...listed in order of usefulness/importance. I describe the applications I actually use but I mention other apps that are highly recommended competitors that you should consider.
iPhone Apps
Free Mac Applications
- Quicksilver (Also consider Launch Bar for ~$50.)
- Absolutely Essential. You can do basically anything from your keyboard with this launcher application. Never use the mouse again for common tasks like opening applications, opening documents, or controlling iTunes.
- Anti-RSI
- Reminds you to take 10 second microbreaks every 5 minutes and longer breaks every hour. It will annoy the hell out of you, but it's for the best. For Windows and Linux: Workrave.
- BibDesk (Also consider Papers for $30-40.)
- Makes using bibtex the only way to go to incorporate references into papers created with Latex. Provides database to manages .bib file and also organizes all those PDFs you have squirreled away somewhere but can never find. Extensive "drag and drop" capability to add new references and to associate PDFs with existing entries.
TIP: If you use the ADS bibtex entry, change "ADS-URL" field type to URL in preferences so link becomes clickable. - Disk Inventory X
- Find those big files hogging your harddrive space.
Text Wrangler.There are lots of reasons, except price, to like Textmate (~$55) better
Mac Applications Worth Paying For
- Textmate (~$55 depending on the weakness of the USD$)
- Excellent text editor and project manager for LaTex, HTML, etc.
- Graphic Converter ($34.95)
- Powerful image editing program. Converts PS/EPS to JPEG/GIF, crops images, and much, much more. Has all the basic image manipulation (but not creation) functionality of both Photoshop and Illustrator in one cheap application.
- Things ($40)
- Best task management (To-Do) software out there. Syncs with iCal and iPhone.
- Transmit ($29.95)
- Graphical FTP transfer utility that supports drag-and-drop.
- USB Overdrive ($20)
- Take control of your USB peripherals. Make the middle-button click paste in all applications.
- SideTrack ($15)
- A must have app if use the trackpad often. Use the edges to scroll, assign corner-taps to be useful shortcuts like middle-click, back, or paste.
ShapeShifter ($20)Not Leopard (OS 10.5) Ready- Change the look of your desktop and applications. All that bright white is not good for your eyes.
TIP: I found the BBX Mercury X theme to work best giving a dark background with good contrast but I had to exclude Firefox.