Personal Favorite Applications & Accessories for Macintosh

Listed below are some of the applications that I have found particularly useful to me on the Mac. The descriptions are intentionally short. I have provided links, some to a page where I have provided a more complete description (LINK TO MY PAGE), some to the vendor's web page.

• Abbyy FineReader Express OCR program
  I have replaced ReadIris Pro with this fine program. The user interface is a joy to use, and the conversion results are nearly flawless.
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0
  Photo editing package, less sophisticated than PhotoShop, but much cheaper.
• Avery DesignPro
  Good label creation program from the popular label maker
• Bento
  A very easy to use database that is nicely integrated with iPhoto, iCal, Address Book. It has been discontinued.
• ChronoSync    LINK TO MY PAGE
  Like FileSync on Windows PC Nov 26, 2006
• DreamWeaver CS3
  Excellent website development package.
• Dropbox
  Use for on-line backup and file sharing.
• Evernote
  Highly rated program for capturing and saving what is on the screen.
• EyeTV 250 Plus by Elgato  LINK TO MY PAGE
  Use your Mac to watch TV, record TV shows, convert VHS to DVD, and more
• Google Earth
  Take a virtual flight over the earth, zoom in on locations of interest.
• HandBrake
  Convert DVD to video file
• Inpaint
  Photo restoration software. Easily remove unwanted portions of an image - power lines, etc. Works wonderfully.
• iLife '08, 09
  These tools just keep getting easier to use
• iWork '08, 09 - Pages, Numbers, Keynote
  Great set of utilities. Numbers is a real paradigm shift in spreadsheets. After iWork '09, new versions of the programs were introduced. These omitted some of the very usevul features of the earlier versions. I keep both iWork '09 and the later Numbers, Pages and Keynote active.
• LaCie Private-Public
  This encryption software comes with the LaCie PetiteKey USB solid state disk, to be carried on a key ring.
• LastPass
  This password management program is helpful when you want to use secure passwords. I stopped using it in favor of Apple's Keychain.
• MacSpeech Dictate
  After a short training session, this package of software and microphone translates your voice into text and commands very accurately.
• Omni Outliner    LINK TO MY PAGE
  Very powerful outliner - if you aren't using one, maybe you should be. Learn more by clicking the link.
• OpenOffice.org  LINK TO MY PAGE
  A free alternative to Microsoft Office - file read/write compatibility
Powerful scripting language, ideally suited for text
• Pixelmator
  Photo editing application, seems simpler to use than Adobe Photoshop Elements
• Retrospect Express BackUp    LINK TO MY PAGE
  Good backup software - packaged with many external hard drives. I now use Apple's Time Machine instead.
• Reunion
  Genealogy program - the highest reated one for the Mac when I was looking. Probably not as good as Family Tree Maker which runs only on Windows.
• SeeFinance
  A reasonable substitute for Quicken. Will import Quicken files from Windows, which I have not been able to do with Quicken for Mac.
• SketchUp
  Easily create 3D drawings - frniture, buildings, etc. Takes some learning, but is then very productive.
• SoHo Notes    LINK TO MY PAGE
  Replaces StickyBrain $40
• Specialty Photo slide copier -- attaches to threaded lens of digital camera and holds slides in position to photograph them. This is a fast way to copy slides (~4/minute) with the resolution of the digital camera. Fast and with good results. My model is SP-A52 Universal Professional Model.
• TextExpander
  Store frequently text strings, automatically paste them into documents via keyboard string or clickable list
• TextWrangler
  Very powerful, free text editor. Many, many features not found in programs like TextEdit.
• WhatSize
  Easy way to analyze the contents of your disks to see where the space is going. Has tools for deleting unwanted files.
• Witopia Personal VPN virtual private network
  VPN to protect wireless communication privacy. $40/year
• Wondershare
  Create DVDs - any format - from home made videos.

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Software Books

My absolute favorite books for learning about software I plan to use is the "Missing Manual" series from O'Reilly. In particular, David Pogue's Missing Manual for every version of the Mac operating system (beginning with Tiger) has been a must read for me each time I do an OS upgrade. I have literally read each volume cover-to-cover - usually before installing the upgrade. Much of each book is carried forward from the previous version, but there is so much to know that I invariably re-learn enough to find it worthwhile.

I also have and have read the Missing Manual for Dreamweaver - much better than Adobe's on-line Help.