Mark's Notebook


	Only a mediocre person is always at his best. - W. Somerset Maugham

Mac Programs I Know and Maybe Love

Monday 15 November 2004, 5:44 pm
Keywords: Computer Topics

These are the programs I use regularly on my Mac G4 tower. I'd like to really say they are the "best", but my comments might sometimes indicate otherwise. So don't necessarily take this list as a recommendation.

Since I had to re-install all of these within the last day, it seemed like a good time to enumerate them.

Applications

Eudora email. I've been using Eudora on every kind of computer for 10 years.
Backup Toolkit, from FWB Software (no longer supported, but works well.)
Peak LE and Deck LE, from BIAS. These are music and audio editing programs. I use these products, but I don't recommend them. They are not necessarily as easy to use as competing products. And registering them is always a nightmare, even when just upgrading.
Adobe Acrobat 6, For posting cue sheets and fliers online.
Code Warrior, from Metrowerks, a development environment for Mac OS X.
MP3 Rage, from Chaotic Software, lets you manipulate the fields in MP3 files.

Vital Utilities

Doublecommand key swap extension, from Michael Baltaks. I use this program to swap keys on my Microsoft keyboard, to make it easier (on my wrists) to use it with a Mac. Specifically, I swap the "control" and "command" keys (to a PC user, that's the "control" and "Windows" keys).
Launch Bar, from Objective Development. An amazing file launching program.
Lite Switch X, from Proteron, an application switching program.
A funny graphic from the Proteron page:
(The rest of their site is equally informative.)

Internet Stuff

Yahoo Messenger, for chatting with my son Matthew who is serving with the Marines in Iraq. This is our newest toy. Well, except for the Logitech webcam we bought to use with it. My computer crashed when I tried to install the Logitech software. Maybe a coincidence.
Mozilla and Firefox, from Mozilla, web browsers that I use for testing my site.
Netscape, a web browser that I use for testing my site.
Opera, a web browser that I use for testing my site.
RBrowser, a graphical FTP program that I use for backing up my web site.
Limewire.

Palm Stuff

Palm Desktop, which I use with a Palm Tungsten C.
iSilo X, which lets you store web pages and whole web sites on your Palm device for later viewing.
Memo Safe, from DeepNet Technologies, which lets you encrypt sensitive information in your Palm's memo pad.
NOTE: The original posting incorrectly said that we were using PDASafeID, a cumbersome program from Handmark.
Documents To Go, from Dataviz. Lets you view MS Word and Excel files on your Palm device. Came bundled with the Palm Tungsten C.

All The Usual Suspects

Mac OS 10.2.8, from Apple. I have install disks for 10.3.3 (Panther), but I haven't been brave enough to try it yet.
Graphic Converter, from Lemke Software. This program came bundled with the computer. Nevertheless, it is the best.
Microsoft Office, especially Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.
Toast 5 Titanium, from Roxio. For burning CDs and DVDs.
Real Player, for listening to audio posted online.
Windows Media Player, from Microsoft, for listening to audio posted online.
Safari, from Apple, a browser that comes bundled with the computer. The fastest web browser I have ever used.
Canon i560 printer driver.