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What Application Do You Use the Most in OS X? |
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 Ever heard the saying "Mac for productivity, Unix for stability, Windows for solitaire"?
I know, it made me chuckle too. But it also got me thinking about the application I use the most on OS X and Windows. Sure it's solitaire for Windows, but on OS X? I had to think for a moment. Here is my list of most used Mac Apps whats yours?
Top 5 Applications in order of usage:
1. iTunes ~ Gold standard of music players
2. Safari ~ Used Firefox/Opera/Mozilla, Safari still the best
3. Desktop Manager ~ Allows multiple desktops, how did I live without this?
4. TextEdit ~ I write everything in this (including my senior project for college)
5. Solitaire Till Dawn X ~ All work and no play. . .
[Gold Medal] Most Used Feature in OS X ~ Spring Loaded Folders
This allows you to drag a file over a folder and, as if by magic, the folder opens to reveal its contents. You can navigate all the way down your file structure with this. Its great.
[Silver Medal] Almost Most Used Feature in OS X ~ Expose
Awsome idea, superbley implemented. What else can I say?
[Bronze Medal] Not Quite the Almost Most Used Feature In OS X ~ Colored Folders
Its just really spiffy to color code all of your icons.
The Best Feature You Have Never Used ~ Services
If you open an application and then click on its name in the menubar you can scroll down to the services feature. This is a very powerful part of OS X that allows you to do screen captures, email selected items, search google, import images, open URLs, speak it in Speach, open it in a different app and a whole lot more. I would encorage you to check it out.
I want to know what you guys think. So, if you post a comment (for readability sake) try to format it like this:
Top 5 Apps
Top 3 Features
Best Little Known Feature
And be sure to give a brief note as to why you made your choices. Happy computing.
-JS |
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March 1 2005, 3:22 PM EDT, by |
Comments:
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| nhmacusr |
3/1/05, 4:24 PM EDT |
Terminal - always have 2 or 3 open
TextWrangler - better than TextEdit and free
iPhoto - I just got married, so I am making a lot of slide shows.
iTunes - with 20,000 tracks in my library I have a lot of listening to do.
GarageBand - One word 'AWESOME!'
Expose - Can't live without this. Without it I wouldn't be able to find my a** if I was sitting on it.
Dock - way better than any other implementation
networking - the hands off configuration works like a charm. I never have to restart networking to get it to work as I hop around networks.
Best little known feature - keychain status icon in the menu bar. You can lock you keychains, open your keychains and lock your screen all from there even if it isn't enabled in other areas. It also lets me see my keychain status in just a glance. Nice little feature. With the keychain access open click View Show status in menu bar.
Man jstoup, yours are really good too. I never really looked at the services before, very handy. I never thought of color coding folders either. I'll have to look at that one.
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| Lruk |
3/1/05, 5:50 PM EDT |
Top 5 apps (in order):
Safari
iTunes
Mail
iCal
Skype
Top 3 features:
Hot corners for expose
iTunes Music sharing via Rendezvous
Fast User switching
Best little known feature:
Debug menu in safari (Populate history ;-) and open page with being 2 useful features)
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| Jonahan |
3/1/05, 7:06 PM EDT |
Top 5 apps:
Safari
BBEdit 7.0 - I use it for text files of all sorts: PHP scripts, articles, notes, you name it. It is always open on any Mac I'm on
Mail
iChat
DragThing
Most used feature: Expose. It took me a while to remember that this is a feature of Panther - it's become such a part of my computer existence.
Almost most used: Tabbed browsing in Safari / Bookmarks
Never used: Filevault - sounds like a cool idea but I'm either too stupid or too trusting to use it ;)
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| matty |
3/1/05, 8:32 PM EDT |
top 5 apps
-quicksilver
-safari
-text edit
-itunes
-Solitaire XL (basic solitaire game with increased sex appeal)
top 3 features:
-Network location switching
-Expose
-Impressive sleep/wake time (I never have to shut my iBook down or wait for it to boot when I want to work)
Best little known feature
-Unix
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| matt8066 |
3/2/05, 12:01 AM EDT |
TOP 5 APPS
-quicksilver
-adium
-camino
-itunes
-ical
TOP 3 FEATURES
-Zero Config Networking
-Expose
-Apple Spell (i love how a spell checker can be implemented in anything!)
BEST LITTLE KNOWN FEATURE
Great growing list of open source and freeware apps :)...i switched to mac about 3 years ago, and switched back to windows about a year later cause there was just too much software that my friends (the windows world) would send me to try out, and i couldn't run. Even though i switched back, i kept the mac for my wife, and i still mess around on it a few times a week. i have to admit, the number of cool programs coming out for the mac has certainly increased over the last few years :).
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| Jeff |
3/2/05, 2:34 AM EDT |
TOP 5 APPS
*firefox
*mail
*ecto
*adium
*itunes
TOP 3 FEATURES
*expose
*apple spell rocks
*its not Windows
Best Little Known Feature
*As a brand new mac user, I have no clue...
i keep trying to use Apple Key > Quit on my Dell at work. Makes me wish I had one of these there.
