Favorite Mac OS X apps...


Sure, it might not be as powerful as Maya either, but there is a lot of flexibility within the program and it's interface has been increasingly growing on me the more I use it.

One things for sure, since switching over to Mac OS X years ago, many cool and powerful apps have been released. I've been using the following programs both for home stuff and lots of work related tasks.

Nova-Mind
 Nova-Mind is a "mind mapping" program that does it better than any other. The ease of use is unprecedented. It's like creating a visual outline. I've used this for several work/project brainstorming sessions. The final result is easy to drop into a document and looks stunning.


OmniGraffle and OmniOutliner
 OmniGraffle has been indispensable over the past couple of years. I mostly use it for diagramming and what not. Think of it as Microsoft's Visio, but easy to use and incredibly flexible. It takes little effort to create visually stunning diagrams. OmniOutliner is a great outlining program that's only gotten better with the latest version - 3.


Carrara
 I've owned Carrara since version 2 and even used versions of its predecessor, Ray Dream Designer. I've been using it more and more over the past year and like it a lot. It's really accessible and easy to use. It doesn't have the bloat that high end programs like Maya have. Sure, it might not be as powerful as Maya either, but there is a lot of flexibility within the program and it's interface has been increasingly growing on me the more I use it. I've been using Carrara 4 and now 5 for some in-game artwork on the game I'm working on.


Delicious Library
Delicious Library is an incredible application that helps you keep track of Music, DVDs, Books and Games. There's really nothing out there like it. If you've got a Mac and a decent collection of the above items, then get this program.


iBank
After using Quicken for several years, I decided to switch to a lower cost and less bloated app. I started using iBank 2 a year and a half ago and then upgraded to iBank 3. I'm not thrilled with the UI of version 3 when compared to version 2, but the core of the program is the essentially the same Maybe I should write the IGGsoft...


Graphic Converter
 I switched from Graphic Converter from Debabelizer this past year. I have a Mac OS 9 version of Debabelizer but wanted to switch to all Mac OS X apps and didn't want to invest in the steep upgrade price. Graphic Converter does almost everything that I did in Debab, except for a couple of functions. I guess I'll have to write them about that too...


StickyBrain
I just downloaded this program. It essentially keeps track of a lot of tidbits of information. I was using an Entourage note for a whole bunch of tidbits and miscellaneous items of info. StickyBrain incorporates Spotlight functionality, which is a big plus as Entourage doesn't - yet.

Posted: Mon - January 23, 2006 at 09:44 PM          

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