Just got a MacBook Pro - which software do you find essential?

Hi everyone,

Just picked up a MacBook Pro and have been out of the Mac scene for about 10 years. I wanted to ask which software you guys find essential, both full programs and Mac app store apps, to give me an idea of what I should look to put on this machine.

Also, do you find it necessary to install boot camp and Windows on your mac? Is it worth it, or just a waste of space?

Unless there’s a specific program that you can’t get for Mac, don’t bother with boot camp. I installed it to play Civ V before it was ported, and did not enjoy the experience of going back.

This thread is a bit dated, but not too much so. Must have Mac software.

What are you going to use the machine for?

[quote=“Jaboney”]Unless there’s a specific program that you can’t get for Mac, don’t bother with boot camp. I installed it to play Civ V before it was ported, and did not enjoy the experience of going back.

This thread is a bit dated, but not too much so. Must have Mac software.

What are you going to use the machine for?[/quote]

basic home computing, word processing, some not-too-complicated video editing of home videos, etc.

I think you’re right re boot camp - i’ll still have my Acer notebook so I can always use that for any essential PC stuff… thanks for the reply!

Then my list for you would be:

Basic video editing: iMovie.
I use Word for word processing.
Growl for notifications
Adium for IM.
Facetime for video chat
Chrome and Safari browsers
Air Video for streaming to the iPhone
iPhoto for 90% of photo stuff; Photoshop 90% of the rest; Lightroom for the remainder (only because I don’t know the workflow routines. It’s likely much better than Photoshop)
MPEG Streamclip for video converting
Vuze for bit torrents

Does your MacBook have the new, HD camera?

First thing is get a few Mac OS tweaks to really get the most out of the combo of that beautiful big trackpad and Mac OS

First, setup Expose and four Spaces
Setup your trackpad to do four finger swipe for Expose
Setup a corner for Spaces and a corner for dashboard
Two finger scroll on webpages
Pinch zoom everywhere, including Office & iWork: addinglightness.com/how-to-add-p … 09-for-mac
Add aero-snap behavior with Multiclutch: addinglightness.com/how-to-get-w … -on-mac-os
This alone will speed up your workflow immeasurably over Windows

Specific apps depend on your use, eg: These are the apps I use most day to day. This stack is a pretty much complete stack to spec, build and manage web and mobile software, which is what I use my machine for. All my other computing, including all computing at home is done on an iPad.
Chrome (most work for me is cloud based or cloud + client based)
iWork
Office 2010
Dropbox
Evernote
Tweetdeck
XCode
Eclipse
Photoshop CS5, Illustrator CS5

For your scenario, I would put iWork, iLife (including iMovie) on the top of the list. The key thing with Mac is to embrace the tight integration of hardware and software and really use that trackpad! :slight_smile:

Bean for OSX is a nice word processor and it’s free. I don’t bother with Word anymore

I really did search for this, but nothing came up. (And sorry to divert from the OPs initial request, I’ll offer my two cents below on that).

I’m weighing up buying a Macbook Pro vs Mac Air at the moment, and I sort of have to pull the trigger on it this week. I use a Mac Mini ( I have 2 in the house) for the house/work, but I do get on the road for work a bit and am sick of the weight of the Macbook I usually use, and plan to give that to my daughter anyway. I could pass the Mac Mini to a mate and use the Mac Air or MacBook Pro hooked up to an external keyboard and monitor at home as the main work-based machine (VPN to the office, mostly anyway).

Which to get, which to get? Aiyo. I really can’t decide. The weight is a factor, and the most critical function for me is to VPN into my crap Windoze office computer, with the rest just for entertainment and net stuff. I have anothe Mac Mini downstairs which is the home entertainment hub, and rigged to a big external hard drive for storage on a household wireless network. Ideas?

Mac software:
Same as Jaboney, actually, with one addition - Thunderbird to consolidate my personal email accounts.
Oh, and definitely - VLC for watching movies.

HG

I have the small version (11") of the MacBook Air, and it’s wonderful. Not just because it’s small and light, but because it’s fast - much faster than my work iMac or the Mini I have at home - and that’s all down to the flash memory. On paper the specs look crappy - 1.4Ghz dual core processor, 2Gb of RAM - but it really does fly compared to much better spec’d machines with traditional hard drives. I use my Air on the road for business trips and now as my main machine at home (the Mini is now a server and home entertainment hub, like yours). Boot time is a few seconds, and pretty much any program I load up bounces a couple of times in the dock, then it’s there - unlike the iMac at work, which now feels like a dinosaur in comparison. Although the purchase was intended as an “on-the-road” tool, it’s no exaggeration to say it could happily replace my work computer.

