just got a person (actually three) to switch to mac, what software is needed ...

thegeldingthegelding
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
that they will want/need/love coming from pc to mac...



i know they all want office (luckily it is relatively cheap at the apple store right now), but what else will wow them...or at least keep them happy??



i was thinking discus for cd label making, graphic converter, weatherpop (yes i know many of you like metrologist better, but pop is prettier and i am freakin superficial damnit)....what else do you recommend??



thanks g

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    I don't know...cool thing, right out of the box Macs come with such great, useful and fun software (Mail, Safari, iChat, the iApps, Quicken, AppleWorks, etc.). All that stuff, plus Office and the others you mention probably covers it for the standard consumer/home user.



    Perhaps a game of some sort, if they're into that? Many people aren't, so I don't know...that might be something best left up to them to decide.



    What comes with the Mac, combined with the things you mention, sound good to me!



    What couldn't a person do with all of that?
  • Reply 2 of 7
    thegeldingthegelding Posts: 3,230member
    true! oh, and the sims...those kids love the sims...little strange taking people freak me out though...when the kids are playing that game i have to leave the room...think i'm back having a bad acid flashback or something....freaky sims, damn them!.....g





    probably limewire of aquisition too



    thieving little brats





    g



    [ 02-05-2003: Message edited by: thegelding ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 7
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Hey, I just thought of a couple:



    - RealOne Player

    - Windows Media Player (although I think that gets installed with Office?)



    Those will, along with QuickTime, ensure that they'll be able to view just about any sort of video they might come across while surfing.



    Although the new Sherlock is pretty snazzy, lots of people still think Watson is a better product. So maybe Watson?



    All kinda depends on what your friends do, or are into (music, gaming, science/tech, writing, graphics, etc.).



    [ 02-05-2003: Message edited by: pscates ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 7
    thegeldingthegelding Posts: 3,230member
    thanks pscates...already got those ready to go...along with AOL instant messanger....i love iChat, but my kids use AOL IM and i think pc people are more comfortable with it...i will show them iChat and let them decide...i really think they will be happy with the iApps and apples bundle mostly...looking at my dock to see what i use everyday that they might like...g
  • Reply 5 of 7
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    I, too, was going through my Applications folder, seeing what I use that doesn't already come pre-installed on new Macs. Here are four things that I really love, however two of them are kinda tied in a bit with graphics and design, so they may hold no appeal to your friends whatsoever. But I'll include them anyway.







    - <a href="http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/"; target="_blank">SnapzPro X</a> - Awesome screenshot app for anyone doing software reviews, tutorials, demos, writing, etc.



    - <a href="http://www.code-line.com/software/artdirectorstoolkit.html"; target="_blank">Art Directors Toolkit</a> A lifesaver (and awesome "Swiss army knife" utility) for those working in the graphic arts: value conversions, color charts, measurements, layout aids, etc.



    Again, the above two might be little too "niche-y" for the typical consumer. But I'll throw them out there because you never know...







    As for a couple that are a little more mainstream and have some wider appeal:



    - <a href="http://www.panic.com/transmit/"; target="_blank">Transmit</a> - Wonderful FTP program (in case your friends need such a thing...building a website, perhaps?)



    - <a href="http://www.disktracker.com/"; target="_blank">DiskTracker</a> - Snazzy little CD-R cataloging app. If you burn lots of CDs (archiving and so forth), this app is GREAT for helping you keep a log of what all you've burned, to which CD (as long as you label the CD itself accordingly to match it's name recorded in DiskTracker). If you've only burned 3 CDs in your life, it's no big deal. But once you get past 10 or so backup CDs...







    I don't lose stuff anymore, that's for sure!



    [ 02-05-2003: Message edited by: pscates ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 7
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,562member
    Show them how to find and use Version Tracker. Then they can find pretty much any software available for the Mac.



    You could also show them the Made4Mac tab on Apple's site for the same reason.



    On a personal note I would suggest Tex-Edit Plus for general text editing and clean up of miscellaneous text and Applescript. See Andy Inhatko's commentary on AppleScript Studio on the final page of this month's MacWorld.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    A browser other than IE is necessary. Safari, OmniWeb and Chimera should all be fine. Keep IE around but show the other browsers as well just so they know how much better they are.



    If they will be doing anything with images, GraphicConverter is an excellent program worth the registration fee. More powerful than iPhoto but less expensive than Photoshop Elements.



    Another program I use is OmniDiskSweeper. It makes it very quick and easy to locate large clumps of files. Like, I check my hard drive one day and *gulp* I just went down from 11 GB to 8 GB free! I just open up Disk Sweeper and find out where that lost 3 GB is hiding. There are a number of other Omni apps, like Graffle and Outliner. I haven't tried those two but I heard they're pretty good.



    Of course all the iApps are great, especially iTunes.



    One other program - MPlayer for OS X. There are some files (like DivX) that don't play well on Macs, but MPlayer has handled everything I can throw at it. It's not the greatest program, but use it whenever you can't view a movie in Quicktime, Real or WMP. Also, get the 3ivx D4 codec and DivX Doctor II from <a href="http://www.3ivx.com"; target="_blank">www.3ivx.com</a> so you can play most AVI files in Quicktime without having to go into MPlayer.



    Last good video program - Cellulo. Basically it lets you make playlists of movies and play them in sequence, so if you have a segmented one you can combine it and it'll transition (fairly) smoothly.



    Of course, VersionTracker is the place to go to find all these.
Sign In or Register to comment.