Linux User Switches to Mac!!!

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Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I finally had to do it, no more installing my own drivers, having constant trouble with this or that, I just wanted peace with my computer, and now I have it. I got a Mac. My question to all of you is:



Am I the only one?



Basically, I am happy. I did opt for a lesser 20" base model IMAC, but the way resources are allocated, I don't need the loud screams of anything higher for my applications and general web surfing. Kudos to Mac on the remote control and interface, very cool indeed. Does anyone have a list of good programs that might make a good freeware guy like me happy? Any suggestions would be appriciated. I already have bootcamp and a few others, but I am new to this whole Mac company thing. I am glad I am giving my buisness to them, not Microsoft and I will continue to.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Feartec View Post


    Does anyone have a list of good programs that might make a good freeware guy like me happy? Any suggestions would be appriciated.



    Go to Macupdate. Use the text filed for searching whatever comes in your mind. You can sort the results by licence (Freeware, Shareware and Commercial).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Feartec View Post


    ...but I am new to this whole Mac company thing. I am glad I am giving my buisness to them, not Microsoft and I will continue to.



    Welcome to the Mac community! But it is the Apple, and not the Mac company.
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  • Reply 2 of 12
    irelandireland Posts: 17,801member
    For a new to Mac user my first instincts would be to recommend: Inquisitor, AppZapper, Quicksilver, Onyx, Burn, Flash player 9, MacTheRipper and SuperDuper. Enjoy!



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  • Reply 3 of 12
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Feartec View Post


    I finally had to do it, no more installing my own drivers, having constant trouble with this or that, I just wanted peace with my computer, and now I have it. I got a Mac. My question to all of you is:



    Am I the only one?



    Basically, I am happy. I did opt for a lesser 20" base model IMAC, but the way resources are allocated, I don't need the loud screams of anything higher for my applications and general web surfing. Kudos to Mac on the remote control and interface, very cool indeed. Does anyone have a list of good programs that might make a good freeware guy like me happy? Any suggestions would be appriciated. I already have bootcamp and a few others, but I am new to this whole Mac company thing. I am glad I am giving my buisness to them, not Microsoft and I will continue to.



    Hi welcome to you.

    Off top of my head i'd say:

    Handbrake, MactheRipper for casual DVD stuff.

    VLC to watch video files, that QTPlayer, DVD Player and /or iTunes can't handle.

    GraficConverter for everything Grafic files related.

    GoogleEarth, in order to google Earth.

    XBattery to monitor battery state (Mobile Computer only)

    coconutWiFi to detect wireless Networks.

    Flip4Mac, a QT plugin that provides WMV functionality within QT



    these among a few others.



    Btw, there is a nice nearly full featured chess program called Sigma Chess.



    SO far.
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  • Reply 4 of 12
    Nope, I have switched from Windows to Linux, back to Windows then to Mac OS X. :-D And I must say, compared to Mac OS X -- Linux is just the tip of the iceberg of what an OS can be.



    Anyway, http://opensourcemac.org/ has all the opensource software you could ever love on a Mac (even some games). And I understand, coming from Linux, you no longer want to pay for your software -- you want it to be free. :-D Well, there you go!



    Enjoy the beauty of Mac OS X.
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  • Reply 5 of 12
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Feartec View Post


    Am I the only one?



    NOPE i did it back in 2005 been a happy bunny since!



    id add mac the ripper and handbrake as well

    check out ART RAGE its free for the demo, but you might like it

    also Gimpshop (like photoshop but FREE)



    just google FREE MAC OSX SOFTWARE.



    and if you have time or leave your comupter running over night (cos it wont crash now!) check out folding at home (F@H) software "InCrease" and feel EVEN BETTER that your using some cycles to cure something.



    welcome to the Apple way of doing things
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  • Reply 6 of 12
    Theres an "Official Helpful Applications Thread" somewhere around...I'll try to find it, if I don't post the link soon do a search for it. It's in the Applications part of the forums.



    Here ya go!
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  • Reply 7 of 12
    kcmackcmac Posts: 1,051member
    Ireland,



    That's one heckuva nice list you have there!



    I'm looking into some of them now.
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  • Reply 8 of 12
    No, of course you are not the only one. I switched (my personal computing) from Linux to Mac via a PPC Mac Mini back in 2005, and am now enjoying the benefits of a brand spanking new Macbook. As is my wife (who switched shortly thereafter from Windows to a Mac Mini and is now also enjoyiing the benefits of a brand spanking new Black Macbook.) There are many of us. Perhaps even legion



    I still use Linux at work when I'm in the office, but the Macbook with Parallels makes it so I don't really need to go into the office. One nice thing about the Mac is that many usefull little bash shell scripts that I wrote on my Linux computers work without modification on my Mac. Of course there is also the ability to take it wherever I go and not need to port things over. I still use my Linux box, and my Windows laptop where necessary (corporate required apps like Sametime and the like) but for the vast majority of my computing needs the UNIX of Apple provide me with all I need. Heck, Parallels makes it so my employer-provided Dell is only used for one thing: storage.
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  • Reply 9 of 12
    feartecfeartec Posts: 119member
    I thank you ALL! Getting information from those who care about the OS enough to sign on and take time out is what I really needed. I found literally thousands of web sites, but knowing what was useful and what wasn't was the big challenge. I installed virtually all the apps suggested and all of them will be very useful indeed.



    As for my getting used to the system, I once again feel like a newbie, but that will subside quickly. I hope to hear good info from ou in the future, and maybie one day I will be able to contribute.
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  • Reply 10 of 12
    I used linux for 4 years in college and am now on a MacBook Pro. I love it. At times linux can be a real pain. I love how I have the power of the linux comand line built into an os thats easy to use and looks nice. I'm sure you'll find that the learning curve of OS X is nearly nonexistant compared to Linux. Within a day or two I felt like a pro in OS X



    Grats on the switch!
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  • Reply 11 of 12
    Depending on what software you like to use, here are a few that I find absolutly useful:



    Growl - A Notifying Service for you Mac.

    NetHack - As a previous Linux user, this is the ultimate in time wasters.

    Pacifist - Sometimes very useful.

    RBrowser - FTP Client. Very close to the Column View in Finder.

    MacFUSE - An open source community that ported FUSE to the Mac, comes with SSHFS with it. I use it every day.

    TNEF's Enough - If you ever get emails from your Windows using people, and it comes as a winmail.dat, this extracts the file for you.

    Transmission - A really nice BitTorrent Application

    Vienna - Has to be hands-down the best RSS client I have ever seen.



    That is all I can think of. Also, welcome to the party, I am glad you could make it.
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  • Reply 12 of 12
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Feartec View Post


    ...

    As for my getting used to the system, I once again feel like a newbie, but that will subside quickly.



    The good news is, actually you can't do anything wrong. The entire system is

    pretty friendly at all kind of Users (including Power Users and not so talented

    Users).



    Quote:

    ...

    I hope to hear good info from you in the future, and maybe one day I will be able to contribute.



    We'll see.
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