Once the gift-giving holidays arrive, the lucky among us will find new Macs among our haul. Part of the fun of owning a Mac is acquiring some goodies to go with it. In this post, we’ll focus on software. Specifically, the 10 apps you’ll absolutely want on your new machine. WIthout further delay, here’s our list (all prices are USD).
1. Quicksilver (free)
[The Quicksilver page appears to be down, here’s an alternate. – Ed]
This is absolutely, positively the first piece of software I install on every new Mac. In fact, I dislike using a Mac without it. Quicksilver is a utility which, at first, appears to be a launcher. That is the most popular way to use it. Assign a hotkey combination to elicit its minimal window (there are several designs to choose from), type the first few letters of your target app, hit return and presto! Your app launches. This also works with URLs, contact names and phone numbers…on and on. Plus, the more you use it, the smarter it becomes. Now I can just hit “Command-Space-T” to open TUAW, even if a browser isn’t running. It’s a huge time-saver.
Of course, that’s barely the beginning of what Quicksilver can do. A huge number of other apps offer Quicksilver support. For instance, you can upload files via FTP with Transmit, launch AppleScripts, move files, compose email messages and more, all with a few keystrokes that will get so finely sewn into your muscle memory that conscious thought will be removed from the process.
Not a bad start; our first gift suggestion is supremely useful and free! Now, on to number two.
Continue reading TUAW’s Holiday Gift Guide: 10 must-have apps for a new Mac
TUAW’s Holiday Gift Guide: 10 must-have apps for a new Mac originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.