7 days to join the Mac crowd

November 17 2005

A few weeks ago, I wondered whether it was time to buy a Mac.  I was on the fence, trying to decide whether to wait for the Intel chipset, whether it was the right machine, etc.  Well, my daughter made the choice simple.  When we went into the local Apple store, she sat down at the iMac G5 and played for 20 minutes straight, with almost no help from me or anyone else.  3½ year olds don't always feature that kind of attention span, but I could see she was really into it.  Thus, the decision was done.  The fact that it has all sorts of goodies which will help dad's photography, audio collection, and everything else multimedia certainly helps.

So, next Wednesday, day before the US Thanksgiving holiday, I'll be picking up the new machine (thanks, Bob!).  The question now is, besides Dora the Explorer, what are the other "must have" software programs for the first few days of Machood?  I figure posting this today will give me enough time to get ready -- especially since I won't be able to run to the Apple store (or CompUSA or whatever) on Thanksgiving for new stuff.

Ed Brill Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Machead  Add/View Comments [43]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Greg Walrath http://www.univarusa.com/ | 11/17/2005 4:50:40 PM

    Most any of the Jump Start or Reader Rabbit stuff for her age group is good, as are other things that tie in to TV shows or books she likes - Blue's Clues, Dr. Seuss, etc.

  1. 2  Stuart McIntyre macsfacts.blogspot.com | 11/17/2005 4:55:33 PM

    We've finally done it - well done Ed. Great to have you on board the Mac Club...

  1. 3  Mike Brown  | 11/17/2005 4:59:24 PM

    Rumour has it, Ed, that there's a certain groupware client that runs under Mac OS X. Not the latest version though, although I did hear a whisper during a recent visit to IBM South Bank.... Did I hear something about instant messaging too? Mabye I dreamt that.

    As you say, most other stuff you might need is likely to come pre-installed. Safari is the "nicer", as in aesthetically pleasing, browser, and is also very fast. But I'd also stick on FireFox for extra compatability. E.g., the Google GMail rich text editor works fine on Mac Firefox, but you only get plain text for Safari.

    For RSS, NetNewsWire Lite rules, and is free. I've yet to see a Windows RSS client, free or paid for, that comes close to NetNewsWire's ease of use or functionality.

    The rest of the software on my Mac is the usual suspects: iTunes, Photoshop CS, MS Office etc. But they all have Windows versions that are little different. The OS X version of OpenOffice still has a long way to go from what I've seen.

    Cheers,

    - Mike

  1. 4  Oliver Regelmann http://regelmann.ch | 11/17/2005 5:07:03 PM

    I really love Quicksilver: { Link }

    A good alternative to NetNewsWire for RSS is Vienna: { Link }

    And this HowTo might be interesting: { Link }

  1. 5  Oliver Regelmann http://regelmann.ch | 11/17/2005 5:12:53 PM

    @3, Mike (off topic): For a great Windows RSS client look at the actual 1.8 version of Newzcrawler (.com)

  1. 6  Richard Schwartz http://www.rhs.com/poweroftheschwartz | 11/17/2005 5:44:01 PM

    I don't know the name of the program that he used, but in Star Trek IV (The One With The Whales) Mr. Scott did some amazingly fast metallurigical engineering work on a Mac, and it was probably nothing better than a 68020 edition so just imagine what it can do on today's hardware! I think you should get her going on that one right away :-)

  1. 7  Jean-Francois Arseneault http://blog.arseneault.ca | 11/17/2005 6:06:07 PM

    Ed, my daughter has really enjoyed playing Ollo ({ Link } The game is intelligent, entertaining and bilingual (FR/EN). I'm looking to buy her the Moop & Dreadly one next.

  1. 8  Darren http://www.dadams.co.uk | 11/17/2005 6:07:26 PM

    Software for the Mac? One word... Notes ;o)

  1. 9  Ben Rose http://www.jaffacake.net | 11/17/2005 6:33:20 PM

    Well, if you're going to be using it for audio and photography collections I think the first thing you should buy is....

