Reviews
Free Software for the Mac
Monday, September 24th, 2007 | Free Stuff, Reviews, Software | 1 Comment
We all like free stuff. I know I do. When it comes to free software, the Windows world is known to have plenty available. But what about the Mac side of the world? Are there any free applications for the Mac? And the answer is yes. There are free applications for the Mac. Now, when I say “free,” I mean legally free. I’m not talking about any of the pirated stuff.
Now that we established the fact that there is free software for the Mac, the next step is to find it. There are several ways of doing that. You can search Google, visit Apple.com and browse around in the OS X section, or you can visit other freeware directory sites. But there is one other way. And this way is MacLibre.
I’ve found this to be the easiest way to find, download and install free Mac software. MacLibre is a small program that aggregates freeware applications for Mac and allows you to download and install these applications from one simple user interface.
MacLibre organizes these applications into five categories.
- Create – image editing and authoring and audio editing programs
- Internet – web browsers, instant messengers, email and RSS
- Multimedia – video and audio players and rippers
- Office – productivity software such as word processors and spreadsheets
- Utilities – desktop management, anti-virus scanning and terminal enhancing applications
Some of the titles that you will find in MacLibre are:
- Audacity – software for recording and editing sounds
- Gimp – application similar to Photoshop for editing and authoring images
- Adium – an instant message client that supports protocols such as MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, AIM and others
- Cyberduck – FTP and SFTP client
- Firefox – open source web browser
- Thuderbird – open source email application
- Vienna – a free application for reading RSS feeds
- MPlayer – a media player that plays a variety of DivX and other codecs
- NeoOffice – an open source office application that includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentation, vector drawing and database applications
- ClamXav – an antivirus scanner
- VirtualDesktop – a desktop manager for Mac
These and other applications are available for download and installation through MacLibre. To begin enjoying these free programs all you need to do is install MacLibre.
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First Impressions of a MacBook Pro
Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 | Mac Resources, Reviews | No Comments
This is the third week since I purchased my MacBook Pro. I think some first impressions are in order. Basically, I love the machine. It runs great, it looks beautiful and I am happy with the purchase. This is the short version of my first impressions. For those of you interested in more detail the longer version is after the jump.
10 Month Report – It Just Works
Sunday, January 28th, 2007 | Mac Resources, Reviews | No Comments
The small things I appreciate about Mac OS X.
Its been 10 months since I purchased my first Mac. Its still the only one I own. That’s a testament to two things. One, that I’m not very rich and can’t afford to buy another one, even though I’d really love to. Two, it means that the original one still works great and doesn’t need replacement.
In these ten months I’ve learned that the claim of Apple Inc. is true. Macs just work. During this time I haven’t had to worry about viruses, performance, maintenance or service. I pick up my PowerBook G4 and it just works. I’ve also began to notice the little things that make Mac a great machine to use.
One of these little things is the red dot in the top left corner of every window. When you’re working in TextEdit, Word, Pages, or OmniGraffle and you have unsaved changes the red dot has a smaller concave dot inside it (See image). It is a great visual indicator that the file is not saved in its current state. Windows XP doesn’t provide such visual feedback. Since my day job requires me to use Windows, I’ve noticed how much I miss this small but very useful aspect of the Mac OS X.
What aspects of the Mac do you appreciate and love?
Did Microsoft Copy OS X to Create Windows Vista?
Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 | Mac vs Windows, Reviews | No Comments
Technology columnist David Pogue at New York Times doesn’t think so. Or does he? Apple posted a review of Windows Vista on its site. When I saw it, I couldn’t help but wonder, is Apple trying to bridge the divide, reach across the isle? Or is this another attempt to mock Microsoft? Questions were flying through my head. So, I didn’t delay much longer and clicked on the link. To find out what happened next, you’ll have to click on the link too.  Review: Windows Vista.
Once you’ve seen the video let me know what you think.
Camino – Open Source Browser for Mac
Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 | Free Stuff, Reviews | 1 Comment
I’ve mentioned this before. It’s wise to keep at least one other browser on your Mac beside Safari. Safari is a good browser, however periodically you may encounter sites that don’t work well in Safari. In times like these an alternate browser is vary handy.
There are several browsers you can have as backup. The famous open source browser Firefox is a good alternative. Also, OmniWeb by Omni Group is another good choice, although you’ll need to purchase a license. But there is another possibility that works very well and will not cost you a dime.
Camino is a browser build on the same technology as Firefox. However, it is build specifically for Mac. Its interface is a better match for the OS X look. It is simple and runs well. In my opinion it runs a little faster than Firefox. If you’re used to Firefox and rely on various add-ons, Camino will be limiting for you. But if you need a browser that is quick and will display just about any web page, Camino is a great alternative or simply a backup browser to Safari.
Camino offers a good set of essential features. It comes with tabs, which many of us have come to love and expect in a browser. In addition, Camino will block pop-up windows as well as any other web advertising if you so choose. It has a preference option to prevent sites from moving or resizing your browser window. And since its a Mac application, it uses Keychain to store logins and passwords.
Visit www.caminobrowser.org to take Camino for a test drive today.
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