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| TriangleJuice |
3/2/05, 7:32 AM EDT |
Top 5 Applications in order of usage:
1. Safari ~ Simly the best internet experience + tabbed browsing is great.
2. iLife ~ I use every app of it on a daily or weekly basis (and it was easier to put them all together under one number).
3. Pages ~ Bye AppleWorks!
4. iSync ~ Can't live without anymore (iPod, GSM, .Mac).
5. Xcode ~ Easy programming!
[Gold Medal] Most Used Feature in OS X ~ Exposé
I'm really confused and then saddened whenever I press the F9/F10/F11 keys on another OS!
[Silver Medal] Almost Most Used Feature in OS X ~ Column View
Try it and you'll see it's much easier to browse.
[Bronze Medal] Not Quite the Almost Most Used Feature In OS X ~ Colored Folders
If they'd just colored the text of the file (or at least give the option) it would be ten times better.
The Best Feature You Have Never Used ~ Cmd-Shift-4 and then Spacebar.
It allows you to take pictures of objects (e.g. a window, the Dock, toolbars, …).
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| lumpy |
3/2/05, 9:54 AM EDT |
Top 5 Apps
safari
Photoshop
TNTmips
Vectorworks
mail
Top 3 Features
x11 (and all the Unix apps used)
print to pdf
colorsync
Best Little Known Feature
off button
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| Glenn |
3/2/05, 11:11 AM EDT |
Top 5 apps:
1. Path Finder (Finder replacement that kicks serious ass)
2. Quicksilver (my right arm)
3. Tie: Firefox / Omniweb
4. NetNewsWire
5. iTunes
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| Tom Barta |
3/2/05, 11:19 AM EDT |
Mozilla
BBEdit
Graphic Converter
Transmit
Calc Service (DEVON)
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| bobs18 |
3/2/05, 12:42 PM EDT |
1.Omniweb
2.Acrobat
3.Nisus
4.Mariner Write
5.Mariner Calc
I am retired. My computer use is concentrated on searching the web for Christian writings and commentary for the use in teaching Christian principles.
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| sam_head |
3/2/05, 1:55 PM EDT |
Top 5 apps:
Dreamweaver MX 2004 .01 - code/wysiwyg/css view at same time with two monitors
Safari - right click for open link in new tab, looks fantastic
Mail.app - couldn't live without it.
iChat - love the video conf, even with PC AIM users
VLC - watch anything
MS RDC - OK this is 6th but having controlling a networked PC from a window is still useful.
Top 3 features
Expose - remapped to F1 F2 F3 so not to interfere with DW F12 (test page in Safari)
Dock - moved to right, App folder in bottom
Energy Saver - sleep when a few minutes after leaving
Rarely used neat feature - Spell checking service. Even in Safari posts.
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| John |
3/2/05, 2:28 PM EDT |
1. Tex-Edit Plus - great text handling, Applescript support
2. Graphic Converter - slide show, browser, open anything
3. Safari
4. Stone Studio Create
5. Nisus
Top three features
1. 'Print" anything to a pdf file
2. Expose
3. Screen shots -Cmnd shift 4, etc.
Best little known feature -
Contextual menus. Fastest way to send something to the trash is control click. Open a file with a specific application. Control click. Not sure what else to do with a file. Control click.
One more is services. Still learning that one. Download the free omnidictionary from the omniweb people. In safari when you see a word you don't know highlight it then the Safari/Services menu choose Define in Omnidictionary. Fastest dictionary on the planet.
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| won |
3/2/05, 2:46 PM EDT |
1. LaunchBar - An alternate OS would have to sport this functionality for me to buy it.
2. Eudora - The Bruce Lee of email apps.
3. Speed Download - Hey, I paid for it.
4. NetNewsWire Lite - Neato.
5. Mozilla - Safa-who?
_________
Three Most Used Features of OS X
a. Exposé
b. The Dock (like I have a choice)
c. Volume keys on the keyboard
I've extended OS X so much that its native features (other than those mentioned above) pale by comparison to the usefulness of things like LaunchBar, Default Folder, LiteSwitch X, FruitMenu, Synergy, Ardiem, WinSwitch, Net Monitor, PTHCPUMonitor & PTHPasteboard, ASM, PullTab, Xounds, MenuMaster, WindowShade, Little Snitch, Firewalk X2 and Labels X. Without these, Panther is about as useful as XP.
_______________
Feature You May Never Have Used
Hot corners for mouse-based Exposé activation (as someone mentioned above).
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| matty |
3/2/05, 7:40 PM EDT |
I changed my mind. after playing around with Solitaire Till Dawn X I agree, because of it's incredible selection of games it leaves other card games for dead.
So, instead of Solitaire XL, I'll nominate SnapClip a fantastic screen capture app. check it.
