My Favourite OS X tools
I’ve been meaning to write down the set of software I use with OS X on a daily basis. It has taken me a couple of years to refine this set. OS X is a great operating system to start with. This is the cream.
Desktop Search/Launcher
The latest and greatest thing to make a big difference is Quicksilver. Hard to describe all it can do. At the basic level, you hit a hotkey, in my case Command-space and then start typing what you want. The name of an application, file, bookmark, contact, … and Quicksilver presents you with a list. You choose. It remembers for next time. I hardly ever use the dock anymore. Quicksilver has a plugin architecture that is constantly being added to, meaning that it can often perform functions inside applications. Like select a playlist from iTunes or something. Simply wonderful.
Writing/Editing
BBEdit is my tool of choice for writing and editing text, html and script languages. It is reliable and solid and works well under OS X. I use it for creative writing, blog posts, todo lists and just about everything else. I will use Microsoft Word for final documents, but I do all the source writing in BBEdit. It doesn’t get in the way. I’ve use both vi and emacs a lot in the past and still do on linux and windows. BBEdit is just better on OS X. Worth the money.
Browser
Two favourites. I use both Safari and Firefox. Safari wins for having that OS X sleek simplicity. Firefox wins for compatibility and extensions, like the Web Developer toolbar which I love. I’m in a Safari mood at the moment. Thankfully it is easy to move bookmarks back and forth between these two. Oh, Safari really benefits form the addition of Saft.
I use and enjoy Mail.app. Again, nice and simple. I like the open storage of Mail. Entourage databases scare me.
Calendar/Todo lists
I use iCal. Works for me. It has got a lot better in the last couple of version. Clean lines and simple. I wish it was better at inviting people via email. That side of things is a bit clumsy.
I use PyGTD and BBEdit to manage my To do lists.
IRC
I use IRC a lot when working. So, I was really pleased when Colloquy came along. Very Tidy.
Instant Messaging
Lots of sucky IM clients for OS X. iChat is ok, but it annoyingly loses the server frequently and has to be logged back in manually. Presence lost. However, the Skype implementation of IM is nice and it always manages to stay automatically connected without creating a fuss. Plus, I love the way it works. Read about the protocol (pdf, 300k). It is all peer to peer!
Java Development
I use Eclipse for Java development. Hard not to love it. Free and fully featured and reliable and heavily extensible.
And the rest…
iPodderX Lite for podcast downloading. NetNewsWire as an RSS reader, most of the iApps for various things. Address Book for contacts. Terminal for just about everything else.
That covers most of it.
Apple Mail is pretty weak. There are no problems with Entourage, maybe you are still thinking of Claris Emailer? I have over 9,000 messages, nary a problem.
FireFox really isn’t mac worthy. Camino is a much more polished OSX browser, FF is too PCesque.
I didn’t even mention Camino, did I. Used it for a while. Didn’t like it. I’d rather Firefox.
As for Entourage, where are the 9000 messages? I’ve had to try and put a broken Entourage database before and it was scary. I prefer the openness of a bunch of files on disk that I can access with half a dozen other clients if I needed to.
Each program does something the others don’t. Mail’s “redirect” features allowed me to upload my local inbox back to a server inbox when another misbehaving email client failed to leave the messages on the server like I’d asked it to.
Having said that, I do prefer Thunderbird and Firefox to Mail, Safari and Camino. I have all 5 installed on my iBook and switch between them. Firefox’s extensibility is a selling point all by itself. I love using the AdBlock extension to kill CPU hogging Flash ads on the websites I visit. (Before you bring up Pith Helmet or some other shareware, keep in mind that Firefox extensions are free.)
Thunderbird is great for composing HTML messages, and I can link to images without having the email automatically attach them. (I know everyone hates HTML email. This is for opt-in mailling lists for work and for my band. I do not spam people.)
Overall, I can imagine getting through my day using only Firefox and Thunderbird, but the same isn’t true of the “Mac-like” apps.