    Backup software!

  1. 10  norm Van Bergen  | 11/17/2005 6:33:35 PM

    Welcome to the fold Ed. You won't regret it, and your daughter will thank you for it. I rarely play a game on any computer, but I bought Myst IV Revelation { Link } and think it's absolutely amazing, especially with headphones.

  1. 11  Ed Maloney  | 11/17/2005 6:41:25 PM

    Most importantly... all the major toddler web sites (pbskids.org,noggin.com,nickjr.com) all work fine with Safari. They Might Be Giants have an interactive music CD called "No" which is highly recommended and also works fine on the Mac.

    Sadly, the only major disappointment you're likely to experience will be with the ND6 client. I love the Mac Mini, but my wife still won't use it.

  1. 12  Wild Bill http://www.billbuchan.com | 11/17/2005 6:55:37 PM

    I suggest Domino Designer ?

    :-)

    ---* Bill

  1. 13  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 11/17/2005 6:57:47 PM

    Bill, my daughter is really smart, but even she would impress me if she started building Domino apps. Besides, I do have the laptop here, so when she starts figuring out @DBLookup, I'm ready. ;)

  1. 14  tonyo  | 11/17/2005 7:39:50 PM

    I can get you a smokin deal on Office for Mac :) (employee discount!)

  1. 15  Wild Bill http://www.billbuchan.com | 11/17/2005 7:51:19 PM

    Ed - I'm in the middle of my daughter learning BASIC. Its scary stuff...

    Course, if you held off for a few months, you could probably get Tiger on Intel on your Thinkpad ? :-)

    ---* Bill

  1. 16  The power to crush the other kids http://kenlin.com | 11/17/2005 9:39:09 PM

    Your story reminded me of this terrific Saturday Night Live commercial { Link }

  1. 17  Bob http://www.bobcongdon.com/blog | 11/18/2005 12:28:24 AM

    @15 Unlikely that Apple is going to let OS X run on existing Intel hardware such as Ed's Thinkpad. Apple makes too much money on hardware sales and have a distinct edge by controlling software and hardware. Also Apple had pretty bad experience with licensing Mac clones before, doesn't seem likely that they'll try this again. And it was Steve Jobs who killed the Mac clone market when he rejoined Apple.

    Rumors are rampant that Apple will release Intel-based iBooks at MacWorld in January.

  1. 18  Bob Obringer http://bob-obringer.com | 11/18/2005 12:47:37 AM

    I heard Domino Designer is outstanding on OSX...

    oh, wait...

  1. 19  AJP  | 11/18/2005 6:04:35 AM

    Notes 7 ...

    Oh, wait....

  1. 20  norm Van Bergen  | 11/18/2005 6:20:48 AM

    My 9 year old daughter has a minimal, locked down login to OSX. We allow her to use the 'net, but only via a very well thought out, kid-friendly browser called "Bumper Car" { Link } . It's well worth the money and has a myriad of parental controls that mean I don't have to hover behind her when she's surfing.

  1. 21  Ben Poole http://www.benpoole.com | 11/18/2005 6:40:28 AM

    My kids love our Macs -- we have two, an iMac G4 and an aged iMac G3. They watch episodes of Futurama on them mainly, and the baby loves "AlphaBaby". TuxPaint is quite popular -- you can get this for free for most platforms:

    { Link }

    As for Notes, I would urge you to install & tinker with the client, if only to see what we Macheads keep bleating about ;o)

  1. 22  Ian http://www.userscape.com/blog/ | 11/18/2005 8:18:09 AM

    Omni Outliner to organize yourself, just amazing

    SuperDuper for backup to a firewire drive

    Transmit for FTP/SFTP

  1. 23  Thom Rosario  | 11/18/2005 9:48:21 AM

    This is gonna be a long one, Ed. Not all of the ones I'll list are necessary for you to get right away, but keep this list handy -- you may want to refer to it if you start to really use the Mac yourself. Some of the apps are specific to web development, but I'll list them for the better of the community.

