Switching from Windows to Mac OS X
UPDATE Aug 10: The Aug 10, 2006 edition of the New York Times offers advice on whether to switch to a Mac.
UPDATE Sept 1: 10 more tips for those switching from Windows to Mac
Inspired by both my recent demi-switch from Windows to a Mac (Windows desktop / Mac laptop) and Flërnk’s recent blog post, I’ve decided to post a list of my favorite ‘Make the Switch’ apps. Bonus, all of these are either open source or freeware.
- Fugu
- An open source, SFTP-capable file transfer client. A replacement for: FileZilla. (Although I highly recommend biting the bullet and shelling out the $29.95 for Transmit, which is just excellent).
- TextWrangler
- It’s BBEdit’s little brother – a free text editor that is surprisingly rich, though without some of BBEdit’s fancier features (like language-specific palettes). A replacement for: HTMLKit and jEdit (which does run on Mac OS X because it’s Java).
- ClamXav
- Open-source antivirus software that uses the Clam AV engine. A replacement for: ClamAV for Windows … which can probably be considered a replacement for most antivirus apps (Although I’m running both Norton AntiVirus and ClamAV on my Win box).
- gDisk
- gDisk is a tool that turns your GMail account into an online storage account. A replacement for GMail Drive shell extension for Windows.
- NeoOffice
- A Mac-friendly port of the open source OpenOffice.org suite. Unlike OpenOffice.org for Mac, NeoOffice uses native OS key commands (like Command-S instead of Ctrl-S). You’re also not hamstrung by the inability to cut and paste between applications. And you don’t have to install X11. A replacement for: OpenOffice.org, which is a replacement for Microsoft Office.
- AbiWord
- A simple open-source word processing application. Also, incidentally available for Windows. A replacement for: MS Word or WordPerfect.
- WikiNotes
No longer under development from what I can tell. - A lovely app that allows you to take notes much like a Wiki. You can export it to HTML, change fonts and search notes using Spotlight. Your data isn’t quite stored in plain text, but you can extract it as such. You can even sync it with your iPod. A replacement for WikidPad.
- Adium X
- An open source instant messaging client that will let you connect to AOL, Jabber, ICQ, .Mac, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, and some other stuff. Fab client, though that quacking thing might work your nerves. A replacement for the open source Gaim and the proprietary application, Trillian.
- Terminal
- No need to download and install this. Terminal comes with the OS. Because the Mac is essentially a shiny user interface on a UNIX frame, it comes with many of the utilities you find on UNIX systems. That means SSH, crontab, and other shell tools. You can also zip and unzip files from the command line. There’s no need to download a separate program (although Stuffit Expander comes installed). A replacement for: whatever SSH client and zip/unzip program you’ve got on Windows.
Of course, there are also plenty of apps that have both Mac and Windows versions, including Opera, Firefox, Thunderbird, and Sunbird for example (There’s also Camino, which is a native OS X browser from the Mozilla family. It’s hella fast, but lacks Firefox’ library of extensions). Yahoo! Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger have Mac OS clients. And some Java programs (like FreeMind) work swimmingly well with OS X.
Plus your Mac will come pre-loaded with a lot of goodies too, such as iCal, iDVD, Dashboard, PhotoBooth, and Stickies. Oh how I love Stickies. Think of them as digital Post-Its®. Added bonus: you can share files (erm, at least those that are platform-independent) with Windows machines on your home network.
Now I’d definitely be remiss in my switching ambassador duties if I didn’t mention Monolingual. It removes unnecessary language files (be aware that British, Australian, Canadian and U.S. English are all pre-selected as ‘unnecessary’) from your hard drive. In my case, Monolingual returned 2.8 gigabytes of space.
So for all you Windows users who are considering a switch, what application (or reason) is holding you back?
And for all you Mac OS X users who made the switch (or a demi-switch, as I did): what apps have you found that eased the switch? What are your favorite applications that tackle common tasks or replace popular Windows applications?
• Worth reading: Switching from Windows to Mac from PC Magazine
I switched to Mac about two years ago, a little while after I started attending college again. I haven’t looked back since….
For FTP I use Cyberduck. It’s donationware, but it’s pretty solid for a 2.6 version.
The 800-pound gorilla in the Texteditor arena happens to be: TextMate. With syntax definitions for over a gazillion languages, plus the abillity to blog directly from TextMate, this thing is hard to beat. Trust me, I know. It’ll cost you ?¢‚Äö¬¨39.00 after a 30-day trial to use. Because I’m a (semi) poor college student, I’ll still use SubEthaEdit. It’s a Texteditor that also allows one to work in a collabrative manor with two or more people on one project/document. Genius, bloody genius. Version 2.5 will cost you $35.00, but shoot me an email and I’ll let you know how you can get Version 2.2 which is still free.
