I still like to recommend PixelNhance from the defunct Caffeine Software team. You have to download it with a bunch of other stuff that may or may not be useful though, like Curator (iPhoto-ish) and Cycles (CPU meter) and of course TIFFany. It's less valuable now that iPhoto 5 has most of PixelNHance's functions, but it's free, lightweight, ties into iPhoto nicely, and does a good job with slightly better tools than iPhoto and has a couple tools that iPhoto 5 lacks.
gamehouse.com has some great software and many are very affordable...
my mom and dad weren't too computer savy and the games have made the computer more "fun" for them...
It helped with the approach avoidance... they barely used the old HP machine. I bought them an iMac G4 2 years ago and now they're slowly moving from novice to a more comfortable computer user.
I was surprised how much mom and pop liked the games.
I also got them a .Mac membership and have shown them how to do backups and post photos to from thier digital camera.
They can't believe how easy it is. They couldn't do anything on their HP and they are loving the iMac more and more each day.
It took my dad about 6 months before he was willing to really start playing with iTunes... but now he's burning CDs for all his friends and loving it.
baby steps.... if they're new to computers or simply new to Apple... baby steps... and before long they'll be pros.
i really dig wclock. i don't understand why they took the date away from the menu clock in os x. so now i have it back and a handy calendar that pops up when i click on the time.
i really dig wclock. i don't understand why they took the date away from the menu clock in os x. so now i have it back and a handy calendar that pops up when i click on the time.
I think date is not critical enough to take permanent screen space. Without utilities you can see it by clicking on the time, which is good enough IMO. Also it might have had to do with Apple's decision that the iCal icon constantly displays day, and most people remember which month and year it is.
i really dig wclock. i don't understand why they took the date away from the menu clock in os x. so now i have it back and a handy calendar that pops up when i click on the time.
You could always find where Window Clock is located and duplicate it. Move the copy to the application folder and include it in your startup pane. Open Window Clock and set it for the time/calendar diplay. Of course, it will appear on your desktop, rather then in the menu bar, and you'll still have the normal clock display in the menu bar. This works great if you're using two displays or have a large monitor with plenty of screen real estate.
I think date is not critical enough to take permanent screen space. Without utilities you can see it by clicking on the time, which is good enough IMO. Also it might have had to do with Apple's decision that the iCal icon constantly displays day, and most people remember which month and year it is.
it's simply a matter of opinion. i GREATLY prefer having the date in the toolbar and don't understand why they took away at least the option to leave it in. clicking on the time to get the date display is an annoyance to me.
Comments
tansparent dock (hate the translucent dock)
ONYX (maintainence)
Monolingual (to free up hudreds of megabytes of language files you dont need)
Pithhelmet for Safari (block all useless ads, etc)
MenuMeters (processor, ram, network traffic...)
Contextual menu must haves (not sure your mom will use em...)
GrimReaper (get rid of resource file and thumnails, etc)
PhotoTool (convert to different formats, resize, batch rename, etc etc)
QuickImage
FinderIcon (quick and easy icon copy/paste)
apps:
GmailStatus (if you got gmail)
BluePhone elite (if you use bluetooth and phone)
VLC (www.videolan.org)
Mplayer (as backup, but I've never needed it so far)
Then, I always download latest Shockwave and Flash player plugins when I get on a new Mac.
Thats about it
This thing is really going to make me get a Mac sooner than expected. I love finding cool little freeware apps. My PC is loaded with them.
Originally posted by ZO
ONYX (maintainence
This one rocks.
XFactor
Adium
DVDBackup/MactheRipper
Adobe Reader 7
Realplayer
Windows Media Player
and this is technically shareware:
GraphicConverter
One of my favs is icomic (daily comic strips).
Camino ExtraPrefs
gCount
Adium
Searchling
gamehouse.com has some great software and many are very affordable...
my mom and dad weren't too computer savy and the games have made the computer more "fun" for them...
It helped with the approach avoidance... they barely used the old HP machine. I bought them an iMac G4 2 years ago and now they're slowly moving from novice to a more comfortable computer user.
I was surprised how much mom and pop liked the games.
I also got them a .Mac membership and have shown them how to do backups and post photos to from thier digital camera.
They can't believe how easy it is. They couldn't do anything on their HP and they are loving the iMac more and more each day.
It took my dad about 6 months before he was willing to really start playing with iTunes... but now he's burning CDs for all his friends and loving it.
baby steps.... if they're new to computers or simply new to Apple... baby steps... and before long they'll be pros.
Firefox
Firefox extension - Permit Cookies 0.5
Thunderbird
Adium
Handbrake
Safari utility - AcidSearch
VLC
MPlayer
Windows Media Player
NeoOffice/J
CyberDuck
Vim
Originally posted by admactanium
i really dig wclock. i don't understand why they took the date away from the menu clock in os x. so now i have it back and a handy calendar that pops up when i click on the time.
I think date is not critical enough to take permanent screen space. Without utilities you can see it by clicking on the time, which is good enough IMO. Also it might have had to do with Apple's decision that the iCal icon constantly displays day, and most people remember which month and year it is.
Originally posted by admactanium
i really dig wclock. i don't understand why they took the date away from the menu clock in os x. so now i have it back and a handy calendar that pops up when i click on the time.
You could always find where Window Clock is located and duplicate it. Move the copy to the application folder and include it in your startup pane. Open Window Clock and set it for the time/calendar diplay. Of course, it will appear on your desktop, rather then in the menu bar, and you'll still have the normal clock display in the menu bar. This works great if you're using two displays or have a large monitor with plenty of screen real estate.
Originally posted by Gon
I think date is not critical enough to take permanent screen space. Without utilities you can see it by clicking on the time, which is good enough IMO. Also it might have had to do with Apple's decision that the iCal icon constantly displays day, and most people remember which month and year it is.
it's simply a matter of opinion. i GREATLY prefer having the date in the toolbar and don't understand why they took away at least the option to leave it in. clicking on the time to get the date display is an annoyance to me.
Keep it up, guys. And to make it easier for the rest of us, make sure you link directly to the app.
Heh, sorry.