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| HelenW |
3/2/05, 8:30 PM EDT |
Fast/Simple/Cheap
Safari--drag web image files right to the desktop or into a folder
GraphicConverter--incredible image browser and controls geared for production
MacJournal--the drawer is an instant text file browser
Taco--edits entire folders of html files quickly
Image Capture--the best camera download utility you never knew you already had
Nisus Thesaurus--the right word at the right time
Goliath--browse and upload to iDisks so much faster than the Finder
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| asdasdasd |
3/3/05, 2:55 AM EDT |
1 iCab/Camino (a toss up) ~ best utility and flawless interface vs better rendering
2 Thoth ~ (Come back Brian, many would pay again for a new version)
3 SweetMail ~ a paradox of simplicity and power
4 Media Rage ~ Most powerful ID Tag editor
5 BBEdit ~ Most powerful text editor
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| cAtraXx |
3/3/05, 6:26 AM EDT |
Top 5 Apps
Safari (best Browser i've seen so far)
Mail (Beats Outlook 1500%)
Adobe Photoshop (Can't live without it.)
Preview (Beats ACDSEE)
iTunes (It's simply the best mp3player)
Top 3 Features
Expose (Man, that's one cool idea.)
Dock (Well ... yeah.)
Hiding Apps (Go away ... i don't want to see you anymore. I love it. Much more then it is handled in windose actually.)
Best Little Known Feature
The ability to change the boot-splash by simply editing a pdf file. I love this. I think it should be promoted to feature status.
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| Chucky |
3/3/05, 6:30 AM EDT |
5 Apps I rely on:
OmniWeb - Site Preferences, History fulltext search, saved tabs after quit or crash, and lots more.
NewsFire - I like my RSS reader simple 'n' streamlined.
DEVONthink - Organize and search your library of PDF, RTF, and HTML.
Hog Bay Notebook - Best outliner / notebook for writing and notekeeping.
Mail/iCal/Address Book - Apple's free suite isn't perfect, but it keeps improving.
5 Utilities I rely on:
LaunchBar - More useful than the competiton, IMHO.
QuicKeys - If you appreciate the power of macros, you need this.
Codetek Virtual Desktop - It doesn't totally suck.
WindowshadeX - I keep a stack of minimized-in-place windows, and save the dock for apps.
WeatherPop Advance - Handy weather in the menubar.
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| HTML Samurai |
3/3/05, 8:52 AM EDT |
My most used, everyday apps are:
1) Safari
2) iChat
3) Terminal
4) iTunes
5a) TextEdit - For writting (blogging and whatnot)
5b) BBEdit - For coding
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|
3/4/05, 1:54 AM EDT |
everyday apps
1. adium
2. activity viewer - know all, quit all, although i think termincal command top shows more, someone drop me a line if they know
3. toast 6 - burn it all
4. firefox/safari - back and forth
5. ilife suite - digitize your life, i mean come on
best three features/utilities
onyx - quitable finder
ffmpeg - convert video files to anything
ical - multiple calendars in one view
best little known secret
hmm whats not known...
hold option to drag menu icons out of the top menu bar
or
under mail go to window, then previous recipients - you can edit all the email addresses your computer has ever sent from
*Hey guys thanks for all your suggestions I have adapted some programs and ideas...
keychain menu bar
change boot splash
one last thing, if you're particular like me, check this program out "Preferential Treatment" You can verify and modify all your preference .plist file, which can get left behind over time.
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| DWMiller |
3/4/05, 9:33 AM EDT |
Top 5 Apps
1. Safari- Beautiful, simple, streamlined
2. Mail- Very slick, Doesn't bog down like a MS Mail client I know.
3. Adobe CS- Big Bold Beautiful
4. iTunes- Self explanitory.... but backward alphabetical order.... when did first names become the standard for organization???
5. TinkerTool- Best feature of that is both scrollbar arrows on top and bottom
Top 3 Features
1. No hassel networking... I recently had the "pleasure" to help my fiancee attempt to get her work windows machine to use our home wireless internet connection..... about an hour later she got online.
2. Integrated PDF creation/viewing support. How can you live with out it?
3. Archive- don't have it on my 10.2.8 machine, but my fiancees 10.3.x does....
Best Little Known Feature
The box they ship in. Now that's just down right sexy. When was the last time you sat back and really adored the box a product came in? Your printer came in a crappy box with the pseudo form-fitted styrofoam inserts, but your Mac came in a box that was elegant, whose styrofoam insert perfectly fit the machine, and contained nooks for the software and the cords. Those folks.
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| Mauricio |
3/10/05, 10:40 AM EDT |
- Safari/Mozilla: they are both beautiful and efficient
- Mail: replaced all my email software I have used before. Love it.
- Pages: Good word processor, No MS word, but does what I need without all the "clutter" of MS word.
- Sherlock - Love this. I translate alot of quotes, words for personal use and this application is God sent. With stock, news, dictionary/thesaurus, etc... I love it
- iCal: Love its style and colors and use. Buggy sometimes, but not frustratingly as some windows cals.
Most Used Feature in OS X: Expose. I now work in disgust with windows at work. hate manually switching back and forth with windows
Almost Most Used Feature in OS X: Dock placement - still can't quite figure out where I like it the most.
The Best Feature You Have Never Used: those darn shortcuts. Coming from the darkside, its hard to get used to. HOwever, once you learn is so cool. I have saved miles on mouse usage.
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Deep Thoughts |
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If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy.
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