2011 Mac Apps (by Wesley Fryer)

ARCHIVED 12-11-2011

Update 28 Dec 2010: I'm in the process of doing a complete clean installation of all my applications on a new MacBook Pro laptop. Applications are listed below in the order I've reinstalled them. For a comprehensive list of apps I use (as this reinstall process moves forward) please refer to my December 2010 archive page.

The following codes apply: C = Commercial, F = Free or Open Source, N= No longer available as far as I know.

  1. Google Chrome (F) - fastest web browser on the planet
  2. RipIt (C) - create mp4 compressed versions of DVD movies you own to use on iOS devices (a free version is available, I use the paid/commercial version.)
  3. Evernote (F) - save searchable, taggable notes to the cloud for access on multiple devices
  4. TextWrangler (F) - fantastic text editor, supports GREP search and replace
  5. MarsEdit (C) - best offline blog editor I've used to date, I write 95% of all my posts with MarsEdit
  6. Ustream Producer (F) - webcast live via Ustream, including screensharing
  7. iDemo (C) - iOS device screensharing via ScreenSplitr (*more info)
  8. Monitor Mode (F) - display live image of iSight or other USB webcam on your computer, nice for live demos
  9. iGlasses (C) - allows rotation and flips with webcams
  10. Skitch (F) - screenshot annotation tool which can post directly to Flickr (commercial version also available)
  11. CamTwist (F) - permits video source changing, useful for Ustream webcasts
  12. FireFox (F) - extensible web browser
  13. Flash Player (F) - from Adobe, to play Flash video in web browsers
  14. Growl (F) - background notification service
  15. Office 2008 (C) - productivity software: I opt for a custom install with Word, PPT and Excel - English versions only.
  16. MacFreeLance (C) - create and manage invoices
  17. Audacity (F) - multi-track audio editor
  18. Audacity LAME Library (F) - export MP3 format files
  19. Skype (F) - audio and video conferencing
  20. Call Recorder for Skype (C) - record Skype audio and video calls
  21. Cyberduck (F) - ftp client
  22. Scratch (F) - iconic-based programming environment for telling stories, making animations, creating games, and more (resources here!)
  23. SeaShore (F) - Mac port of the free image editor The Gimp
  24. MPEG Streamclip (F) - video format converter, handles FLVs too
  25. Perian (F) - video codec support for QuickTime, required to open FLVs by MPEG Streamclip
  26. Switch (F) - compress and convert audio files into multiple formats
  27. Flickr Desktop Uploader (F) - upload images to Flickr
  28. FeedForAll (C) - create and upload RSS / web feeds
  29. BackOff (F) - Disable automatic iOS backups in iTunes
  30. Adobe Air (F) - Platform for Adobe Air applications
  31. Appsfire Sync (F) - Adobe Air application for creating on Appsfire iOS apps list (this app doesn't work for me, however)
  32. VMware Fusion (C) - Run virtualized operating systems, including Win7
  33. The Levelator (F) - normalize WAV and AIFF files for audio podcasts
  34. Sceenflow (C) - professional screencasting software for Mac
  35. Astrill (C) - VPN for secure Internet use on public wifi hotspots, software is free but service is commercial
  36. Firesheep (F) - FireFox plugin demonstrating security vulnerabilities of open wifi hotspots (background)
  37. PDFsam (F) - merge and split PDF files
  38. Handbrake (F) - Rip DVDs to iOS m4v formats
  39. Air Display desktop client (C) - remote control computer via iPad (iPad version costs $, desktop download is free)
  40. Doceri desktop client (C) - remote control computer via iPad (iPad version free, desktop download costs $)
  41. Audio Hijack Pro (C) - multi-function computer audio recording utility
  42. Caffeine (F) - keeps display on during presentations (adjusts monitor sleep/screensaver settings)
  43. Kindle for Mac (F) - read Kindle eBooks on your Mac

Other stuff that's not software, but is computer-setup related:

  1. My custom hard drive icon is from the Iconfactory's LOTR collection (I'm a big fan of custom icons)