Like you, I was caught between buying a MacBook Pro and MacBook Air earlier this year - in hindsight, I definitely made the right choice. I don’t need the DVD drive or the extra weight. If I’d had the flexibility (work paid for mine, so I was on a strict budget) I would have gone for the 11" MacBook Air with maxed out RAM, HD and processor. HK$10,648 to you, sir, and it’ll wipe the floor with your previous Macs. The 13" model also looks nice (about HK$14k for a tricked-out version) but the portability was more important to me than a bit of extra juice and screen real estate.

[quote=“WaltzingMatilda”]Just picked up a MacBook Pro and have been out of the Mac scene for about 10 years. I wanted to ask which software you guys find essential, both full programs and Mac app store apps, to give me an idea of what I should look to put on this machine.

Also, do you find it necessary to install boot camp and Windows on your mac? Is it worth it, or just a waste of space?[/quote]
As others have said, only use boot camp if there’s something in the Windows side that you want to use - I haven’t done this, and have only thought about it for games.

Look into OpenOffice. I use that over MS Word now, although I do still use Excel a lot. Scrivener is a highly-rated writing program/ word processor for the authors or graduate students amongst us; I’ve been meaning to buy it for a while but haven’t done so yet.

Toast Titanium is great for getting files on to DVD, should that be something you desire (many say that DVDs are dead, but I still seem to use a lot of them!). Unfortunately Toast comes bundled with lots of other software that I have no use for; perhaps fortunately for your purposes, the latest iteration (#11?) just came out, and the pro version comes bundled with Photoshop Elements - if you want photo-editing software beyond iPhoto, it’s a good deal at around $100-120, depending on what kind of special offer Toast is offering this week.

Evernote is brilliant, especially if you’re also using a smartphone. Keep information everywhere. Sugarsync is also good, if you’re using multiple computers - Dropbox does largely the same thing. All three are free at a basic level, although you’ll have to pay if you want extra online memory or services.

I use Transmission a lot for, um, those files that go on to DVD.

Netnewswire is my current RSS reader of choice.

Skype, for the friends and family that don’t have Macs (i.e. all of mine).

If you’re studying Chinese, iFlash is great, although these days I use Pleco on my iPhone instead.

(Nice Doctor Who avatar. New epsiodes next week!)

Cheers! Taffy! You sir are a freakin’ saint! :notworthy:

Your word is good enough for me. Actually, I might pass the now spare Mac Mini on to the wife, who uses a crappy Windoze laptop. I’ve promised her an iPhone, and I think she should get into bed with the full house on Macs.

To the OP. Using that Boot Camp gateway thing is useful to ween you off Windoze, but it quickly becomes really, really annoying and even more annoying later when you realise all it did was delay the moment you go “Wham!” Getting to know a Mac is cool, and astonishingly easy!"

And yes to Toast Titanium, I paid for it. Although, I’m happy to start weening myself off DVDs and CDs and go for flash memory only. Well, I am getting a Mac Air now after all.

Again, many thanks, Taffy! Will definitely sort you out with a beer, or two. Alternatively, get Mark to! :wink:

HG

[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]
I’m weighing up buying a Macbook Pro vs Mac Air at the moment, and I sort of have to pull the trigger on it this week. I use a Mac Mini ( I have 2 in the house) for the house/work, but I do get on the road for work a bit and am sick of the weight of the Macbook I usually use[/quote]
I remember when you made the switch a couple years ago – effortless click of a well made automobile – and now you’ve got how many?
:smiley:

I absolutely cannot live without Keynote…it’s so much more sophisticated than PowerPoint and I use it every day at work. Fantastic program!

Not bothering to mention any programs that are included

General Purpose
Chrome
MS Office 2011 ($)
Skype
Cyberduck (FTP)
Adium (All-purpose IM Client)
VLC
uTorrent

Utility
Flux
Dropbox
Perian
USB Overdrive

Nerdy
XCode
MacVim
MacPAR Deluxe
SQLite Database Browser

I do not boot camp. There is nothing you need windows for except some games.

Thanks for all the good advice, there are some programs there that I’m sure I will end up using :slight_smile:

Cheers, HGC, you won’t regret it!

A few that haven’t been mentioned so far:

Quicksilver (can’t live without this one)
Coda (all-in-one web coding and ftp program)
Adobe Photoshop & InDesign
1Password (password syncing across multiple computers)
BetterTouchTool (to get the most out of the trackpad)
Things (keeps me a lot more organised than I would otherwise be)
MindNode (used to be scornful of “mind mapping” but I’m using it more and more)

[quote=“Taffy”]Cheers, HGC, you won’t regret it!

