will one day live to regret it. Use SuperDuper! to maintain a bootable backup of your Mac’s boot volume on a FireWire drive to reboot from should your main drive fail. Update it daily. Use Time Machine, on the same drive if necessary, to recover deleted or damaged data. Keep backups of all of your data drives with ChronoSync. There are lots of backup applications; none are perfect, most are useful.
SuperDuper!*: £15. Incremental bootable backups. Erase-and-backup for free. Technically the most complete backups, including all permissions, Access Control Lists, etc. etc.
Carbon Copy Cloner*: Free. A good alternative to SuperDuper! for bootable backups and the fastest way to make identical clones
Synk Backup: £15. Scheduled bootable backups plus incremental data archiving
Backup Simplicity: £25. As above, but can automatically start backups when target disks are connected
ChronoSync*: £15. One of the very best for everything except bootable backups
If you have no data backups you will one day live to regret it. Use SuperDuper! to maintain a bootable backup of your Mac’s boot volume on a FireWire drive to reboot from should your main drive fail. Update it daily. Use Time Machine, on the same drive if necessary, to recover deleted or damaged data. Keep backups of all of your data drives with ChronoSync. There are lots of backup applications; none are perfect, most are useful.
SuperDuper!*: £15. Incremental bootable backups. Erase-and-backup for free. Technically the most complete backups, including all permissions, Access Control Lists, etc. etc. Carbon Copy Cloner*: Free. A good alternative to SuperDuper! for bootable backups and the fastest way to make identical clones Synk Backup: £15. Scheduled bootable backups plus incremental data archiving Backup Simplicity: £25. As above, but can automatically start backups when target disks are connected ChronoSync*: £15. One of the very best for everything except bootable backupsCOMMUNICATIONS
iChat: Free. Haven’t we mentioned this already?
Skype*: Free. Cross-platform video conferencing, SMS and VoIP telephony
iGlasses: £5. Improve your webcam picture when displayed in iChat, Skype and others
X-Lite: Free. VoIP softphone for making free phone calls over the Internet
iSoftPhone*: £20. Better-looking, nicer softphone than X-Lite
iChat: Free. Haven’t we mentioned this already? Skype*: Free. Cross-platform video conferencing, SMS and VoIP telephony iGlasses: £5. Improve your webcam picture when displayed in iChat, Skype and others X-Lite: Free. VoIP softphone for making free phone calls over the Internet iSoftPhone*: £20. Better-looking, nicer softphone than X-LitePHOTOGRAPHIC
There’s more to this than just Photoshop and the big RAW developers.
Photo Mechanic*: £75. By far the fastest application for ingesting from card (with backup), applying IPTC to and selecting your images
ImageIngester*: Free. Does almost everything Photo Mechanic does except the selecting
Microsoft Expression Media*: £150. Son of iView MediaPro, the all-round best image and digital asset manager
LensFix*: £15. Advanced lens distortion and aberration correction
Noiseware Professional*: £35. Excellent, fast digital noise reduction
PhotoRescue*: £30. For when your CF cards crash…
There’s more to this than just Photoshop and the big RAW developers.
Photo Mechanic*: £75. By far the fastest application for ingesting from card (with backup), applying IPTC to and selecting your images ImageIngester*: Free. Does almost everything Photo Mechanic does except the selecting Microsoft Expression Media*: £150. Son of iView MediaPro, the all-round best image and digital asset manager LensFix*: £15. Advanced lens distortion and aberration correction Noiseware Professional*: £35. Excellent, fast digital noise reduction PhotoRescue*: £30. For when your CF cards crash…NETWORKING & FILE TRANSFER
There’s more to life than simple file sharing.
FileChute: £8. Send large files to people without clogging up their email
SingleWrench: subscription. Optimised for photographers and available with an AOP Discount
YouSendIt: subscription. Another large-file-transfer alternative
Papaya: £25. Instant password-protected web file sharing for clients to download your pictures
ShareTool: £15. VPN-like secure, encrypted access to your network and everything on it
iGet*: £25. Fast, encrypted file transfer. The best choice for remotely accessing files on another Mac over the Internet
ExpanDrive: £20. Similar to iGet, but mounts remote drives in the Finder
Transmit*: £10. The best-looking and usually best-performing Mac FTP software
BwanaDik*: Free. Tells you your external and internal IP addresses and can email you if they change
Lighthouse: £6. Port-forwarding utility opens ports in your Internet router to let you easily run things such as web servers, file-sharing applications, Back To My Mac, etc. without having to mess around with your router’s ugly user interface
iChat: Free. Here again because of its file-sharing capabilities
iStumbler*: Free. Search for and find wireless networks. Currently incompatible with Snow Leopard
Desktop Transporter: £15. Remote-control other Macs on your network, or over the Internet. Run an old Mac without a monitor as a file server and remote-control it with this. MobileMe/Back to My Mac is a better choice for Leopard and Snow Leopard users
WakeOnLan*: Free. Find the IP addresses of other devices on your network, and wake them up if they're asleep
Address-O-Matic: £10. Share and sync Address Books on your network without requiring MobileMe. Currently incompatible with Snow Leopard
Bonjour Browser*: Free. See what’s running on your network
Postfix Enabler: £5. Configure and turn on your Mac’s built-in mail server in Panther and Tiger. Leopard users should use…
MailServe for Leopard: £10. Never forget, though, that if you know your email username and password, mail2web.com will always allow you to send and receive email, wherever you are
There’s more to life than simple file sharing.