If you’re using Flock as your primary browser on OS X, you’ll be happy to know that there’s an extension called Gmail Space that lets you turn your Gmail account into a storage drive. Actually, when activated, the extension opens a tab that gives you a layout very similar to an FTP program. For those that use Camino as their primary browser, there’s a nice website called PimpMyCamino, designed and maintained by UK Web Developer Jon Hicks, that catalogs all of the available plug-ins for Camino. Jon also maintains a sister site called PimpMySafari that does the same thing for the Safari browser.
Apple’s Pages application is getting better with each newer release, but I still say Microsoft Office for Mac kills everything. This is the one application I hope they never stop developing.
Apple’s Terminal application is good, but iTerm is better. Built natively in Apple’s Cocoa Framework, it runs smoothly like an OS X application should. Tabbed shells, drag-n-drop between tabs and shells and a bunch of other features makes this a great addition.
Of course, I would save the best for last: Quicksilver. To say that it’s just an application launcher is like saying that the Mac is just PC…clearly an understatement. I can do anything short of washing/ironing clothes and cooking with this thing (and if someone makes a plug-in I might be able to do those things too!). I can shoot off an email, send photos to my Flickr account, add bookmarks to my Delicious account, send a note or add a link to my Backpack account and so much more all from inside Quicksilver. And the best thing is that it remains out of the way and unobtrusive until I call it with a keyboard command. Ahhhhhh, this is what working on a computer is supposed to be!
All of the applications that I listed are Universal binary so whether you own a PPC-based Mac or an Intel-based Mac, you’ll still be able to use any of them.
One last thing before I go: A lot of Window switchers out there have almost no true experience using the Command Line, like I was when I switched. A very good book to read is Learning Unix for Mac OS X Tiger. It’s published by O’Reilly and written by noted author Dave Taylor. Dave gives a brief history of the Unix backgroun in Mac OS X and then spends the rest of the book walking the reader thru the excercises in using the Command Line. Great read…
Sorry for writing so much. Thanks Tiffany!!!
No, I’m glad you wrote so much. Lots of good nuggets in there.
I just don’t ‘get’Quicksilver, although I hear good things about it. Methinks I need to fiddle with it some more.
While most of my Mac usage is of cross platform apps there is one Mac Specific app - outside of Final Cut Pro - that I can’t live without: Handbrake.
It is by far the best DVD ripping application that I’ve used. A must for any video geek.
The application that keeps me from fully switching to the Mac is OS X itself. It’s solid, looks great, and nothing - I mean NOTHING - beats a UNIX console, but I have major problems with its design and functionally, it isn’t that much better than Windows for me to switch permanently.
Random: I love the duck sounds in Adium X.
I second viperteq’s recommendation of iTerm. It’s much better than terminal.
For those who have that one win app they just can’t live without, there’s no need. You can run windows and os x side-by-side on an Intel Mac. I do this for Web development–using windows to test Web designs. I put together a blog post and video of the setup in action.
Great Post Tiffany.
I tried Fugu, I didn’t stick with it for some reason. For what every issues I had, they where moot once I found FireFTP.
I found the link to this article on Google and must say that it’s helped me a LOT! I’m a recent switch and have been suffering through programs like TextEdit and Messenger for Mac, but thanks to your site the new programs should help a lot.
Thanks,
-Steve
[...] Switching from Windows to Mac OS X :: tiffany b. brown // v 4.1 Sweet tips from Tiffany. I don’t have a need for most of them and already used Fugu but that gDisk has potential. I think Gmail and Yahoo! storage are still the best options for portable storage until they make a BIG and indestructible memory stick. [...]
Clearing the default help files out of /Library/Webserver/Documents/ and dropping a handful of useful files in is all the portable storage one could ever need. Just put your IP address (found in your router, or your network settings control panel if you don’t use a router) in your browser and you’re all set. Adding DynDNS support from DynDNS.org gives your Mac a name that you can surf to instead of the IP address.
The only caveats here are:
1) Webservers are basically one-way access. You can download, but not upload.
2) You have to leave your Mac on and have a cable or DSL connection to truly make use of this.
3) It’s only as reliable as your cable connection.
The bonuses are:
1) You can have a portable space surfable from just about anywhere in the world that’s as big as your hard drive. (Mine is serving 26 gigs worth of files)
2) You can add an FTP daemon like PureFTP Manager to help get the built in support for FTP up and running and have two-way access. (I send my work home from school all the time)
3) If you use Macs at school, work, or a friend’s house, you can actually log into your Mac remotely and grab any files, not just ones in the HTTP and FTP servers, but any files, or you can remotely drop more files in your web server, too.
thanks jrcjr! never thought about doing that.