    1) The FIRST software I install is Launchbar { Link }

    Launchbar's not free, but it's worth it. It's hard to describe, so I'll use their description from the website:

    LaunchBar is an award winning productivity utility that offers an amazingly intuitive and efficient way to control your computer. It provides instant access to thousands of files and folders, contacts and bookmarks, applications and preference panes just by entering short abbreviations of the searched item's name.

    You just hit Command-Space to bring LaunchBar's input window to front, enter an arbitrary abbreviation, and as soon as you start typing LaunchBar displays the best matching choices, ready to be opened immediately.

    2) Next, get Little Snitch (same company) { Link } . Little Snitch filters all outgoing network packets on your machine in much the same way that Zone Alarm does on the PC. Coupled w/ OS X's built-in firewall, you'll be in great shape.

    3) This one's not an app, but get familiar w/ VersionTracker -- { Link } . It's a site that tells you when apps are updated, complete w/ feedback from users (their rss feed is particularly handy). When you're looking for Mac alternatives to Windows software, start there. Most software will state what Windows program they're similar to, so if you search for the Windows software's title, you'll usually get a list of programs that'll suit the need.

    4) Three apps from the Omni Group (OmniOutliner, OmniGraffle and OmniDiskSweeper -- free trials available). { Link } These guys have been writing apps for this API since the NEXTStep days, and their apps have the polish to prove it.

    OmniOutliner is a GREAT list/outliner/to-do list application that helps you create outlines for projects, be they programs, iniciatives... grocery lists... whatever you need. Highly recommended.

    OmniGraffle is essentially Visio, but w/ the nice OSX interface and *some* ability to import/export to Visio.

    OmniDiskSweeper is a tool to help you make extra room on your hard disk by helping you quickly find the biggest space-wasters. It does this by listing the directories on your hard disk, arranged by their size. The free version won't let you delete files from the application, but you can easily switch to the Finder (Windows Explorer) and delete them manually.

    5) LiteSwitch X. { Link } (Shareware) This app replaces the built-in <command>+<tab> switching behavior and adds the ability to hide, quit, force quit and force-quit-restart to the mix. Very handy, but not necessary. As an added bonus, it allows you to resize the small pop-up window that shows all of the running applications.

    6) Growl. { Link } (Freeware) Growl's a system-wide notification app that doesn't really add that MUCH to the OS, but it allows third parties to send a notification pop-up via the same framework, which you can customize to your liking. Think of it as a way to unify the look & feel of the system tray pop-up alerts in the Windows world. Not necessary, but a nice app to have.

    7) Windows Media Player/Flip4Mac. { Link } and { Link } (freeware and shareware) First one's obvious, but it's horrendous. I absolutely can't stand it on the Mac. Flip4Mac lets you play Windows media files in the QuickTime player and even has a web browser plugin. As an added bonus, Flip4Mac Pro lets you export Windows Media files to any of the other codecs that QuickTime supports.

    8) Synergy. { Link } (Shareware) This app puts a customizable set of controls in the menubar that let you control iTunes (w/ button presses, or customizable keyboard shortcuts. It offers Growl support (see #6, above). The thing I *really* like about Synergy is the ability to map keyboard shortcuts to song ratings. I rate all of my songs in iTunes, and being able to press one key command to rate a song, whether iTunes is the front-most app or not is *very* handy.

    9) MenuMeters. { Link } (Freeware) This utility puts some really helpful meters in your menubar for CPU load, network bandwidth, HD reads/writes and memory usage. Awesome to know what your machine's knowing at a glance.

    10) DashOnOff. { Link } (Freeware) As interesting as Dashboard is, I find it to be a huge memory hog. Once the novelty of it wears off, you may want a simple way to disable it, and this is it.

    11) fink. { Link } (Freeware) Fink is an OSX package manager used to install/update all of the 30+ years worth of UNIX applications that your new Mac can run. VERY, VERY useful to have w/ a bit of a learning curve, but a must-have if you want to run more than the basic command line apps that Apple includes.

