Compared to what's necessary to put Microsoft Windows XP into
what I consider a usable state, Apple Mac OS X comes with
an excellent selection of software included as part of the operating
system. This is partly due to its strong UNIX tool background, but
partly because Apple has made
great strides toward usability throughout its existence.
Still, I add a few things to my Mac computers. Below is the
software I have installed; some of it is only available to purchase,
but a great deal is downloadable for free.
Commercial Software
- Apple Mac OS X
Tiger
- Of course, the first software installed is the operating system
itself.
- Apple iWork '05
- iWork is Apple's answer to Microsoft Office. It includes
a combination word processor/desktop publisher and a presentation
program. Both are more-or-less compatible with their Microsoft
counterparts, but have significantly more style. The primary motivation
for installing this is being able to read the PowerPoint files
many faculty use.
- Intuit Quicken 2005
- This personal finance software was included with my Mac mini; it can be installed
by inserting the Mac OS X disc that came with the computer and
choosing “Install bundled software only”.
- Apple Mac mini CPU
Help Files
- Though only marginally “commercial”, these are files on
the installation disc that came with my Mac mini which provide
information about the mini itself. These are installed by just
inserting that disc and running the “Install bundled software
only” program.
Downloadable Software
(The primary link for each application is to the download page.
Links within the description may take you to a more informative page
about the software.)
- Apple
Backup 2.0.2 (.Mac account required to download)
- Available as part of .Mac,
Apple
Backup allows backing up your data to your iDisk; it also allows
full .Mac members to backup to a removable-media drive.
- The Battle for
Wesnoth 0.9.1
- The Battle for Wesnoth is
a turn-based strategy game with a fantasy theme.
- Cisco
VPN 3000 Client 4.6-Interim (USC account required to download)
- The Cisco
VPN 3000 Client is a proprietary client used to connect to the
USC private network.
- Dasher
1.0
- Originally designed to display the dashboard
after a period of inactivity, Dasher
also effectively displays it after resuming from screensaver or
standby, assuming you set the timer appropriately.
- Microsoft
Remote Desktop Connection Client 1.0.3
- The Microsoft
Remote Desktop Connection Client allows you to remotely use a Microsoft Windows computer
that is running Terminal Services or Remote Desktop Services.
- Microsoft
Windows Media Player 9
- Microsoft
Windows Media Player adds the ability to play WMV and ASF files,
either from the Finder or within Safari, Netscape, or Internet
Explorer.
- Ogg
Vorbis for QuickTime 1.0d8
- Ogg Vorbis for QuickTime is a part of the QuickTime Components
project that adds Ogg Vorbis
decoding support to QuickTime (and thus iTunes).
- 0SEx 0.0110a1
- 0SEx (which,
just to make things confusing, is sometimes called OSEx, with an
“oh” instead of a zero) is an acceptable OS X
replacement for the Microsoft Windows program DVD Decrypter, used to
copy single titles from a DVD to the hard drive.
- Safari
Enhancer 2.5.3
- Safari
Enhancer allows advanced option changing within the Safari browser,
such as enabling the debug menu, importing bookmarks, and configuring
the history.
- ShowOff Widget
1.0
- A dashboard
widget to display your uptime and keep track of the record.
- XinePlayer
0.3
- XinePlayer is a media
player based upon the xine multimedia
engine. It plays DVDs, QuickTime, MPEGs, and more—it can even
play quickly over a network connection.
- Zaurus
USB Driver 0.2.8
- The Zaurus
USB Driver allows simple network connection to the Sharp Zaurus
via a USB cable.
