Home / server / Questions / 1285
In Process
Mark Norgren
Asked: 2009-05-01 09:03:41 +0800 CST

What is your list of programs to install to Mac OS X after a fresh install?

  • 772

Similar to the Windows question, but for Mac OS X.

I am looking for others' list of program that absolutely must be installed to a fresh install of Windows before going any further. I hope to compile a list here to use as reference for all new Windows installs/restores.

See this Question.

I am also looking into automating this, but actually looking for the most recent version from each site. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

mac-osx

19 Answers

  1. Here's my list:

    • Firefox*
    • Adium (IM Client | Multiprotocol)*
    • JollysFastVNC (VNC Client)*
    • X11*
    • Xcode*
    • Macports:*
      • mtr*
      • wireshark*
      • iperf*
      • NMap*
      • Screen*
    • Cyberduck (FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Cloud Files & Amazon S3 Browser)
    • iTerm
    • Growl (GUI Notification system)
    • HandBrake (Everyone loves to rip)
    • Remote Desktop Connection 2.0*
    • Bean (Powerful, yet tiny word processor)
    • Screenlock
    • SimplifyMedia (Share/Access your music - anywhere)
    • Xpad (Tab-based notepad solution)
    • VLC (Media Player)
    • Perian (Support for many video formats)
    • xterm
    • Gmail Notifr (Supports multiple account)*
    • Geektool
    • Boxee

    ... and last, but not least: The Mr. Sparkle screensaver (*LOL)... and others.

    **MUST HAVE ITEMS FOR ME*

    • 8

  2. Here my list (I'm rather new to the Mac, but I recently switched from a Mac mini to a Macbook Pro, so I had this list ready):

    • Firefox (+Plugins: Firebug, Delicious...)
    • iTunes
    • Skype
    • Evernote
    • NetNewsWire
    • Adobe Reader
    • XCode
    • Printer Drivers
    • TweetDeck
    • AppRefresh
    • Google Earth
    • Parallels Desktop
    • Remote Desktop Connection (Microsoft)

    A useful resource to find new software: http://osx.iusethis.com/top

    • 6

  3. I set up a new Mac a couple of weeks ago. As far as I remember these were the first four things I installed:

    • Quicksilver
    • Xcode
    • TextMate
    • Firefox

    As far as automating installs, you may want to check out AppFresh, which links with your osx.iusethis.com account and tries to download and install missing or updated applications.

    • 5

  4. Chicken of the VNC, which is coincidentally the best named piece of software, ever.

    • 4

  5. In addition to some of the others listed, OmniOutliner and OmniFocus.

    • 4
    • Transmit - probably the best GUI FTP/SFTP/SCP/WebDAV/.Mac/Amazon S3 client
    • Http Client - really simple but quite useful
    • Textmate - +1 for this awesome text editor
    • Versions - a nice svn GUI
    • AppZapper - "The uninstaller Apple forgot"
    • Colloquy - IRC client
    • Adium - multi network IM
    • Flip4Mac - windows media plugin for Quicktime
    • Quinn - Tetris (with multiplayer)
    • Superduper - bootable backups
    • VodooPad - personal wiki
    • Pixelmator - stunning image editor. not as featurefull as PS but way way faster
    • SequelPro - MySQL GUI
    • Firefox - of course
    • Chicken of the VNC
    • Tunnelblick - OpenVPN client as the built in one can be a bit flaky
    • Xcode - this is how you get all gcc and all that lovely unixy stuff
    • iStat - a hardware/network stats dashboard widget

    I'm a web developer so my list is probs biased that way and honestly I could do 98% of what I do with Textmate and Terminal (which is pre installed)

    I also do a BootCamp (Windows) install then do a VMWare install using BootCamp as the image. This will be a really sweet setup when the Windows HFS+ drivers are released.

    • 3

  7. You NEED TextMate for programming of any sort.

    • 2

  8. I don't know about "Must Install", but here's a few of my favorites:

    • Adium
    • Fluid
    • Skype
    • VMWare Fusion
    • Remote Desktop Client
    • VLC
    • Firefox
    • 1Password
    • Soundflower
    • LineIn
    • Audacity
    • Inkscape
    • Skitch
    • uTorrent
    • NetBeans
    • 1
    1. MacPorts
    2. Firefox
    3. iTunes
    4. Skype
    5. iStat. Monitors CPU, memory, disks, network, battery, temperatures, etc.

    Those are my top 5.

    • 1

  10. I am using Nödvändiga saker för Mac OS X (is in Swedish.)

    • 1