Menu

Subscribe

What I Use - OSX

Author image Glenn 'devalias' Grant | | 3 minutes to read | #what-i-use, #osx, #coding, #programming, #tools, #programs |

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but never quite got around to it. Oftentimes when a friend or colleague gets a new mac they ask me what programs I would recommend. I tend to stumble at being asked on the spot, and rattle off the couple that jump straight to mind.

To save myself the embarassment, serve as a memory jog, and hopefully help some people out along the way, here is my list of programs I use/love on OSX (see after the break)

Note: This isn't necessarily a definitive list, but it should be the main ones, and I will try to keep it updated as I find new cool things that I love.

General/System

  • HomeBrew - Think apt-get, but for mac. Awesome way to find/install commandline tools/etc for your mac.
  • HyperDock - Show previews of docked program windows when you hover over them. Just like Windows 7!
  • TotalFinder - Tabs and other such win for the finder!
  • TotalTerminal - A systemwide terminal that hides offscreen when you're not using it. Combine the hotkey with BetterTouchTool for epic win!
  • BetterTouchTool - Let's you setup more touch gestures to control various things on your mac.
  • DeepSleep - Forces the system to do a full hibernate poweroff. No more losing battery while in your bag!
  • NoSleep - Prevents the system from sleeping when you close the screen.
  • AppZapper - The uninstall feature that's missing from so many mac programs.

Internet/Download/Etc

  • Google Chrome - What can I say, I am very much a fan of Google, and Chrome has won my heart <3
  • uTorrent - For those times when a distributed download is a better source than direct.

Chat/Communication/Etc

  • Skype - I don't even need to explain this one..
  • Callnote for Skype - Skype recording + Evernote. Because why remember details when you can just listen to them again!

Music/Media/Etc

  • iTunes - Apple, music, duh!
  • Spotify - I don't use this a lot yet, but it's pretty good when you don't want to specifically decide what you want to listen to.
  • VLC - The only media player you'll ever need for video (or when you don't want to clutter iTunes with random stuff yet)

Games

  • Steam - The only game platform you should ever need.

Notes/Syncing/Cloud/Etc

  • Dropbox - Keeps my files synced/accessible from wherever I need them.
  • Evernote - Think dropbox, but more aimed at notes/etc. Available anywhere I need access to them.
  • XMind - Not that this fits into the cloud/syncing category by itself (dropbox!), but a good little tool for making mindmaps.

Coding/Development/Etc

  • XCode - Kind of goes without saying. Apple's de-facto fully integrated coding environment.
  • Sublime Text 2 (Sublime Text 3 is currently in beta) - Tried a few others, but eventually settled on this. A REALLY nice text/code editor with tons of awesome plugins. I use the Solarized dark colour scheme.
  • Git - A free an open source distributed version control system that is made of amazing and win.
  • Le-git - A complementary command-line interface for Git that makes some of the more obscure things much easier.
  • Tower/* Gitbox/* Sourcetree/* Github for Mac - Haven't really decided which one is best yet, but a selection of git frontends for the (rare) times when you want a change from the command line.
  • Ruby on Rails - Only recently started playing with this, but a very nice little web app development framework/environment.
  • Heroku Toolbelt - Set of command line tools for working with/deploying to Heroku.

Virtualisation/Etc

  • Parallels Desktop - IMO The better virtualisation platform for mac.
  • VMWare Fusion - For things that just don't want to work in Parallels, or just for funsies.