10 Must-Install Mac Applications
I’m a software developer, so bear in mind that my Mac is for working and coding (mostly Objective-C, Java, and Ruby). You won’t find apps for ripping DVDs, viewing videos, or playing Canasta. These are the apps I use over and over to get my job done. Note that I assume a Mac OS X installation, so I didn’t include Safari or Xcode — you’d better have those already installed.
- Visor
Because it’s all about the command line. Having a terminal window a keystroke away, in a predictable screen location, makes the world a better place. - MacVim
The programming world, it seems, is rediscovering the power of vi — and vim really does improve on vi. - Git
If it ain’t in source control, it doesn’t exist. - DropBox
Perfect for backup and for synchronizing files across machines. My dot files, e-books, and documents are always available, whichever machine I’m on. - Alfred
The new kid on the launcher block is my favorite. Be sure to check out the Powerpack as well — worth the money, and I like where they’re going. - Evernote
Best junk-drawer note-taking app keeps it all in the cloud so I get my notes on all my devices. - Kiwi
I get most of my tech news from Twitter, and Kiwi works great. Clean UI, themeable, supports multiple accounts . . . now, if they would just make mouse-less tweeting a reality, it would be perfect. - TotalFinder
The second app from binaryage; no, I don’t know these people. A much-improved finder that gives you tabs, dual windows, folders on top, hidden files. Excellent. - Pixelmator
If I were a graphic artist or a true designer, I’m sure I’d be neck-deep in Adobe’s suite. I’m not, so I’m not. I can get all my graphics needs done in Pixelmator. I dropped GIMP for this. - Eclipse
Java pays my bills. You can’t propose any good reason to develop in a compiled language outside an IDE that compiles on save. Eclipse is still king.
I had to leave off some good stuff (Chrome? Balsamiq Mockups? Transmit? Hyperspaces?) to narrow the list to 10, and I’m sure you’re shocked that I left Tool X or App Y off the list. Get outraged, and let me know in the comments.
I’ve received some reader votes for homebrew (http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/) and zsh (http://makesence.nl/2010/04/zsh-on-osx-2/). Not sure how I missed homebrew, except that it doesn’t have an icon in my /Applications folder. Never tried zsh, but will have to give it a whirl soon!
I’m pretty sure zsh comes with OSX
It does, and it doesn’t like my prompt!
rwarner@w80341d0agz:~/Development$ zsh
\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;36m\]\w\[\033[00m\]$(parse_git_branch)$
sweet
Love your site man keep up the good work
Great information! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks!
nice post. thanks.
Try WireframeSketcher for mockups and wireframes. It plugs directly into your Eclipse IDE.
great post, thanks for sharing
Have you tried elcim with Vim? It takes the magic of Eclipse and integrates it with Vim. I wrote Android apps in it for about a year and it worked out well for me. I don’t know if you can make it compile on save, but it will do autocompletion jump to method definitions and that type of stuff.
I have not tried eclim — I put it on my todo list!