My List of Mac Must-Have’s…
A friend in Austin picked up his first Mac laptop this weekend and I immediately sent him the following list of my favorites in hopes that he might find something useful.
Maybe you can too. 
Definitely Bookmark These Websites…
There are a lot of great Mac websites, but these are some of the best:
Daring Fireball
independent Apple/Mac news site
http://daringfireball.net/
Macworld’s Mac Gems
nifty Mac software
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macgems.html
Infinite Loop
Ars Technica’s Mac-centric news
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars
Native OS X Apps
a huge, searchable database of OS X software available online
http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/
Automator.us
the site for info about leveraging the power of Automator
http://www.automator.us/leopard/index.html
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
best blog for generic Apple news
http://www.tuaw.com/
TUAW’s Mac 101
great basic tips for using your Mac
http://www.tuaw.com/category/mac-101/
super OS X menu items
you’ll find some neat things here
http://menu.jeweledplatypus.org/
Fantastic Freeware…
This is a list of freeware I immediately install on all Macs I set up.
Caffeine
for menu bar, keeps your Mac awake
http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/
Jumpcut
for menu bar, simple clipboard expander
http://jumpcut.sourceforge.net/
Service Scrubber
utility for the most under-used, yet still useful menu element on the Mac
http://www.manytricks.com/servicescrubber/
EasyFind
you need this, Spotlight does not find everything
http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/freeware/index.html
Handbrake
one of the coolest DVD rippers on any platform
http://handbrake.fr/
sideNote
I find this incredibly useful
http://www.chatelp.org/?p=50
Flip4Mac WMV
this is a free pref pane that allows you to automatically view Windows Media files
http://tinyurl.com/flip4maclink
Perian
this is another must have media plug-in
http://www.perian.org/
One more thing…
I won’t go into a list of paid software, but there is one I must recommend…
TextExpander
once you start using this, you’ll wonder how you lived with out it
http://www.smileonmymac.com/TextExpander/
And for the holiday season…
Sno
snow for your desktop
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/12724
Christmas Tree
a tree for your desktop
http://www.jschilling.net/sw_xmastree.php