    12) Notes Designer client would be awesome. Notes 7 would be nice, but not as much as the Designer. 'nuff said.

    13) Adium. { Link } (Freeware) Multi-service IM client (including Sametime!). Elegant, customizable and opensource. w00t!

    14) CocoaLicious/DeliBar. { Link } (Freeware) and { Link } (Freeware). If you use del.icio.us, these apps are quite nice companions.

    15) Chicken of the VNC. { Link } (Freeware) Best VNC client for OS X.

    16) Cyberduck/Transmit. { Link } (Freeware) and { Link } (Shareware). Both are good ftp/sftp clients -- you'll probably want to keep one of those handy.

    17) ColorDesigner. { Link } (Shareware) Tool to help web designers come up w/ color sets that are complimentary to one another.

    18) DeerPark. { Link } (Freeware) A mozilla-based browser that's been compiled specifically for PowerPC/OS X. Decent, but not kept up to date as Firefox-proper, it seems.

    19) EvoCam. { Link } (Shareware) A great app for streaming webcams to websites.

    20) LDapper. { Link } (Freeware) An OS X LDAP client -- handy if you need it!

    21) Paparazzi. { Link } (Freeware) A *very* handy app for capturing screenshots of web pages -- if you've ever wanted to take a screencap of a web page that was more than one screen tall, this app will automatically do it for you.

    22) SubEthaEdit. { Link } (Free and Shareware versions available) A network-aware collaborative text editor, complete w/ code-sensitive coloring/indenting. Less useful for you since you only have one Mac on your network, but a decent text editor anyway.

    23) Delicious Library. { Link } (Shareware) Awesome (award-winning!) application for cataloging your cds, books, dvds and video games. Give this app a try -- it's a *really* slick catalog app. To add a new piece of media to it, you can either scan the barcode from the package you're entering via (your iMac's built-in) iSight camera, or you can simply type the title of the media, hit return, and the app does a lookup on Amazon for matching titles. If it finds the one you want, double click it and the app gets the author, genre, list price, UPC code, cover art... etc etc. If you want to loan out one of your items, it's even integrated w/ OS X's Address Book and iCal. Very impressive. Worth the money!

    24) ManOpen. { Link } (Freeware) GUI for the UNIX man pages on your system -- useful for printing and for times when you don't want to open another terminal session.

    25) Mplayer. { Link } (Freeware) This is a movie player for DIVX and other-formatted media files that QuickTime won't handle, natively. Very useful.

    26) HandBrake. { Link } (Freeware) DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter.

    27) iPhotoBuddy { Link } (Shareware) This app lets you have multiple iPhoto libraries on your hard disk, and provides a clean, simple interface for easily switching between them. When you start to reach 10k+ photos in iPhoto, you'll see why this is a great app to have. I like to keep my personal photos, funny pictures and screenshots that I use at work all separated into their own libraries. The downside is that iPhoto-integrated apps (like iMovie, for example) seem to have trouble finding your iPhoto library if iPhoto's not running if you use iPhoto Buddy. This is a minor gripe for the ability to keep pictures parsed out like this.

    28) pearLyrics. { Link } (Freeware) If you're really big into music, this is a MUST HAVE. This app searches several lyrics databases online for the song you're playing in iTunes and can automatically put them into the new Lyrics tab in each iTunes song. Additionally, you can tell the app to run through any playlist you pick or your entire library and get the lyrics for every song it finds (this can take a loooooong time). The lyrics for each song take up very little space, but if you've got a large iTunes library (I'm looking at you, Volker!), it'll make a noticeable difference.

    29) SQLTunes. { Link } (Freeware) This app will take the information stored in your iTunes library's xml file and import them into a MySQL database for you. Useful if you want to keep a db for displaying what songs you have over the web.

    30) SideNote. { Link } (Freeware) This is a nice, lightweight note-taking utility in an unobtrusive drawer. Much more convenient than using Apple's Stickies application.

