Top Ten Open Source Apps for Mac
10 Free Macintosh Programs You Should Download
In my last article, I have covered at length the top free replacement windows apps that you should download for Windows XP. What about free MAC apps that give you more power and efficiency? After some expressed interest, I created a nice list below of the most important MAC applications that you should download, all free and open source.
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#10: Download Adium for Instant Messaging
Do you use more than one instant messenger? Check out Adium for a free instant messaging application that will let you connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, GoogleTalk, as well as Jabber, Bonjour, MySpace IM, Gadu-Gadu, Novell Groupwise, QQ, etc. It’s a wonderful MAC app, free and open source. Download it today!
#9: Download Colloquy as your MAC IRC Client
Colloquy is an advanced IRC, SILC & ICB client with the look and feel of a quality Mac application. It’s free and open-source, it supports plug-ins, and it has full DCC transfer support with resume. Download it today.
#8: Use The UnArchiver or UnRarX for Archives
The UnArchiver is an amazing multi-format unarchiver app for MAC. It supports lots of formats: Zip, Tar, Gzip, Bzip2, 7-Zip, Rar, LhA, StuffIt, several old Amiga file and disk archives, CAB, LZX, etc. It also supports split archives for certain formats like RAR. Another good, free, and easy app for extrating a RAR archive on your MAC is UnRarX.
#7: Download a better RSS reader for MAC
For better RSS feeds on your MAC, first check out NetNewsWire because it features cool and easy tabbed browsing. Vienna is another option for a free, open source RSS reader. Vienna is a native RSS client with a simple and uncluttered UI, support for RSS and ATOM feeds, Built-in Browser based on Safari web engine, Global Search, Smart Folders, Styles, and many more features.
#6: Replace your MAC Wifi Scanner with KisMac
KisMac is an awesome wireless scanner for Mac that supports third party PCMCIA cards with Orinoco and PrismII chipsets, as well as Cisco Aironet cards. KisMac is free, open source, and unbelievable at picking up networks.
#5: Download GIMP instead of buying Adobe Photoshop
For graphics and photo editing download GIMP because it’s open source and can do most things that can be done with Photoshop. GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program that can handle photo retouching, image composition, image authoring, etc. For something less powerful, try out SEASHORE which is based on GIMP and features gradients, textures, and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes. It supports multiple layers, alpha channel editing, plug-in filters, etc. Finally, if you just need a fast image viewer and image browser, download Xee.
#4: Download NeoOffice instead of buying Microsoft Office
Do not buy MS Office for MAC. Instead, download NeoOffice which is 100% free and open source. NeoOffice is a full-featured office suite that is compatible with Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. If you are looking for lighter word processor, check out Bean, a small and simple rich text editor. Also, xPad is another option with simple, easy-to-use interface and powerful multi-document features.
#3: Download Miro for Videos, YouTube, and Torrents
Miro is a wonderful open source application that will allow you to play any video format, download torrents, and save videos from YouTube. That is a lot of functionality in one program! If you are just looking for a Macintosh BitTorrent client, then download Tomato Torrent. Another option is Transmission, a lightweight and feature-rich multi-platform BitTorrent client for MAC. Finally, if you just need a video player, get the open source VLC Media Player which plays a really large variety of video files and it is also very good at playing DVDs.
#2: Turn your MAC into a great Alarm Clock
Imagine waking up to your favorite music playing from your MAC. You don’t have to leave your computer on all night. Download Aurora and use your Apple computer as an alarm clock which will wake your MAC from sleep and play your favorite music in the morning.
#1: iPod Ripping on your MAC
You use iTunes but need better control of your music? You hate DRM? Want to set your iPod to disk mode? Check out iPodDisk which is a free and easy application that will let you browse and copy all the music that is on your iPod to your hard drive. Senuti is a similar application that will also let you copy music from your iPod to your MAC. It has a simple iTunes-like interface and its really easy to use. If you have a huge library of music I would recommend iPodDisk over Senuti as there are reports that Senuti does not work well with a large number of files to backup.
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cool. thanks for the list. i’ll get it.