FileChute: £8. Send large files to people without clogging up their email SingleWrench: subscription. Optimised for photographers and available with an AOP Discount YouSendIt: subscription. Another large-file-transfer alternative Papaya: £25. Instant password-protected web file sharing for clients to download your pictures ShareTool: £15. VPN-like secure, encrypted access to your network and everything on it iGet*: £25. Fast, encrypted file transfer. The best choice for remotely accessing files on another Mac over the Internet ExpanDrive: £20. Similar to iGet, but mounts remote drives in the Finder Transmit*: £10. The best-looking and usually best-performing Mac FTP software BwanaDik*: Free. Tells you your external and internal IP addresses and can email you if they change Lighthouse: £6. Port-forwarding utility opens ports in your Internet router to let you easily run things such as web servers, file-sharing applications, Back To My Mac, etc. without having to mess around with your router’s ugly user interface iChat: Free. Here again because of its file-sharing capabilities iStumbler*: Free. Search for and find wireless networks. Currently incompatible with Snow Leopard Desktop Transporter: £15. Remote-control other Macs on your network, or over the Internet. Run an old Mac without a monitor as a file server and remote-control it with this. MobileMe/Back to My Mac is a better choice for Leopard and Snow Leopard users WakeOnLan*: Free. Find the IP addresses of other devices on your network, and wake them up if they're asleep Address-O-Matic: £10. Share and sync Address Books on your network without requiring MobileMe. Currently incompatible with Snow Leopard Bonjour Browser*: Free. See what’s running on your network Postfix Enabler: £5. Configure and turn on your Mac’s built-in mail server in Panther and Tiger. Leopard users should use… MailServe for Leopard: £10. Never forget, though, that if you know your email username and password, mail2web.com will always allow you to send and receive email, wherever you areOFFICE & PRODUCTIVITY
There’s more to this than just Microsoft Office and FileMaker Pro.
JABMenu*: £10. Quick menu-bar access to your Address Book contacts, almost as good as the now-unavailable iAddressX
Labels & Addresses (previously Mail Factory): £40. Versatile envelope and label printing from the Address Book database
DayLite: £75. Heavy-duty CRM, scheduling and contact management
BlinkBid*: £45. A good choice for an integrated estimating, paperwork and invoicing system. The AOP has negotiated a member’s discount with the developer
iBiz: £25. General-purpose estimating and invoicing. The one I use
Billings: £30. Similar to iBiz, but with fancier invoice templates
iRatchet: £25. Again like iBiz, but also tracks expenses
iBank*: £25. Companion to iBiz; track your accounts and categorise transactions. Good at tax-return time
PDFLab*: Free. Edit PDF’s and join them together
iGTD*: Free. Advanced To-Do list manager based on David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” system
EEAX: £15. Archive your Microsoft Entourage data, freeing up space and speeding up Entourage
MailSteward: £30 upwards. Do the same for any email application
TNEF’s Enough*: Free. Extract the contents of those dumb, useless winmail.dat files that Microsoft Outlook users keep sending you
LetterOpener: £18. Previously known as OMiC. Add-on for Apple Mail that also extracts the contents of those dumb, useless winmail.dat files that Microsoft Outlook users keep sending you.
There’s more to this than just Microsoft Office and FileMaker Pro.