A few that haven’t been mentioned so far:

Quicksilver (can’t live without this one)
Coda (all-in-one web coding and ftp program)
Adobe Photoshop & InDesign
1Password (password syncing across multiple computers)
BetterTouchTool (to get the most out of the trackpad)
Things (keeps me a lot more organised than I would otherwise be)
MindNode (used to be scornful of “mind mapping” but I’m using it more and more)[/quote]

Taffy, I’ve never heard of Quicksilver or Things, going to check them out now…cheers! :slight_smile:

[quote=“Jaboney”]I remember when you made the switch a couple years ago – effortless click of a well made automobile – and now you’ve got how many?
:smiley:[/quote]
:laughing: :bravo: Ah yes, I remember the phrase! Superb!

I have three at present, with the fourth, a Mac Air coming tomorrow (Thanks again, Taffy! Old school Forumosan knowledge base at work there. Lubbly!).

Mac Mini - is in my office upstairs at present. The Thai Princess inherits this reformatted into Thai tomorrow, and will lug her piece of shite Windoze laptop back to leave in Bangkok for when she’s in Thailand. However, when that click happens for her liek it did for me, I’m sure it will be given to an extremely grateful niece or nephew! She is doing external study from a Thai university, so she needs her own beast, and in Thai.

Mac Mini - Lounge. Entertainment hub and connected to a big external hard drive. The Thai Princesses watch an incredible amount of free and legal Thai content online on the big screen. For the record, Korean soaps are equally shite dubbed into Thai as they are in Chinese. But I’m assuming you would have guessed that anyway.

MacBook - My old workhorse, given to the 10 year old lil’ Thai Princess but under the proviso that I take it when travelling. I’ll reformat that for her after I get my new Mac Air. She’s now starting to use it for school. She’s also transitioning from a Thai to English based education, and she doesn’t probably know or care, but the work and play she’s doing on the computer in English is a hidden and fun lesson. As it will become completely devoted to her, she can get right into it by setting up her own music, and other preferences and not worry about changing mine.

Airport Extreme - Wireless for the house. Thinking of getting a smaller Airport for travelling. I sometimes take the Extreme for longer hols in Thailand, but I hate fidgeting with the settings when I get back, and it’s bloody heavy.

Mac Air - Arriving tomorrow. I will supe it up, but unsure how much, or how big the screen. Will compare them physically in the shop and decide. I may sacrifice weight for screen size, as I tend to be in front of a screen during periods of very little sleep when I’m on the road with work, and I intend to be on the road more often. A small screen kills my eyes, especially when I’m already tired. It will replace my existing Mac Mini as my office and entertainment hub - connected to a widescreen for telly stuff, and a large monitor and external keyboard and mouse for work in my rooftop office/lair.

iPhone - Haven’t got it yet, but that’s coming soon. Promised for the Thai Princess as a birthday present some time ago, but waited for an unlocked model, so she can swap SIMs when she’s in Thailand. My pair of Princesses often escape back to Thailand to catch the inlaws and dare I say it, eat well over school hols while I lump it with the Cantos. I’m stuck with a crappy Shackleberry, and simply can’t justify carrying two bricks, as much as I’d love an iPhone for myself. Work thing. For compliance reasons it has to be Blackberry and owned by the firm.

On software, I likewise have a friend that swears he can’t live without Quicksilver. I have it, but never pulled it out of the shed. Not really sure what it does.

I forget the name, but there’s some software that lets you see Windows media files on those odd Mac unfriendly websites. Not sure if the one I use is good, it is annoying as it keeps asking for updates but playing the media fine when I decline.

HG

Things is a to-do program that syncs across my computers and iPhone. I’ve tried a number of these kind of “Get Things Done” programs, but Things is the best fit for me.

Quicksilver is basically a smart shortcut program, it has a bit of a learning curve for some of the deeper functions. The most obvious thing to use it for is as an application launcher (for example to launch Photoshop I press Cmd-Space to invoke Quicksilver, then type “ps”, then hit enter). No need to search through your applications folder or keeps tons of icons in the dock. I use it for lots of other things, for example emailing a file (I didn’t make this video, but this is exactly the process I use):

It’s literally that quick - no need to open Mail, drag in the file to attach, type the address, type your message, hit send. Quicksilver is the first program I install on any new Mac, and the one I most feel the lack of if I use a different computer.

Thanks for the advice lostinasia… yeah… what a great Easter gift… waking up sunday morning to a new dr who ep!

HGC - one thing to bear in mind with the Air is that it is not upgradable at a later date, because the RAM and solid state memory modules are soldered directly onto the board, rather than being removable as they are in the MacBook Pro line. It’s done in the name of saving space and weight (and I believe it speeds up hard drive access), but it means that if you decide you want more hard disk space or memory down the line - well, tough shit, basically. So probably better to spend a little more and get something that might be overkill for today, but that you might need in a year or so.