    31) Tofu. { Link } (Freeware) A screenreading application that arranges text into columns. The idea is that text is easier to read in smaller columns than are generally presented on web pages and documents. Nice app -- not necessary, but I use it from time to time.

    32) USB Overdrive. { Link } (Shareware) The best way to control any USB pointing device. Period. So good, in face, that Microsoft bought the guy out and use it to control their IntelliMice.

    33) MySQL database, Administrator and Browser. { Link } (Freeware) If you use/need MySQL, the companion apps are really, really handy.

  1. 24  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 11/18/2005 10:24:02 AM

    Wow -- Thom's post and @4's "how-to" link are both fantstic. I'm going to have to take it slow, though -- Thanksgiving is only a four-day weekend. ;)

  1. 25  AJP  | 11/18/2005 10:37:52 AM

    If you do install Notes you'll probably want to install Silk (or an equivalent) so that you can actually read anything in the Notes client.

    { Link }

    $10 but it is worth it.

  1. 26  Simon Barratt http://apps.fmc.com/blog.nsf | 11/18/2005 10:50:06 AM

    For the essential backing up of your DVD collection you need

    MactheRipper (Free) and DVD2One (~$45)

  1. 27  Bill  | 11/18/2005 11:19:00 AM

    @25 - this seems to help, too, and it's free ...

    { Link }

    Of course, maybe Ed knows some people who can just fix the client ... ;) (add Designer+Admin and I'm a fulltime Mac user)

  1. 28  Volker Weber http://vowe.net | 11/18/2005 11:43:12 AM

    My advice is very different.

    Get the Mac. Unpack it and place it on a table. Switch on and enjoy. Don't bother installing anything for a month. Besides the stuff for Megan of course.

    Take some photos of her using the mac. Record a movie. Put it all together with iMovie and iDVD and give that DVD to Megan's mom. And your mom of course.

  1. 29  Tim Rand  | 11/18/2005 11:59:14 AM

    Not to be missed in the middle of Thom's (@23) post... Adium offers full Sametime IM Integration.

    But this is for your daughter, so you might want to employ some of the family setup features that Apple supports: { Link }

    I would strongly advise you setup multiple users on your box and teach each user to login and set the auto-logout. Then don't give the other users admin rights to prevent them from damaging things.

    Lastly, You will want remote support - to take control of her machine when you get that call at 3 PM at the office where I need help. Install VNC { Link } (the last tab will let you configure it to run at startup) so that you can remotely access the system. You have to punch a port 5900 (or other) port in your firewall/router and establish a password to do it, but its easy. My wife calls once or twice a month and because I can easily take control from work the problems (usually simple) are quickly resolved and marital strive minimized. Free. If you need suggestions on config, drop me a note.

  1. 30  Chris Reckling http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/dw_blog.jspa?blog=416 | 11/18/2005 4:05:41 PM

    My kids liked Reader Rabbit some. They really like (and still do) Zoombinis, but it's for 8 & up { Link }

    Also: Kidpix is fun for kids of all ages. { Link }

    The Learning Company seems to have good stuff, but I agree with Volker that there's enough on there to begin with.

    Chris

  1. 31  Bruce Elgort http://takingnotes.openntf.org | 11/18/2005 5:58:35 PM

    @All,

    Read what Vowe wrote. He is spot on.

  1. 32  David Vasta david.davidandkelly.com | 11/18/2005 8:37:07 PM

    Now maybe Ed can havethem port all the Clients (Admin & Designer) to Mac seeing as how no one has done that to date and there seems to be no intrest in it either. Why not port Domino over to run on MacOSX Server too while you are at it. The hardware is cheap and tghe OS is stable.

    Good Luck with the Mac Ed! Welcome to the smartest users on earth!

  1. 33  Ken Porter  | 11/18/2005 10:27:34 PM

    Volker is right; don't wreck the new Mac by installing Notes! :-) Take some time to use the OS as it ships.

    For everyone else who want to install stuff, here's a great list of open source mac software: { Link }

    Of particular note is the IM client Adium; it supports multiple IM protocols including Sametime.