JABMenu*: £10. Quick menu-bar access to your Address Book contacts, almost as good as the now-unavailable iAddressX Labels & Addresses (previously Mail Factory): £40. Versatile envelope and label printing from the Address Book database DayLite: £75. Heavy-duty CRM, scheduling and contact management BlinkBid*: £45. A good choice for an integrated estimating, paperwork and invoicing system. The AOP has negotiated a member’s discount with the developer iBiz: £25. General-purpose estimating and invoicing. The one I use Billings: £30. Similar to iBiz, but with fancier invoice templates iRatchet: £25. Again like iBiz, but also tracks expenses iBank*: £25. Companion to iBiz; track your accounts and categorise transactions. Good at tax-return time PDFLab*: Free. Edit PDF’s and join them together iGTD*: Free. Advanced To-Do list manager based on David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” system EEAX: £15. Archive your Microsoft Entourage data, freeing up space and speeding up Entourage MailSteward: £30 upwards. Do the same for any email application TNEF’s Enough*: Free. Extract the contents of those dumb, useless winmail.dat files that Microsoft Outlook users keep sending you LetterOpener: £18. Previously known as OMiC. Add-on for Apple Mail that also extracts the contents of those dumb, useless winmail.dat files that Microsoft Outlook users keep sending you.MISCELLANEOUS
Odds and sods that don’t fit into any of the above categories, in no particular order…
Undercover: £20*. Track and recover your stolen Mac
1Password: £20*. Secure password and login storage with browser and iPhone integration: the one I now use
Web Confidential: £10. Password, personal info and serial number manager using encrypted database
PithHelmet*: Free. Ad-blocker for Safari
TextWrangler*: Free. Advanced text editor
FireFox*: Free. If a site won’t work with Safari, it’ll work with FireFox. Forget Internet Explorer
NetNewsWire: £15. The best RSS newsreader
Flip4Mac*: Free. Supersedes the awful Windows Media Player and allows you to view most Windows Media within QuickTime
RealPlayer*: Free. Watch and listen to the BBC
QuickTime Pro: £20. Unlocks functionality within QuickTime, turning it into a surprisingly useful media format converter and editor
Perian*: Free. Allows QuickTime to show more media formats
LCDTest*: Free. Expose banding and dead pixels in your LCD
Stuffit Expander*: Free. Decode most compressed archive formats
Hazel: £8. Very clever automatic rules-based file manipulation
Default Folder: £16. Finder Open & Save dialogue-box enhancer, making the Finder rather easier to use
Little Snitch*: £12. Alerts you when an application wants to make a network connection, e.g. to send your credit card details to the Russian mafia (or Adobe)
Default Apps*: Free. Allows you to choose your default mail and browser applications and select which application opens (or not) when you double-click on a file, amongst many other functions
Virus Barrier: £35. Anti-virus, not that we really need it except as a defence against Microsoft Office macro viruses
ClamXAV: Free. Most of what Virus Barrier does
CDRevolution: £15. For cloning CDs, something the Finder doesn’t do
Toast: £70. Advanced CD, DVD and Blu-Ray disc burning for when the Finder’s built-in burning won't do what you want
Odds and sods that don’t fit into any of the above categories, in no particular order…
Undercover: £20*. Track and recover your stolen Mac 1Password: £20*. Secure password and login storage with browser and iPhone integration: the one I now use Web Confidential: £10. Password, personal info and serial number manager using encrypted database PithHelmet*: Free. Ad-blocker for Safari TextWrangler*: Free. Advanced text editor FireFox*: Free. If a site won’t work with Safari, it’ll work with FireFox. Forget Internet Explorer NetNewsWire: £15. The best RSS newsreader Flip4Mac*: Free. Supersedes the awful Windows Media Player and allows you to view most Windows Media within QuickTime RealPlayer*: Free. Watch and listen to the BBC QuickTime Pro: £20. Unlocks functionality within QuickTime, turning it into a surprisingly useful media format converter and editor Perian*: Free. Allows QuickTime to show more media formats LCDTest*: Free. Expose banding and dead pixels in your LCD Stuffit Expander*: Free. Decode most compressed archive formats Hazel: £8. Very clever automatic rules-based file manipulation Default Folder: £16. Finder Open & Save dialogue-box enhancer, making the Finder rather easier to use Little Snitch*: £12. Alerts you when an application wants to make a network connection, e.g. to send your credit card details to the Russian mafia (or Adobe) Default Apps*: Free. Allows you to choose your default mail and browser applications and select which application opens (or not) when you double-click on a file, amongst many other functions Virus Barrier: £35. Anti-virus, not that we really need it except as a defence against Microsoft Office macro viruses ClamXAV: Free. Most of what Virus Barrier does CDRevolution: £15. For cloning CDs, something the Finder doesn’t do Toast: £70. Advanced CD, DVD and Blu-Ray disc burning for when the Finder’s built-in burning won't do what you wantThe List 2010: Useful Software
Software I find useful and that I recommend you to have copies of. It’s categorised by function and accompanied by a sentence of explanation, approximate price and, where feasible, a free alternative. All prices are sterling, and approximate. Some of the links earn me a few bob if you buy by clicking on them. If you don't want to do this, simply Google the application's name, find the vendor's site and buy it that way. Click on the icons below for recommendations.