  1. 34  Bruce Elgort http://takingnotes.openntf.org | 11/18/2005 11:17:43 PM

    To post the pictures you take with PhotoBooth :-)

  1. 35  Simon Barratt http://apps.fmc.com/blog.nsf | 11/19/2005 10:37:29 AM

    Ed, I just got my iMac a few weeks ago, and one thing I am really glad I opted for, was the bluetooth mouse & keyoard. This means there is only one cable (power), it makes it look superb and tidy, and makes relocating it around the house a breeeze!

  1. 36  Andrew Roberts  | 11/19/2005 12:51:57 PM

    I would highly recommend FolderShare - it keeps files synced between computers (e.g. your Mac and Windows machines)

    { Link }

    Unfortunately they were just bought by Microsoft - so hopefully the keep supporting OS X.

  1. 37  AJP  | 11/19/2005 1:14:25 PM

    @27 Bill - Using the preference editor to increase the font is only a partial solution. Mac users are a funny bunch. They tend to like there apps to look nice(!), and using font scaling does not look nice at all. If you're used to using the Notes on the Mac without Silk (or an equivalent) I suggest you try it. You won't be disappointed.

    However, I suspect you are right. Ed probably does know a few people who could fix the font and other problems with the mac client. We can but hope ;-)

  1. 38  Wild Bill http://www.billbuchan.com | 11/20/2005 7:28:07 AM

    Whilst Apple may not WANT folks to stick tiger on existing intel kit, and they may WANT to try and control it. my guess is that it wont be successful, and within 6 months, you'll be able to buy Tiger for intel off the shelf...

    Probably before Vista is available. Giving us poor intel heads TWO alternatives to Windows..

    ---* Bill

  1. 39  Jon Johnston http://bingo.cbsol.com | 11/20/2005 9:49:13 PM

    If it's for you, you'll want Textpander also. It allows you to create shortcuts for commonly typed items, like when i type "pesig" it automatically inserts:

    Jon Johnston

    { Link }

    I'll vote for QuickSilver over Launchbar.

    iLife 5 is wonderful stuff, man, even for a kid. Garageband is fun just to play with, altough maybe too complex for a young kid, they'd still have fn playing with it. You can actually download the garageband editions of nine inch nails tunes (although you'll want to edit/remove the audio).

  1. 40  Scott http://theperduefamily.com | 11/21/2005 2:18:20 PM

    Rapidweaver ({ Link } is a MUST have if you're interested in building yet another website.

    I find incredibly easy to use -espeically for $35. Great integration with iPhoto. I have ZERO development skill, but I get a lot of compliments on my site from more experienced developers in the field.

    I also really enjoy FinalCutExpress for some intermediate movie making. iMovie is great, but FCE blows the doors off.

  1. 41  Mike Robinson http://www.invcs.com | 11/21/2005 8:20:50 PM

    Well I have to admit, I'm impressed with your daughter sitting down and driving a computer *without* intervention. That's not the first time I've heard that. I decided to visit the Burlington Mall (local mall here in Boston) and go by the new Apple store. I'll say this about Apple, they are at least one thing- consistent, look feel, and experience. Kind of reminded me of Starbucks. Anyway I took my daughter (who's 5) to the kids section with the little beaner cheers, and low and behold, she was playing Nemo without any intervention. Pretty much told the sales clerk to wrap it up (although I was bummed, I was hoping to get a new video ipod for myself but this is a better investment... :)

  1. 42  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 11/21/2005 8:38:17 PM

    same experience, Mike. Amazing.

  1. 43  Brandon Zylstra  | 1/27/2006 9:08:05 AM

    I second the vote for OmniGraffle, but have to object to the characterization as "essentially Visio". Instead, OmniGraffle is to Visio what Keynote is to Powerpoint. In Powerpoint and Visio, it's impossible to make something that DOESN'T look ugly, and in Keynote and OmniGraffle, it's almost impossible to make something that DOES. Simple diagrams will take on an elegance you'll never see with (any version that I've seen of) Visio.